So…perhaps this is a bit edged…but I’ve got a challenge:
On Twitter bios; frequently with professional, college, high school athletes we find the simple abbreviation:
Phil. 4:13
I get it. I know it. I can repeat it in my sleep. My question?
Show me the athlete that has a different verse.
Like…
Deuteronomy 20:4
Just a random thought.
-D-
Today I requested an archive of my Twitter account since its creation (in 2009 for those curious). Even through +33K 140 character tweets it is amazing to see the progress of life. It snowed today, I’ve been running everywhere because I’m employed. I’m writing presentations because I’m part of an incredible organization. I get to experience all of this in a very unique, beautiful area of the world, and spend some very precious time in a church in the middle of nothing. I have a beautiful girlfriend that is attached to me, and refuses to let go…no matter what. I live on my own, with supportive parents just down the road, and frankly:
I’m loving life like God has loved me.
Get your praise on!
-D-
Today was pleasant. For the first time in quite some time; I didn’t wake up with soccer on my mind. Sure, it’s filed away somewhere in the back of my mind, but it wasn’t the immediate thought when I got out of bed.
I spent the morning enjoying some eggs and pancakes with my girlfriend, talking about our double date last night, traveling, relocating some day, and just talking life.
No soccer.
I didn’t do it on purpose; I just awoke with the idea of enjoying company with those around me who deserve not to hear about ‘work/passion’ for a few moments. After my girlfriend left for work; I actually sat down and planned out meals for the two of us for the next week [that way we continue to aim at eating healthy and being financially smart], and then hit the store for some groceries.
Afterwards; I found myself at my parents house just talking about everything from “Duck Dynasty”, to deer hunting, to taking jet ski’s from Portland, Oregon to the Bering Straight, to eventually soccer, technology, and my future [we're a very dynamic group of people]. All over a pot of homemade chili [with deer meat].
Most of the night it was just myself and MC. Jim had been out hunting and was spending a good amount of time getting a deer hoisted up in a tree to air out for the night; prior to processing it tomorrow. I was upfront with MC, similar with my girlfriend last night, about the breakdown I had last night of just not always having answers to these new concepts that continue to pop up around me.
The new women’s team in Kansas City has changed a lot, but the one thing it interestingly did not affect was my business plan. I’m explaining to MC how I know God still expects me to push for this program because even though a new program is in the same area, the plan of action I had all along wasn’t affected. I talked about some of the phone calls I’ve had this week and last, I spoke of college coaches, showcases, politics, and the past two days I’ve spent in the city of Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
Selfishly; I spent hours just catching my parents up on what has been going on in the past week. I’ve come to the realization that those closest to me, including friends and family, don’t fully understand the magnitude of what exactly it is that I’m directly and indirectly involved with. Inside the town that my parents live, it is completely expected. However, for years I’ve been trying to find ways to get my parents approval on the job choices that I make, the life choices that I’ve chosen, and showing them that I really am trying to make a difference. After several years of this process, I finally heard it tonight when MC stated:
I’m just blown away by the type of people that you’ve spoken with these past two weeks.
She got it. She gets it. She understands that this is no longer some anxious expedition and wish; this idea is very real, and very life changing.
With the Shock doing what it does; there are some big things that are in motion and I can only, safely say this: when the first domino falls, there is going to be a chain reaction within the Kansas City area that is going to be mind-blowing awesome. I can’t express with words how thrilled I am to see some of these things coming together. “Shock the world” is going to take on a very, very real meaning. To be a part of it, and to know that God is doing incredible things; it’s a testimony that I could only dream up as a child. I would have never imagined that I’d be living this life. I mean, good grief, I spoke on the phone with Amy Jo Martin! In my book, that’s a once in a lifetime deal!
On the other hand, there has been a new development. With the Kansas City Shock comes the fact that I’ve built a program, a soccer team through social media before physically having a real program. Kind of trippy if sit and think that through. However, even after a diagnostic from an SEO and social marketing company in Kansas City, it’s evident that we’re still running a very, very strong market with social media [we got a grade of an 'A']. I’ve explained this to people over time, including the several business owners that I’ve spoken to in recent days. That’s when an interesting thought came up:
Well, would you be willing to help us set up our social media feeds?
