What excites and motivates you to get out of bed each day? Are you living the dream? Is your life filled with passion? What is living a life with purpose? Do you look at others in awe and amazement that they seem to have so much fun?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so many questions but so what...
Earlier this year Julia Felton and I, as members of the Global Entrepreneur Movement agreed to run monthly events for social entrepreneurs in Leeds, being centrally located for the main centres in Yorkshire. There is a whole other story around that but, for now, I want to share some of the amazing people I have met and connected with, through this process.
A key part of these events is having an amazing speaker who shares their journey. Ideally, one filled with passion and purpose and, especially, an inspiring success! Having started researching locally I have been amazed at the stories, the characters and the journeys.
So far we have been very fortunate to have Steve Conley, Matthew Norton and Jon Masters as our wonderful speakers. All very different, all with different purposes and approaches to a successful business, but all passionate about what they are doing, why and the value they are adding to others.
This week, by fortune and complete luck really, we have been able to entice Richard McCann to end his #Challenge44 at our event. Now the interesting part here is that I have never met Richard, or even heard him speak, so why did I ask Richard if we could host the final event of his long day?
And this is the real point I'm trying to make...
Richard has had the toughest of upbringings, from being on the 'at-risk register' to doing time for drug and alcohol offences, but then something happened and this is the story I can't wait to hear. The outline is, 20 years ago Richard was released from prison, now he has a very successful business giving motivational talks. The name of his business/brand is The iCan Academy. What a stroke of genius. What more do you need than to have the motto 'iCan' leading your day? We all understand the power of positive thinking and the need to take action to make anything happen, but especially under tough circumstances.
So, in the last week I have been following Richard, online, and learning what I can about this man who has agreed to give 44 free talks in a single day whilst raising money for two very worthy causes, namely the Toast Loves Coffee Cafe and The Samaritans. And what an adventure this has been ;).
My learnings thus far include:
- Richard has many 'raving fans'. No seriously, he has loyal supporters who regularly interact, comment and share his stories. There are reviews 'a plenty' about his talks, training sessions and just 'being Richard'.
- Richard shares his life with his fans. Facebook Lives happen throughout the day and, we gain an insight to the man behind the iCan Speak dream. Sometimes they are short thoughts about leaving the office late after planning the #Challenge44. Sometimes his experiences while travelling to events across the country, or testing the route for Thursday. Sometimes he gets that 'naughty sparkle' and dares himself to do daft things... like climb on a boxing platform in the middle of Leeds Trinity Centre! Others, however, are more personal snippets of his family life - watching his daughter play football, swinging kids in their dressing gowns at bedtime :), or breakfast in bed! But, importantly people comment, like and follow this man.
- This is one true family man. Despite having a successful business, and I'm sure it has been a lot of hard work to get to this point, Richard always keeps his family life in focus. Watching his children play sport, do plays and just interacting with them on a real and personal level. I just loved the video of the family getting involved in the book signing.
- The iCan Speak business is growing. Last weekend Richard held his first 'iCan become a Professional Speaker' event - with rave reviews! We love a good business that is growing and creating value for others.
- People like Richard and are inspired by his talks. There are so many comments on what a 'nice man' Richard is. And... there are so many testimonials on how he has inspired through his story and talks.
- We have numerous 'common' friends on Facebook and LinkedIn. How come then that our paths have not crossed before now? I guess the motto that I use with my clients applies - when the student is ready the teacher appears!
- Richard is a massive philanthropist. The #Challenge44 event is just one of many fundraising events that he has been involved with. If someone needs something and the cause is just (relates to Richard's purpose), he puts his time and energy into creating the magic that turns things around.
- Richard has the three brands that we talk about in the EI (Entrepreneurs Institute) World. A personal brand - Richard McCann. A company brand - The iCan Academy. Product brands - iCan Speak Academy, iCan Lead Keynotes, iCan 4 Schools covering professional speaking, speaker training (bootcamps) and how to be a professional speaker, etc.
There will be more to add to this, no doubt, after I hear this very popular Yorkshire lad talk on Thursday.
But, I can say that I am always delighted to meet such wonderful people and especially proud to be able to share these wonderful stories, journeys and insights with the entrepreneurial community in Yorkshire.
If you would like to join us on Thursday please pop along to the Crowne Plaza in Leeds around 6.30pm. I am sure it will be a magical evening and we will all come away from this event a little wiser, more inspired and perhaps in touch with 'our reason why'.
The event is free, this month, as we support this cause. You can support too by choosing a ticket at any price you like, or by giving a donation on the night. Tickets are available here. However, pop-ins are welcome, so if you make up your mind at the last minute, please do join us. Official start is 7pm.
If you would like to discover your purpose take a look at the Purpose Test.
This is a free link and you can connect with others who share the same vision - how does it get better than that!
