Diatribes by Joah

On speaking in public schools

2013-05-21T13:58:44-05:00

Just finished speaking to three 5th grade classes here in Aurora, CO and I am exhausted! Everytime I speak at public schools - and I've done so around 100 times over the last six years - my respect and admiration for teachers goes up another notch. They wake up early, take on other people's problems, teach curriculum that they have a declining say in, and are asked to do all this with very little pay. Meanwhile, I stroll in for a few hours and I'm held up as some model citizen / role model / mentor because I've done well for myself. It's a tough position to be in, but instead of rejecting the opportunity to impact young people, I try my best to acknowledge the limitations of anything I could possibly say while also sharing the lessons I learned, the struggles I had growing up, and the opportunities that I've been able to create for myself (and with the help of many others) over the years. Real Role Models wasn't a bestselling book or critically acclaimed, but it still may end up being the most important thing I ever did when it's all said and done. More than famous athletes and rappers/singers, what young people need from us non-teachers is people to come into their schools or help them after school by sharing our stories and trying to relate to them where they are. It's easier for me to speak to college and even high school students, but it's the elementary and middle school kids who I know I can impact the most. I'll keep at it no matter how ineffectual a group of 50 5th graders can make me feel. Thank God I'm not a teacher. And thank God we do have teachers!

Early Thoughts on "Lean In"

2013-05-20T13:54:30-05:00

(first posted on Facebook) So I read about half of Sheryl Sandberg's book "Lean In" on my flight to Denver and my initial observations/thoughts are as follows: (not that I'm anything of an expert) 1) I am so thankful to have had wonderful female bosses throughout my career from Hannah Calvert Peters who I interned for at Public Strategies to Heather J. Brunner who I most recently worked for at Bazaarvoice and I can't even imagine how unique their careers have been compared to their male counterparts, 2) I've honestly found that women can relate to what it's like to be an ambitious Black male professional far more (like times 1,000) than white men, 3) Between Marisa Mayer and Sandberg, Google obviously did something right with hiring, 4) You better believe Localeur will be hiring women as the earliest opportunity, and 5) growing up with just a mom in the house helped me understand the sacrifices women make as mothers. I was 22 when I graduated from college; when my mom was 22 she was having me her third son, 6) I greatly admire and respect women who don't "take themselves out" of opportunities to pursue their ambitions even before they're actually married or with child.

Can't Remember Where I Found It, But It's Awesome

2013-05-15T13:11:10-05:00

Maybe Fred Wilson's blog? AVC.com

Stream of...