It never dawned on me, but within two days I had four companies asking me for assistance in their social media department. Social media is free, but the ‘cost’ is the time that is put into it. Anyone who sees behind the scenes with the Kansas City Shock knows that the amount of time that we’ve invested into social media is staggering. That’s what’s required for that kind of success. Now, I’m looking at these four companies; trying to figure out how to incorporate them into a ‘business package’ [?] and building their interface from the ground up. However, if we’re keeping track that would mean: field consultant for corporate Subway, owner of Kansas City Shock, L.L.C, and social media design? That’s a lot of balancing, and currently; I don’t exactly know how to do it. MC made a comment that shook me a bit, and it’ll require some serious thought [and more serious prayer].
All of that said; I think back on a photo that I saw on Facebook today:
I think I can officially say that, that sums up the direction of my life. I don’t think the word “comfortable” was designed to exist within my life.
-D-
I’ve been told that in order to be more ‘web-savvy’ that I need more pictures.
Which can translate to this: people still struggle to read.
Not. Cool. [maybe some day this'll be a meme...]
Regardless of the pointless intro to this piece; I’ve been conjuring over the past two days how exactly I wanted to entitle this entry, what to write, and how to do it tastefully, truthfully, without giving away too much.
I think back to the words of our Director of Media with the Shock;
…this is an ordained program…
Spooky, eh?
Part of the thing that I love about ownership is being able to sit down with our crew and just chat; sometimes 1-0n-1, biweekly as a team, and it ranges from our standard business meetings, to just asking how their lives our. I cannot express to you the amount of joy that I get from doing that.
A few weekends ago I found myself at The Roasterie; a coffee shop with a few locations in Kansas City [and also a DC-3 hanging outside their main building], for the first time. I was meeting with our Director of Media to discuss the face lift that our website needs, and making sure that we’re on the same page. I’m rarely in her neck of the woods, so I wanted to be sure to take full advantage of it. We spoke on work for a while, but more so the personal imagery that is associated with the Shock, and that’s when the quote above came to life.
In the business world it can sometimes be a hard task to stand firm to your calling, cause, and in this event; ministry. I’ve learned over the past several weeks that business is very cutthroat and the amount of business owners with integrity [let alone staff] is dwindling at a rapid pace.
Even though I’ve received some flak from those around me about my involvement with the Kansas City Shock [primarily Christians interestingly enough]. I tell you the truth; I can’t stop. Weeks like last week were too much for me to simply admit that everyone is right, “God doesn’t do business unless it is in a church…” and walk away.
I’d rather be stubborn. We all know from the beginning that this soccer program was unique to itself; it manifested from the mind of a guy that had a lot going on in his life. Now, I think we’re just getting started. In the past week, as I made mention prior; I’ve been talking to some rather important people in the social media world, along with team owners. I’ve learned plenty, and have scaled back a bit on my rants via social media. However, when I start to look at the grand picture of this program and what it can entail; sorry world, but I won’t deny God. It’s not worth it; there is the potential to reach out to not just a few, but hundreds, thousands of people with this story and be able to say that the only reason we exist and thrive, is due to the uncharacteristic nature of things we cannot explain. Meaning; I don’t know how anything happens, but God is in control.
While typing this, I received a letter from our league office. The only time I receive letters from the league; they want payment of some sort. Let the good times roll.
I challenge you; go ahead and follow the Kansas City Shock on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ (sign up for Google+ first), and just watch things take place that none of us [primarily myself] will be able to understand. In the end, we’ll just sit back and say the same thing:
God is good.
-D-
Life is a blur…
Alright; we’re going to step back into a moment of one of my favorite movies; Avatar.
The stage is set; Jake is running around the forest in his blue mans suit and the background voice is speaking about how his days are blurring together; he’s forgetting who he is, and in physical form he’s a twig with some nasty No-Shave-November going on; in the blue man suit he is jumping over bushes, trees, and flying random dinosaur birds.
