Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Wisdom from Odwalla

Last week, a very special guest came to talk to the seniors at the school where I work: Greg Steltenpohl, the founder of Odwalla. He said a LOT of inspiring things to the seniors, but this really stuck in my mind.

“Being an entrepreneur, you have to kind of put your idea out there and believe in it and then manifest your vision,” he said. “You just keep coming up against things constantly, no matter how long you go along, there’s going to be someone who just says, ‘It isn’t possible.’”

Change "entrepreneur" to "writer" and omigosh, it's totally my truth. And how did he deal with the doubters?

“Nine times out of ten, it’s about manifestation. If you believe it, then other people start to believe it and pretty soon it becomes the reality.”

Kind of how I try to live my life. Believe it into reality. His final pearl of wisdom:

“You never know what's going to happen, just by doing what you love.”

Greg sold Odwalla to Coke in 2001 for $160 million. Not a bad payoff for doing something he loved!

I have no aspirations to make millions. But I do hope that by staying true to what I love, I can find  success.

How do you define success?

6 comments:

Kristan said...

Oh I bet that was an awesome talk! In college, Jerry of Ben & Jerry's came to speak to us, and I remember going through PAGES upon PAGES in my journal, jotting quotes, making notes, soaking up and recording all his inspiration.

Honestly I don't think I yet know how to define success for me. I just keep trying to work toward it, riding and stoking my passion until I get there.

Stina said...

Success for me isn't about money. It's about challenging myself and being proud of what I've achieved by pushing myself. And it's about making a difference in someone's life. That's what I hope to achieve with my writing. :D

Michelle D. Argyle said...

This was wonderful to read! I definitely believe in myself and what I'm doing. It's the only way to go about this thing.

Laura Pauling said...

Great advice. Truly, even writers pursuing traditional publishers are enterpreneurs too. Of course, I want to build a career that brings in money out of this but that doesn't have to be the only measure of success.

If I'm going to invest money in my own business and self publish, I sure hope money is in there somewhere, but that's the business side. For the other side, success is writing stories I love and finding readers that enjoy them. :)

Kelly Polark said...

My writing goals have been step by step goals. First was to be published in children's magazines. Then it was to have a picture book published. And now a middle grade.
But when my pb app was finally published, I was more thrilled that the public could finally read my work than with the pay. (though it is wonderful to be paid for your hard work, too...)

Jaxson corey said...
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