do want to tell you a story though so
story time for you high schoolers
December 31st 2012 at 4:30 p.m. I should
have been pouring over a pile of
fabulous dresses and ridiculously high
shoes I should have been planning a New
Year’s Eve party because I was fabulous
and successful and that’s what fabulous
successful people do on New Year’s Eve
but I’m ahead of myself so thirty years
ago I sat where you guys are sitting I
had a nearly perfect SAT score
tremendous GPA and ranked almost at the
top of my class but wait this is stem do
you guys know what class rank is I’m
probably not okay after college
indeed I went to medical school where I
met the man of my dreams and earned the
degree of my dreams and guys until I had
kids I cherished that medical degree
more than anything after graduation we
started our practices like you guys just
heard and they were wildly popular so
much so that I actually had to develop a
brand so that’s where cm MD came from my
initials Christine Meyer MD got this
little neat logo we had success by every
measure I had a brand for God’s sake we
had we had a beautiful home nice cars
fun vacations we even had like 17
pillows on her bed life was fabulous and
yet on December 31st 2012 at 4:30 p.m. I
sat rapt in my coziest bathrobe staring
blankly at a computer screen
not thinking about a fabulous New Year’s
Eve party but feeling sadness and dread
why because on that New Year’s Eve I
actually sucked as a physician
think about that for a second you guys
are just stepping on to this moving
sidewalk that’s the pathway to your
career and you have visualized every
milestone along the way SAT score GPA
college grad school all with one thing
in your sights your career your life’s
work as an engineer or a teacher a
lawyer a doctor now imagine if that
moving sidewalk ended at the very edge
of a cliff
you did it you made the grade you got
into the school you earned the degree
you got the job
and then you sucked
I think some of you would be wrapped in
a bathrobe staring at a computer screen
– so how did I get from having it all
fabulousness – bone-crushing inadequacy
my patients died
every career has its benchmarks right
engineers have groundbreaking designs to
perfect teachers have young minds to
mold lawyers have cases to win and
doctors we have lives to save
my patients dying seemed like felt like
failure how could I someone who had
never so much as failed a spelling test
he failing so miserably at this career
that I spent my entire life building
here’s the thing my patients weren’t
dying because I fail to diagnose them
quickly enough or because I fail to
prescribe the proper treatment
they were dying because of a merciless
indiscriminating beast called cancer and
no matter how much time I spent with
those patients how many articles I read
how many specialists I referred them to
my patients kept dying cancer kept
winning this was the realization I came
to while sitting in my bathroom staring
at my computer screen that December 31st
2012 at 4:30 p.m. and it was in my
mindless shameless facebook stocking and
I know it’s Instagram now but I’m a mom
in my 40s and for me it’s Facebook I
came across a link to the Philadelphia
Broad Street run the nation’s largest
10-mile Road race and it was coming in
May just a few months away
and something crazy happened
all of a sudden I felt a jolt of
electricity it started in my toes went
straight up my back to my head was so
powerful
in fact until that moment my hair was
straight and then I knew it I I just
knew it I figured it out I had this this
feeling and it was hope for the first
time in over a year I felt hopeful and
excited about something and you right
then and there
I was gonna do it I was gonna run Broad
Street I was gonna raise a few thousand
dollars for the American Cancer Society
it would be my way to fight back against
cancer my way to maybe suck less
there were two problems with my big plan
though one I needed a team and by
definition team means more than one so I
was gonna have to get some people
together and my second problem was that
I was not a runner in fact until that
moment I had taken the couch very
seriously
my idea of a tough workout was trying to
climb the steps balancing a laundry
basket on one hip and a cell phone on my
ear it was not going to be easy
the first thing I did was text three
friends and I couldn’t believe it
all three of them immediately said yes
we’re doing this with you and I don’t
believe the people out there that will
tell you those three said yes because
they were afraid of me I am NOT a scary
person so there you have it I had my
team four people team CM MD we called
ourselves we took our message to anybody
who would listen
our patients our friends our families we
talked about Broad Street we talked
about cancer we talked about just
feeling like you suck
and something tremendous happened people