Very little of that can relate to my life.
Except the part of life becoming a blur. I’ve been ‘off work’ from Subway for the past eight days; I’ve watched the soccer world become a psychotic place of drama, goals, and business. It’s a scary place. I spoke with Amy Jo Martin and Digital Royalty today about the Kansas City Shock [per usual I can't release details], but it was just an amazing experience to see people outside of the Kansas City area take such a firm hold onto the concepts of how the program came to life. Afterwards, it was a quick conversation with Darco, filing e-mails, updating LinkedIn; working on my Google+ page from last nights conference, heading to dinner, meeting with MC, back to the apartment; freaking out about an electric bill, going through new press releases, chatting with Kansas City Shock Founders, working with a few media outlets, pushing papers, updating public relations, learning from Darco about Google+ and making ‘circles’ in it. Now it’s nearly 1:00 AM 11/30/2012. Tomorrow is coffee, running, paperwork for Subway, fighting with the electric company, massive amount of e-mails, meeting in Lee’s Summit to look over some Kansas City Shock stuff with my general manager, answering phone calls [probably], deflecting questions about hot topics involved Kansas City and soccer, and who knows what else along the way.
It is like this, every single day.
I told my girlfriend tonight; I wouldn’t want it any other way. It is stressful, and 3/4 of the time I’m losing my mind, but who could have seen this coming? It’s incredible to be a part of something so unique, and so impacting to so many people. The idea that our tryouts are going to have ASL interpreters there is one of the coolest things that I couldn’t even dream up. Even tonight, a man was chatting with me late tonight about the Kansas City Shock, Kansas City, and soccer; even mentioning that maybe one day his two year old daughter will end up playing for the Shock. These kind of stories; they melt my heart and remind me that I’m moving in the right direction.
I’m hoping tomorrow I’ll have some time to get a nice recap on a bunch of stuff going on in my life [as much as I can], but just know that life is good. Scary at times, and not knowing where to go in the business world can sometimes be startling, but God hasn’t left. There are things formulating with this group of people, with this unique brand, that when finished; people will have no choice but to step back and say, “There’s something very different with this team.”
-D-
Seriously!
These past two weeks have just been mind blowing!
I just wanted to share this with you. A while back I released this book report on the book I had found named “Renegades Write The Rules” by Amy Jo Martin of Digital Royalty. I’ll let you read the report on the utilization of social media.
Anyhow, after these past few weeks [along with several months] I felt inclined to write to Digital Royalty and address the concept of what social media has done for the life of myself and the Kansas City Shock.
First, the ‘right hand woman’ of Amy Jo Martin tweeted me, then I received a DM via Twitter, and then about ten minutes ago…amazingly…humbly…I received an e-mail from Amy Jo Martin…
Yes, I’m still shaking.
Not only was she thrilled with what we’ve done with social media out here in ‘the sticks’ with soccer, but Alana, the other individual talking to me from DR came up with an idea: create a weekly segment; highlighting ‘renegades’ [you'd have to read the book to fully understand]. So, along with the other meetings that I’ve got this week [and some very, very important ones at that], I get to chat with Amy Jo Martin.
I’m not big on celebrity autographs, famous sports players, etc…but personally; this is as close as it gets to that ‘feeling’.
My goodness, God is so good and I am so undeserving of everything that is going on.
Get your praise on!
-D-
…welcome to the cut throat side…
I never thought, in the small existence of this blog [realistically] that I’d end up writing a post like this. As has been the theme for the past several days; the acknowledgement and anticipation of a new professional women’s soccer league, along with a new women’s professional soccer team in Kansas City has had my direct attention.
To the average reader; this isn’t that big of a deal, and the past couple days I’ve had to sit down with people and try to explain what’s going on, and the hype behind all of this. So you, the most devoted reader I have, I’m going to try the same with. Some of this will be review, so; try to keep up:
In September of last year I was honored to be able to cover the USA vs Canada women’s soccer match that was held at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas. I was in the media box of this brand new stadium, on the field with the players [and these athletes are my icons mind you], and I also got to absorb the 17,000 screaming fans throughout the stadium [of all genders and ages]; it was breath taking.
