Over Half Way There

Okie folks, here’s the update for the week. All feedback is welcome. And this week I would love to know if you have any friends that are immigrants, specifically if they were refugees. I would also love it if any of you were expert writers to help me craft my mission statement!

Lastly, the quote for the day is from Dr Suess. It is at the top of the page and reads, “To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.” I have been holding this quote tightly to my person, and I hope you will too.

Some Updates on Finding Me

Hello there,

This is anew piece of me I want to show and talk about. It will be connecting some of the extra classes that I am taking and some of the project pieces for Change Leadership. I hope that you enjoy these videos and all the learning that I am doing!

This is the first video for 2021 and hopefully there will be more to come! Enjoy!

First Week, Here We Go!

The “Culture of Belonging” statement of the class is something that I have reviewed a lot and every time I am struck by the idea that this is our foundation. How many other classes, minors, or any group is structured around the idea of belonging and being purposeful in their creation of it. I also believe that we have a very unique way of approaching it. we come at it head first unlike a lot of other places right now whom acknowledge, but do not super engage this ideal. I adore this. This also isn’t just words to this community. we live this out in every class, every interaction, every time we engage with the world. So, when I hear and read these words, I feel loved and passionate about the world that I get to impact with me peers.

In order to be successful this quarter, I am putting together many POA’s or making them more and more detailed. I also am looking to find some way to connect with another student, I want to work along side them or in companion with them. I find that last quarter I was hurting because I did not have someone to meet up with and help keep me on track for the quarter. Plus it is always nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of and share the pains and joys of the venture. The other thing that I want to take advantage of is office hours. Meg and the teaching team are so helpful, but I forget that I can reach out for help from them as well.

This quarter, I am expecting to fail. With that in my mind I feel I can step forward and get excited about my projects. It is an  incredible journey that we are on and I really just want to dive into something that I can learn and grow from. I would also love to connect with another venture, as I am still uncertain about what I wish to be starting myself. I am expecting to have something to launch and then scale next quarter. I have no idea what that will be though. A goal I have placed in front of myself though is to start a mini series if videos detailing the process and time that I put in each week to myself growth and challenges of an entrepreneur.

This weeks learnings have been about leadership and how to measure out the new information so not only are your teammates not overwhelmed, but you can keep a handle on yourself as well. This has been a really fun project so far though. I am really enjoying my team and the areas we are exploring in the branding process right now. It has been such a unique and difficult challenge that I am enjoying. I really hope to carry this feeling and team work forward with me. As far as putting it toward my venture, I think my venture is growing myself through projects and trials. and this has helped to teach me that I can do the impossible. I am also learning that my team is larger than just the people in front of me at my meetings. The support I can give and am getting is incredible. I am ever so grateful for this minor once again.

 What sparks do you have and how are they inspiring your work?

Culture – creating and coming from different places. This is something that affects us and something we can change and yet it can seem so solid. The ideas and thoughts that come from culture is like sand when you can swim in it. See video https://youtu.be/My4RA5I0FKs 

Refugees – people who are trapped within themselves but that have the potential to change the world. These are the people that have felt some of the most drastic measures of the worlds problems. But they also can be the places where you find the most hope in humanity.

Mental Health – this is something that everyone should be learning to take care of. It is a real health problem and we need to care for ourselves as a whole being instead of piece by piece. I want to create a place where people know that and can easily have access to what they need.

(BTW the photo is of my dog in one of my favorite places.)

 

Last Post of Fall 2020

How did this quarter go for you? What did you love? What do you wish would have gone differently?

This quarter was kind of like my own personal hell. I constantly was confused and turned around in where I wanted to be and what I needed to be doing. I understand the idea of “don’t steal someone else’s struggle” but honestly a little push or some ideation couldn’t have hurt me that much. But I also think I struggled so much because I didn’t have a team or an idea I was overly passionate about. I fell into a rut and by the time I came out I was already half way through the quarter. So, yeah, I have been overwhelmed and kind of shot from ever having to do this again. But the next quarter is already sneaking up on us, so I am going to get myself ready and set up for success.

What did I love? I loved the connection I got to my E level. It was so incredible to connect with other entrepreneurs that are working on their own projects, but supporting one another. It was amazing, and made me smile on so many days that it had been difficult to get out of bed. I also loved the speaker series. That was so good. Hearing and connecting to people that have already gone out into the world and done incredible things as entrepreneurs is something that inspires me every time I heard them.

