This episode is just what the title suggests: I'm working on turning my embarrassment into excitement.
The story about me being such a terrible french horn player that I ultimately quit primarily because I refused to practice. Even worse, I refused to practice regularly because I was so embarrassed about being bad. I dreaded practicing and dreaded having anyone think that I wasn't naturally Jon Batiste (shout out Jon Batiste, a true musical genius of our time). I have to admit that I'm still embarrassed by so much. I'm now attempting to embrace that embarrassment and not let it hold me back from chasing new ventures.
So if I'm going to truly talk about showing what it's like to build something from the start and to learn new skills from the ground up, then that means that I actually have to showcase my embarrassment and, even further, capitalize on it. Instead of deleting things like the livestream that I attempted for the first time or leaving the dream of this project because it's the first time I've every truly chased a dream like this on my own, I'm actually doing it despite the embarrassment (or maybe because of the embarrassment?). You might say that I'm channeling the plants that I love growing. They start small. Some were cut off from the larger plant they were once part of. They were then put in water on their own and then slowly started growing their own roots, finding their way into their new homes, and growing their own leaves being whole plants themselves. Perhaps I relate to these plants more than I realized. Just like how much I love watching them grow and evolve, I'm opening up this process for you to watch me grow and evolve with this project.
Lesson that I keep relearning the hard way: Life is messy. People are dynamic. The world is grey. While Veronica (Interview 4/100) used Nike to spark her creativity to pursue a career in sports marketing and sports management, Kyle Parsons (Interview 7/100) used Nike as an example of companies not focused on sustainable manufacturing. The reality is that both things can be true. Nike can both be a company inspiring greatness, but it can have room for improvement in its use of sustainable materials.
That's also why I build in the grey-ness of life into strategic plans when working with companies through CFG, LLC. (Hit me up if you're interesting in how we might be able to work together to further your business's community involvement!) Trust me, I love a plan. I also recognize that plans need to change (cue my road trip analogy).
What I’m watching: my plants grow. I know, I know, it’s a typical millennial woman activity, but I love that it’s a tangible look at something actually grows (sometimes it’s a failure and dies) and evolves. If that’s not a metaphor for this entire Capitalism for Good project, especially the parts that are beyond the 100 leader interviews, I don’t know what is.
I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but here’s where I’m putting my money: bamboo tissues, toilet paper, and toothbrushes (and really any item that I can find to swap out plastic for a compostable and biodegradable bamboo products). Shout out to Emma (Interview 5/100) for also using bamboo to make their sustainable toothbrushes at MABLE.
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