Not for Sale

As a young man, Art was just over five feet tall.  His family had moved from Brooklyn to California when he was a boy, and based on his small stature, people suggested that he’d make a perfect jockey.  At the age of 17, he found work at a California horse ranch.  There, Art was taught all about horses, from breeding to riding.  He had found his passion.

Within a year, Art’s job was to ride the horses to get them into condition for competitive races, in which they’d be ridden by their jockeys.  He began working with a horse called Swaps, who showed potential as a contender for the Kentucky Derby.  However, the popular belief was that few horses from California could match up with those born and bred in Kentucky.  Nevertheless, Swaps was entered, and Art rode cross-country in a train car with the horse, sleeping alongside him on a bed of straw for the four night trip to Kentucky.  It was worth the long trip, though, because Art got to see Swaps ride to victory in the derby against several heavily favored East-coast rivals.

Art became a jockey two years later.  He won numerous races, including one where he was awarded his trophy by the future President of the United States, and another in which he beat one of his idols.  Art rode professionally for more than 20 years, but never won any of the major races.  At the age of 42, he became a professional trainer, still living and working in California.

In 2008, a man named Steve Coburn was working for a company that made magnetic strips for credit cards and hotel keys.  His job was literally to press the magnetic strips onto the cards.  It was tedious work, and he often found himself daydreaming of a different life.  Eventually, he was able to act on a long-time dream, partnering with his good friend Perry Martin to put up $8,000 to buy an older race horse for breeding purposes.  The two friends had never owned a horse before, and didn’t really know what they were doing.

The day they bought that old mare, a nearby horse expert actually blurted out, “only a dumbass would buy that horse!”  In response, Steve and Perry jokingly named their new partnership, “Dumb Ass Partners,” and had a logo made of a bucktoothed donkey.  Regardless of what people said, they shared a dream, and invested another $2,500 to breed their horse.  To put this investment in perspective, most owners spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a colt with the qualities to win.

A few weeks before the mare gave birth, Steve dreamed that the foal would have four white feet (often thought to be bad luck in racing circles) and a large white stripe called a “blaze” down its nose.  Sure enough, the chestnut colt had exactly those markings, and they took it as a good sign.  Perry brought their young colt to be trained at Art’s stable.  Now in his 70s, Art had never been responsible for training a top-tier horse, but something about this one was different. 

On May 3^rd, 2014, California Chrome became just the fourth California-born-and-bred race horse to ever win the Kentucky Derby.  No horse from California had done it in more than 50 years, and it had been nearly six decades since the 77-year-old Art Sherman had been involved with a derby horse.  Talk about waiting patiently to fulfill a lifelong dream!

Amazingly, just a few weeks before the derby, owners Steve and Perry turned down an offer to sell control of California Chrome for 6 million dollars.  Turning down $6 million on a horse in which they’d invested only $10,500 may have seemed foolish, but they weren’t just in it for money.  They had put work, love and faith into their young champion, and wanted to see it pay off at the highest level of competition in the sport.  Their dream was not for sale.

We all have dreams in life, and very often, people may suggest we try other paths.  Art Sherman’s steadfast determination in sticking with his dream for over sixty years shows how putting security over doing what you love isn’t the road to success; do what you love, become great at it, and success will inevitably follow.  And the belief shown by Perry Martin and Steve Coburn demonstrates that sometimes you just have to follow your instincts, even if popular wisdom says to do otherwise.  In the words of Steve himself, “If you’ve got a dream and you’re willing to ride it out, it will come true for you.  We’re living proof!”

Until Next Week,

Live Your Dreams!

The Next Big Thing

Mo got his love for fashion from his well-dressed dad and grandfather, who always looked sharp and believed in the importance of dressing for success.  As a young kid growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, the hats and shoes Mo picked out were always striking, and he described himself as a classy kid who liked to dress up nice.   Even at a young age, when his mother would take him shopping, he said he only wanted to buy things that “spoke to him.”  As far back as the age of four, Mo would wear ties and blazers not just for special occasions, but to play outside, ride his bike, and walk around his neighborhood.

However, one of the things speaking to him was a desire for fashionable, contemporary bow ties, and no matter where he looked, he just couldn’t find any that fit his taste.  That’s when he decided to learn how to make the bow ties he wanted himself.

At the age of 9, Mo’s grandmother, a nearly 80-year old seamstress, showed him how to use her scrap fabric and sewing machine to design his own bow ties.  He was very particular about the styles, creating ties that ranged from traditional polka-dots and stripes to multi-colored paisley and even sports team-themed ties.  As he got better, he realized that what he was doing might be something more than just a way to create bow ties for himself.  He had located a void in the market, which meant he had a business on his hands.