Prior to moving back up north; while I was residing down in southern Missouri I started to knock around the idea of what it would take to build my own soccer club; an all girls competitive program. It would consist of those with equal skill with less resources [money], and through ethics, morals, and faithful players and fans, we’d show that section of the world that anything was possible when passion overwhelmed expectation. While thinking about this, I started looking into the different leagues that existed for women’s soccer in the United States; W-League, a premier division associated with the United Soccer League [USL], the WPSL [Women's Premier Soccer League] which was a private entity that was derived from the USL W-League, but wasn’t a part of the United States Soccer Federation [tricky, right?], and the WPS [Women's Professional Soccer]. The WPS were the ‘cream of the crop’ so-to-speak; the Hope Solo’s, Alex Morgan’s, Abby Wambach’s, etc…similar to the former WUSA [former professional league] the WPS front office over spent, under marketed, and eventually due to travel costs and poor showing of fans [and media] the league painfully died over a court case from a crazed owner.
That was around March/April of this year [2012]. A month prior to that, through my soccer blog and Twitter, I started to knock around the idea of building a competitive club [multiple ages] in the county that I grew up in, in northern Missouri. Being as how this was after the divorce, being broke, living in the truck, etc…my life had panned out a bit better, and it seemed somewhat doable. However, it was met with enough resistance that I placed it on the back burner and started in a different direction; Kansas City.
I had over the years, primarily the past two, watched professional men’s soccer flourish in Kansas City, so I thought; why not do the same on the women’s side? However, I immediately had some issues. There was no way this team would be part of the WPS, because the league was almost dead and it would have been a worthless investment. I had no staff, no coach, no players, and no direction. So, I did what any smart person would have done; I went to Twitter. I started jawing up a team in Kansas City, and people loved the concept. A few men stepped up to say they’d help and it was settled; we were going to bring women’s soccer at the premier division to Kansas City.
By July of this year we were able to host our own summer kick-off tournament, and meet some great people, such as goal keeping glove maker; Pro Ebiria [makes gloves for the goal keeper at Sporting Kansas City], and even some of the staff and players of the Missouri Comets, the men’s professional indoor team was there as well.
The tournament was a success for the most part, and we had filed our papers with the league we were ready to go, and then we started to hear rumors about a new professional league that was going to be created in the United States [this would be the third attempt in the past decade], and that the United States Soccer Federation was going to be backing it [similar comparison: Government bailout for GM]; that meant national players were going to have home teams to play on, salaries would actually exist [most leagues in the United States don't have salaries because they allow college players on their roster, it's an NCAA issue]. However, the catch would be that this league would be designed to assist ‘feed’ the national team roster [since we all know women's soccer is just about the national team...], and it would effect 5% of the players in the country, but the other 95% [those without the skill, knowledge, name, school, pedigree, money] would be left out.
I didn’t give the new league much thought until I got the bomb dropped on me last Thursday when it announced that one of the new eight teams would be in Kansas City.
The same city that my team/business, the Kansas City Shock, was going into, and they were both going to be started in 2013.
So in less then twenty four hours Kansas City went from having no women’s soccer teams at the competitive level; to two, including one with a $500,000 franchise tag and national players from Canada, USA, and Mexico.
…it all started with a concept for a high school club program in southwest Missouri…
I would later learn that the new teams and league started to be put together in July of this year, and I also learned that the owners of the new team in Kansas City…were the exact same owners of the men’s indoor team that came out to our tournament in July.
This is business. This is politics. This is soccer.
Naturally, I’ve given long hard thoughts on everything [and slept very little]. There’s a lot of faith going into the Kansas City Shock, and I mean a lot. It’s my ministry, my calling, and my lifetime investment. I’m reaching people through this outlet that I would have never imagined elsewhere.
