Then one of the readers of the book was Michael McCaskey and Ted Phillips. Michael's the owner of the Chicago Bears, Ted is the CEO, and they had not produced a website yet. One of the things that we see in digital sometimes is there's first movers and then there's those that wait and study it, and the Bears were on that side. They hired me to have a blank canvas after that 18, 24 months of experience to concept, develop, and build a plan for chicagobears.com and it was just truly one of the great joys of my career. One, to do it for the town and the team that I grew up passionate about, but to have all that experience and that research and then to be able to apply it inside in a position that didn't exist before.
That's how I ended up with the role at Chicago Bears and I think they let me get away with things that I probably shouldn't because nobody knew how to manage me at that time. There wasn't really a department beyond just me.
That was that perfect balance of progressive risk-taking, maybe a discipline sprint, and wonderful storytelling through new content that we were able to achieve in that time.
I was. I was the running joke for the 90210 fans out there. I was the Brandon Walsh of my high school, the editor of the school paper and just had a strong desire to write, story tell, and have the opportunity to work on the student newspaper.
There was a suburban paper, The Daily Herald, that I would do contributions for. That's what I really wanted to do and I think the lesson that I would also share is the reality for me was, you think about it, two years out of college, I'm then in a job that didn't exist before. I think I've learned, and I say this to team owners a lot is, you have to have the ability to see around the corner and always pursue opportunities that are five years out.
The first time you hear of an emerging technology, a new platform, whatever that might be, that is where you want to be, and don't be afraid to ask questions.
That was the lesson that I think I learned in writing the book, is I found in private moments, the Jerry Jones, the David Sterns of the world, those folks weren't afraid to ask a question about not knowing something because it's the naive person that pretends they're an expert, and that to me is the true value of the digital community, to seek community, to have a safe place to learn and grow.
I shared that example in the beginning and it's tongue-in-cheek about that person that asked, should he put his email address on the business card, I see people today ask me, "Should I put my Twitter handle on it?" and I'm like, "Everything comes around again and repeats itself," and I think that's the lesson of thriving in a digital world, is just knowing that everything is constantly changing, and I think the real smart people seek questions first versus answers that tend to be the more progressive and successful entrepreneurs in the space.
Let's step even further back in time, were you a journalist in high school?
Everything comes around again and repeats itself," and I think that's the lesson of thriving in a digital world, is just knowing that everything is constantly changing, and I think the real smart people seek questions first versus answers...."
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