hey friends so I have a confession a
serious confession and I might even need
an intervention the truth I’m a friend
of holic I’m a friend of holic and I
make friends everywhere on planes on
trains and lines and while I dine I make
friends simply walking down the street
at the grocery store when shopping and
even when I sleep yes friends I make
friends in my dreams but I must admit I
haven’t always been like this
in fact the younger me was shy very shy
when mama take me to daycare I would
scream and cry and when family would
come visit I would run in height but in
2009 I was forced to change and since
2009 I have not been the same on October
1st 2009 I was 25 and I had just earned
my MBA which for many would be a thing
to celebrate but not for me because when
I went to bed that night I realized I
was not where I want it to be actually
I’m lying I was where I want it to be
but society told me that at that age I
needed to be married
I needed to be established in my career
and I needed to be with child and on
October 1st at 25 I was none of those
things I was lost and confused I didn’t
know what I wanted to do or where I want
it to be
I couldn’t find a job so I had to move
back home with my mom just to make ends
meet and to add insult to injury my
relationship of six years was felling
and I was at the American Red Cross
making thirteen dollars a day and ninety
one dollars a week and before you start
to think that the Red Cross was paying
me illegally they weren’t they weren’t I
was in AmeriCorps and although I chose
AmeriCorps to serve my community
AmeriCorps was my plan B and the Living
Allowance
was barely enough to eat speaking of
eating did I mention I was on food
stamps in AmeriCorps food stamps are
offered as a perk to ease your financial
burden but on October 1st food stamps
were my burden and right there in front
of the cabinet of health family and food
stamp services i sat in my sob and
sobbed eyeball jaw with snot and awe a
lot of snot because life was not like my
childhood dreams I hated
adulting and the tears wouldn’t stop
rolling it was agony and ecstasy
defeating and cleansing in the beginning
of my quarter life crisis and if you’ve
been here you know exactly what I was
feeling right you know the feeling
in elementary they tell you to go to
middle school in middle school they tell
you go to high school in high school
they tell you go to college and then
after college they tell you to figure it
out
figure it out that makes no sense to me
they say they say they say they say
until you really need them to say and
then they stop saying crazy and that’s
the perfect word that sums up that year
for me it was crazy
and after much journaling much
reflecting much roses knees crying and
praying I had a decision to make I could
continue to live and quarter life Drive
or I could figure out this thing called
life I chose the ladder I chose to step
out of my millennial comfort zone and
meet 100 people in 100 days the good
old-fashioned way no technology no text
just good Oh
face-to-face connectedness I wanted to
hear their stories I wanted to learn
from their experiences and I wanted to
follow their path to love leadership
success and happiness and so on October
2nd my 100 people in 100 days commenced
I started my journey by contacting my
local Chamber of Commerce I figured with
the reach of 15 counties in one point
for a million peeps and they could tell
me a thing or two about adulting and
they did that year the chamber
kick-started my 100 and 100 journey by
inviting me to a two-day Leadership
Conference the purpose of the conference
was to help leavel create a vision for
its future
however Louisville was 231 years old at
the time so I figured she’d be okay with
me focusing less on her future and more
on mine
and that’s exactly what I did for two
days I ran around that conference
meeting as many people as I could meet
and in a room full of 116 attendees I
met more than 50 I met people like dr.