With the help of his mother and grandmother, Mo began selling his handmade bow ties and spreading the word.  Soon, news of the young fashion entrepreneur got out.  Online sales were taking off, and boutiques in Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina and Arkansas were carrying his wares.  His mother soon became a full-time employee of Mo’s Bows, of which Moziah “Mo” Bridges was the CEO and self-described NBT (Next Big Thing).  By the time Mo was 12, Mo’s Bows had earned over $30,000, and was featured on The Today Show, Forbes, The Steve Harvey Show and in O, The Oprah Magazine.

Recently, Mo appeared on the business reality show Shark Tank, where he actually refused a monetary offer of $50,000 in order to secure a guarantee of mentorship by clothing mogul Daymond John.  One of the most successful ways to get where you want to be in life is to surround yourself with people who can help you get there.  We call this building your Dream Team, and Mo has taken a great step by adding Daymond John to his team.  John, who got into the clothing business by sewing his own wool hats as a teenager and selling them on the streets of his neighborhood, also once refused an investment in order to maintain his own direction.  Ultimately, his clothing brand FUBU would come to be worth hundreds of millions.  Mo himself plans to attend design school, and intends to have his own fashion line by the time he is 20.

Are you ever too young to start following your dream?  Many of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs don’t think so.  Richard Branson, who started his first business at the age of 9, says he wish he had started sooner.  He went on to found Virgin, the billion-dollar company that has seen Branson expand into everything from music to cellular phone service to consumer space travel.  Ralph Lipshitz, the youngest of four brothers who grew up sharing a single bedroom in The Bronx, New York, fell in love with fashionable clothes while in the seventh grade.  At the age of 12, he began selling hand-made neckties to fellow students.  He also worked in department stores after school to save up to buy the clothes he wanted.  We know him now as Ralph Lauren, the billionaire founder of the Polo clothing line, and one of the richest men on the planet.

Sometimes what you need isn’t age, experience, or even money.  All of those can help you reach your goal, but the most important asset to finding your way to success is the willingness to take the first step.  The saying, “Put your money where your mouth is!” isn’t talking literally about money; it means that anyone can talk about what they want to do, and you should differentiate yourself by being a person who actually takes action.  Ralph Lauren did it.  Daymond John did it.  And now Moziah Bridges is doing it.  Think about what you’d like to be doing, what speaks to you, and figure out how to take action to start making it happen in your life!

Until Next Week,

Live Your Dreams!

Running on Love

Patrick was a runner.  When he met Jessica, it wasn’t her personality or even her fabulous smile that he noticed first.  It was her legs ‒ because she was a runner, too.  Jessica had just come from the gym and stopped by her friend’s apartment to say hi.  There, she was introduced to Patrick.  He was 22, 2 years younger than she was, and he became tongue-tied immediately.  Not being prepared for an extended encounter with the new guy on the couch, Jessica declined her friend’s invitation to stay for dinner and made a quick exit.  But the seed was planted.

As it turned out, Patrick and Jessica began working in the same part of town and kept bumping into each other.  Finally, he gathered up the courage to ask her out.  They began dating, and his nervousness melted away as he found he could make her laugh.  Their real connection, though, happened when they started running together.

Several years later, the pair had weathered a long-distance relationship, graduate school, career changes, and eventually got married.  Patrick, warm, generous, and private, was a psychology doctoral candidate planning to work with traumatized children.  Jessica, an energetic transplant from California, was an oncology nurse who connected easily with terminal patients.  The newlyweds had been living for some time in Boston, a city they both loved, but were leaving soon for San Francisco, where Patrick was set to begin a psychology fellowship.  They still shared a love for running, and decided to attend the Boston Marathon one more time before starting their new life on the other side of the country.

The events of the Boston Marathon bombing are known to many, but for Patrick and Jessica, the horrors of that day were firsthand.  They were both victims of the first blast.  Not knowing how badly hurt she was herself, Jessica’s nursing instincts spurred her to immediately tourniquet Patrick’s injured leg with her purse straps.  The back of her own clothes were on fire, and after a stranger pressed her to the pavement to extinguish the flames, four men hurriedly loaded her onto a stretcher. 

Initially taken to separate hospitals, they each underwent emergency surgery.  In the end, both lost a leg, with Jessica’s remaining leg needing a great deal of reconstruction as well.  No other couple had sustained such similar injuries and both survived.  Two weeks later, they were reunited in adjoining hospital beds.  The tragedy they had been part of and the pain and difficulty they had yet to experience would be immeasurable, but at least, somehow, they were still together.

The uplifting epilogue to these horrific events was the speed and generosity with which people moved to help, from family members to complete strangers.  A friend created a “Help for Patrick and Jess” website within a few hours, featuring their engagement photo and a plea for anything anyone could do.  People didn’t hesitate. 

