What Running has Taught Me About Entrepreneurship

Capstone Photography

I have never been a runner. In fact, if you met me in High School you would laugh that I’m even writing this since I never once made it around the track at a faster pace than a swift walk. I usually blamed it on my knees, or the fact that I get bored easily, or that I simply hated it. (How would I know, I never made it around the track?!)

Long story short – I now actually really enjoy running. Take that bad knees!

Today while running my usual route, I got to thinking about how my running goals have served me beyond I what I could have imagined. Running has re-inspired me after quite a low point in my life. My goals have given me focus, a new purpose, and the sense of accomplishment I needed to build back my confidence. I have proved myself wrong again, and that never gets old.

It was during these thoughts that I started to realize how much running has in common with entrepreneurship. Yup, I’m talking about lacing up your shoes figuratively and literally. Here’s what I came up with:

• Sometimes you literally run right into dog shit and well, you just have to keep on running. The smell wears off eventually and you learn a valuable lesson: always keep your eyes on the road in front of you.
• Strength is not measured by our mere physical capability. Almost anyone can run if they want to; what makes you a strong runner is your ability overcome all of your excuses to not go out and run each day. We’re all tired. We all have long days, a lot of bills, other to-do’s, worry it’s not the right time – but those are just excuses. If you want to start your own business, run an organization, or whatever your goal is; stop excusing your dreams. Be strong. Overcome your excuses.
• Success is self-defined. If you want to win first place, beat your PR, or run a million-dollar company – good for you. But if you just want to feel proud and healthy – sometimes all you need to do is start the race. Don’t let someone else’s idea of success ruin yours.
• It’s hard work! If running a half-marathon, marathon, or running a company were easy, everyone would do it. If you don’t feel like working that hard, then don’t – but don’t blame it on any of your excuses. (See 2^nd bullet)
• It is never actually about the race. Race day is wonderful, whether you’re running a 5k or a half marathon (I haven’t been yet, but will be soon!), but you don’t run just for race day - you run because you love the journey. It’s never about “getting there” it’s about being there, everyday doing something you love.
• Find the right partners. I can never run as well alone as I always go too fast and tire easily. When I run with my fiancé or my father, I can actually keep pace and run longer and stronger. Even if we don’t get there as quickly, getting there together is always more effective. Not to mention, accomplishing goals together creates stronger relationships and offers built in cheerleaders. Talk about multitasking!
•  You never know who you are inspiring. A few weeks ago during my 10k, I found myself in the midst of people who continued to stop and start. Not wanting to fall victim to the “stop,” I found a woman who was right in front me and let her be my inspiration; she kept me going and reminded me of my own strength through hers. And after time I realized I too couldn’t stop, just in case I was inspiring someone else to do the same.
• You don't have to earn the "title". I used to think I had to run a certain race before I could consider myself a "runner," and that running my tiny nonprofit didn't qualify me as an "entrepreneur". I surely had to run a larger company that earned more money in order to deserve that title. But both of these are lies. I am a runner because I tie my laces and go run. The mileage and money doesn't matter. If you're out there doing it, you already won.
• Be okay with the process. Some days you run two miles and you feel crap, and the next day you run seven and feel on top of the world.  You never know what kind of day it will be until you just go out and run. If that doesn’t represent entrepreneurship – well I don’t know what does.

Moral of the story is that I have yet again reminded myself of how far each of us can push ourselves. One goal leads to the next and as I continue my half-marathon training I know my journey as an entrepreneur is far from over…  


What about yours?

What has running, (or your physical goals) taught you? 

Many thanks to all the runners in my life and on my facebook feed that inspire me to keep running.

The Power of Reflection

It is amazing to me how often I see people forgetting that they are in control of their own story. We all do it… we get so busy going on a particular life path, and focus on the worry and the stress and the to-do lists that we become consumed by “going” and accomplishing... and forget if where we are going is really the right direction.

In many ways it is easier to just continue on the path you’re headed, expand your current efforts, and maintain the friendships you have.

Looking at my own life, it wasn’t until Cheti, (my nonprofit organization dedicated to creating educational opportunity for the impoverished youth of Tanzania), ran into hurdles that it ever occurred to me to just stop: stop working, stop writing, and stop worrying. I even remember my fiancé said “you know, you can take a day off from Cheti,” and I went on for about 20 minutes explaining why that was impossible.