started signing up for our team
some were runners and really just always
wanted to do Broad Street some actually
hated to run but hated cancer more and
some just hated themselves and felt like
they really needed something good to be
a part of
here we were team of four ended up being
a team of 44
all of a sudden my newest measure of
success was the length of my broad
street team roster every new name
renewed that hope that I had just found
fast forward five years to today
November 11th 2017 where are we now as a
team and as people
that team of four I was telling you
about
now numbers 2031
that couple of thousand dollars we hope
to raise for the American Cancer Society
we have now raised over 1 million
dollars for the American Cancer Society
we have given hundreds of thousands of
dollars to families struggling
financially we’ve awarded over $100,000
in scholarships to graduating seniors
whose lives have been touched by cancer
we host dedications runs
we cook meals we collect gift cards we
send
handmade blankets and heartfelt prayers
mostly we try to be stewards of kindness
in our community
I’m telling you guys these things
because I want you to believe really
believe that your worst moment may in
fact be your aha moment your worst
moment may be that lightbulb moment that
changes lives
so what about us the people so despite a
medically documented dependency on cake
pie ice cream marshmallows in any shape
estate of freshness I stand before you
in the best physical shape of my life
more importantly I’m in the best mental
shape of my life I am fulfilled and
grateful the cancer patients I’m honored
to meet everyday have changed me as a
physician and as a person
you
you
you
I’m old now that Dean left I’m the
oldest one here so those cancer patients
have changed me for the better no doubt
and what about our team we are the
wackiest group of 2031 people you’re
ever going to meet we are engineers
teachers lawyers and doctors
we’re also mechanics laborers
stay-at-home moms and single dads we
range in age from 6 to 76
we are couch potatoes struggling to
climb up a flight of stairs and we are
ultra marathoners and we are connected
by three things one
our shared mission it is universally
relevant and it’s laser-focused to our
social media engagement we only use it
for good and three yes
you
the only slide I’ll show you today the
little green bumper magnet
this magnet that first year started
popping up all over town and then across
towns and then even across states
somewhere along the way flipping the
magnet became a thing if a teammate saw
magnet on a parked car they would
quickly run over to him flip it upside
down and then run away it was it was
like a secret handshake that no one ever
saw it said I see you I’m with you we’re
in this together
it was so cute just come out to my car
and see little kids like scurrying away
from from the back I knew what they had
just done was not so cute though coming
out one day to find a grown man crouched
behind my bumper shrouded in a hoodie in
the pitch black of the night I was
seconds from pushing my little alarm on
the key fob before I recognized him as a
teammate so yeah the straight-up magnet
has been a symbol of pride for everyone
associated with our team but the
upside-down magnet that magnet is so
much more it’s the arm around drooping
shoulders it’s a much needed hug that
you are too embarrassed to ask for or to
give it is the tangible evidence of
being a part of something good our
magnet has been on the family Volvo
since Maisie was barely old enough to
sit in the front seat till today when
she’s the only one who drives that car
and I’m embarrassed to say she drives it
better than I ever did um did you guys
know that you can successfully back out
of a windy driveway not hit a mailbox
and not use a backup camera you just
have to use your sideview mirrors
who knew that my my Maisie taught me
that the the bumper magnet has traversed
the entire East Coast on family road
trips those are fun right and has even
made it to the Tuscan wine country on
the back of a tour van it has held up
aggressive reminders to bring milk home
or die and
friendly notes from passers-by who just
acknowledge our team my magnet is faded
and it’s dusty but it remains a daily
reminder that it is how we measure
success that’s really important
you all will get to your career as an
engineer a teacher lawyer or doctor and
you will have success by every one of
the standard measures you will perfect
groundbreaking designs you will mold
countless minds you will win cases and
you will save lives
but at some point you will also suck and
before that happens before it happens
change the way you measure your success
not as a budding engineer teacher lawyer
or doctor but as a human
stand for something important
unite a community
be sought out
embrace those flips in other words be a
magnet
thank you guys
[Applause]
