“Start Something That Matters”

“Start Something that Matters” by Blake Mycoskie is a book that is more than just Mycoskie’s story of creating the popular shoe brand TOMS. It is a guide with useful information for aspiring entrepreneurs that shows readers that starting a business is not as intimidating as it may seem.

Each chapter outlined an overarching part of starting your own business, like finding a story that is specific to your company, being resourceful when you have few resources, and building trust, to name a few. Mycoskie relates his experience of creating TOMS to each chapter, as well as providing examples of other businesses that are enacting similar ideals. Overall, Mycoskie created this book to show readers that anyone can start their own business and you don’t need to have a lot of money in order to do so.

The business model for TOMS is One-for-One, meaning that for every pair of shoes sold, another one gets donated to a child in need. I don’t think that this type of entrepreneurship is very different from “general entrepreneurship.” I think that starting your own business, whatever it may be, can benefit someone and your product or service can positively affect their lives, whether your company has a social mission or not. Most people don’t purchase a product or service if they don’t believe in it. The TOMS model is also an example of a social purpose venture, as they are a for-profit company with a mission to resolve a social problem.

I think this visual does a good job at showing what goes into becoming a successful social entrepreneur. I’m sure that Blake Mycoskie would agree as well.

Mycoskie stressed throughout the book that anyone can start something that matters, and the most important part is the first step in enacting your idea. I’m not sure what my future holds and whether or not I will take the steps to become an entrepreneur, but I hope that what I end up doing in my career helps others in some way. As I mentioned in my last blog post, there are plenty of opportunities in the music nonprofit world for me to make a difference, particularly in community outreach and bringing classical music into the lives of the younger generations. I want to be part of something that matters and something that is making a difference, whether it’s something I create or not.

I think having an entrepreneurial mindset, the ability to quickly sense, take action, and get organized under certain conditions, is important to have in any field. Whether you are starting or taking part in “something that matters,” it is important to have the right intentions, as businesses whose only mission is to increase their profits are not successful long-term. Overall, I think “Start Something That Matters” is a useful guide that gives aspiring entrepreneurs a boost of confidence before diving into their first business idea.

My Future Goals as an Arts Administrator

As someone who sees themselves in the music nonprofit world in the next 1-10 years (hopefully!), there are plenty of opportunities to integrate new and innovative ideas into my work. Many people on the street might say that classical music is a dying art form, but myself and many other future arts administrators are trying to change that.

The music nonprofit world is very large and there are many different parts of it I can go into, but my goal is to one day work for an orchestra. As many of the audiences of classical music performances are overwhelmingly older white people, many arts administrators are trying to come up with new and creative ways of bringing in a younger crowd to their concerts. How can we make classical music more interesting and accessible to millenials and the younger generations? Does it begin with changing the programming to be more appealing for a younger crowd? Or does it start with community outreach from a young age? There are so many more questions like these that arts administrators are trying to answer.

My internship from last summer was with the American Symphony Orchestra and the adjoining master’s program orchestra called The Orchestra Now, otherwise known as TON (pronounced like tone). TON is a very innovative organization and is described on their website as “a unique pre-professional orchestra and master’s degree program designed to prepare musicians for the challenges facing the modern symphony orchestra.” Their programs are engaging for diverse audiences and the musicians give introductions about the music on-stage and interact with patrons during intermissions. TON is the only pre-professional orchestra with an accompanying master’s program in the world. I think organizations like this one show a glimpse of what orchestras will be like in the future.

(The Orchestra Now with conductor Leon Botstein)

A long-term professional goal of mine is to create or work for an organization like TON, as I don’t think symphony orchestras will continue to spark the interest of the rising generations (much to my dismay, I will always love the Boston Symphony Orchestra). I think a large problem starts with kids not learning to play an instrument from a young age. I saw a fact online, it may or may not be entirely true, but it said “20% of kids learn to play music, 70% of adults wish they had.”