Different? I would have joined a team and let myself be a team player again and not the ideator. I also would have changed the timeline for the E4 exam. Holding that immediately after VP1 means that none of us had the chance to get started on our own ventures in a real capacity until weeks 3 or 4. I also would make sure that the traction journal groups are running smoothly. As I write this post I have never had any of my members interact with any of my posts. And to be honest, that really sucks. Why am I writing this and asking for feedback and connection if no one is ever going to ready it? Another thing I would change is making a place to connect and get to know the other E levels and their projects. I had no idea what any one was doing and I would have loved to hear about the cool projects that people were doing way before now. There are so many things that I would love to adapt and change in the program. And there are even more that I would have changed in what I did, but at the end of the day I am proud of what I learned about myself and the amount of work it took me to get here. So thank you for the amazing quarter, I’ll see you again in 2021!

One Week Left

What did you see that you loved at pitches this week? What went well this quarter?

I loved seeing the first ventures that my fellow E4s put together. We all were on our own for the first time in the minor and that felt like a special moment. I also loved seeing how and what the E1s put together. I guess overall I was just excited to see what everyone in the quarter had put together. It felt like this was the first time I had heard and seen any of the projects outside my E level’s.

As for what went well, ummm right now it didn’t feel like anything went well. The only thing I can think that went well was the increase in connection and support I felt from my E level. After the last quarter I am so glad I got to create that event with them, but working as colleagues in a larger organization in different department helping each other out, feels way more natural. I am really enjoying the dynamic our team has at the moment. As for me, I am proud of how many times I got back up when I was downed. I feel battered and injured in my mind, but I was able to get up and try again each time. And that feels like the biggest accomplishment in the world right now.

Anyways, I now have the mountain of a work load to complete before VP2 is due, wish me luck!

PITCH Tomorrow

Between now and Final Pitches, what traction steps do you need to make?

Between now and Pitch I need to finalize my Pitch deck, practice, and create some of the documentation for my journey. This seems overwhelming right now, as I have never Pitched on my own, and I am terrified that I forgot something. This quarter has felt like I am flying blind and just can’t seem to get my vision cleared. So putting my Pitch deck together has been a huge mess and I am more stressed than I have ever been for a presentation. I really hope I have everything together. Tomorrow I am going to practice a bit on my own and the hopefully someone in the community wants to practice together. Who knows if that can calm my nerves though. Lastly, the documentation. I think I completely forgot how much documentation we have to do in this class. I fell like it has snuck up on me, and maybe that’s because I am working all on my own this quarter. Oh well. Here’s to be proud of what I have done, no matter what happens tomorrow.

Cheers!

 

E4

Man, if you want to know what I am proud about, check out this assignment that I completed. I am always amazed at the incredible people that I get to connect to during this project. I’ll be posting about the people I meet over the next few weeks with links to their sites and projects. I really hope that you can appreciate these wonderful people like I do. I am going to say this again, but I love this project.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oPfd9C–PS4RZgk6KPDo450keZnTP2tk?usp=sharing

 

Keep Chuggin Along!

Let’s see what di I love this week? I loved getting to interact and watch all the different types of shift and shares there were. It was incredible getting to sit through them and just watch my amazing teammates passions come to life through the class. I also loved getting to be in a small group of students that just got some time to step aside and help each other on our projects. That was an incredible feeling and I got some amazing feedback. We all reached out and found the help that we needed at that time.

Somethings that really resonated with me from the workshops are just how you can develop skills and showcase new knowledge. There was a workshop that was purely lecture based and that was incredible. They gave so much information and I was able to understand that points that they wanted to get across. But then there was a workshop that was completely short assignment based. And as someone who learns more with the hands on approach I feel I learned more through their process. But both of those were incredibly helpful and awesome. I think this was one of the most interesting set of shift and shares that I have seen.

Moving forward with my venture, I am putting on the first event this week. So, I’m getting really prepared and making sure I have the pre-event BIC and test cards done. I really want to learn from this experience and find information to really help others. This week I really got help with putting my survey out there and know I can start into interviews as well. I am so hoping to find something valuable in my venture.

Here’s the poster for the event:

You’re INVITED!