On the Wings of a Giant Eagle
The journey of an entrepreneur can take one down paths less traveled and provide experiences undreamed of,,, if we remain open-minded and view challenges as opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Sung to the tune of ‘Something’s Coming’ — from West Side Story:
“Could it be. Yes it could.
Wolfgang’s coming to our neighborhood,,, Market District!
Come on Wolfgang don’t be shy
Meet a guy. Pull up a chair
The air is humming
’cause Wolfgang Puck is coming
To town, to town, to town.”
“Thank you Wolfgang for coming to our town.
And Your Solon Market District.” — Foodie Man
In 2013, 3 years after launching a game and edtech startup, The Rose of Education Organization (TREO), I applied for a part-time job at Giant Eagle’s chain of upscale grocery stores, Market District in Solon, OH.
After a group interview with dept leaders, the Executive Chef, picked Grandpa in the first round to be a ‘Food Ambassador’ for the Demonstration Kitchen in the store that was opening in a couple of months.
It was a minimum wage part-time job, but it helped pay the bills, and keep the peace at home, after having left a well paying sales gig for a secure storage software developer in 2012, to work on the startup full time.
However, what some saw as a testament to my failure to make this entrepreneurial venture a reality, I saw as an opportunity to learn something new while keeping fresh and honing presentation and sales skills, as well as develop my personal brand:
A Baby-Boomin’ social entrepreneur who helps educators make lifelong learning and fitness fun.
The demo chefs prepared different recipes from the featured produce, meat, fish or store labeled products of the day.
As the ‘Food Ambassador’ the job entailed inviting shoppers / Market District Foodies, to visit the Demo Kitchen and learn what’s cooking, distribute samples of culinary delights to shoppers, and support the Demo Kitchen staff.
When instructed to use the store intercom system to make announcements, a big smile came on Grandpa’s face.
GameOn!
In keeping with the ‘fun grandpa’ brand, I had the name tag changed to: Foodie Man
The Foodie Man motto: ‘I eat therefore I am’
Market District Foodies, and head office staff, got an introduction to the Foodie Man during opening week, when in an announcement on the store intercom, they were greeted with my impersonation of Professional Boxing and Wrestling ring announcer Michael Buffer:
“Attention Market District Foodies! Let’s Get Ready to DEMOOOOOOO, in the Kitchen!”
“There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path” — Morpheus, The Matrix
We can walk our individual paths defeated with heads down, lost in the past or future, or choose to dwell in the present with compassion and curiosity, gratitude and wonder.
Foodie Man was a hit. Customers would come in to have “Happy Birthday’ sung to a friend or family member, or hear Foodie Man impersonate Elvis Presley in the demo kitchen announcements (sung to the tune of Heartbreak Hotel):
“Hey Market District Foodies / Do you need a new recipe?
Come down to the Demo Kitchen / and we’ll set your taste buds free!”- Foodie Man
Market District also hosted celebrity chefs from the Food Network, and our Executive chef had a weekly cooking show filmed at the store by Fox 8 Cleveland, OH.
Besides serenading Chef Wolfgang Puck, the Foodie Man welcomed Chef Anne Burrell with a similar rendition and warmed up the in-store audience for Today Show Nutritionist, and host of NBC’s Health+Happiness, Joy Bauer.
However, the most unexpected and meaningful impact was on my fellow workers: stockers and cashiers, warehouse persons, the bakery, candy, flower, meat and produce depts, who enjoyed grandpa Foodie Man’s bit of craic because it helped brighten and liven-up their day.
Elliott Calendar of Nodeunlock, recently posted in LinkedIn that we ‘never know who’s watching and to keep going’, is a great reminder to continue doing what we love, being authentic (real measures of impact) and not worrying about the vanity metrics (likes, shares, etc) when putting content ‘out in the wild’.
Market District hosted celebrity chefs from the Food Network in the store, and the head chef had a weekly cooking show filmed at the store by Fox 8 Cleveland, OH.
“There is no path until we take the first step”
Taking those first uncertain steps and trusting the wings of this Giant Eagle would lead to a grand adventure, created an opportunity for me to build a relationship with one of the Fox 8 Cleveland day-time producers and eventually secure an interview about my startup’s work in education, for a public interest piece that aired Sept 2014:
Accepting the minimum wage job was a humbling step to be sure, but it lead to a ‘pot of gold’, achieving a significant company milestone that continues to pay dividends.
Follow your dreams, live your brand, take a leap of faith in yourself, only then will your wings open.
ABOUT
Anthony Hall aka Grandpa STORK
“Grandpa-Geek went down in the creek, to build a flying machine…”
14 1/2 years ago, Anthony, an IT professional with 26 years experience in hardware/software development and sales, was blessed to witness the birth of his grandson. Determined to be an active participant in his grandchildren’s education and help make learning fun, he founded TREO.`
The Rose of Education Organization (TREO), Inc — “Where Education is Child’s Play and Technology is a Game”, is a US sports and edtech social enterprise startup incorporated in 2010, to help make lifelong learning and fitness fun.
Sports Technology: Optimizing Reflex Kinetics (STORK) — merges games, sports and technology in a ‘flying’ platform to help make fitness fun and, harness the kinetic energy of a human body in motion, to charge laptop and phone.
