I have often wondered! When President Obama won the elections in 2008 and 2012, did those elections paved the way for America to accept a female President in 2016, specifically Hillary Clinton? Or is my white, male privilege lens skewed to far out-of-whack to entertain this conversation…this thought process?
I have a daughter and I firmly believe she is growing up in a time when the notion of a female president is going to move far beyond the mainstream, a time in American history that will pave the way for that commonplace. During the 2010 campaign, there was a poster released from the Obama for America camp that read this:
“We must carry forward the work of the women who came before us, ensure our daughters have no limits on their dreams, no obstacles to their achievements, and not remaining ceilings to shatter.”
Today was Rosebud’s last day at South Fant’s 3K Program and what an amazing year! Not only did Rose learn so much, but were learning right along side her. I remember her first day of school like it was yesterday. As we were getting out of the car, putting on her backpack, and making our way to the front door, Rose said, “Mommy, her skin is brown?” Sarah responded so beautifully, “Yes Rosebud, look how beautiful…you should ask her name.”
It was that moment in time, we knew we made the right decision; and so began our journey of truly learning about race, class, ethnicity…and most importantly, white privilege. As our journey began, we knew that South Fant was the most wonderful decision we made as parents!
Here is what I write the days leading up to her first day of school in 2015. This is one of many posts I will be sharing from this past year. I hope you follow along this journey!
For the last few years…my blog has been dedicated to so many different arenas from digital marketing, storytelling, content marketing, client stories, and many other narratives leveraged for business. I am changing my writing!
It is time for a change *and* time to start writing my heart. For so long I have held back my personal struggles, beliefs, moments of glory…narratives that make me real. It is time to write for me and to share the stories that need to be shared.
As a young father who is now learning what it means to live in a post 40 world, my life is changing rapidly. I am learning what it really means to be a father, a husband, and son, and provider, and most importantly a writer. I have found my gift later in life and it is the ability to bring narratives to life. It is time to share my narrative.
As a man who is the product of divorced upbringing, a husband who watched his wife loose her mother to breast cancer and witness her death, to a father who could have had four children (three lost to miscarriages), business person who suffered through the 2008 economic nose dive and barely survived, a former journalist who has witnessed/captured national and international tragedies first hand…it is time to share.
Life with Rose and Sarah is amazing…and so are the struggles and celebrations that are the textured wrinkles in my daily skin, I call life.
I look forward to sharing many narratives that truly reveal my hopes to be a better man!
As many of you know…I am drawn to the story of the un-insured here in South Carolina. Each person I meet, each interview I sit through, each image I capture…I am reminded where I was a few years ago.
There is a massive, polarizing conversation right now surrounding health care, access to care, and american rights vs/ patient rights. The one area that has me most sympathetic are those who are struggling each day to pay the rent, pay to put clothes on their children’s backs, work, and have access to quality health care.
Did you hear, once again South Carolina ranks #1 in rate of women murdered by men. This new data was released just a few weeks before October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Did you also know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month?
Yes…you will see pink everywhere from products in the grocery store, fountains in downtowns, major state/federal buildings colored pink…we will be pink washed in jut a few days.
In 2012 I was struck, hit upside the head, and right in the chest with the news of a friend who had been murdered. I had worked along side her to help create an event called Ecoplosion. She worked for Clemson University in the Master of Real Estate Development Program and was a crucial part of putting together a big economic development event in Greenville, SC. Her name is Marge Putnam.
I was struck in the head and in the chest. It knocked the breathe out of me to learn that this beautiful woman, mother, grandmother, community leader was killed by her husband who then killed himself.
In 2012 I was struck, hit upside the head, and right in the chest with the news of a friend who had been murdered. I had worked along side her to help create an event called Ecoplosion. She worked for Clemson University in the Master of Real Estate Development Program and was a crucial part of putting together a big economic development event in Greenville, SC. Her name is Marge Putnam.
I was struck in the head and in the chest. It knocked the breathe out of me to learn that this beautiful woman, mother, grandmother, community leader was killed by her husband who then killed himself.
I was struck in the head to learn the statistics. South Carolina ranks as the #1 state in the nation for women killed by men; 1 in 5 female college students are sexually assaulted; 1 in 4 women are the victims of domestic violence; and over 50% of middle and high-school girls experience sexual harassment in school.
I wanted to reach out to you. I serve on the GHS Children’s Hospital Development Council and we are hosting a Virtual Toy Drive. Below is a link to a website where you can purchase items for children who are patients at Children’s Hospital. From electronics, books, movies, even stuff for parents of children…there is something in everyone’s budget.
All items have been identified by Children’s Hospital staff as needed to help us in our efforts to go beyond providing traditional medical care. As a donor, you select and pay for an item and we take care of securing and distributing the item. Any items you select are needed and very much appreciated.
What is your greatest passion…the one thing that drives you to get up in the morning and push harder and harder?
This is my greatest passion…my little rose!
Now I talk about my business passion: finding and telling great stories. yes…it is. But that is just one part of the bigger picture.
This little one makes me work harder, work smarter, and challenge myself to seek the balance in the work/life continuum.
A few months ago, I sat on a panel discussion where the audience were mothers of preschoolers (MOPS). They called it the man panel and the major part of the discussion was balancing work and home. I think there is a bigger balance for self-employed, small business, entrepreneurial individuals.
Each day, we balance so many pieces of this work/life pie:
home (keeping the house running – the honey do’s)
partner in life (keeping the one we love the most close)
family (keeping our loved ones close to feel like family)
children (being a good father with a profound presence)
working in our business (executing the daily tasks to generate revenue)
working on our business (planning and preparing for tomorrow)
growing our business (thinking and preparing for opportunities beyond)
keeping the focus on our passions (defining those passions in personal and business life)
finding time for ourselves (time to recharge those batteries)
Now look at that list and you think, we can combine some of these points into categories, but i specifically left them separated. Each of these have become so important and it has even taken me years to bring language to all of those points. What do I mean? It is being able to have the wisdom to actually write each point down and recognize each of their relative importances.
“…according to one survey, 75 percent of male executives are married to homemakers. It’s simply not possible to work 90 hours a week and see to your own basic needs – much less support someone else’s career. It works the other way, too: with only one salary to rely on, those husbands need all the wage premium they can get.”
It goes on to share this…
“Millennial men are beginning to do what women have done for decades: to work as consultants or start their own businesses that give them the flexibility for better work-family balance. A forthcoming study of New Models of Legal Practice by the Center for WorkLife Law documents lawyers in their prime who left large, prestigious law firms so they could practice law in ways that allow them to be more involved in children’s lives.”
Now I am a Gen X…so I miss this point by a few years. But…I can definitely relate. Sometimes I fell like I am a millennial. I did what all Gen X’s do. I attended a four year school and received a degree, got a job, and started working my way up the corporate ladder. BUT, a few years into my career…I realized that I was working too damn hard and not making enough money. Also…there was a cap on my long term opportunities.
So I started over…went back to graduate school to get a focused education. I was re-emerging in the business world in a post 911 era. A time when entrepreneurship was becoming common place in the tech world.
Realizing this path…working for myself, learning to start a family, and grow a business; the list above started emerging point by point.
This takes me back to my passion…my ultimate focus. Rose and Sarah are my passion and all things are wrapped around their lives sarah and the life we are building together.
