Lunch - Turkey, Bacon and Cheese and a bag of potato chips
Dinner - Bagel and cream cheese, and oreos
Star Struck
I remember the first time I was star struck.
Being star stuck is different than just meeting someone famous. I don't remember the first time I met someone famous, but I do remember the first time I was star struck.
Growing up I played sports. I started with soccer, then moved to baseball and when I hit my growth spurt in middle school it became all about basketball. I dreamed of someday playing in the NBA. Shot hoops in my front driveway for hours on end literally daydreaming of making the buzzer beater to win the championship. That obviously never happened. But I did make the team in middle school and in high school.
The basketball teams I played on were never really good. Like we didn't win games. I think our records were consistently 5-22 or something horrendous like that. So for me, basketball was never about winning. It was about the way the net splashed when you made a shot and it was about the shoes.
I love shoes.
And my mom always made sure I had the best shoes. Cause you had to wear uniforms at the middle school I went to so shoes were the only way to really stand out. When I was in the 6th grade I got my first real pair of basketball shoes, The TMac's. I was the first kid in school to have them so I was instantly popular (at least for a week). I remember everything about those shoes. They were jet black Adidas with a royal blue swooping rubber toe cap.
Jump forward four years to Christmas Eve 2005. I was in Houston, TX with family and we went to First Colony mall for some last minute shopping. I was walking into Radio Shack with my brother to check out some iPods when I literally "struck" what seemed like a brick wall…
After recovering from the blow, I looked up and found myself staring into the one normal and one lazy eye of 6ft 9in Tracy McGrady (his NBA profile listed him at 6-8 but I assure you he was a full 6-9). I was in shock. I had literally bumped into a NBA basketball all-star. The exact all-star whose shoes I wore in the 6th grade.
I didn't say anything. How could I? He kept on walking and I was literally in shock. My heart was pounding so fast. I turned around and somewhat stalked him thru the mall to make sure that was really him. It was. I remember I spent the next two days of my life second guessing if everyone around me was a super star athlete or celebrity.
That's what being start struck is - when an encounter with someone impacts your entire way of thinking and takes you to a different place. It blows my mind that that can even happen, that famous people can be that influential. All Tracy McGrady did was touch me and look at me with his lazy eye. That's it. And I will remember that moment for the rest of my life…
That's my fascination; the power of influence.
And that's why I do what I do. Certain people have been blessed with a platform of extreme influence and though I am not one of them, I have been blessed with a position to influence the influencers. So that is the focus and that is the goal - to facilitate the influencers in harnessing their platform for good.
It is easy to get wrapped up in the day to day affairs of business but every now and again I get the opportunity to bring the focus back to what it's all about: fans. Some free tickets, a signed CD or even coordinating a special meet and greet; helping other people have their "star struck" moment is what it's all about.
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