[Sullivan, James. 28 years old. Currently residing in Monstropolis. CEO of Monsters, Incorporated.]

"Like, the famous Sullivan?"

"It's time to start delivering on that Sullivan name."

"You'll never know what it's like to fail because you were born a Sullivan!"

Sullivan, Sullivan, Sullivan. Time and time again. Ugh… I hated that name so much. Why in Monstropolis I decided to use it the way I did… even I don't know. But there's one thing I do know. I began to hate it even more.

See, when I was back in high school, being a Sullivan wasn't actually that big a deal. I was a scary monster. It didn't matter if I had the knowledge or the status or even the name to back it up, being scary was enough. I was also a bit of a hit with the ladies, heh, but that's another story…

But that all changed when I got to college. Suddenly, status was everything. The name was everything. And, even though I didn't want to believe it at the time, so was knowledge. Everything I'd ignored all through school suddenly came back to bite me. But did I care? No, not really.

When I got to my first class, late as usual because for whatever reason I thought I could carry on getting away with it, I introduced myself with my full name. I knew what I was doing; I knew they'd all know my name… my father's name… And I used that to my advantage. I got a rise out of everyone; I was instantly popular amongst all these monsters who didn't even know me! I was favourite amongst my professors, I was picked up by the top fraternity on campus, I had it made. And all because of my status. Because of my family. Because of my father.

I don't know why I did it. Well, I do in a way. I wanted the popularity, I needed it! Or so I thought at the time. And I was willing to use my name to get it, despite how much I hated it. See, not a lot of monsters know that I considered changing my name. Several times, actually. I still do from time to time, but what with establishing a name for myself, that would just confuse things at this point. The CEO of a major corporation can't go changing their name without being asked a lot of questions.

Like it or not, I'm stuck with my father's name. And I guess, when you get down to it, it's not such a bad thing. Not as bad as what I used to think it was. But it probably all started around the time I got to high school.

My father left when I was pretty young. Four or five years old, I'm not exactly sure. I don't really care to remember either. Anyway, it wasn't exactly the last time I saw him, but it wasn't really far from it. I didn't hear from him for a couple years. Then I got a phone call. See, I was still a kid, I didn't know any better. I was so happy! I finally got to speak to my dad again! It was almost more than my heart could take. I remember babbling on for so long. How I'd been doing at school, which new friends I'd made, what I was getting up to with different clubs…

[A short pause follows.]

And that was it. He spoke to my mom for… about two minutes, I think, before I got hold of the phone. He listened to everything I said, or at least I assume he did. Then he told me he loved me, promised to call again soon and… put the phone down. It was a couple more years until we heard from him again. It was a shorter phone call. He promised to come and see us soon. I was overjoyed! But… he never did.

[A sigh is heard before another short pause.]

I remember waiting around with my mom, sat on a park bench for two full hours. It was cold, and wet, and dark by the time we left. I was devastated. There I was, finally getting the chance to see my dad after four long years… and he never showed. He didn't bother calling to cancel, he didn't bother calling to apologise after… It was another year before we heard from him again. He suggested we try to meet up again. This time he really did follow through. I don't think I was as thrilled to see him as I would have been the year before. But I was still happy. He acted like the perfect father, spent all his time focused on me, letting me just… enjoy his company…

[A couple of sniffing noises are heard.]

That was the last time I saw him. I didn't get another call from him until I started high school. I asked when we could meet up. He told me he didn't know. I asked him why he wouldn't call me more often than he did. He didn't answer me. I think… I was just so angry! I was so angry that I yelled at him, told him I hated him, and slammed the phone down on him. By that point I think I'd wised up. I knew he didn't care. Not really.

I got through high school pretty easily. It was mostly down to my looks, and my natural ability. I could be scary, I could act scary. Scaring was always something I wanted to do because it was what I aspired to be. When I was younger it was because I looked up to my father. Later on… I suppose it was so I could be better than him.

I went into high school on a mission. I wanted to prove that I could be scary. And like I said, I did that easily. Unfortunately, because it was so easy, I didn't really study as much as I should've. I grew cocky, arrogant… I thought my natural ability was enough. And, for some reason, no teacher ever told me differently.

I graduated high school with top grades. Somehow. My father wasn't there, and he didn't call either, though I can't say I was surprised. But I just remember the look on my mom's face… She was sitting there, in this huge sea of monsters all sat on these really small, uncomfortable metal chairs, and she just looked so proud. I'll never forget that look for as long as I live.

[A short pause. Mr. Sullivan seems to smile fondly at the aforementioned memory.]

College was a completely different experience. I knew what was up. I knew what I had to do to make a statement. And like I said before, that statement was my name. A family connection to a world-class Scarer was certain to make an impression, and I played that card at the earliest opportunity I had. Sure, I had a smile on my face, pretended everything was fine. I couldn't let on there was trouble at home. That could've brought down my reputation as soon as I'd gotten it.