What was I so afraid was going to happen?

I think I was afraid to stop because I was fearful of what I might see when I finally took the time to look.

Now after 5 months of “stopping,” reflection happened. I now see things that otherwise went unnoticed in my focused, dedicated mind. I saw that I had lost myself in my work, without time for other interests and hobbies. I could see that my personal values that had begun to shift. And as this reflection period continued, I began to foster new interests that I had not allowed myself to see before. I realized how similar this situation was to the minute I recognized nearly three years ago, “I need to leave NYC as soon as possible”! The city no longer fed my soul. It had made me cynical and hardened, and I finally allowed myself to see that my life there was no longer serving me.

I now see the power of reflection across all aspects of life. It allows us to view ourselves in our current situation from a bird’s eye view: the characters in our story, the plot, hear our soundtrack, and foresee the upcoming or current conflicts.

It gives us time to ask, is this the story I want to create? Does this person, project, job, relationship align with my core values? Does it provide me with what I want out of life, or do I need to change directions, write a new script, add a new character? Reflection challenges us.

In Physics, reflection is “the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated”.*

If you know that you love to feel free, you value family and friends before anything, and you are passionate about enabling creativity, then it should be easy to “clean house” of anything that doesn’t serve you in this way. If there are toxic relationships you are holding onto, unfulfilled passions brewing in your soul, projects draining your time and affecting your priorities; it is reflection that enables us to see these conflicts and then allow yourself to disengage from what isn’t working. Then, you can return to the “medium” from which you originated, staying true to you.

Not everything in life is intended to last forever, in fact most things don’t. Sometimes projects, jobs, partnerships, and friendships come into our lives to teach us something and then with time, they are meant to exit.

Through reflection we give ourselves the power to control these exits and ensure we are living a life that fulfills us. All we need to do is allow ourselves to stop, breathe, and constantly seek. Chapter after chapter, we can write our own story.

What is a method of reflection that you find works best for you?

Is there a time that you learned a valuable lesson about yourself through reflection?

(*Wikipedia)

Personal Discovery

As you may know, I ran into a challenge with my organization Cheti a few months ago. If you were not aware, you can read more about some of my learnings here.

The challenge itself was hard enough, but the biggest hurdle for me was actually the after-effect. After the dust settled and the chaos calmed… I was left picking up the pieces of my personal rubble. For almost four years, my self-identity was one with my organization’s mission; I was dedicated to creating educational opportunity to the impoverished children in Tanzania. I became this person that represented this organization who was chasing this one goal. My personal achievements were aligned with our organization’s successes, and my happiness and sadness was reliant on its' ups and downs.

It was overall a great feeling and brought upon my biggest sense of self-pride, (so far). I created something amazing, and it felt awesome.

But then we hit a turning point. I struggled to keep my personal composure, and as I started to step aside from my organization, I watched the personal “identity” which I had become, begin to fall apart. Who was I if I was not running the nonprofit? What did I stand for if it wasn’t education in the developing world? What was I doing with my life if it wasn’t creating and running this organization?

Months ago I had a conversation with a new friend, Emily Kerr, after reading her blog, and asked her how she overcame similar struggles. She explained to me that she finally realized her organization was an execution, but her main purpose and goal in life was larger than just one project. It took her time, but she finally hit the nail on the head when she realized what really makes her tick is creativity; finding it and enabling others to discover theirs. She said, as hard as it was to close her organization down after years of it ruling her life; it wasn’t over for her. She wasn’t done creating, developing, helping, and giving, it would just take a new form. 

This message really resonated with me and since that conversation I’ve been wracking my brain to find my own personal mission. What’s my theme… that one overarching passion that really lights my fire?

For months I’ve been pondering… reflecting, reading, painting, writing, yoga-ing, dancing, running, pinteresting, and mostly struggling… trying to find this passion back in myself. Had I lost all of my passion? Could I possibly be void of this drive that used to rule my heart, mind, and soul? 

I almost began to believe that passion is fleeting. I thought that passion, like puppy-love, could come in and out of our lives; seeming ever-important one day and gone the next, leaving nothing more than memories, pictures, and a small flame where a fire once stood.

