Photo credit: Tom Beck
I’ll admit, I am not a resident of Detroit nor do I work in the city. I venture into the city of Detroit for the things that bring most metro-Detroiters to The Motor City: music, food, sporting events, and occasionally to be regaled with a tall tale on a crushed green velvet chair at Café D’Mongo’s. I don’t pretend to have the types of insights that those walking, biking, and hiking the streets of Detroit on a daily basis have when it comes to understanding the challenges that the city and its people face.
But I love Detroit. I find myself defending it and claiming it as my own. I cheer it on when others put it down. I have high hopes for the city of Detroit, which is why events like TEDxDetroit are a welcomed vacation from the negativity and cynicism that I too take part in from time to time.
TEDxDetroit helps to showcase the other, more inspired, more brilliant people who have Detroit’s back—the ones that are making positive changes every day in the city that I love. As Ishita Gupta pointed out a week ago, “You are not just sitting here today as gritty Detroiters with hustle. You are smart.”
So here are some of the smart things I learned from the smart people at TEDxDetroit that have stuck with me over the past week:
- Share your candy. A simple yet powerful call to action about building community. Matthew Naimi of Recycle Here reminds us to contribute whatever we can: our talent, our time, our resources, our conversation.
- Have a purpose larger than profit. Jacques Panis, President of Shinola, tells us that we must always be passionate about the work that we do. As a marketing professional, I know all too well how easy it can be to get burned out if you aren’t passionate about some aspect of what you do. Along those same lines, it is important to have a purpose grander than your bank account. Money should never be your sole motivating factor.
- Inspire and encourage our youth. As 10-year-old SuperBusinessGirl Asia astutely put it, “You adults have to teach us the right thing. We have to be encouraged and inspired.”
- Demand more. Of ourselves. Of our peers. Of our superiors. In his usual form, looking as though he just stumbled out of bed, Charlie LeDuff demanded that we demand more.
- Give back. It is more than likely that you’ve had help somewhere along the way. Take the time to help others achieve their goals.
