Later this week, I’m going to make a more robust post about personal branding and how effective it can be. From the moment I decided to turn myself into a brand that focuses on service, engaging with others, and motivating, I have experienced a significantly greater amount of rewarding success. Through that branding, I found my way to a very special opportunity this past weekend when I spoke at and attended the 2014 Virginia Young Professionals Summit, sponsored by Senator Mark Warner.
I also had the great fortune of being on the receiving end of yet another wonderful, engaging talk by Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business professor and close friendDonna Wertalik about the importance of personal branding when marketing yourself.
One of the most outstanding ways I was ever suggested to market myself was through my personal logo, on the recommendation of a great friend named Phill. Today, that personal logo has a new home – my laptop case.
My new laptop case, ordered from Zazzle! Great product and even better service! Thanks, Zazzle!
World, get ready. Here’s comes hesonwheels, with a brand new fury and vengeance. ;)
It was NOT an April Fool’s joke! It’s April 1st and I am ecstatic to announce my recommitment to blogging as often as I would LOVE to. The HESONWHEELS blog is something that I have missed SO much over the past few months. Primarily, due to my endeavors as a graduate student (from studying, to service, to networking, to just trying to live a LIFE), I haven’t been able to spend as much time writing leisurely as I would prefer. I consistently found myself in real-life and not able to reflect as much – and if I was reflecting, it was all pushed into my e-Portfolio (which I’ll explain more about later).
Today is special in so many ways. Not only is it my first true blog in a VERY long time, it marks exactly ten days remaining until I present my comprehensive exam, or e-Portfolio, to the faculty in my program. On April 11th, from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., I will present information that I have “researched” over the past two years – that is, how have I changed and developed as a person and as a professional through my time spent in my Master’s program. Nerve-wracking? Absolutely. 100 percent. AND I DON’T EVEN GET NERVOUS FOR PRESENTATIONS! But, at the end of the day, I just keep telling myself – I need to be confident in my delivery and they will be confident in me – and let me graduate with my degree!
One of my absolute favorite quotes, especially when I need to get in the zone prior to a presentation.
Another reason today is very important is because I am also announcing another commitment – but this one is new. I thought long and hard about this one, just like my return to blog – because I’ve really learned over the past four or five months to not bite off more than I can realistically chew. I’m working on a project that I’ve been wanting to do forever – it’s called 1 second everyday. I first heard about this project through one of my favorite TED talks, months ago (of course I can’t go a whole blog post without mentioning a TED talk!), and I decided that, with a new month, and what I really view as the beginning of a new chapter in my life, it’s about time I finally take that plunge and make that commitment.
So, I won’t post the one second to hesonwheels every single day, but I hope that in 365 days you can expect a posting of that montage – the video that is my past 365. Public accountability makes me feel a little more committed, but I am feeling very intimidated by the concept of having to remember this every day! Between now and then, you can expect a much more updated HESONWHEELS, as well! I’m excited for the ride – I hope you are, too.
While I wasn’t quite in the right place to do this at the turn of the new calendar year, you could think of both of these commitments as sort of a New Year’s Resolution. You might remember this blog post from back in 2013, which I have to admit I was actually successful at about eighty percent of the goals I set for myself back then – which I view as a success for the most part! I didn’t make a similar list for 2014, but these two goals of blogging more and engaging with 1 second everyday, I hope, will force me to make the most out of every single day. How will you make the most out of your days??
Well, with that – I’m going to get on with the day and get back to finishing the remainder of my ePortfolio. Ten days to go you guys, wish me luck!
For the past few months, I’ve been brewing some exciting things. Ideas, opportunities, meeting new people, traveling the country, exploring the land. In all of that brewing, I have to admit – some things suffered. The most obvious of those things? This blog. And so, as I set my goals for this season, go ahead…
& mark your calendars, my friends.
hesonwheels.com will be making a triumphant return from hiatus on… 4/1/2014.
Many of you have been asking me “Justin, where are the posts?” “What have you been up to!?” “Share some new recipes!” and … I’ve finally made the decision to make the come back. Blogging is one of the most therapeutic things I do, and I’ve missed it so, SO much.
Until then, keep up with life’s happenings here and here. And keep your calendars marked for April 1st!
SURPRISE! Most people don’t know about my obsession with this woman. Definitellyyyy by celebrity crush; has been for years. But, incase you didn’t already know what I’d be up to tonight…
Tonight, Beyoncé is making another stop at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., and I couldn’t be any more excited – because I’ll be there! Now, most people who know me know that I don’t tend to splurge on anything to do with music. With Pandora, and Spotify, YouTube, and iTunes Radio, there are so many options that are so much more affordable. BUT…it’s Beyoncé, one woman who rivals my crush on Michelle Obama. Why do they both have to married?
“Twenty years from now, you’re going to say, i was at that Beyonce concert,”
Happy Birthday, Celine
This is such a huge week for me. Ya’ll sound beautiful.
Now that I have a little bit of free time on my hands, I just want to blog about everything in sight. I can’t decide if that’s a bad thing or not.
While I ponder that, check out this web-gallery that I just found on social media, via Imgur. Imgur is a photo-sharing site I believe, it kind of reminds me of Buzzfeed (at least what I know about it). This gallery is just…a tear-jerker. It takes a lot to get me teary-eyed and this one certainly did. From my love of little children, to my appreciation of love between people, this gallery just…wow.