Lance secretin ski enthusiasts quarter
life strife genius and leadership
theorists and he changed my life with
three words why be do why are you here
how will you be and what will you do to
use your gifts and talents to serve
after that conference I felt hi after
two days of reflecting I didn’t have all
three answers but I did have my why I am
here to be a mentor for the mentor less
hope for the hopeless and a friend for
the friendless I am here to serve
following that conference more than 50
bps and c-suites
agreed to meet with me and they even
suggested other people I should meet and
each coffee each tea each lunch in each
brunch got me one step closer to my why
be do which brings me to connection
number 22 Barbara Barbara was a mother
of seven who grew up with humble
beginnings as a child she would eat her
favorite childhood meal of cabbage corn
bread and navy beans and she would
daydream about becoming a manager at
Walgreens now fast-forward 20 years
later Barbara had never worked at
Walgreens but she did become a manager
at Wendy’s then a radio personality a
renowned blogger assault after speaker
and a fearless leader who raised more
than 200 million for children in our
region I was so
inspired by Barbara and after meeting
with her I ran home to my mom and I
asked her about my childhood dreams mom
said that as a child I was always
interested in problem solving and
creativity and that I channeled this
energy through fashion fashion fashion
cooking and making things mom also told
me but in the seventh grade I looked a
CEO dead in his face and said I’m gonna
have your job one day and that made me
smile because moms always know what to
say and right there in our living room
mom gave me the fuel needed to continue
my 100 and 100 pursuit connection number
47 NAT that was a professor at the
University and he studied people like me
he caught us rivals and he defined us as
a new breed of african-americans with a
globally tuned for it thinking No Limits
approach to doing business NAT was also
a futurist
and in order to figure out my own future
he recommended that I do four things in
my present one find my voice to read
everything three journal daily and four
learn from people and learn from my past
after meeting with NAT I read everything
but two books come to mind Purpose
Driven Life and what color is your
parachute I even got into a daily
routine of journaling and I started
journaling every time I was happy the
other thing I did I text 20 of my
friends and asked if you could pick a
career for me what would it be now most
of them thought I was drunk texting but
they still replied and surprisingly
their answers were very aligned with
mine that meeting with Matt and those
activities got me one step closer to
finding me and my one
hundred in 100 passage pursued
connection number 81 John at the time
John did community outreach for the Ahly
Center and he also did photography on
the side and within minutes of us
meeting John saw something in me and
didn’t need a camera to see it smiling
ear to ear and cheek to cheek John
whispered you’re gonna be a brand one
day so go ahead and purchase the domain
and for the first time in my life I
didn’t know what to say so I just sat
and he continued it seemed like you
liked business and it seems like you
like mission so why don’t you just
bridge the two and go into social
innovation
social what I exclaimed social
innovation he explained and then he
shared his dream of using art light and
photography to end social inequality
after my meeting with John I felt free I
felt free because for the first time in
my life someone had given name to the
very thing I was seeking and within
weeks of us meeting my one hundred and
one hundred was complete my ybg was
complete and I was moving to st. Louis
Missouri to teach eighth grade science
would Teach for America I landed in st.
Louis July 15 2010 I had no family and
no friends but I did remember a little
thing that helped me achieve my last
life goal and so my meet 100 people in
100 days the st. Louis way began and it
was the best decision I ever made
because those same people that I’ve met
during those 100 days are these same
people I depend on today they are my
tribe my family in my community and some
of them are in the audience today hey
friends
[Music]
speaking of today I stand here before
you on November 2nd 2017 and at this
point in my life I’ve met 100 people in
100 days going on five times and here’s
the irony all along I thought these
meetings were supposed to help me find
my purpose but all along these meetings
were my purpose because we don’t connect
for purpose our purpose is to connect
did you catch that
we don’t connect for jobs to get ahead
or for success or at least we shouldn’t
our purpose is to connect but research
shows that we are spending less time
with family making less friends and
avoiding strangers at all costs and as a
result we have increased memory loss
loneliness stress and heart disease and
there is one thing that can change
everything one thing and that is human
connection because humans need human
connection and now I am challenging you