Within two weeks, more than 13,000 people had contributed more than $840,000 to help.  Their friends brought them hundreds of meals, which continued to arrive months after Patrick and Jessica returned home from the hospital.  When they moved from their third-floor walkup to a more easily accessible space, the moving company refused to accept payment.  Employees of the hospital where Jessica worked, from housekeeping to management, donated their own vacation hours to keep her employed, enough that she’ll be on the clock until 2017 and still receiving the health insurance she and her husband both had through her job.

The most difficult thing for each of them was being physically unable to tend to the other.  To help with this, a non-profit organization called NEADS, which trains assistance dogs for people with disabilities, gave Patrick and Jessica a black Labrador retriever named Rescue who has truly helped enhance the quality of their lives.

This year, on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy, Jessica and Patrick participated in the Handcycle division of the Boston Marathon, no small feat considering that they were among the worst injured and last to leave the hospital following their injuries.  As they rebuild their lives, they are deeply aware of the incredible spirit of giving that has characterized every day since. 

The outpouring of kindness, generosity and love that Patrick and Jessica experienced is the Live to Give Mindset in action.  It’s when we seek ways to help and empower others with no hidden agenda.  If you’re looking for more love, kindness and even abundance in your life, the process begins by giving these very same things away to others first.  The best way to recycle love is to practice it every day.

Until next week...

Live Your Dreams!

Who’s the Boss?

Entrepreneurial blood had always coursed through Sophia’s Greek-American family.  She grew up surrounded by business owners, with one grandfather running a piano shop, the other in charge of a motel.  Her father sold mortgage loans, and her mother was a realtor.  No one she knew worked “normal” 9 to 5 jobs for guaranteed salaries.  Sophia herself started buying books on business startups at the age of 9, and she was the “president” of her street’s lemonade stand.

When Sophia was 10 years old, both her parents lost their jobs due to the economic recession, but they taught her how to adjust and move forward.  They cut up their credit cards.  They took Sophia out of private Catholic school to save the tuition money.  And they got a family paper route that had Sophia leaning out the window of her father’s Jeep at 6 a.m. delivering newspapers.  They got by.

Sophia’s first real job was in high school as a “sandwich artist” at Subway.  There, she took note of her directionless co-workers – many of them high school dropouts –  and vowed to be different, channeling her ambition into making sandwiches as efficiently and perfectly as possible.  She was restless in her suburban life, though, and eventually left school to complete her education on her own, receiving her diploma in the mail.  

By the time she was in her early 20s, Sophia had worked ten different retail jobs, including a shoe store, record shop, and two photo labs.  She was attending art school as a photography major and began to wonder about her life’s direction.  She spent her free time online.  She noticed a lot of people selling vintage clothing on eBay and promoting themselves via MySpace.  Sophia wore nothing but vintage clothes herself, and knew where to buy the good stuff at the best prices.  She also felt she had a sense for what would sell and how much to charge.  She looked at the eBay stores and realized, “I could do that.”

Convinced that with her eye for style and bargain-shopping expertise, she could actually do better, Sophia began buying items in her local vintage and thrift stores and selling them on eBay for three to five times what she’d paid.  She used her photography skills to take artful, edgy pictures of the clothing she was selling, using friends to model them and obsessing over their poses to maximize the clothing’s appeal.  She scoured flea markets and estate sales looking for hidden treasures.  One cheaply made thrift-store sweater sold for $550, and a vintage Chanel jacket she bought from the Salvation Army for $8 sold in her eBay store for $1,050.  These victories bolstered her confidence that she was definitely onto something.

Sophia also realized she was as fluent online as her young customers.  After a year and a half on eBay, she had 30,000 MySpace “friends” and was bringing in roughly $115,000 in sales.  But she was itching to make the business even more her own.

Sophia created her own website. She started driving customers to her site through feedback emails after customers made purchases through eBay.  Soon, eBay banned her from their site for doing so, but it was just the push she needed to focus her efforts on establishing her business as the destination to buy vintage clothing online.

By targeting young women with style sensibilities similar to her own and making her site more like a fashion magazine than an online store, Sophia built a vast community with more than 150,000 Twitter followers and over 1,000,000 Facebook friends.  Just four years after moving off eBay, her company, Nasty Gal, a name taken from a song by ex-runway model and singer Betty Davis, became one of the largest online fashion retailers on the planet.  Sophia Amoruso seems to just be getting started as she expands her brand with a signature shoe line, clothing line, and magazine, all while earning Inc. Magazine’s Fastest Growing Retailer award in 2012.

Curious about launching your own business?  Start by answering these questions:  What genuinely interests you?  What would you do for free?  When you follow your interests, you become engaged and energized.  You persevere through difficult situations and over time, often become great at what you do.  And becoming great at something helps make you unique, which is the best way to create value with your life.  Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could do what you love and positively impact the world around you at the same time? 

Become the C-E-O of Y-O-U, and remember that passion will always be in fashion.

Until next week...

Live Your Dreams!