I think my last two posts have led readers to think I'm on some kind of billionaire quest to traipse and lounge in Club Meds around the world. God, that is so 1999. Having barely survived a near-bankrupcy and the dot-com debacle, and several years of deep contemplation on my hands, I have a quite different agenda.
However, I don't diss other people for wanting to be wealthy. Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, for instance, is a great philantropist. But contrary to popular notions, you DO NOT need to wait until you clear your first mil to give back.
Business skills are important no matter what your mission is. I worked with a lot of female small business owners and single moms when I lived in Salt Lake - far too many of them struggled to pay the rent, clothe their children, and often they'd end up closing up shop.
No, business skills don't trump heart, empathy, and love. And yet I've seen too many worthwhile projects get shuttered for lack of business savvy - whether that be with scale, leverage, or missing the story that compels volunteers and donations to come forth right under their noses.
Perhaps next week I'll come clean with more of my personal story and what's going on lately. You can also check out the newer bio (not complete) at my About page.
Impressive About page, Evelyn. The part about Koru vs. kuru gave me a chuckle. If you're ever in Vietnam, please let me know!
Posted by: Lei/Cottontimer | Jun 03, 2005 at 08:33 PM
Evelyn, I would love to hear about your plans for leveraging this great blog of yours toward some remarkable endeavors.
Posted by: Ty West | Jun 04, 2005 at 08:02 AM
Geshe Michael Roach is a Buddhist abbott who is also a diamond cutter and dealer, eventually becoming vice president over 500 people in the diamond division of Andin International Corporation - see http://www.enlightenedbusiness.com/profiles.html
Posted by: keith ray | Jun 08, 2005 at 07:45 AM
Just thought of yet another clarification. I've nothing against leisure and wealth. If I thought it would make me happy, I'd be all over them. But first-hand experience has taught me otherwise. But tossing out business skills is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
Lei, thanks! Actually must credit Brad Templeton over at EFF (eff.org) for describing the nuances of kuru. I very much have been wanting to visit Vietnam, and should I go you'll be the first to know. I'm not sure how to fit it into my schedule this winter. Right now, the plans call for me to go return to Thailand and then finally go to India as I have been planning for years. Other writers & photographers to go to Sri Lanka & Indonesia.
Ty, thanks. Watch this space & http://evelynrodriguez.typepad.com/linkblog. Most of it has to do with helping ordinary people be ordinary artists and tell stories in their own voice. These two quotes are good mantras for the projects:
"You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips."
— Oliver Goldsmith
"Speak what you feel, not what you ought to say."
— William Shakespeare, from King Lear
Keith, Thanks so much for the pointer to the story.
Posted by: Evelyn Rodriguez | Jun 08, 2005 at 04:05 PM