I am challenging all of you to meet 100
people in 100 days which isn’t that hard
to do considering most of us passed 60
to 70 people a day and know that when I
say and suggest this I’m not asking you
to be extroverts but I am asking you to
convert to convert to human acknowledges
to acknowledge the people standing in
front of you and behind you in lines to
acknowledge the people that wait on you
while you die to acknowledge the people
sitting next to you on planes and on
trains to acknowledge the
human beings standing on corners asking
you for change I’m asking you to put
down the technology and acknowledge
humanity because there will always be
one more email and there will always be
one more tweet but we should never be
too busy to acknowledge humanity humans
need human connection
so acknowledge your co-workers connect
with your family hear a stranger’s story
and share yours too because we can bring
great meaning to each other’s lives and
nearly 500 of you have brought great
meaning to mine and now that I know my
why no matter how I’ll be or what I’ll
do next to use my gifts and talents to
serve this is how I’ll get there 100
people 100 days at a time will you join
me thank you
serious confession and I might even need
an intervention the truth I’m a friend
of holic I’m a friend of holic and I
make friends everywhere on planes on
trains and lines and while I dine I make
friends simply walking down the street
at the grocery store when shopping and
even when I sleep yes friends I make
friends in my dreams but I must admit I
haven’t always been like this
in fact the younger me was shy very shy
when mama take me to daycare I would
scream and cry and when family would
come visit I would run in height but in
2009 I was forced to change and since
2009 I have not been the same on October
1st 2009 I was 25 and I had just earned
my MBA which for many would be a thing
to celebrate but not for me because when
I went to bed that night I realized I
was not where I want it to be actually
I’m lying I was where I want it to be
but society told me that at that age I
needed to be married
I needed to be established in my career
and I needed to be with child and on
October 1st at 25 I was none of those
things I was lost and confused I didn’t
know what I wanted to do or where I want
it to be
I couldn’t find a job so I had to move
back home with my mom just to make ends
meet and to add insult to injury my
relationship of six years was felling
and I was at the American Red Cross
making thirteen dollars a day and ninety
one dollars a week and before you start
to think that the Red Cross was paying
me illegally they weren’t they weren’t I
was in AmeriCorps and although I chose
AmeriCorps to serve my community
AmeriCorps was my plan B and the Living
Allowance
was barely enough to eat speaking of
eating did I mention I was on food
stamps in AmeriCorps food stamps are
offered as a perk to ease your financial
burden but on October 1st food stamps
were my burden and right there in front
of the cabinet of health family and food
stamp services i sat in my sob and
sobbed eyeball jaw with snot and awe a
lot of snot because life was not like my
childhood dreams I hated
adulting and the tears wouldn’t stop
rolling it was agony and ecstasy
defeating and cleansing in the beginning
of my quarter life crisis and if you’ve
been here you know exactly what I was
feeling right you know the feeling
in elementary they tell you to go to
middle school in middle school they tell
you go to high school in high school
they tell you go to college and then
after college they tell you to figure it
out
figure it out that makes no sense to me
they say they say they say they say
until you really need them to say and
then they stop saying crazy and that’s
the perfect word that sums up that year
for me it was crazy
and after much journaling much
reflecting much roses knees crying and
praying I had a decision to make I could
continue to live and quarter life Drive
or I could figure out this thing called
life I chose the ladder I chose to step
out of my millennial comfort zone and
meet 100 people in 100 days the good
old-fashioned way no technology no text
just good Oh
face-to-face connectedness I wanted to
hear their stories I wanted to learn
from their experiences and I wanted to
follow their path to love leadership
success and happiness and so on October
2nd my 100 people in 100 days commenced
I started my journey by contacting my
local Chamber of Commerce I figured with
the reach of 15 counties in one point
for a million peeps and they could tell
me a thing or two about adulting and
they did that year the chamber
kick-started my 100 and 100 journey by
inviting me to a two-day Leadership
Conference the purpose of the conference
was to help leavel create a vision for
its future
however Louisville was 231 years old at
the time so I figured she’d be okay with
me focusing less on her future and more
on mine
and that’s exactly what I did for two
days I ran around that conference
meeting as many people as I could meet
and in a room full of 116 attendees I
met more than 50 I met people like dr.
