A couple of weeks ago I sat in on another great Plywood People event. I always love seeing what they’re up to. And currently, they’re working on a curriculum for social entrepreneurs to be released at their annual event in August. It’s going to be great!
So, a few friends and I showed up to be audience members, and were able to hear from a number of experts on character and building a business.
Here are my take-aways:
- Don’t just tell people your story, create a way for them to be a part of it.
- Meet people’s needs.
- Map out your conversations if you’re making an ask.
- Make the ask about them, not you.
- Make a small ask, then a bigger one. Start small with people and get them in the door.
- Ask friends and family for connections.
- Events build momentum and show people you can get stuff done. It allows them to have an emotional connection.
- To invite people in, and make it relatable to them.
- You cannot innovate by committee. Bring in few decision makers.
- Your principles are your boundaries.
- Solve both current and future problems.
- Think holistically.
- Find people with the skills who both compliment and supplement yours. Multiple voices make a better project.
- Define what’s special about your project, and protect that.
- Think less about what your doing, and think about what you want to be.
- Love your neighbor. Love the person in need along your roads.
- Don’t take over a space in which you are trying to help. Provide dignity for those you are helping, or an exchange.
- To evaluate your program, ask those who have gone through it first-hand.
- If you’re getting bored on a project, bring in other voices to breathe into it. Don’t let it go stale.
- There’s a big difference between ending something and quitting something.
- Listen and learn first.
- Celebrate the small wins.
- Your failures don’t define you, they prepare you.
- Ask people, “What do you love about what you do?” instead of what they do.
- Your life is a work of art.
- Community keeps you grounded and on mission.
- Define your mission before someone defines it for you.
- Every person deserves to be celebrated.
- “I hope what you do comes out of a deep sense of who you are.” – Fred Rogers
- Use the lows as learning opportunities.
- Take care of your fans, so that it creates a gravitational pull for them to come back and bring others.
- Craft a moment (above and beyond, make it right, hold the line—customer service)
- Be a friend, not a fan.
- Think about the “wake” you leave behind you.
- Choose people who embrace your culture first. You can teach skills late.
- Promise makers need promise keepers.
- First ideas. Then a plan. Finally, put it on your calendar. To make it real you need to get it on paper.
- Have a plan for quitting so there is no impulse decision.
- I am not my business, and my business is not me.
I’ve heard the song before, but ever since 
“Shine a Light on Slavery Day” was instituted by the END IT MOVEMENT as a way to unify the cause so many of us fight year round and in our own spaces.
Just got back from Austin! It was a fun event, and I loved making new friends and discovering new speakers and resources. God showed up and big and small ways, as He always does. He is faithful.
Mental Post-Its 