Powills: Why I Care

When a client expresses frustration, I take it personally. When an employee expresses disappointment, I feel bad for them. When a family member is sad, I am deeply concerned. When a friend has a bad day, I want to make it better. I care. I am not sure where this deep passion for making people happy came from. It was born deep within my life stream. Clearly, something, or some combination of things, had to happen in order for me to develop this passion and heart. When I was a boy, I was fat. To this day, I can still remember the first time I was called fat – in kindergarten. Today, this would be called bullying. Then, it was thought of as horseplay. And, when I wrote that line, I thought about calling out the person who said it. But I paused. And didn’t. Because I care. Growing up chunky could have been life threatening. I read CNN daily, and it seems there are more stories about bullying leading to suicide than murderers leading to murder. This is sad. This, unfortunately, is bullying's byproduct. The reason suicidal thoughts never entered my brain was because of my foundation. Everyone says they had the best parents, but I did. Everyone says they had the best brothers, but I did. This foundation kept me sane and positive. I believed that someday I would miraculously grow a six-pack. I didn’t. But the belief in something great mixed with an incredible, loving foundation, allowed me to get past the tough days and look forward to what was next. In high school, I got cut from the baseball team. This derailed my dream of owning a motorcycle and playing the major leagues. I offered to the coach that I would run for an hour a day in order to secure a bench spot on the team. He declined. My love for baseball rejected me, yet I moved on. In college, at Drake University, I was named editor-in-chief of the Times~Delphic, the college newspaper. The day after earning that position, nearly every journalism professor signed a petition requesting my resignation. Why? Politics. They wanted another candidate to win the job, but I brought a stronger effort in my business plan. They lost. I won. While no professor would provide me guidance as an advisor, a great Dean, Charlie Edwards, did. Politically, he couldn’t be my official advisor, but he gave me plenty of time in his corner office on Sunday mornings (with his best friend, his dog, by his side). He gave me incredible advice about the power of caring and execution. I listened, and made that newspaper profitable for the first time in years. He cared. When I got out of college, I desperately wanted a shot at being a writer at a daily newspaper. I was turned down over and over until a great man gave me a chance. He too, cared. And today, we work together (read his latest column here). After two consecutive cares, my care ratio continued to climb, as did my confidence. I returned that care to everything I touched. Whether that was writing or transitioning my career into PR. I leaned on care and planned on the rest working out. At my previous job, prior to No Limit, I fell in love with the brands and the people I worked with. I loved making differences in the lives of franchisees and franchisors. I loved that I could help impact businesses by securing valuable media. I love when people told me that the work I did made them care. I loved it when Matt Friedman and Adam Scott, founders of Wing Zone, cared for me and told me their vision of me creating an agency. Good morning No Limit Agency*. The care train did not slow. Today, I have a beautiful family, friends and co-workers who care, too. I am surrounded by caring every day. Care, I believe, is not something that can be trained. You either have it, or you don’t. Throughout my career, I have come across very few people who truly care. There are those who are great care salesmen, who talk about care, commitment and dedication – but at the end of the day, they are more willing to throw you under the bus than to push you out of the way. Now in my mid-30s, I believe this is no mistake. This is just the way it is. That sounds negative. I agree. However, I have learned some valuable lessons around the term “it is, what it is”. When something is out of your control, no matter how much care you have, you can’t change it. I promise you, people will try to roll over you in life. But if you care, care will care you back. Be persistent in your fight to care. Don’t give up. Whether you are a former fatty, a former high school baseball team failure, or if your foundation fails to love you back, don’t look back. Only look forward. In life, that’s the only direction we have to look toward. Learn from the past, but be willing to turn over a new leaf every day.