Lance secretin ski enthusiasts quarter
life strife genius and leadership
theorists and he changed my life with
three words why be do why are you here
how will you be and what will you do to
use your gifts and talents to serve
after that conference I felt hi after
two days of reflecting I didn’t have all
three answers but I did have my why I am
here to be a mentor for the mentor less
hope for the hopeless and a friend for
the friendless I am here to serve
following that conference more than 50
bps and c-suites
agreed to meet with me and they even
suggested other people I should meet and
each coffee each tea each lunch in each
brunch got me one step closer to my why
be do which brings me to connection
number 22 Barbara Barbara was a mother
of seven who grew up with humble
beginnings as a child she would eat her
favorite childhood meal of cabbage corn
bread and navy beans and she would
daydream about becoming a manager at
Walgreens now fast-forward 20 years
later Barbara had never worked at
Walgreens but she did become a manager
at Wendy’s then a radio personality a
renowned blogger assault after speaker
and a fearless leader who raised more
than 200 million for children in our
region I was so
inspired by Barbara and after meeting
with her I ran home to my mom and I
asked her about my childhood dreams mom
said that as a child I was always
interested in problem solving and
creativity and that I channeled this
energy through fashion fashion fashion
cooking and making things mom also told
me but in the seventh grade I looked a
CEO dead in his face and said I’m gonna
have your job one day and that made me
smile because moms always know what to
say and right there in our living room
mom gave me the fuel needed to continue
my 100 and 100 pursuit connection number
47 NAT that was a professor at the
University and he studied people like me
he caught us rivals and he defined us as
a new breed of african-americans with a
globally tuned for it thinking No Limits
approach to doing business NAT was also
a futurist
and in order to figure out my own future
he recommended that I do four things in
my present one find my voice to read
everything three journal daily and four
learn from people and learn from my past
after meeting with NAT I read everything
but two books come to mind Purpose
Driven Life and what color is your
parachute I even got into a daily
routine of journaling and I started
journaling every time I was happy the
other thing I did I text 20 of my
friends and asked if you could pick a
career for me what would it be now most
of them thought I was drunk texting but
they still replied and surprisingly
their answers were very aligned with
mine that meeting with Matt and those
activities got me one step closer to
finding me and my one
hundred in 100 passage pursued
connection number 81 John at the time
John did community outreach for the Ahly
Center and he also did photography on
the side and within minutes of us
meeting John saw something in me and
didn’t need a camera to see it smiling
ear to ear and cheek to cheek John
whispered you’re gonna be a brand one
day so go ahead and purchase the domain
and for the first time in my life I
didn’t know what to say so I just sat
and he continued it seemed like you
liked business and it seems like you
like mission so why don’t you just
bridge the two and go into social
innovation
social what I exclaimed social
innovation he explained and then he
shared his dream of using art light and
photography to end social inequality
after my meeting with John I felt free I
felt free because for the first time in
my life someone had given name to the
very thing I was seeking and within
weeks of us meeting my one hundred and
one hundred was complete my ybg was
complete and I was moving to st. Louis
Missouri to teach eighth grade science
would Teach for America I landed in st.
Louis July 15 2010 I had no family and
no friends but I did remember a little
thing that helped me achieve my last
life goal and so my meet 100 people in
100 days the st. Louis way began and it
was the best decision I ever made
because those same people that I’ve met
during those 100 days are these same
people I depend on today they are my
tribe my family in my community and some
of them are in the audience today hey
friends
[Music]
speaking of today I stand here before
you on November 2nd 2017 and at this
point in my life I’ve met 100 people in
100 days going on five times and here’s
the irony all along I thought these
meetings were supposed to help me find
my purpose but all along these meetings
were my purpose because we don’t connect
for purpose our purpose is to connect
did you catch that
we don’t connect for jobs to get ahead
or for success or at least we shouldn’t
our purpose is to connect but research
shows that we are spending less time
with family making less friends and
avoiding strangers at all costs and as a
result we have increased memory loss
loneliness stress and heart disease and
there is one thing that can change
everything one thing and that is human
connection because humans need human
connection and now I am challenging you
I am challenging all of you to meet 100
people in 100 days which isn’t that hard
to do considering most of us passed 60
to 70 people a day and know that when I
say and suggest this I’m not asking you
to be extroverts but I am asking you to
convert to convert to human acknowledges
to acknowledge the people standing in
front of you and behind you in lines to
acknowledge the people that wait on you
while you die to acknowledge the people
sitting next to you on planes and on
trains to acknowledge the
human beings standing on corners asking
you for change I’m asking you to put
down the technology and acknowledge
humanity because there will always be
one more email and there will always be
one more tweet but we should never be
too busy to acknowledge humanity humans
need human connection
so acknowledge your co-workers connect
with your family hear a stranger’s story
and share yours too because we can bring
great meaning to each other’s lives and
nearly 500 of you have brought great
meaning to mine and now that I know my
why no matter how I’ll be or what I’ll
do next to use my gifts and talents to
serve this is how I’ll get there 100
people 100 days at a time will you join
me thank you
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