Optimism, Compassion & Authenticity: My Hope For The Class of 2020

Faculty and staff of this great school, parents, family and friends and most importantly the class of 2020, I am honored to “Get to” to speak to you all today on YOUR day. Graduates, you have done it. Congratulations on your Master’s degrees and virtual high fives to you all (or perhaps virtual elbow bumps are more appropriate during these times). You have overcome so much to get here. Perhaps more than any class before you and in your hard work and dedication have shown resilience and compassion that will be one of the greatest takeaways of your academic time here. Today is ALL ABOUT YOU and I hope to share a few thoughts and stories that might resonate as you take your next step in your lives and careers. 

As you know a little bit about me, one thing I will share with you is that despite some success in life and business, I have terrible timing. I accepted my current role of Head of Marketing at Samsonite where I oversee iconic brands such as Samsonite, American Tourister, High Sierra, Ebags and Hartmann on March 10. Boy did the world of travel look different. Everything I learned about the opportunities and challenges for the business literally transformed overnight as a completely new set of challenges arose. It would have been easy to think to myself “I HAVE TO start over. I HAVE TO change everything I thought I was going to be focused on. I HAVE TO reset my expectations of what this will be and what success will look like." Perhaps you all felt something similar about your last few months of school and the journey ahead? You maybe thought “I HAVE TO cancel travel plans” that you so were looking forward to or “We HAVE TO have a virtual graduation.” Life can feel like it is full of “have to’s”. “Have to’s” is something we spoke a lot about when I ran Marketing at Life is good. Life is good is a $100m apparel brand that focuses on spreading the power of optimism by blending it’s for-profit business with its non-profit which helps kids who have been affected by trauma.

The biggest way we learned about optimism, what it meant and how it was powerful was through our community who shared how they used optimism to overcome everything from losing loved ones, personal set backs, overcoming addiction, facing life threatening illnesses. What we learned from these consumers was that when you overcome these types of things, you don’t see have to’s instead, you feel gratitude even for the things that to us might feel like boring, insignificant have to’s. So we changed 1 word. We turned our have to’s….to get to’s and felt the power of gratitude. I GET TO transform how people will move and travel post pandemic. There are so many that don’t have access to education and advancement so You GET TO have a virtual commencement. You get to reschedule that trip. You GET TO wake up every day and grind and grind toward your goals. So my first advice to you all is to change one word. Change your “have to’s” to “get to” and be grateful every day. Gratitude will take you far..

Second, I challenge you to be BOLDLY, AUTHENTICALLY, true to yourself. Recognize who you are, what you value, know your strengths and your weaknesses and be authentically you. Every choice I have made in my career has been guide by a single belief: I believe that for profit organizations can be the biggest driver of social change. This is what led me to advocate for optimism at LIG, well being at Reebok and the transformative power of travel at Samsonite. When I was at Reebok, we had transitioning our positioning from a sport vertical brand to a fitness brand focused on helping people become their best self, mentally, physically and socially. This was authentic to our heritage. Through that transition we had many great partners like Crossfit and Spartan Race many of whom were quite niche audiences. We did not have partnerships with athletes in the US that reached mass audiences as we did in the past. Given our purpose of helping people become their best self mentally, physically and socially we needed a strong role model and someone who could help us reach many people in support of our training business. Our choice was American Football star JJ Watt. If you don’t know JJ, he is a 3 time defensive player of the year for the Houston Texans with a legendary work ethic and most importantly JJ is an incredible role model w non profit that helps kids and when major floods devastated Houston, JJ’s efforts helped raise $37M to rebuild the city.

So we want to sign him and he is having discussions w us as well as the bigger brands like Nike, Adidas and Under Armour and of course he can choose to go anywhere. Perhaps like most he always dreamed of that Michael Jordan or Eden Hazard level nike contract…but our pitch to him was simple: You can go to a Nike, Adidas or UA brands and be 1 of many, be in the background and just enjoy the swoosh or come here, be 1 of 1 and be part of a brand that shares your values. Help us help others be their best self. We even offered to create a training shoe franchise, something very few, maybe no defense ends have ever had and a platform to support his greatness is earned mentality. JJ chose us and after 5 years, his JJ Trainers continue to thrive \ as he has put all of his real learning's into building a strong authentic product. As you move forward after a hopefully incredible celebration today, think about “what is my authentic platform? What impact do I want to make? Am I willing to be true to my values even if the path isn’t what I expected it to be? You live in a time where you do have a choice when it comes to your career. Find an organization to be a part of that shares your values or be a change maker in an organization that needs transformation and when you get in, don’t just do what needs to be done to achieve what the organization deems success. Make choices every day that are live up to your values and that you feel will benefit both the organization and the people next to you..and by people next to you, I mean coworkers, neighbors, those in different countries or even the generations to come. Commit today to being BOLDLY and unwaveringly authentic. 

Lastly, This great institution you are graduating from has 3 pillars within its mission: Self Awareness, Global Perspective and Societal Consciousness. These pillars are spot on for the times we find ourselves in. Yes, today’s global environment is extremely tumultuous with challenges socially, economically and environmentally BUT your ability as an individual has never been greater to influence and change our path. Periods of such uncertainty most often lead to the largest leaps forward in innovation and change and YOU, THE Class of 2020 are the leaders who can drive us forward if you choose to. It might feel like a big weight to carry, but as we say in the US and perhaps in Antwerp “No Pressure, No Diamonds.” Technology and innovation have democratized platforms and businesses in a way that enables each of you the opportunity to launch a business, a Non-Profit, a movement TODAY before you go to bed. Your actions and leadership have the potential in time to truly impact our global community in meaningful and profound ways. Facing your future with optimism, gratitude, authenticity and the willingness to drive change. This is my challenge and hope for you all in both business and in your lives. It will not be easy. It will not go as you expect as the path you choose is seldom the path you take but your education, your resilience and your compassion will help you every step of the way. Everyone here today, your teachers, your family and friends will be watching and supporting you as your next adventure begins. Congratulations Class of 2020 and best of luck as you continue your journey ahead.