The start of the new year is usually a time of joy; reflecting on the past year, looking forward to what’s to come in the next and setting goals & resolutions for ourselves. For my family, the start of 2009 became a time of prayer and hope. We learned my 17-year-old cousin, who’s always been an active spirit around family and friends, was diagnosed with medulloblastoma – a highly malignant brain cancer that’s most commonly found amongst children. We were devastated. It was a huge shock to us all and we didn’t really know how to cope.

I was living in Virginia Beach at the time, while my cousin & family were all in Ohio; rightfully, I felt disconnected from the situation. So I took refuge with the Livestrong Organization. I reached out to them on Twitter and spoke with Brooke, who was amazing in providing me helpful information and putting me in touch with Ella, a great oncology social worker from CancerCare. From an outside perspective, they’ve always done great things – but it wasn’t until that day that I truly understood their cause in helping fight cancer and supporting those diagnosed and surviving this disease.

It was at that time and while my cousin was going through numerous chemo and radiation treatments that I wanted to do as much as I could in helping him & others fight. I was able to come back home and give him support as his older cousin, but I wanted to do something even greater in scope. That’s when I got in touch with my awesome friend, Shannon Farrell. She had an amazing idea to create awareness for specific charities while bringing together a community of supporters through a single cohesive act – jumping. In came SkyAide.

SkyAide

The concept is as simple as it sounds. We wanted to demonstrate the power of the people – not just by giving them the ability to donate to a wonderful charity, but by allowing them to demonstrate their support by literally jumping for a cure through an online photo blog. SkyAide gives you that power by allowing you to upload a picture of yourself jumping – from your porch or into a pool – no matter where you’re located in the world. This cohesive act gives people a sense of commitment, but also a feeling that we’re all able to connect – for a common cause, for loved ones, for friends – without being limited by borders or bodies of water.

With that, we’re lucky to be partnering with a great organization to kickoff our launch: Solving Kids’ Cancer. They’re doing amazing things in supporting children who are battling cancer through support for therapeutic development and cancer research. We’re thankful to be in a situation to help out such a great organization and kids like my cousin who are fighting AND winning everyday.

Take a moment to learn more about us and then grab a camera & another person or tripod to capture & upload your moment in the sky, and support Solving Kids’ Cancer.

When it comes to the NBA and the word greatness, one person that will always pop up in our minds is Michael Jordan. We all know him for what he’s done on the basketball court and the success of 6 NBA Championships that followed. Countless MVPs, regular and postseason, All-Star Appearances, and a myriad of other accolades. The most noted achievement came last week as MJ was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2009.

It was inevitable, as we all knew even while he was still playing that he was a special player and that he’d be recognized for that one day. I admittedly missed watching the ceremony live on ESPN but I caught up with all the speeches online and was truly moved when listening to Michael talk about the game, but more so hearing more about his mentality as a competitor.

He’s fought every day to get to where he’s at today and he’s constantly pushed himself & his teammates to succeed. His motivation comes from his family, as well as from coaches and players that he’s connected with throughout his career. He used the naysayers and his competitors to push him and to prove them wrong.

This competitive nature was summed up at the end of his speech with this great quote:

Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.

Though his speech may have raised a bit of a debate as to whether he’s ‘too competitive’, no one can deny that his nature was that of non-complacency and is the reason why many of us think of him as one of the greatest players to play the game.

He never settled; nor did he ever give up.

He succeeded, but it was never enough.

Every one of his victories and championships were cherished like it were his first, but he was never satisfied. That passion and thirst for more from the game of basketball stayed within him – and I don’t doubt that same drive is still with him to this day.

So if you haven’t seen his speech, take some time out to watch it: part 1, part 2, part 3.

What do you think of his competitive nature? Is it extreme or is it something that can be instilled in all of us? I want to hear how someone’s own success inspires you.

Photo credit: barnezy

They’ve been talking about the company’s history, the bread, and the passion that has gone into this business for over 20 years. What stuck out to me, as I overheard/eavesdropped/call-it-what-you-want on their training, was what the class ‘leader’ said:

We build trust through our relationships with our customers and our community.

I found it inspiring to hear a brick & mortar business, let alone a restaurant/bakery, put such precedence on this statement. Why did I find such surprise in it? One – we unfortunately don’t see such a passionate offline business with equally as passionate employees, as we do with Panera. Two – we seemingly correlate trust, relationships and community specifically with the online space.

Is the offline space that much more different than online when building trust and a passionate community? Trusting relationships are around us in our everyday lives with our family and friends, but why does it seem that when it comes to business, it’s more easily conceived online than when face-to-face with your customers?

