Press(ing Foward)

It’s 5:30AM on Friday and I’m ready to rock with a busy day ahead of me.

It’s been a pretty awesome week with a lot of momentum continuing to push my work and life forward. We had some great media coverage with RTV6 doing a piece on Kids Riding Bikes.

16 months ago, I thought I might have to walk away from my passion at Nine13 because of the divorce and the huge shift in financial needs and responsibility that occurred during that. I feared a desk job. I feared a regular 9-5. I feared getting lost in the shuffle of a big corporate cog.

I was full of fear.

But that fear drove me, drove me to push myself harder than I had ever pushed myself previously. To spin off Nine13 from its original parent organization and to take control in a way that was decisive and allowed me to make the choices I felt best for the organization.

I haven’t always made the right choices. I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way when it has come to growing this organization. There isn’t a blueprint to follow for something like this, and let’s be real, I wouldn’t follow it anyways if I was offered one.

there is no blueprint to get to this point

Through our growth, the amount of grants we have received, the major corporate partners that have on-boarded over the last 6 months and that we’ll be announcing in the next few weeks; I’ve been continuously humbled about the reaction of others and their support of us.

Later this morning, I have a meeting with a potential donor that was introduced to me through a mutual professional friend. It’s the type of meeting I love, I have no idea what this person is interested in but they wanted to take a meeting with me and I hope my passion and excitement highlights why Nine13 is deserving of their dollars.

another day at the office, another camera to work around

For as often as I do say I’m an introvert, I also admit that I love the people side of what I do. At the end of the day, my job comes down to selling my passion and vision to others and I don’t think anyone has more passion than I do about the impact we’re making in the community.

I’m so glad that I followed my heart when it comes to what I felt was a true calling. It hasn’t always been an easy road, and I’m not sure it will ever become easier, but I know I’ve got a great team around me both personally and professionally.

2015, you’re shaping up to be more impressive than 2014.

Tailwinds,

-th