Category Archives: Inspiration

Becoming a Hill Seeker

9th May 2013

A few weeks ago, I completed Nike’s inaugural DC half marathon (you can read more on that adventure here). The city, the atmosphere and the course were a dream: 50s, plenty of eye-catching sights (running past the Lincoln Memorial, yes please), zero humidity and no hills.

I repeat, not a single stinking hill. And boy, was I looking forward to it. Living in Atlanta, I’m not certain in the entirety of my short time as a runner have I ever experienced such a thing for more than a mile or two.

At the starting line I was all smiles.

By mile five I turned to my new running buddy I made at the starting lane to describe just how great this was. I mean, I could breathe!

By mile 10, I hit a wall.

Thanks to the amazing support of my pace group, I didn’t miss much of a beat, but boy did those last three miles kick my butt…and it was flat, and cool, and the air was clear, how could this be happening?

It wasn’t until I ventured out a run once I got home that the common thread hit me.

Those hills? The ones I whined about and said good riddance to? I just might have a love affair with ’em. In fact, I’m sure I do.

But why? Because on a muggy afternoon run through Atlanta, it hit me, life happens on the hills.

I’m a stronger runner because I can conquer the hills. And those same hills that drag me to my core as I’m fighting up them? They carry me graciously back down to earth once I’ve reached the top.

Progress isn’t possible without a little pressure. Good might come from complacency, but in my limited experience, great most certainly does not.

During my first few weeks at Engauge (and in a “real” job period), we were getting ready to pitch a big new client. As I was new to the team and without a ton of client commitments, I jumped in to help with the simple stuff: research, note taking, I was all for any and all of it. On the night before the pitch, we celebrated moving to a new office space with a company party.

As I got ready to head out for the evening around 10pm, I checked in with my boss to see if there was anything left to do. His request, “by the way, be sure to wear something nice tomorrow, you’re going to come with us to pitch.”

Excuse me? Here I was, 22, serving as the note taker and you wanted me to do what? Big hill.

I don’t think I have ever been so nervous to walk into a room in my life.

The best part about the hill is that there is no true preparation. Sure, you can run drills, practice speeches, or put on a really fancy pair of sneakers (or pencil skirt), but when you take a look from the bottom, there it is, ready or not.

I think I ended up presenting one slide that day. It was the first of many “big kid” meetings I’ve had the opportunity to dive into here at Engauge, but still one of my favorites.

It was an opportunity to dive in head first with confidence none my own, but forced to embrace the trust and fervor of everyone around me. And just as those hills will always kick my butt on the way up, they most definitely send me smiling on the way back down and leave me eager to climb my way back to the start.

Lessons from 4th Graders

17th April 2013

There was a point and time when I thought I’d like to be a teacher. To say I love being around little ones in an understatement, however, after two years of teaching first grade Sunday school in college with my roommate (and teacher extraordinaire), we started the third year and I asked if we should set goals and objectives for the class. It was then I realized teaching wasn’t quite my calling. I opted to continue down my path towards marketing. However, whenever an opportunity arises to spend time at the kids table, I’m happy to jump on it.

Engauge volunteers with a group called Everybody Wins here in Atlanta. The premise is simple, read to an elementary school student once per week over lunch. Today, I started my third year in the program with a new mentee.

As we picked out books, a friend of hers came by and said “See, I told you it would happen!” we picked out a book, sat down and another friend came by to give her a hug and tell her how excited she was that she finally had a mentor. I asked her why they were so excited and she shared that she had been waiting to be able to join Everybody Wins for several months and that they were so happy that her waiting paid off.

Just hearing that made my day and my hour more than worth it.

Can you imagine if we all went through our days sharing the spirit and support those fourth graders shared with each other? What if we spent our time building each other up instead of complaining or trying to one up one another?

I think those 10-year-olds are on to something.

PS: If you have an hour on your hands each week, check out Everybody Wins. They have schools across the city and are always in need of new readers.

Thinking of Boston

15th April 2013

I started running in college. I was in my second year and had just said goodbye to nearly a decade of 6-days a week of cheerleading practices. I started running to stay in shape.

It took a few years, but I kept running because it became my escape. I kept running to not think about deadlines, commitments or what was due.

A few years later, I fell in love with running thanks to the community. I fell in love because there is nothing better than an hour on the trails with a running buddy. I often joke that the conversations that take place during those runs rival what I’d imagine most people talk about at a bar past 2 a.m.

Today, the running community faced a tragedy that I’m certain not a single one of those runners in Boston anticipated as they laced up at the starting line this morning. My heart aches for those runners, but even more so for the community who surrounds them.

Every runner knows as wonderful as the personal time, the endorphins and the medals are, it’s the community that keeps you coming back for more. It’s the moms, the dads, the husbands, the wives and the best friends who will get out of bed at the crack of dawn, carry obnoxious signs for miles and lug all of the extra bags and goodies to the finish line, only to see us trot by for half of a second. It’s their enthusiasm and dedication that make every mile worth the journey, whether that be for three miles or 26.2. While thinking and praying for Boston tonight, I’m certainly hugging all of my personal cheerleaders, and the reasons I run, a little tighter.

“The reason we race isn’t so much to beat each other… but to be with each other.”

– Christopher McDougall, Born to Run