story time for you high schoolers
December 31st 2012 at 4:30 p.m. I should
have been pouring over a pile of
fabulous dresses and ridiculously high
shoes I should have been planning a New
Year’s Eve party because I was fabulous
and successful and that’s what fabulous
successful people do on New Year’s Eve
but I’m ahead of myself so thirty years
ago I sat where you guys are sitting I
had a nearly perfect SAT score
tremendous GPA and ranked almost at the
top of my class but wait this is stem do
you guys know what class rank is I’m
probably not okay after college
indeed I went to medical school where I
met the man of my dreams and earned the
degree of my dreams and guys until I had
kids I cherished that medical degree
more than anything after graduation we
started our practices like you guys just
heard and they were wildly popular so
much so that I actually had to develop a
brand so that’s where cm MD came from my
initials Christine Meyer MD got this
little neat logo we had success by every
measure I had a brand for God’s sake we
had we had a beautiful home nice cars
fun vacations we even had like 17
pillows on her bed life was fabulous and
yet on December 31st 2012 at 4:30 p.m. I
sat rapt in my coziest bathrobe staring
blankly at a computer screen
not thinking about a fabulous New Year’s
Eve party but feeling sadness and dread
why because on that New Year’s Eve I
actually sucked as a physician
think about that for a second you guys
are just stepping on to this moving
sidewalk that’s the pathway to your
career and you have visualized every
milestone along the way SAT score GPA
college grad school all with one thing
in your sights your career your life’s
work as an engineer or a teacher a
lawyer a doctor now imagine if that
moving sidewalk ended at the very edge
of a cliff
you did it you made the grade you got
into the school you earned the degree
you got the job
and then you sucked
I think some of you would be wrapped in
a bathrobe staring at a computer screen
– so how did I get from having it all
fabulousness – bone-crushing inadequacy
my patients died
every career has its benchmarks right
engineers have groundbreaking designs to
perfect teachers have young minds to
mold lawyers have cases to win and
doctors we have lives to save
my patients dying seemed like felt like
failure how could I someone who had
never so much as failed a spelling test
he failing so miserably at this career
that I spent my entire life building
here’s the thing my patients weren’t
dying because I fail to diagnose them
quickly enough or because I fail to
prescribe the proper treatment
they were dying because of a merciless
indiscriminating beast called cancer and
no matter how much time I spent with
those patients how many articles I read
how many specialists I referred them to
my patients kept dying cancer kept
winning this was the realization I came
to while sitting in my bathroom staring
at my computer screen that December 31st
2012 at 4:30 p.m. and it was in my
mindless shameless facebook stocking and
I know it’s Instagram now but I’m a mom
in my 40s and for me it’s Facebook I
came across a link to the Philadelphia
Broad Street run the nation’s largest
10-mile Road race and it was coming in
May just a few months away
and something crazy happened
all of a sudden I felt a jolt of
electricity it started in my toes went
straight up my back to my head was so
powerful
in fact until that moment my hair was
straight and then I knew it I I just
knew it I figured it out I had this this
feeling and it was hope for the first
time in over a year I felt hopeful and
excited about something and you right
then and there
I was gonna do it I was gonna run Broad
Street I was gonna raise a few thousand
dollars for the American Cancer Society
it would be my way to fight back against
cancer my way to maybe suck less
there were two problems with my big plan
though one I needed a team and by
definition team means more than one so I
was gonna have to get some people
together and my second problem was that
I was not a runner in fact until that
moment I had taken the couch very
seriously
my idea of a tough workout was trying to
climb the steps balancing a laundry
basket on one hip and a cell phone on my
ear it was not going to be easy
the first thing I did was text three
friends and I couldn’t believe it
all three of them immediately said yes
we’re doing this with you and I don’t
believe the people out there that will
tell you those three said yes because
they were afraid of me I am NOT a scary
person so there you have it I had my
team four people team CM MD we called
ourselves we took our message to anybody
who would listen
our patients our friends our families we
talked about Broad Street we talked
about cancer we talked about just
feeling like you suck
and something tremendous happened people
started signing up for our team
some were runners and really just always