2013-05-13T23:48:27-05:00

My brother Kahron is probably more capable of keeping me grounded than anyone on the planet. Whenever I start to feel myself too much, I know I can count on him to bring me down a notch. Not because he’s the most accomplished person in the world and makes me feel insignificant as some big brothers are prone to do (although he’s surely made more money, heard more music, bought more sneakers and traveled to more countries than me), but because a) he’s my big brother (literally and physically, he’s 6’3”, 250lbs), b) he’s lived in Kuwait for much of the last 9 years (carrying much more of our family’s financial burden than myself), and c) he’s the most even-keeled person I know and doesn’t get over-excited about shit. Well, I share all this to say that K has probably said two of the most important things to me in my life in the last year; one in which he supported my decision to get married to Star so quickly (understanding that I wasn’t seeking his approval or advice) and the other in which – just the other day – he said something that I’d consider maybe the best compliment I’ve ever received in my entire life. We were in the car driving back from Lake Austin and having the kind of quality time that I cherish even more today than I did as a teenager (although I wasn’t sure that was possible), and we were talking about life and career decisions. He said that the thing that sets me apart and the reason why he and so many of my friends have supported me and continue to do so (as investors and friends) over the years dating back to my time in high school and Sneak Attack and on forward wasn’t about the ideas or business plans. He said the trust and confidence people have placed in me is because – even when things don’t work out – it’s clear that I’m willing to stand on an island, despite its heavy risk of failure and chagrin, if I truly believe in something which is something not many people are willing to do and that I can face failure head on and accept risk directly. This speaks directly to the Abe Lincoln quote on resillency that I love about the person being successful only if they’re willing to fail multiple times without losing their enthusiasm to try again (or something like that). My brother said he’s confident that Localeur is the entrepreneurial spaceship I’ve been working towards all these years, and his confidence in me is paramount to me feeling like a success already (to some extent). In the moment that he said these words, I realized that no one could have said something to me that would have hit me harder and more deeply as an entrepreneur. This island I’ve been standing on for some time now has gotten to be very lonely, full of doubt and uncertainty and worry and concern that I myself have battled through to take whatever lessons God (and these situations) had in store for me. I fought past the lack of a father, poorly-rated schools, being ostracized by other black kids as “acting white” because of my good grades, paying my own way through college, and going through life without the kind of fatherly advice and financial safety net that most of the people I know have had at some point in their 20s and all the while knowing that even as I age my path would never be a clear and easy path to the kind of success I’ve sought for myself even if others perceive me as someone whose “made it” because my own measure of success is so closely aligned with the opportunities I hope to bring to others which is both a burden and responsibility that makes me constantly question whether or not I’m ever making the right decisions knowing how many other people each and every one of them may impact if I don’t reach my potential and make the most of my gifts. All this is to say that when I hear people say things about me or write things online about me that aren’t particularly friendly – for example, someone recently implied in a comment on a blog that Localeur is going to fail, primarily because I’m at the helm – it just reinforces to me how important it is to 1) keep good people around me even if they’re not of blood relation and 2) keep trusting myself. It doesn’t mean everyone has to agree with me, think I’m a genius or anything like that, God knows even my wife doesn’t (and I love her to death even as she gets more experienced with hitting my weak spots and calling me out on my shit ☺). I just need people who see me out here on an island most of the time (that’s what it feels like) and give me a hand to hold, an arm to pull on, a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, a stern talking to…and all because they care, know I have a good heart and mind (but make mistakes like everyone) and, most importantly, know that I’m desperately trying to build the kind of life that no one in my family has ever had, trying to build a company that no one else has ever thought of, and trying to find a purpose that God gave to me and no one else. And I’m thankful that these people know they can count on me too. Next week, I’ll fly to Aurora, Colorado (yes, that Aurora), to speak in an elementary school’s 5th grade class before they head off to middle school. Originally the teacher, a friend, asked me to Skype in the talk, but I suggested I travel to the class because when I think back to my sources of inspiration they were people I could reach and touch like my mom and my high school track coach and such. It’s not to say that I’m not inspired by history and idols like MLK and Jay-Z, but to say I realize more and more that people like my brother and close friends inspire me by being the type of caring, patient, understanding people they are. They inspire me to become the person God intended me to be and fulfill every single iota of potential I have so that I can turn this island into a continent of excellence and overwhelming joy and satisfaction not only for myself but for everyone around me. Maybe some of these Aurora kids don’t have big brothers like mine, so I’ll try to share something with them that speaks to my experience and connects with what they may be thinking or what they may someday experience or what they would like to hear someone say about them and to them in hopes that it will have a similarly positive impact.

Love this

2013-05-11T10:06:27-05:00

Joah Spearman

Thank you for respecting my journey.

2013-05-10T12:03:36-05:00

There’s a difference between thinking you have all the answers and wanting to find the answers. I can sometimes come across as someone with all the answers, but those who know me know that I’m more focused on lifelong learning than anything else. I’ve spent the first 30 years of my life feeling as if it’s my duty to find my own answers in life. Specifically, what does God want me to contribute. I lived in different places, worked different jobs, started different businesses, and served different purposes for different organizations over the years. What I’ve been trying to figure out, at least primarily, is what it is that I’m supposed to be doing on this planet. I figured out that it wasn’t mowing lawns in middle school. I knew it wasn’t working at Pizza Hut when I was in high school. Since high school, I’ve served on different boards from the March of Dimes and Dance Marathon to AIDS Services of Austin and the Austin Music Commission, in part to use whatever skills I have to help others. But nonprofit work isn’t my calling, it’s more of a passion and way to give back to my city. Hopefully, along the way, I've done some good including writing Real Role Models, raising more than $250,000 for charitable organizations and speaking in more than 100 public schools and colleges. I also learned it wasn’t sports or PR during and after college working for UT and FEMA. More recently, I’ve realized that my passions for sneakers (Sneak Attack), consulting businesses and running events (AvecMode) isn’t exactly what I should focus on either. And learning these lessons wasn’t easy, but much needed to get where I need to be as an individual and someone who wants to have a true positive impact. The most direct way I’ve been able to have an impact is by supporting local businesses and local creatives who are photographers, DJs, entrepreneurs, fashion designers, etc. These creatives are the very people that I’ve learn to appreciate the most and strive to support tirelessly. Ultimately, I realized I’ve been looking for something that would allow me to help more people than just the ones in my personal network. Localeur is about as confident as I’ve ever felt about something I’ve put my heart and mind into. I love to travel and learn new cities, I love social media and technology, and most importantly I love local. I’ve taken my lumps and learned many a lesson – especially as an entrepreneur - over these last several years that have hopefully prepared me to bring that extra bit of … whatever it is… to Localeur what I couldn’t fully bring to the many other jobs or projects I’ve done. Thank you for respecting my journey and being my friend.