Honestly, I'm surprised no-one did find that out. I don't think it was ever a secret that my father had left home. Or that he'd become a drunk. Oh, sorry, forgot to mention. At some point during high school I found out why he left home. Apparently he couldn't handle the stress of the job, or something like that. He took to alcohol and left us behind. Something about 'not wanting to hurt us', I dunno. But yeah, it was never a big secret. No-one at college seemed to know, or at least no-one ever brought it up. I'd have thought the guys in Roar Omega Roar would have mentioned it, but no. Nothing.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure everyone knows what happened next. I made an embarrassment of myself, so did Mike who wasn't exactly my best friend at the time, heh. We were kicked off the program, entered the Scare Games to get back onto it and ultimately we ended up expelled from the university. Now, my mom wasn't particularly happy with me about that, lemme tell you. But… I think we both took the lessons we needed from the experience.

We got jobs at Monsters, Inc., started off in the mailroom and worked our way up. I'll never forget our first day there, we had a blast! Somehow, it didn't matter that we ended up sorting mail for a living. And our boss… well, he was just a riot. A real character, Mr. Snowman…

[A sad sigh is heard.]

Still, I'm glad he's happy where he is now. We still visit him from time to time, me and Mike. I'm not sure if the CDA are exactly happy about it, but… well, they haven't stopped us yet.

Pretty soon, we started our first day on the Scare Floor. We couldn't believe it! Our dream, and we were living it! Now, I don't wanna brag, but they were pretty impressed with my Scare try-out. Shocked as well. I think we were among the first to be employed as a Scare Team without college degrees.

And that was how it was for almost nine years. Me and Mike, living out our dreams on the Scare Floor. Not long after that… my father called again. I was… pretty surprised, actually. I'd given up on ever hearing from him again long before that. He… he didn't make much sense in what he said. It was obvious he was drunk. I don't know what possessed him to call me, and I don't really know what he wanted. We didn't speak very long. But… he did tell me he loved me. And that… And that he was… was proud of me…

[A couple of sniffs and a small whimper can be heard.]

Sorry, I just…

[A deep breath, followed by a ragged sigh.]

I… don't know why that affected me so much. And I didn't really know how to feel. I was sad, angry… happy… I think I felt a little proud myself, actually. I guess I never really did let go of that childhood dream of making my father proud.

I never heard from him again. He lives abroad now. Well, I assume he does, if he hasn't killed himself with the drink yet. I don't really want that to happen, but I don't think I can do anything to stop him. And… well… Never mind.

[A short pause follows.]

I'm guessing the, uhh… 'incident' is old news by now. With Mr. Waternoose under arrest the company seemed doomed. It was only by chance I even had the idea of turning Monsters, Inc. into what it is today. If it hadn't been for the… child… that escaped the factory, and something Mike just happened to mention when everything was over and done with, I would never have thought to try and convert the company into a Laugh factory.

It was a pretty lengthy process, and was much more complicated than I gave it credit for. First we had to try and convince a team of scientists to help research the benefits of Laugh energy. Then we had to come up with a new can design because the Scream cans couldn't contain the sheer amount of energy produced. Then we had to convince the board of directors to even allow the company to continue. With such a new and barely-proven method of energy production, they took a lot of convincing. But we finally got through to them. I think, more than anything, they were interested to see if it would work. They were ready to pull the plug if it didn't, but, well… Let's just say Mike's a pretty smooth talker. He negotiated a trial period, a small timeframe for us to 'get it right'. To make sure we could do what we hoped we could do.

And it's a good thing it worked, too! So many monsters were out of a job until we managed to get the factory up and running again. Not everyone returned, though. Some moved on to other Scream factories. Some didn't think they'd be suitable for the new job, and went on to find another. And some of them… well, I don't know what happened to them.

{A short pause follows. Mr. Sullivan seems somewhat upset.]

I really hope they did manage to find another job…

Anyway, here we are! Just one short year later. Somehow the board were convinced I was best suited to serve as CEO. I'm not sure if I'm doing a great job, but… I think I'm doing OK.

Now, I'm not the perfect monster. I have made… regrettable decisions in the past. I've even hurt people. I've hurt friends, I've hurt co-workers… I think I've made peace with most of the people I've done wrong by. Although, there is one I still need to try harder with…

But, I suppose if I could say anything about my life so far, if there's one important lesson I've learned above anything else… Never give up. Life is sure to be full of trips and falls. Heck, sometimes you're even thrown down. But if you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and carry right on, there's no reason why you can't follow your dreams. Even if it's a little… different from what you expected.

Oh, and be proud of who you are. You don't necessarily have to be proud of where you've come from, but always be proud of yourself. And always act in a way you would be proud of. Be kind to others, work hard, chase your dreams as hard as you have to. If at the end of the day you can look in the mirror and smile at the monster looking back at you… You're on the right track.

[Interview terminated.]