My fellow seasoned entrepreneurial professionals may relate to this post having walked the path over many decades. For those who are just launching their entrepreneurial journey, may consider taking heed as the next 30+ years into the future will come and go in a flash. Depending on how far off course you go, you may have a couple-few time to course-correct. You may also have time to slow down and simmer, but as my fellow seasoned entrepreneurs know, “every day is Monday,” and you have to “get up and go get it.”
I had the opportunity to have dinner with one of my mentors, who is 90. In 1994 he was a city official who walked out on my presentation on a project I was giving. I was commissioned to map and set up a database of some 250 projects by dozens of pubic, private, NGOs, and CBOs in advance of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. I also took one of his lecture classes at Ga Tech. In the late 1990s, he and I became colleagues. We worked together following the Olympics on helping to change the trajectory of how people viewed the need for housing affordability in metro-Atlanta and be competitive with 23 peer cities. Work in this space evolved into a ten year, 70 people regional collaborative affectionally called “mickey” (MICI — making the case for mixed-income communities — https://tinyurl.com/y7o6965e and https://tinyurl.com/y8gvsjej. I am sure I have captured him on video from the ten years of filming (1998–2007) nearly every meeting of the regional work. Back then, he was in his 70s. He looks the same to me; some people are ageless.
It was great seeing him again. The last time was about 5-years earlier when we last had lunch. He lived close enough for us to walk from his spot, and then we walked to a couple of blocks to the restaurant. This time he walked about 1/2 a mile to meet me at his preferred restaurant. He insisted on walking after I offered to grab a ZipCar to pick him up. I donated my car to the local jazz station some six years earlier. Since he elected to make the walk, I jumped on MARTA for the few stops then walked a couple of hundred yards to the restaurant. Too bad it was closed. It was Labor Day, so he and I jumped in a Lyft and went to another spot he likes.
It was a great couple of hours of catching up on life and practice. I caught him up on my practice in design (i.e., buildings and apps), technology transfer, and climate impact. Also, mentorship helping to buildup the next generation of entrepreneurs in collaboration with HBCUs and NASA. He caught me up on the progress he and others are making on their co-authored book. He also shared his philosophy on the value of [his] time as part of his 5-year plan. I was grateful he decided to spend some of his valuable time with me. We shared thoughts and stories on family, travel, past relationships, and the [un]likelihood of future ones. It was beautiful to see him light up when talking about the joy his grandchildren and adult children; a couple are my contemporaries, bring him.
It a beautiful thing when two men of different times, different realities, cultures, and religions can come back together after 25 years of working to make a city and region better for all people — sharing a meal, a libation, and stories about the past, present, and plans for the future.
When I was in my 30s, I wouldn’t have thought that over the subsequent 25 years, the man I met under professional tension would later become my professor, fellow consultant, fellow board member, and friend. We’ve gone from helping to making a better physical environment to double dating over a meal years ago to still being in practice to creating better places for people. Just two men breaking bread walking our paths. It would be 2053 A.D. for me to make it to where he is today. Hard to imagine what it might be like to know one might have several active, impactful decades ahead. That would be a helluva ride, a walk, a journey!
The last 30 years of practice and engaging with my elders in their 70s, 80s, and 90s has made it clear that the future is never what it used to be. Moreover, having lost my best friend six years ago to heart failure at age 49, I know tomorrow is not promised, and that time and chance happen to us all. Thus I am resigned to optimize the seconds, minutes, and hours I am given by continuing along my path in service and burning with purpose.
Excelsior
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Previously Published on Medium
