What just happened to your Facebook Page
I am glad you asked. As most of you know two months ago Mallory and I had our first child, Jack. Apart from being devastatingly cute and a pretty well-behaved baby, he has also served as a bit of a wake-up call. I am what you would call a dabbler, I have dipped my toe into the entrepreneurial pool a few times. With my role in Contendo, I am in the pool but secure with a life jacket and a tow rope. So by taking an inventory of my life, something that I am sure commonly occurs after the birth of a child (thanks for the mortality check Jack), I looked at my life and those of the people around me and realized that I needed to commit to building something for myself, and my growing family.
So it became time to start thinking of what I wanted to create. I took stock of all my strengths and more importantly my faults. I looked hard at some of the worst parts of myself and contrasted them with what I saw as the best. When I did that it became really obvious that I have always been at my best when I am trying to help others.
My favourite moment of playing hockey as a kid was when we had a bench brawl and I hauled the other team’s backup goalie off of the smallest guy on my team and proceeded to get two of my ribs cracked by his blocker, which he left on for the fight. I live to help the people I love, and hate it when I can’t do anything to make their lives better. I am simply at my best when I can help people.
I’ve been incredibly fortunate with my role at Contendo, which I have no intention of resigning from, to have experienced levels of business beyond what a 32-year-old history major could expect. From being on the 55th floor of the Bow for presentations and meetings to working with a small startup to build their first website. Some days start by working with engineers in the morning and graphic designers in the afternoon, from making pitches at the Microsoft offices at M.I.T. to coffee at Tim’s with a guy who has trouble onboarding for his pavement company. The best parts of my day are when I can help businesses come up with new and innovative ways to use technology to solve their business’s problems or give them a competitive advantage.
In my role on the Village Council, it has been a similar experience. I got into it because I want to show my community that it can be more than the declining industry town that it has been allowed to devolve into. It’s not always easy, there are a lot of people who want things to change but fear actually making the changes that are necessary in order to achieve it. But the moments where I can see a positive change in the community the kinds that can snowball, well that makes it all worth it.
Failing Spectacularly
So armed with the knowledge of what makes me happy, and what I get the most fulfilment from, I was able to determine that I wanted to enter the world of professional coaching. Again, I have been incredibly fortunate to be able to work with some fantastic individuals in this field, people who were consulting with million and billion dollar companies daily. They have experiences and resumes that would be incredibly hard to compete with, and I thought I’d be discouraged; however, it occurred to me that my greatest joy always came from helping my neighbours and small companies who could never afford a $4000.00 to $ 25,000-day rate. So I would start a coaching offering aimed specifically at startups, side hustles and people who want to do something to improve their professional and personal lives.
So with that in mind I grabbed a logo I’ve always felt drawn to, The Geometric Bear. It’s a great logo for a few reasons:
- The Bear is an amazing animal, from Winnie the Pooh to the Boston Bruins, the bear is a symbol that simultaneously resonates two seemingly opposing qualities, great compassion and unyielding determination
- The geometric design symbolizes the underlying order in the world. The most original inventions and companies over the course of human history have all used an underlying truth or science to understand the world and it’s amazing to see the world as consisting of these set rules, shapes and patterns
Then came the slogan. My favourite part of any branding exercise. The company name simply says who you are and what you do, sometimes you can get creative but often that just causes confusion. A proper slogan or mission statement, now that’s where you get to show off your personality. I chose to use “Fail, Spectacularly” because I once heard the phrase somewhere “I’d rather be a spectacular failure, than an ordinary success!”
So What’s Next
Pretty soon I will be starting to offer and book Individual Coaching Sessions as well as Startup Bootcamp Sessions for people who want to start their small businesses and not end up burning their precious money and time running on a treadmill in the wrong direction.
Please stay tuned, and if you are interested in working with me, please contact me either via Facebook or through any of the contact forms or methods on my site.
Cheers,
Sandenn