First, they sent me this sweet pizza box:

Then they put this 40.00 gift card inside:

Then I got distracted because I had an idea. What if I put this totally free gift card to good use? If Google is sending me money, you can bet I’ll buy all the authentic street food the Arcade has to offer. Plus they are probably tracking all my purchases anyway to improve their secret project: the buying habits of blondes. Is this going to help me use Google Blue?

Turns out you can buy a lot with 40.00 and I actually bought 5 lunches and had a little bit left over. 

Thanks Google! And thanks for visiting Nashville a few weeks ago. You know what? I think you should put fiber here. (OK everyone, I tried.) 

 I have some Google Adwords discount cards in my office, and if you come hang out with me I’ll give you one. 

1.) Scarce as hen’s teeth. “Common sense ’round these parts is scarce as hen’s teeth.” 

2.) Can’t see the forest through the trees. “He’s talkin’ himself in circles like a babbling idiot. He can’t see the forest through the trees.” 

3.) Fixina or fixin’ to. “I’m fixina get my hair did.”

 4.) A country mile. “That gaping hole in the earth was no kiddin’, a country mile wide.” (seems longer than a normal mile, because there’s usually fields, hay, forest, ponds, rivers and cows in the way). 

 5.) Meaner than a snake. 

 6.) Needle in a haystack.

 7.) Fits like a glove. 

 8.) Barkin’ up the wrong tree.

 9). Colder than a well-digger’s big toe. 

10.) Madder than a wet hen. 

 11.) Don’t have a row to hoe. “He didn’t graduate high-school and don’t have a row to hoe.” 

 12.) Slower than molasses.

 13.) That dog won’t hunt.

 14.) Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit! Jayme is back from California already! 

 15.) She fell from the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. 

 16.) Once in a blue moon. 

… and my favorite and most offensive phrase of the south “Bless your heart.” 

“She couldn’t follow a recipe if it had one ingredient! Bless her heart, she’s from the north.” 

Mary didn’t have a ton of friends as a child, because all of our neighborhood friends were either my age or older and even though Mary is only two years younger than me, I often referred to them as ‘my friends’. I also played ring leader, coming up with ideas like making a secret neighborhood clubhouse in the woods, creating and writing a newspaper to leave in everyone’s mailbox, and the best idea, LEMONADE STAND, which I had built into a lucrative business, mostly by making Mary hold the sign by the road (who wouldn’t stop for an adorable 90′s seven year old in a home made dress) also, where were my parents? 

The point is, I was a doer. I learned through experiencing success and failure first hand, building on the actions and reactions of others. Extraverted, creative, and socially confident, I lead a band of friends through tree houses, kickball games, and pig latin. I still am a doer. I enjoy “life experience” that no one could possibly learn in an organized setting. There’s no measuring success in life using academic grading systems! This C I got in High School Health is bull crap! 

Mary was a listener, and introvert, and a learner. She just sat and watched me rise and fall. She learned through all my mistakes, which she didn’t have to repeat. Mix that with tough skin (literally) and advanced reading skills, and we have a reigning Risk: World Domination champion. While I was riding around on my two-wheeler barbie bike sans helmet like an idiot, Mary was reading my untouched copy of Boxcar Children. That’s when it clicked for Mary. She didn’t need friends in the same way that I did. She could read books and “win” at things by being smart. She was always after my spot as leader. She could do it by mastering passive agressiveness. To sum it up, I think her approach to life might be “She will always be the oldest, but I will out-live her.” 

I know what you are thinking, what does this have to do with learning to work alone? 

I have an intense weakness that is hindering me from accomplishing my goals. I consider myself independent, but when it comes to feedback, I need a partner. Or at least I feel like I need one. Is this an illusion? Maybe. I’ve only known working with people. In school, I looked forward to working in groups. I knew exactly what to say to build people up, and I could match people with their passions. In High-school, I fit in perfectly on my Cross-Country team, and they even made me their chief my senior year! (Meanwhile, Mary is just brewing, incubating on JV, getting straight A’s, honors classes, scholarships, etc).

However, in the startup world there are two things that are necessary. One is the ability to work alone. The other is inclination to disobedience (a story for another time). 

My strengths always lied in social settings, while Mary observed her settings first, and then struck by dropping knowledge everywhere, following all the rules and calling everyone out on their mistakes, like a boss. “Kelley, control your sister!” I CAN’T, SHE READ ATLAS SHRUGGED. She’s a ruthless capitalist. She probably has stocks.  

