06/11/2026
I only had 8 minutes to spare before a meeting with a prospective client and my shoes literally fell apart in the parking lot of a local pizza joint. As a social entrepreneur I quite literally had 2 choices...1.) cancel the meeting, hope for a reschedule, and go home or 2.) pray for a miracle because I'm not walking into this meeting looking like Fred Flinstone.
At the end of last year Jazzed Resolutions, LLC had the opportunity to pitch a specific training to a city entity on summer camp staff training for all of its community centers that will host 130+ summer camp counselors from ages 16-45+. The meeting went great and I was informed I would hear back after the holiday break.
I heard back from the city and I was told that I was chosen to be their first ever external trainer for summer camp staff. I also had the opportunity to connect with supervisors from each of the local community centers. One center I set up an individual lunch meeting with for a prospective opportunity to work with them in the future. The day arrives and I find these cute shoes from Dots (I know they have been closed since forever ago) in the back of my closet from about 10 years ago. I slide them on, no problem and head out the door.
I'm around the corner from the pizza place to pick up lunch and I feel great. I had time to pick up the pizza and arrive at the center with about 8 minutes to spare. As I get out of my car I walk to enter the the pizza shop and trip over the curb. By the time I looked down at my feet in front of the car I saw both of my shoes were literally falling a part and my bare toes were hanging out. I got in the car and started having a small panic attack. I had no time to stop by a random shoe store (why couldn't payless still exist) and pick up new shoes and I couldn't just cancel because this center supervisor also sat on the committee for summer staff training for all of the centers. I had to pivot. I had to figure it out.
Right after I made a silent plea to God and myself to help me find a miracle, I looked down on the passenger side seat floor and there was a roll of clear guerilla tape that I had been wanting my husband to take from the car. I quickly wrapped the shoes in the tape to keep them from falling apart because I wasn't going to miss this meeting. I arrived with 2 minutes to spare and decided to just own the situation. When I got in the center I told them about the mishap and to excuse my taped shoes, because building this relationship mattered more than those shoes. We had a good laugh and kept going with the meeting. I signed the summer training contract a month later and executed the training last week!
The point of this story is most people see the successes of others and will probably never know the grind, hustle, and countless last minute pivots it took to build the dream they are building.
To everyone out there building their dream behind the scenes, just know you can build just as great with 15 year old tattered shoes.