What a great way to honor someone you love, I’d say. Check it out.
I’m going through some of the old links on my Mac’s Reading List that I wanted to read over the course of the semester – before things got super crazy – and I came across this one about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s goal of trying to speak to one non-Facebook employee every day during this year. I wonder how successful he was…it’s almost 2014.
According to Wikipedia, the popular social media website reached 1.11 billion users in May 2013. This means that the Zuck would have to meet more than 3 million people per day if he wanted to meet all Facebook users.
This article caught my eye because it sounds pretty familiar to a goal I set for myself, too. ;)
The CNN article really gets down to the meat of why I’ve implemented this goal, myself, for the past four years. It says that Zuckerberg views the challenge as a way to open himself up to new perspectives. For example, who knows the kind of person you will meet or the connection that you might make if you try to engage in conversation with one new person each day? Exactly.
The article REALLY caught my eye because it also nods to an issue that had been developing within higher education for the past five years or so (to my knowledge): undocumented students. See this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education for some shocking reading on that topic, as published online earlier this fall.
Have you ever considered implementing such a goal for yourself?
Well, my friends. It is officially winter in Blacksburg!!
Yet again this morning I tried to get into my truck and head to campus. Lo and behold the door was FROZEN shut! Last night, my mom gave me this great advice of using Coca Cola to defrost your car when frozen – definitely a good piece of advice! I almost considered using water to do the deed, but unfortunately you risk this happening if you do that! I’ll definitely be using some of these tips as it gets colder and colder this winter.
Photo Credit to the beautiful Lisa S.!
Before I sat down to write this blog post, I realized that it is truly the end of the semester. I was chatting with a student worker in my office, and she reminded me that, for the Tuesday/Thursday class I am teaching this semester, that tomorrow is our LAST meeting (Thursday is Reading Day)!! WHAT!? I can’t believe how time flew by this semester. My to do list kept growing and growing as time became more scare and more scarce. But, nonetheless, I feel like this was still a very successful semester, one that figuratively concluded with what I’ll blog about when I get a free moment later this week…
Being able to finally announce the selection and appointment of the 16th President of Virginia Tech! The Presidential Search Committee took up quite a bit of my time this semester, and in the best way possible. As a graduate student in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (with a concentration in Higher Education administration) and also pursuing a graduate certificate in Collaborative (Community) Leadership, I could have had no greater learning experience to take part in over the course of this semester. After I get some more paper writing, grading, and finals-studying complete this week, I plan to unpack a full blog post about that, in particular.
Not to mention, I still have the same folder from the summer on my desktop of many blogs I am dying to share with the world – Winter Break will be my outlet to finally be able to do that. : )
Until then, check out this wonderful College Humor set that I used to prepare my students for finals. Overall, all of my blogging time this semester was sacrificed for the 21 students I got to be a peer mentor for and the 30 that I got to teach, but I wouldn’t have changed that for the world. My goodness, do I miss hesonwheels though! As classes end, I can’t remember the last time I was actually, legitimately, and realistically eager about being able to get back into blogging.
Oh, and with your infinite amount of spare time, watch this.
Anyways,GOOD LUCK with final tests, papers, projects, and presentations, my friends! And to those of you in the real world that are thinking you are happy you don’t have any finals…go ahead and be bitter about my five-week long Winter Break. :)
One of the most random but fortunate connections I have ever made is with a woman named Caroline. I was at a summer cook-out with one of my new neighbors at the time, a man named Nick who would go on to become a good friend of mine and the founder of their start-up, VirtualU. We were in Blacksburg, VA, and I had little to no idea that a network of entrepreneurs and a culture of start-ups existed in this little college town with a football problem.
Over the past two years, and getting to know Caroline, we intentionally practice the principles behind Keith Ferrazi’s Never Eat Alone, which I talk about often on this blog. We all have to eat – why not do it with someone you care about? Someone you can connect with? Someone you can build a relationship with? One of my most fond memories, aside from those traveling the northeast United States to meet with other student entrepreneurs through the Kairos Society, include a dinner we shared over wine at 622 North, jotting down ideas for our respective career paths on the table; an almost legible to-do list of what we needed to chat about…eventually.
This morning, as I relaxed on social media trying to get caught up on Facebook messages and notifications from the past few weeks, I came across an amazing article about some of the progressive issues Caroline is tackling. For example, one is a surge of women taking on the role of “entrepreneur” today’s society.
Caroline is not just an entrepreneur, she knows how to network with the best of them. And, like those that I love, she doesn’t just network for networking’s sake – she networks intentionally. She’s also a connector; a passion we both share. Many meetings I’ve had with other student entrepreneurs have been a direct result of Caroline taking the time to connect us. Therefore, I do the same and try to connect her to people, ideas, and companies of interest.
Most people don’t know that entreneurship kind of began as a pet hobby of mine. Over the past year or so, as I student Higher Education/Student Affairs, entrepreneurship is evolving into something that I think about daily. What will my job after graduation be? Will it be something that I think about on the side? I’m not really sure, but I’m always grateful to be surrounded by driven, eager, young entrepreneurs like Caroline Pugh.
For more about Caroline’s company, VirtualU and their line of VFit body scanners, check this out.
