"It Feels Like I'm Living My Dream"
Yesterday was the official launch of our new canned cold brew partnership with The We Will Collective, Iowa State University's NIL collective organization. We started by offering cans in our brick-and-mortar shop, followed by retail availability early next week and direct-to-consumer online sales a few weeks later. As I watched TJ pass out cans to eager Cyclone fans at our soft launch event yesterday morning, I couldn't help but smile. It felt like something big was happening, though none of us could adequately define what that truly means.
Several hours later, I received several missed calls from TJ. I was in a meeting and couldn't answer, but I started getting concerned. I texted him and asked if everything was ok, and if he needed me right away. Turns out, he was just really excited to talk about everything.
A few hours later, I finally had a chance to connect with him. In the first few minutes of the conversation, TJ said something I suspected earlier in the day. "I feel like I'm living my dream." I know this is true. I've felt that way for a while now, but yesterday seemed to cap off a wild 9-month run since opening our doors.
TJ's recipe is simple. Know your calling, grind, fail, learn, grind, fail, learn, continue following the call, grind, fail, learn, and suddenly, you're an overnight success. It's been a 4.5-year journey for him. Nothing about it has been easy. Lesser people (myself included) probably would have given up by now. But not him. His mission was so clear, his why so big, and his patience so great, that nothing was going to defeat his spirit or crush his dream.
Living our dream has a price. We all have different dreams, and the prices to achieve them vary, but there's no free pass. The cost is steep, but the rewards are grand. I suspect TJ already knew this, but having a front-row seat to watch it play out in real-time is special.
Here's my parting thought. I don't think TJ is special. He's just a regular guy, but a regular guy living his dream. If he can do it, so can you, and so can I. If that's true, what's stopping you from going for it?