In my opinion, business cultures have gone off base to a point where connecting with their customers as more than just a $ sign is out of the realm of possibility – and that’s where it has to start, culture. Panera has been in business since 1987 and from what I’ve seen in my dozens of visits and now with this new-employee class, they’ve instilled such a culture and passion within the business itself that it’s what every employee seemingly lives & breathes.

Kudos to Panera, but what can other brick & mortar businesses do to instill this sort of culture and to gain their customers’ trust? Do you have an experience like mine that you’d like to add?

Sound off – the floor is yours.

Because following guidelines doesn’t always get you noticed.

Because letting your passion and personality ride you through gets people talking.

Because change is a good thing and it challenges people and their thinking.

Because being yourself will always be far better than trying to be someone else.

And because not conforming gives you great memories like this:

I found this video yesterday (thanks to @KatiRyan) when it was only at a few thousand views and it’s now blown up past 1mm (update: a day later and it’s now close to 5mm – wow). I’ve admittedly added to a few dozen of those views, but there’s something to it (minus the overall awesomeness of what this couple orchestrated at their wedding) that gets me excited and pumped about what is possible.

How can you step outside of the box today and challenge the world of conformity?

Enjoy your Friday!

I definitely got caught up in the moment and felt his emotions, those that only champions feel when accomplishing the goals they’ve set out for themselves. The Celtics set their goals before the season started and put their heart and soul into reaching it and did so as they became champions.

The goal of becoming a champion is no different in business than it is with sports. Regardless of what industry we’re in and what our job entails, we all (most?) strive to be a champion in one way or another. Whether it’s the small goals we set for ourselves or that one big illustrious accomplishment that we spend our heart and soul into (eg. Celtics). Whatever it may be, becoming a champion takes heart and dedication whether it be finally getting your MBA or nailing that first big client of yours.

I ask you, what makes you want to become a champion? What lights that fire inside of you and gets you going day in and day out? What makes you want to feel the emotion that Paul Pierce felt tonight receiving his ring? I want to hear from you.

Gary Vaynerchuk is as passionate as they come and if anyone is going to give you a kick in the butt about passion, he’s the man to do it. I’ve always watched his videos on GaryVaynerchuk.com & even on WineLibrary.tv (and I barely drink wine) and am able to take his energy from the videos and into my professional and even personal life. Seeing (and gratefully getting to speak & hang out with) him in person definitely multiplied the force of his words as I’m sure majority of the people at the keynote felt. Summing it up, he makes you want to get out and do 1,000 things. Powerful, to say the least.

The main points he made during the keynote was content and community – but the underlying piece was passion as it’s the cornerstone in creating and building on those two points. If you’re not passionate about what you do or don’t enjoy it, change what you’re doing. Passion is something he’s instilled throughout his entire company and it shows. I’ve listened to Gary for awhile and his emphasis on passion, loving what you do and turning that into constant hustle and hard work, but this time his words really opened my eyes to a light that I personally am striving for.

I truly have a passion for what I do – I love social media, learning & building day after day and helping grow the community I’m involved in and the relationships that are built just by caring about the people. There are goals, short-term and long, that I’ve set for myself and hearing last week’s speakers/keynote further embedded that bird in my ear that now is the time to step my game up to the next level. Make the effort and put in the hours towards this growing industry that I love and further build my brand equity.

I’ve had great people in my life, from my parents and loving sister to professional mentors that have instilled in me values that I hold close. Sometimes, regardless if the love is there, you need a kick start through someone else’s passion and drive to get you going on that extra gear.

In the end, it’s not just about Gary or his keynote or videos, it’s about realization – pay attention and you’ll see passionate people within any industry stick out like a sore thumb. Understand where you are and what you’re doing. Are you in a place that you want to be? Are you truly happy? If not, how and what are you going to change? I know what I have to do.

Networking and meeting people is always a big part of conferences but I honestly never expected to make the types of connections that I did this past week. Sure it’s probably a gimme that you’ll get to say hi to your favorite speaker or online influence while at the event, but I was lucky enough to actually spend time with them between & after events. I already had great online relationships with some of these people through Plurk and Twitter but meeting face to face further affirmed my thoughts about them.

This event really brought out the social aspect of social media. I never thought I’d spend my free time in Scottsdale hanging and joking with the very influencers I look up to and read on a daily basis. But in the end, I got what I put into it as I sought out to meet and connect with them as real people and not just business owners.

I look forward to further building these newly formed relationships and would like to personally thank again some of the people that made this event so great for me: Beth Harte, Frank Martin, Pam Martin, Amber Naslund, Ann Handley, Mack Collier, Connie Reece, Chris Brogan, Rohit Bhargava, Bryan Person, Christopher Penn and many others!

And as David Alston would say (or do, as you see above), peace out.