Then, the other day, I was doing research at work that led me to reviewing what drives human behavior. As I’m reading back on Skinner and other behavioral theorists, it dawns on me… the root of all of my interests is exactly that: driving and changing human behavior.

With a background in advertising and a passion for international development (across education and health), I kept thinking; how can I make this all work together? How could I have missed this? 

Human behavior and changing it for the better... and just like that, I hit an internal spark. 

What's your overarching passion? What do you do to reflect? 

Searching For That Place Called “Home”

source: diaryofashoeaddict.blogspot.com

I’ve moved around a lot. Probably no more than the “average” in this day and age, but enough for me to feel confused about where I am from, where “home” is, and where I ultimately belong.

I’m from Northern Virginia and by that I mean I lived there for most of my childhood, have my happiest memories, and feel that nostalgic sense of belonging. However since then, I’ve moved to Orlando, to NYC, and back to Florida.

A large majority of my friends and acquaintances seem to follow this type of path, while a select few never left where they were originally planted. Is it better to never leave one place, or never know where home is? When does the moving around end? Where are we supposed to "settle"?

I know the answer is wherever we want to “settle”, if we want to “settle”. But the paradox of choice sets in and just leaves me more unsettled. I have this overwhelming concern that I will never attain that full-contentment, or that I will always feel like I could be happier in another place. You see, after high-school my parents moved to Florida. I pretend like I can’t stand Florida and every time I’m there feel the urge to leave as soon as possible. (In my defense, it is extremely hot and I am very pale. The two will never mix well).  So after my second-term living in the Sunshine-state, my then boyfriend and I decided to move back to the Northern Virginia area.

I was sure that I would feel like I was home. I would be back on my old turf, chock-full of good memories and favorite places to create new ones.

But it didn’t. My family was no longer there and that ultimate feeling I was looking for no longer existed. So my now fiance and I, have since decided to move on again and try something new all together… Connecticut. 

(We are hoping the idyllic views, lesser chance of sunburn, and smaller-town feel will be just what we need in this new chapter… if nothing else, we'll get some great photos...)

source: www.virtualcities.com 

I used to thrive off the excitement of new chapters, new friends, different experiences, and new stories to write in my hypothetical novel that I would hypothetically write one day about my life-adventures. But now that I am “old,” I just want to find home.

I want to belong to a community. To have close family around that can help when you’re in a bind. I want good friends that I can relate to, cook dinners with, and laugh over good wine. I want to feel secure, safe, and happy. After talking to many friends, I do not think I am alone in this search.

How can we be blamed for this confusion and endless hunt? Our culture promotes moving around. We are practically pushed out of our high-school desks into the wild and told to pick a good-looking college. We can pick any one of the schools, in any one of the fifty states to apply to. Once we are through college, we are urged to get the best job in the best city. Not our city; the other city. We are constantly moving, constantly searching for a better cost of living, better job opportunities, and improved “quality of life”.

The problem is now that no one is ever actually invested in a particular community. We are all just passing through; waiting for the next opportunity and next move. It is why small businesses around the country are failing, and why no one feels the extra buck is worth purchasing locally grown foods. It’s why Thanksgiving is the most obnoxious time to travel. And why we are lucky if Christmas break allows one day with our families. Gone are the days we knew the shop-owners down the street, and the farmers who grew our food. We have moved past the village mentally; believing whole-heartedly that our own independence is all we need.  We have become so busy focusing on our own short-term happiness that we leave our homes in search of better houses.

Our society has physically grown apart.

I realize this may not resonate with some of you as you’ve found your home. Maybe it was not the first place you lived, but you ultimately found where you love living. I hope we all can find and reside in a place we love; a place that encourages us to give back to our communities, invest in our neighborhoods, and better our homes for future generations.

As I start this new chapter, in this new town, in this new state… I wonder if I can really be the change I'm preaching or if society has pervaded my perceptions too far and I will continue on in this search for a place called "home". 

What do you think? Have you found "home"? What does "home" mean to you?

In the Business of Helping Others, Put Yourself First

Recently, I ran into a hurdle with my organization Cheti. The journey to, over, and past this obstacle has been as much a discovery of myself as it was of others. I have seen that during the last three years I have been so concerned with moving things forward that I never gave myself the time I needed to evaluate. It is through this journey that I have finally been able to reflect.

