This week, there was seriously no shortage of
inspiration. During the week I got
involved with a program at work known as Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) that
recognizes up and coming businesses in the Seattle community. I signed up to scribe and write the executive
summary for three interviews, so got to meet with the founders of three
different companies. I was seriously on
cloud nine since it was so interesting to hear the stories and their reflection
on personal and professional growth through developing their businesses.
One company has an interface between SAP and programs like
Excel so that SAP can be used by companies without the need for a programmer to
specialize the components. Another
company educates people on using a self-directed 401(k) method to invest in a
small business. They were on the brink
of bankruptcy, so the co-founders had learned a lot in recent years about leading
through difficult times. The last
founder is a serial entrepreneur who sold his last two companies for over a
billion dollars to HP. How is anyone
that amazing at life? His newest company
created a platform to help CIOs of large companies evaluate where money is
being spent. It is amazing all of this
(and much more) is happening in the Seattle business community.
Saturday, I got up early and headed to the University
District for the TEDxUofW event (tedxuofw.com).
When I was part of UW Leaders in college, one of the members had a dream of planning an
independent TED event. After several
years and recruiting others to help him plan, he made that dream a
reality. There were a variety of
speakers such as a Tetris grand master (one of three outside of Japan), a Formula
1 race car driver, a cancer researcher and the founder of Start-Up
Weekend. There was even someone who was illustrating all the talks as the event was taking place. So cool!
I helped set-up for the event,
so it was great to see some old friends from my UW days and meet others who
were helping with the event. One of my
jobs was painting the giant TEDx letters.
They didn’t end up being used on stage, but they were great for a photo
prop. I felt so honored to be able to
attend and volunteer and see all the hard work that went into planning an
incredible event. …and now I can say I
have been to a TEDx conference!
