Dana: Think copper.

I recently reconnected via Facebook with Dana, a friend of mine from high school. I was on the dance team, she was the lead colorguard girl. I remember talking with her about endurance.

I have the VO2 of a 3 year old. It’s pathetic. Back then, it was tough for me to get through a 2:30 dance routine without feeling spent.

Her advice: “Think copper, Mari.”

I’m working towards running my first official 5k with @chanthana, @krzimmer, @leyla_a – among others. And you know what?

I’m still thinking copper.

Josh: Get it all out. Even the bad ideas.

Josh Mizrachi (@joshmizrachi) is my friend who also happens to be our copywriter. His voice is our brand. In his spare time, he writes commercials for Leo Burnett. He’s really brilliant. I’m constantly astounded by the way his mind thinks and the processes he goes through to create. They’re so different from the way I think, and I admire that.

One time, we were  brainstorming ideas for who-knows-what. A million years ago. And he started writing down some stuff that made me go, “WHAT?! That’s TERRIBLE!” (It’s okay. He gets my sarcasm.)

He said, “What? Sometimes I just have to clear all of the lame, bad, irrelevant, dumb ideas out of my head before I can even start thinking about anything else.”

Ah.

So basically what he said is – there is such a thing as a dumb idea!

 

Gini: Be in people’s homes every 12 weeks.

Gini Dietrich (@ginidietrich) has recently come into my life, and I like her a lot. We share a love of shoes, handbags, and Chicago. (We do not share a love of the morning hours.)

Her blog post here caught my attention because it’s directly related to my industry: foodservice. And towards the bottom, she quotes the CEO of a bakery who quotes Andy Warhol. They both get it:

“You need to be in people’s homes every 12 weeks.”

What can we (as a company) do to get into people’s lives every 12 weeks? What sort of experience can we create so people naturally want us to come back again and again, to the tune of 4 times a year at a minimum? And how do we simultaneously build relationships and give back to the community?

Lots to think about. Thanks for the launching point, my lovely Gini D.

Matt C: Life Without Pants.

Yesterday I met Matt Cheuvront (@mattchevy). He (slightly abashedly) gave me this as his business card:

So I did a little poking around. Was inspired by a post. You can read it here.

“Step outside your comfort zone – stop waiting, stop thinking, and start doing. Because in the end, that’s the only way things will start happening.”

I used to be one of those “I’m too busy” excuse-givers. I look back and realize that not only was I stunting my own personal growth, but I was being really annoying to people around me. I apologize for that.

Matt, thanks for the reminder. And by the way, brilliant business cards. It stood out and I remembered you.

I crush on smartness.

Hi. My name is Mari, and I’m a smartaholic.

I crush on smart ideas. I love the connection that comes from sharing ideas with the intent to better our relationships, work environments, and communities.

Everybody has brilliant ideas. I’m so fortunate to have a network of people in my life who fit the above description of my smart crushes. Because to their credit, their ideas have shaped my life and helped me make decisions that affect me and the people I love more than they’ll probably ever know.

My goal is to write down a few ideas from people in my smarty-pants network at least a few times a week. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll probably have to throw in a few posts about cute shoes here and there. I am a girl, after all.

But maybe something good will come from it.

For now, I’m just considering it therapy for my brain. Sometimes this little brain can’t handle all of the good ideas that other people pack inside.