This post is the start to a short series on the lessons I learned through this experience. The lessons may seem self-explanatory, and if so – congrats; you are smarter than me. But hopefully they prove valuable to others who are just starting in this journey or find themselves in similar positions.  

The first and most important lesson is to put YOU first.

This seems strange since we all focus on the impoverished communities we aim to assist, the individuals who deserve so much more than they have, how fortunate we are to have opportunities, and how we should all take a giant leap of faith to assist others.

But what I rarely hear about is the importance of maintaining a well-balanced lifestyle, keeping our sanity, resting, and fostering and embracing all of our personal interests. When I first started Cheti, I saw it as a side project and still maintained a social life, a full-time job, other interests and hobbies. Quickly all of this changed. I quit my job to pursue my passion, and like a flash; Cheti became my life.

I was passionate, I was dedicated, and I believed full-heartedly in my mission. Who could stop me, and why would you? I was making moves. Cheti was growing. The number of child sponsors we acquired continued to grow, our team was expanding, our revenue was tripling annually, and our partnerships were strengthening. Yet what I failed to see was what was happening to my life.

There is no question you need to be a dedicated workhorse to accomplish entrepreneurial success, but you must find a balance or you risk loosing it all.

For example, all of my personal passwords were related to my organization. I wasn’t able to attend four of my good friend’s weddings, (one of which, I was in!), because I was too broke, again, due to my dedication to Cheti. I quit my full-time job twice. I moved in with my parents and lived in a 50+ retirement condo. I spent endless hours, days, weekends “in” because I had to finish that PowerPoint, or launch a brand new program. I stopped having anything interesting to read or talk about that didn’t involve poverty in Africa, education, or social impact. I had to start babysitting again at the age of 27 to pay rent. I lost touch with people I used to call best friends and frustrated my boyfriend with my barely-there existence. I forgot about my interest in the arts, my passion for dance, and my need for a close circle of friends. I gave my organization everything I had: my time, my money, my heart, my passion, my "career", my motivation, and my drive.

This all sounds so inspiring, doesn’t it? That is, until you realize how quickly this lifestyle can burn you out. After years of this dedication, it does not take much to tip you over the breaking point. If you have ever been there, you know exactly what I mean. You feel depressed. You are exhausted mentally and physically. The gym is a stretch and you spend hours a day searching Pinterest for the inspiration you used to breathe out. You are disappointed in yourself for loosing interest in something that you believed was your life’s work. You believe your efforts were a waste. You find it impossible to make decisions or take steps in any sort of a direction. It physically hurts you when people ask about your work. 

It sucks.

The point of this article is to prove how invaluable it is to yourself, the people you are trying to help, and the world as a whole, to respect yourself and the impact you are making enough to put yourself first. You cannot do anyone any good if you are drowning in a pool of self-inflicted misery in your bed.

So it is with great pleasure, a new mindset, and a work-in-progress “pinspiration” board, that I give you my #1 lesson: in the business of helping others, put yourself first. 

If you're not sure what that means, here's some suggestions:

6 Simple Rituals to Reach Your Potential Everyday

Personal Goal Setting

Preventing Burnout: Signs and Symptoms

We are All Heroes.

Recently people have given me compliments that genuinely make me feel uncomfortable. I am not doing anything that anyone else cannot do. I am no genius, I am not a doctor, nor a teacher, nor a mother. I'm just a girl trying to figure out the balance between passion, human capacity, and the needs that define our society. I typically spend my days concerned that I'm not doing x, y, or z correctly and that I'll fail. And I'm broke. Can anyone really be an inspiration when they're worried every week that they can't pay rent and buy dog food?

While I appreciate these comments, (as they usually keep me going), I think they're inaccurate. I think our society forgets to celebrate what really is "social change".

So, I want to take the time to celebrate everyone.

I want to first call out my mother, who has given everything in her life to teach me true compassion and the value of hard work. I have never met another individual who has a bigger heart or cares more about humanity. I also want to highlight all of my friends and family who are teachers, who dedicate their lives to teaching our somewhat impossible next-gen students about English, math, aeronautical engineering, and speech, but most importantly what it takes to be a good citizen in our society. And to my lawyers, who fight for human justice, and I don't mean in an international court of law. I mean everyday they go to work and use their knowledge and skills to ensure moral practice and positive outcomes are made for the greater good.