wanted to do Broad Street some actually
hated to run but hated cancer more and
some just hated themselves and felt like
they really needed something good to be
a part of
here we were team of four ended up being
a team of 44
all of a sudden my newest measure of
success was the length of my broad
street team roster every new name
renewed that hope that I had just found
fast forward five years to today
November 11th 2017 where are we now as a
team and as people
that team of four I was telling you
about
now numbers 2031
that couple of thousand dollars we hope
to raise for the American Cancer Society
we have now raised over 1 million
dollars for the American Cancer Society
we have given hundreds of thousands of
dollars to families struggling
financially we’ve awarded over $100,000
in scholarships to graduating seniors
whose lives have been touched by cancer
we host dedications runs
we cook meals we collect gift cards we
send
handmade blankets and heartfelt prayers
mostly we try to be stewards of kindness
in our community
I’m telling you guys these things
because I want you to believe really
believe that your worst moment may in
fact be your aha moment your worst
moment may be that lightbulb moment that
changes lives
so what about us the people so despite a
medically documented dependency on cake
pie ice cream marshmallows in any shape
estate of freshness I stand before you
in the best physical shape of my life
more importantly I’m in the best mental
shape of my life I am fulfilled and
grateful the cancer patients I’m honored
to meet everyday have changed me as a
physician and as a person
you
you
you
I’m old now that Dean left I’m the
oldest one here so those cancer patients
have changed me for the better no doubt
and what about our team we are the
wackiest group of 2031 people you’re
ever going to meet we are engineers
teachers lawyers and doctors
we’re also mechanics laborers
stay-at-home moms and single dads we
range in age from 6 to 76
we are couch potatoes struggling to
climb up a flight of stairs and we are
ultra marathoners and we are connected
by three things one
our shared mission it is universally
relevant and it’s laser-focused to our
social media engagement we only use it
for good and three yes
you
the only slide I’ll show you today the
little green bumper magnet
this magnet that first year started
popping up all over town and then across
towns and then even across states
somewhere along the way flipping the
magnet became a thing if a teammate saw
magnet on a parked car they would
quickly run over to him flip it upside
down and then run away it was it was
like a secret handshake that no one ever
saw it said I see you I’m with you we’re
in this together
it was so cute just come out to my car
and see little kids like scurrying away
from from the back I knew what they had
just done was not so cute though coming
out one day to find a grown man crouched
behind my bumper shrouded in a hoodie in
the pitch black of the night I was
seconds from pushing my little alarm on
the key fob before I recognized him as a
teammate so yeah the straight-up magnet
has been a symbol of pride for everyone
associated with our team but the
upside-down magnet that magnet is so
much more it’s the arm around drooping
shoulders it’s a much needed hug that
you are too embarrassed to ask for or to
give it is the tangible evidence of
being a part of something good our
magnet has been on the family Volvo
since Maisie was barely old enough to
sit in the front seat till today when
she’s the only one who drives that car
and I’m embarrassed to say she drives it
better than I ever did um did you guys
know that you can successfully back out
of a windy driveway not hit a mailbox
and not use a backup camera you just
have to use your sideview mirrors
who knew that my my Maisie taught me
that the the bumper magnet has traversed
the entire East Coast on family road
trips those are fun right and has even
made it to the Tuscan wine country on
the back of a tour van it has held up
aggressive reminders to bring milk home
or die and
friendly notes from passers-by who just
acknowledge our team my magnet is faded
and it’s dusty but it remains a daily
reminder that it is how we measure
success that’s really important
you all will get to your career as an
engineer a teacher lawyer or doctor and
you will have success by every one of
the standard measures you will perfect
groundbreaking designs you will mold
countless minds you will win cases and
you will save lives
but at some point you will also suck and
before that happens before it happens
change the way you measure your success
not as a budding engineer teacher lawyer
or doctor but as a human
stand for something important
unite a community
be sought out
embrace those flips in other words be a
magnet
thank you guys
[Applause]
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