The Start of Something New
Last fall, after parting ways with my former life, I decided to take some time to meditate on the last 40 years, where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing, and what the future may hold. During this time, which was an absolute privilege and luxury, I had a lot of time to ponder what purpose I might have in this world, and how my set of skills might be able to be best leveraged.
First and foremost, I felt something deep in my core, a desire to help, and was faced with a daunting questions of ‘How can my efforts serve the most good?’, and ‘How can I help?’.
Second, I asked myself how my skills and experiences can contribute to values that I hold dear; how can my patience, resilience, stubbornness, and willingness to call out right from wrong serve the most good to those persons around me, those persons I deeply care for and respect, as well as the broader world around me.
It took a lot of time, fear, and ultimately courage to make the decision to NOT seek out another corporation to barter my time and energy, my skills and expertise, so…
Today, I am sharing details related to the company I’ve recently founded, 301 LLC.
There are two key pieces to 301, Storytelling and Community. Both rely on each other for success: stories are recollections of events, whether fact or fiction, shared to an audience, and communities are these stories experienced by many. Together, these become an incredibly powerful feedback loop, and move people forward.
At 301, we utilize storytelling to both cultivate intellectual property (IP) as well as consult with start-ups as to how their own stories can be focused to create the most meaningful impact for both customers and contributors alike. We are also focused on creating our own IP, and investigating new, exciting ways to tell stories, not just through advertising or corporate communications.
For community efforts (which is where a lot of you all might know me from), we are now consulting with start-ups and organizations to help them build foundations and tools to growing their own connected communities, and show these start-ups how a vibrant enthusiast community can not only drive sales, but also reduce costs and create deep brand loyalty. Come to find out, having thriving, brand-centric enthusiast groups can be more valuable than their weight in gold.
How do these two things improve the world? How do they do good? The stories we tell shape not only the world around us, but the future before us as well. The stories we tell act as a blueprint for what is possible. The stories we tell set expectations. The communities we build foster cooperation. The communities we build provide a shared space for us to celebrate our wins, and to lament our setbacks.
The products we are building at 301 are centered around the human experience, and how an incredible product can be more than just a physical object you can purchase; it can (and should) be an idea that enriches the lives of both company and customer alike; it can (and should) be a meaningful experience that fosters joy and excitement.
I want to extend my deepest thanks to everyone who has acted to guide me, not only over the last several months, but over the last 20 years, challenging me to grow out of the child I was, and into someone better. Also, I want to thank all of the colleagues and partners who taught me how to sharpen my skills and make the most meaningful impact possible in everything I do.
Lastly, thank you all for reading this, for giving me a few minutes of your time. I hope you’ll join me and the team I’m assembling while we endeavor to make awesome things and create incredible experiences.
Find out more about 301: https://www.threezero.one