Today, for my Friday after Thanksgiving; I spent the day in a coffee shop talking to our head coach and general manager; making each next move of our program very carefully.
In many ways; to make it make a bit more sense to the reader, my life is now like this: I’m the local gas station and the international truck stop just opened up across the street. See the stress?
It’s a hard place to be; soccer politics isn’t clean, it really isn’t; it can take Major League Baseball to an entirely different level. It’s to the point to where even on this site, my own personal page; I have to be careful not to say ‘too much’ about the Kansas City Shock’s developments just because, as I learned via LinkedIn tonight, there are all sorts of people watching my every move at this moment. The fascinating thing about a new professional team being announced in Kansas City [which it does have its own name] is that our popularity [especially after the press release stating that we're not the professional team, we're the premier team] has actually increased. Quite an interesting development.
As my girlfriend can tell you; there have been a lot of loud evenings in the apartment, lots of chatter with God. I’m definitely not mad at Him, because my dream is coming true; my hometown has become Soccer City USA. Truthfully, I still get frightened. Our tryouts are in a month, and there are some areas that I’m still working on, and there are so many times that I’m sitting there thinking, “OK God, I have no idea what’s going to happen, I’m just trying to do what is right”. At the moment, that means having to quiet down the chatter of my soccer life; who would have thought? I’m just a small town kid, wrote a blog about being divorced, works at Subway, and found myself in the spotlight of Kansas City and soccer. What?
You just can’t make this stuff up.
This is business. This is politics. This is soccer.
-D-
I can almost guarantee you that MC would have never in her life imagined me, on the computer [no that part, that's expected], as an adult, writing a book report about a book I just…for fun.
Strange world we live in…
Realistically; for those living under a rock [which could be several of you], I’m a complete computer nerd. I’m connected through social media in ways that are just…well..borderline unhealthy. From it’s beginnings, as a freshman in college I had a Facebook account and even started one for my girlfriend at the time. I stayed away from MySpace.com because…it just didn’t suit me. However, I was accustomed to Blogger far before my technology in the classroom course required us to, and for my followers here; we’ve known that I keep to this blog quite frequently since its induction last year.
However, it doesn’t stop there. A few years ago, as my passion for technology and women’s soccer started to cross paths; I found myself blogging at Women’s Soccer United. A digital forum/blog space for all things women’s soccer. It was there, after just ranting about women’s soccer, that I started to discover the beauty of Twitter. Whenever I wrote something, being egomaniac that I am, if I mentioned other people in a quick tweet and had the link to the article posted; I started to get new followers. Those followers turned into connections, those connections turned into magazine companies, interviews, USA/Canada match in Kansas City, and eventually…the Kansas City Shock.
I literally walk down the street, my girlfriend can attest to this, with my iPhone [work] in one pocket, my EVO [personal] in my hand, and my tablet usually in my back pocket. I don’t text that much, in fact; I’d venture to say that I send more things through Twitter on a daily basis then I do through simple text communication.
Welcome to the life of being plugged-in.
While all of this was happening, I started to follow this individual named Amy Jo Martin. I knew she was popular [over a million followers], she talked about technology, and she responded to tweets [even the lowly post-college kid such as myself]. She kept speaking about being a renegade, doing something different, building businesses around social media. She was on the up-in-up of what I had come to thoroughly enjoy, and over time I read through her pages on Twitter, the launch of her company [Digital Royalty], visited her website for Ready, Set Pause [frequently], and as of these last few weeks I’ve had the honor to pour through her first book: Renegades Write the Rules. This book aims at the mindset of Ms. Martin, Digital Royalty, and the reality that we live in with social media being a part of our day-to-day lives.
Without further introduction, let’s dive in:
You’ll come to figure out that Martin is a very lax individual when writing. She’s very informal, personable, and even though she has been spotted on national television, a very down to earth person. Her book isn’t necessarily a form of her life, not so much a biopic of her experiences. More so, she looks at her business experiences with the Phoenix Suns, Shaquille O’Neil, and many other personalities and how it crafted her into the individual today.
But you said this book is about social media?