These are just a few examples. There are business executives, accountants, marketers, scientists, artists, farmers, stay-at-home mothers, and of course, all of our brave military men and women. Everyday each of us give ourselves to the greater society in someway, and our efforts do not go unnoticed. It is literally in our hands to create the world we want to live in.

And yes, new ideas, sustainable nonprofits, and inventive for-profit approaches to alleviating social issues are all wonderful. We need much more of them. But real social change is about everyone around the world, making moral decisions, standing up for what they believe in, teaching their youth and acting out of respect and understanding. It is about working hard and doing a good job, in whatever it is that you do. Imagine what our world would look like if everyone did this, everyday?

Our world is beautiful because people are good. People do good things for and to other people and we should celebrate that, and honor one another for being our own heroes.

Lessons on the Journey.

I've had several questions come through the inbox regarding how I got started... how did I know what the right path was... essentially asking, how do you take the jump and where do you jump?

I thought I would take the time to share a few of the key lessons I have learned in this journey in social entrepreneurship. Some might think they're obvious, but for me, and probably similarly for most Type "A", driven individuals, we find a goal and just GO. We see the end of the light at the tunnel and we just don't stop to collect the $200. When we finally get there, we realize we misstepped, or could have done things differently. 

There were steps and situations where I had to teach myself each of the things below... hoping that by understanding these lessons more people can find their own path or at least encourage people to act! 

So here's my top 6 lessons. Would love to hear your thoughts!

1. Stop talking. So many people are convinced they want to do good; that they want to provide value to the world and to their communities. And guess what -- they keep talking about it!! This does nothing for themselves, their communities, or the world. Stop talking so much! The world needs a bit fewer positive words, and much more positive action.

2. Align your heart with your life. If you really truly believe in something - enough to do something about it, take a SERIOUS look at your calendar and your bank statement. Where are you spending your money? What are you doing with your time? Time is precious, more so than our money and if you are wasting it away on nights out drinking and watching reality TV shows - how can you fit in your life what it truly is you want to do? There's no harm in vegging out - but make sure it actually aligns with what YOU really want out of life. 

[Side story] After finally leaving my job full-time to become "full-time" at Cheti, I feel for the first time in my life that all of my being is aligned. What I think about, what I care about, what I want to do, what I do do, and where I spend my time and my money are all aligned with the same goals. You will never find true peace until you're able to commit for and to yourself and your vision.

3. Getting "off track" is the best, and most defining part of your life journey. Travel. Quit your job and study something you love. Join a group you never felt like you belonged. Volunteer regularly. Pretend like you're doing a documentary (or really create one?) and interview people you never understood - ask them questions. All of these activities take you out of your bubble and enable you to see things differently. It is when we are finally able to step aside, that we are able to see ourselves from a higher view-point. From up there, you can see what you want to change and where you want to go. 

4. Just ask. I never realized how willing people would be to give, donate, help, support, guide until one day I just quit being so prideful and just ASKED for it. Now I ask for something every day. I don't get everything, (wouldn't that be a nice world?), but I certainly get more than if I never asked at all! 

5. We are all in it together. I mean this in a couple of different ways. So I'll make sure I'm clear. 

- All of us social do-gooders are in it together - fighting poverty, alleviating hunger, and saving the globe from environmental disasters. We need to stop the fighting, competing, and trying to one-up each other and learn to partner better; grow together, accomplish more, and witness real change. 

- All of us in the world are in it together - the globe isn't getting bigger, there's just more and more of us people populating, absorbing resources, and populating more. Sounds a bit like a people problem --- therefore, there's got to be a people solution to all of our issues. We created them all. If you're a person - take accountability and do something about it. We're in it together. 

6. Be not afraid of your weaknesses. This is one of the hardest lessons for me, and continually is. To acknowledge a weakness takes personal character to begin with. Then to recognize that it's okay I'm not great at "x", how can I work around it, or ASK to still reach my goal? Example: I went to Tanzania at first to teach English. What did I learn 1.5 weeks in? I can't really teach. So what did I do? Tried to find another way I could apply my strengths to still accomplish the same goal - help these children I loved. By understanding our weaknesses, we can find ways learn, work-around, or partner.