There are plenty of places in this world for creative, outgoing types. Mostly in environmental non-profits, hippie art, saving whales, Al Gore’s partnership with the Planeteers, teaching abroad, graphic design, The Lexington Herald Leader, Portland, Occupy Sesame Street, Joe Biden translator, unpaid social media intern at the Onion, You get it right? 

In order to be successful, I must master working alone. I have to figure out if my ideas are good based on research rather than reaction. I have to read. WWMD? She would probably be incubating in the bowels of Colab, writing extensive expansion plans for the company. I have to do this. I have to help my startup, and use my position to listen and learn from others, who have to learn from first-hand experience. In this passive way, I will win. To quote the Tao Teh King

“The best soldier does not attack.

The superior fighter succeeds without violence.

The greatest conqueror wins without a struggle.

The most successful manager leads without dictating.

This is called intelligent non-aggressiveness.

This is called mastery of men.” 

I’m also thinking about buying a fish. 

My new shiny desk!

There’s a story behind it. 

It starts with a pivot. 

Golden Girl

Look past the award 

(and the years it took to make). 

It was just an idea. 

Little Man

Little Man, big plan. 

but the internet is endless! 

What’s the next facebook?

Music City Star

For journeys like this,

the train times aren’t convient 

crowdsourcing is key.

Why the Valley? 

Because of Steve Jobs? 

But startups aren’t physical.

I live in the South. 

My newsroom

This is the red room:

tweet, google, read, learn, repeat-

work smarter than that. 

Poor Man

Poor man sells paper,

unlikely to make quota;

But I could share lunch. 

Fiber

I got kicked off AGAIN. 

Our connection is too slow. 

I40 Traffic. 

Operations SOS. 

Taskrabbit, basecamp,

asana, producteev, flow. 

Meet the COO. 

So once I grew up, it’s no surprise that my phases didn’t go away. In fact, I’ve spent more time changing in the last six months than I have during any other time in my life. When I first came here, I didn’t even have a job or a permanent home. Now I work downtown right on 4th Avenue and I consider Nashville just as much of a home as Bowling Green or Georgetown. That could change again in six months. I could be planning an event in another state. I could move again. The possibilities are endless. That’s the thing about phases; I think they might be healthy. How would I ever get here if I didn’t go through the “walking into creative agencies” phase; or perhaps more importantly, the “starting my own business” phase, the Paris phase, the NSAC phase, and the “five shots espresso, no sleep phase?” It’s my goal to never be comfortable. Comfortable is boring. Somehow, every phase I’ve gone through has gracefully led me into the next. Entrepreneurs like me know about the phase thing. We are true minimalists, parading the sacred idea right into a holy user-engagement war zone. We’ve got all the passion and hours of restless work balled up and packaged into a pitch worth a billion dollars or nothing.  And if it’s worth nothing, we pivot, we let go, and some move on to the next adventure. Usually that next “phase” is even bigger, even more exciting than the one before. Learning to adapt is a hard lesson, but change is good. When I try to visualize myself a year from now, I see a completely different person. That’s only going to happen if I stay uncomfortable. If it’s going to make me stronger, better in business, and more valuable as an entrepreneur, bring on the next phase. I can’t wait. 

I took a break from blogging to get settled in my brand new (and dream) city, Nashville. I work as the Marketing Manager for Southern/alpha, a startup tech news source that covers all startup growth in the Southeast. My mission for this blog was to do a doodle per day until I got a job offer. Now that I’m working full time (at my dream job), I’m still going to try to update as much as possible. Getting started in a new city can be difficult, but fortunately, I’ve been blessed with incredible friends and family who are some of the most understanding and supportive people I’ve ever known. 

Nashville is where I’m supposed to be. That’s all I really know right now. I’m not sure what is going to happen next, but that is part of the fun. I love being here and I love my career choice. I never thought I’d be working in the startup scene, but it makes sense. Everything I’ve learned has led me to this point, and the things I’m learning every day are going to take me where I belong in the future. 

Today I decided to modernize the Democratic and Republican logos while trying to keep the same symbolism and spirit of each political party. Do you know why the GOP’s stars are pointed down? (I think it was a Graphic Designer).