Yes, very much so, every single page is laced with the growth of social media from hard fact [cold numbers] to out reach flow, proximity growth, and fan base [warm numbers]. It is not a tech heavy book, it is more a glimpse of what our future could be if and when more people utilize social media [very heavy on Twitter as the primary use of social media]. While I was cruising through the book I was making note of where the Kansas City Shock plays a role in what she writes.
Very much so we’ve written our own set of rules on how our company is going to function, let alone women’s soccer. This ranges from myself launching social media feeds from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc…to even noting the emphasis of integrity of the passion of the owner. Without passion, social media will fail.
Moreover, there is a constant theme that social media is to be used with passion, with heart, and not as Tiger Woods tried to do; as a image builder. For years technology was about aiming at the consumer to bring them into the product, with social media; Martin discusses that the consumer now feels like they are part of the product, part of the decision making process; they feel wanted and needed. That translates to today’s sales. However, even as I’ve learned with the Shock, there is a trade off. You’ve got to be ready to be open and honest. With the Shock, we pride ourselves with integrity and just being up front with what we are, who are, and where we want to be in the future.
The result?
Welcoming arms. There is something to be said of some aspects of society growing tired of lies and manipulations. When I’ve worked on my own personal Twitter image [@CoachDaugherty], I can say some very blunt things online. However, if any of you have met me in real life, the same can be said there.
That’s the key of success with social media as Martin concludes, when we open up social media towards our personal lives, we will be analyzed. What will people find? People learned very quickly with Shaquille O’Neil, that he is a humorous individual that just likes to laugh. Sure, he was a monster on the court, but in the end that was Shaq. Creating an image for Shaquille through Twitter was being able to make him not just a brand, but a person [see the first two chapters of her book for more details and stories with Shaquille].
I would say “Love it, or leave it”, but I think that in today’s rapidly evolving world around global integration and communication; that this book is actually more of a tool or reference to those who are currently thinking, “I would get involved, but…”
In conclusion, it’s been a while since I just sat down and read a book [ironically, I read it on a tablet, not in paper form]. However, when reading the book, seeing the struggles, and noting the success. I quickly compared Martin’s moves and thoughts towards my own with the importance of plugging in the Kansas City Shock. Happily, I’m able to place the book aside, and as a member of #TeamRenegade can say that this business in Kansas City is already off to a shocking start, with some secondary advice and words of wisdom from Amy Jo Martin, Digital Royalty, and her piece Renegades Write the Rules. Realistically, along with Lolo Jones and Rob Heinemann; Amy Jo Martin has quickly become one of those people that I’d love to have the opportunity someday to just sit down, dream big, and dream out loud [having friends in the Las Vegas area may be useful].
-D-
P.S. Yes, here is the link to go purchase the book. Available in hard cover, and in just about every digital format you can possibly think of.
After I got back from my trip; I got a text from my girlfriend. She wanted to start a good, budget friendly challenge between the two of us. It was crazy enough that I’m inviting you to join!
Here’s the deal:
We spend way too much money on fast food and eating out. It’s stupid. So, we’re trying to cut back and be a smart couple financially and physically [fast food is so bad versus home cooked...most of the time]. We came up with the #dineinchallenge [hashtag because it runs on Twitter]. The rules are simple; no dining out Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday it’d be wise not to, but no penalty. However, there is a penalty for dining out Monday through Friday. My girlfriend tried to come up with the one thing she hated more then anything when working out, and I do believe she found common ground for both of us.
Each time you dine-out=75 push-ups.
Sorry, but for me; that’s disgusting. I hate push-ups, almost as much as she does.
We’re even talking about implimenting rules that will allow another person to decide when you start doing your push-ups [randomly shopping in a mall, Sunday School, walking to the post office, etc...]. We’re fine tuning that one.
However, both of us thought it’d be great to invite all our lovely readers to try it out with us. Be sure to check her out at her site [that we're working on motivating her to follow through with].
Good luck and be sure to use the hashtag #dineinchallenge on Twitter!
P.S. She already owes 75 push-ups…hehe…
