Pacing, Stressing, and Along for the Ride

A big ball of stress. That’s the best way to describe me this week.

Tonight we find out how Nine13 fared in the Lids Foundation Tip the Hat contest at their awards gala. It’s been a pins and needles week as we wait to find out if we won $125,000, $75,000, $50,000, or $25,000. It’s something that I have zero control over, the voting ended weeks ago, and I know my entire team put forth the best possible effort to fight for the top.

We’re honored to be a finalist, and any amount of money goes a long way to impacting Kids Riding Bikes programs in Central Indiana and Portland, Oregon……but after four years of studying cash flows and impacts created per dollar, I know what is truly possible with those top level awards and I know the true impact that we can create for youth with it.

I’m so incredibly proud of my staff, our community, and the kids we are fortunate to serve. In a lot of ways, I feel like Cinderella going to the Ball, still coming to terms with the fact that we are at the adults table when it comes to things like this and we’ve been kicking some serious ass across the industry.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the first 100 days of 2016 and what they meant to me, how they’ve changed me, and what I’ve learned from them. It’s sort of surreal to think about all that happened in the first chunk of this year. There were glimmers of better days in the first 100, but damn, they came in the midst of some really dark hours.

It seems like the second 100 days of this year, even though we’re just getting into them, that the tide is changing. There is an energy in the air that I feel. There is the warmth of love around me. We’ve had some pretty awesome milestones just in the last couple weeks—grants from major players in town, new programs rolling out, positive momentum that helps me separate from the past and look positively towards the future.

Whatever happens tonight, it’ll be great.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be pacing for the next 7 hours.

Cheers,

-th