smart
Flattery is nice, but to get my attention, say or do something smart.
I have always appreciated intelligence. In social and business settings I generally gravitate to the philosophers, artists, entrepreneurs and executives in the room. I want to meet the person that can write elegant code, the kid with the clever business model, the artist that can design for beauty and function. If you are a philosopher that can deconstruct conventional wisdom and also articulate your vision for a reconstruction of the status quo, I want to know you.
As far back as I can remember I have always wanted to know the details of another person’s mind. When I was 23 years old I was fortunate enough to meet Orville Redenbacher. I sat next to him at his 81st birthday dinner. I asked him what he attributed his success to because quite frankly he didn’t have a very flashy marketing campaign and just like me, had grown up a poor farmer in Southern Indiana.
Orville told me that he made it to Purdue University on a scholarship and his family had agreed to send him away if he studied corn. Growing up in the corn belt I can appreciate the pressure his family put on him. He had to return home with knowledge of how to produce more yield for their crops. He decided to focus not on the plant, but on the kernel itself. Through his research in college he determined that if you could dry the kernel to a precise moisture level, every kernel would pop. Orville built a popcorn empire on his knowledge. Smart.
I think that the time that I have put into my career has proven me well. I have a strong knowledge base in direct marketing, advertising, consumer package goods and business development. Business is my family’s corn and I am determined to increase the yield by studying the small kernels of knowledge and building on it. I think that is smart.