Even if this fact isn’t 100% accurate, I think there is some truth to it. Learning how to play an instrument teaches you much more than just the instrument; it teaches you discipline and changes how you think about things. From personal experience of playing the violin from age 6 up until now as a senior in college, I feel like having the violin in my life for so long has taught me a lot about myself and how I learn and understand things. I think creating a program that teaches children instruments at a young age is one of the first of many steps of introducing classical music into the lives of the younger generations.

I wish I could think of more personal or professional goals for myself but like many other college students about to graduate, my future is unclear at this point. As a musician, I have also considered the idea of teaching violin to children. I had the same violin teacher from when I started at six years old until I graduated high school and he gave me a love for music from a very young age, and I would love to be able to do the same for others. Even learning to appreciate classical music from a young age can make the world of a difference in the future of music organizations. I hope that one day I will be able to start something, I don’t know what yet, that will improve the lives of the younger generations.

The Story Behind “Five Guys”

Jerry Murrell is the founder and CEO of the popular burger restaurant Five Guys which has grown into a billion dollar business, and it all started with Murrell knowing how to grill a burger and fry potatoes.

Jerry Murrell (far right) and his five sons

Murrell is from a small mining town in Michigan and worked as a financial planner for the start of his professional career. He tried a couple side-hustles, small business ideas that he did on the side of his real job, but none of them worked out. In the mid-80s, 1986 to be exact, Murrell and his five sons opened up their first burger joint in Arlington, Virginia. Murrell was inspired by a burger joint in his hometown owned by a man who went by “Push ‘em up” Tony, whose restaurant always had lines out the door.

Murrell thought that he could do the same, but didn’t want to invest a lot of money upfront on the off chance that the business didn’t work out. The family put in $35,000, including money from his sons’ college funds, to start the business, not knowing what would come of it. Much to Murrell’s surprise, the restaurant attracted lines of customers and soon enough, he would be able to quit his regular job to focus on the burger business. Although the business model was different from other fast food restaurants, the wait for food was longer and the food was more expensive, the quality of the food and the ingredients outweighed the downsides.

As the business grew Murrell opened more stores with the support of investors, and in the late 90s, Murrell’s sons convinced him to franchise the business, which allowed more stores to open up around the country. Murrell also opened joint ventures in other countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and countries in the Middle East.

(This maps shows all the Five Guys locations in the US as of 2018)

Murrell says he doesn’t know how he became so successful, and thinks that he and his family just got lucky. What Murrell does know is that as long as you know how to grill a burger and fry potatoes, you’ll be good. As of 2017, Five Guys is at upwards of $2 billion in revenue, and is continuing to grow.

You can listen to the NPR podcast here.

Viral Nonprofit Campaign “No Makeup Selfie for Cancer Research”

In the 21st century, there have been countless organizations and foundations that have been created to bring awareness to a social cause. Through social media, these organizations have had the opportunity to grow into something bigger than they could have ever imagined. The “No Makeup Selfie” movement is one such example of this.

It all began when American author Laura Lippman tweeted a picture of herself with no makeup on in support of actress Kim Novak who attended the Oscars without makeup. Novak was criticized for not wearing makeup, something that is completely superficial but is unfortunately something that many women face. Several weeks later the movement kicked off when 18-year-old Fiona Cunningham of the UK tweeted her #nomakeupselfie and connected it to the charity Cancer Research UK.

Cunningham never expected the cause to blow up the way it did. In 24 hours, 1 million British pounds were donated to the cause and several days later, they had raised 2 million British pounds in donations. Cunningham created the Facebook page called “No Makeup Selfie for Cancer Awareness” which received over a quarter of a million likes with women posting their no makeup selfies.

Cunningham said of the movement: “The no-makeup selfie craze really captured my imagination and I was amazed at the response from people around the world and just thought how great it would be if it could be done for charity. After seeing nothing similar on Facebook or Twitter, I thought there was something in it that it could raise awareness of cancer.”

The reason why this campaign was so successful is because it wasn’t created by a marketing executive from Cancer Research UK; it was a sort of grassroots organization created by the community.  Buzzfeed UK editor Luke Lewis put it best, “It was a rare example of pure, not manufactured, virality.”

For more information about the cause, visit the Cancer Research UK website here.