While working on Change Leadership this quarter, I was having a conversation with one of my mentors. She is a multi buisness entreprenur, designer, coach and most importantly a bad-ass #changemaker. And I mean that in every way possible. Her name is Laurel, and she has the talent of running a business where everyone feels included, safe, valued, and respected.
Her community is loyal because she is loyal. Her athletes are respectful because she speaks to them with respect. Her staff values her opinion because she values THEIR opinion. And, so on. She is able to live true to her values because she has values. Anyways, I bring Laurel into this post because something you said during our conversation really stuck with me and I wanted to share it with you.
I asked her, “If there were three pieces of advice you would give to your 27 year old entreprenurship self, what would those three things be?”
She said, “Dream really, really, really BIG. And then when you think you’ve dreamed big, dream bigger. Because what you think was impossible, is probably very much achievable, keep reaching. Two, never ever give up. Truly, don’t give up. And three, ask questions. Keep asking questions of those in the industry you are in or want to be in. Their knowledge base is priceless for you moving forward.”
So every morning I write down this affirmation:
I dream really big, then bigger. I never ever give up. And I keep asking questions to those in my industry.
Hope this brings some light and purpose to your day. I am very, very grateful for the light that is brought through this program.
How did this quarter go for me?
“We stand today united in a belief in beauty, genius, and courage, and that these can transform the world.”
― Jane Addams
This quarter was one of learning, traction, and growth. I learned a lot about time management and balance of other classes. I learned a lot about balance as far as LIFE and full time school. But my favorite parts about this quarter were the connections I continued to make throughout the E&I community. Mannnn, this program is full of open minded, DRIVEN, positive, hard working, human-centered entrepreneurs. I have yet to experience a program like it. The only aspect of my life I could compare it to would be athletics and how that feels to be both a coach and an athlete on a winning team. Which how cool is that to be able to compare an academic class to the same feelings of belonging as a sports team?!! Really rad.
Again, this quarter was AMAZING.
What did I love?
What I loved about this quarter was the struggle, to be honest. More specifically, the beauty in the struggle. This was not an easy project. Our team morale was shaky and bumpy in the beginning, we were walking into a type of project we had never tried before and it was quarter 3 of the school year.
But I think we all were committed to this program and jumping all in no matter what. We learned A LOT. We pivoted. We re-evaluated. We had some tough conversations. We burned out at points. But you know what?!
We also ended up SOARING. Everyone brought so much skill and passion to this venture, to our team, and to our client. The team showed up to each meeting with the drive to accomplish what we set out to do.
Our team and I had GREAT and professional interviews with real-time entrepreneurs and I think that was the most valuable lesson of the quarter. Learning and practicing empathy in the world of business? That’s the game changer.
What do I wish would have gone differently?
A list:
I wish I would have been able to commit more time to VP2. Balancing a full time credit schedule just made this really hard to accomplish.
I wish I would have had more time to learn about business consulting vocab.
I wish, event tho the direction we ended up going was awesome, I wish we would have chose a business that we all felt really passionate about in regards to showing up for the world that felt meaningful. But again, we learned a lot which was the point.
I wish we would have had a little more time in to focus on one project at a time. VP1 was SO FAST and then adding the peer reviews on top of all the other projects made it difficult to prioritize.
#summer2021
Thank you everybody for a fantastic quarter and all the support. I will be headed to Atlanta this week to start my internship which kicks of with coaching at one of the best gymnastics camps in the USA. My biggest hope for this summer is to use my love of writing, creativity and social entrepreneurship to develop and share a new blog, documenting my time and experiences as I journey forward. If anyone has some advice on the best blog platforms, please let me know 🙂
Kristina,
What an inspiring journey you are taking us on through your traction journal. You have such an authentic way of communicating the growth trajectory that you are on that is impossible not to root for you so hard as a classmate. I am so excited for this summer’s opportunities and can share in the joy of your team’s perseverance and passion which resulted in a really impressive E2 project. I’ve got so much appreciation for the grit and passion that you bring to this community, I am really looking forward to see the ways in which you continue to flourish in this program.
all the best,
-Gavin:)
Kristina,
You mentioned loving the struggle, I never really consider that but in many ways I now realize that I truly do too, especially with my personal venture I feel like these past quarters have been really stressful and exhausting as I build this up but Im in love with the handwork its going to take, nothing will be easy or handfed out and the beauty is really in going out putting in the work and achieving what you dream, so yes I love the struggle as well and will continue to kick its butt in future work, projects, and venture. Im glad that overall this quarter was a success for yourself and the teams you worked with, it was a pleasure getting to be apart of your amazing traction journals, I was always excited to read them as they are so informative and engaging. I wish you the best in your next quarters with the E&I and nothing but the best of luck on your personal venture I don’t doubt you’ll do amazing things. Have a fantastic summer break and continue to be that aspiring #changmaker.
Best wishes,
Saul M.
The dedication you put into these traction posts is the same dedication you give in every aspect of your life that I have seen. Your dedication to our VP2s, working out, learning and to the people you love in your life. You have so much care and passion for life, it is so inspiring! I have loved getting to know you these past two quarters and can’t wait to learn more about you and hear about the interesting things you are doing with you life! Good luck on your internship, you are going to kill it in Atlanta!!! <3
Hey Kristina!
What a quarter it was indeed! It was quite the journey as E2’s, but we made it through. I enjoyed reading your journals throughout the quarter so much. They were always incredibly inspiring and great reads to add some light to the week. You always asked though provoking questions to the reader, and gave inspiration and awesome resources for us to check out. I always looked forward to your updates on your guys’s project. Overall, It was awesome to work with you this quarter on our VP1, and be in the same quad, and I hope I get to work with you again come fall quarter. Have a great summer!
Jacob