FOOD FOR THOUGHT: BY ROSLYN ROZBRUCH (AS I SEE IT)
What does the Inc. 5000 award mean to me? Here’s a little backstory.
The first time I remember someone saying, “If I can do this, so can you,” I was 16 years old at a Weight Watchers meeting. The person saying that was the woman leading the meeting. She had lost 100 pounds, and I wanted to lose 5–10 pounds. And even though she had accomplished this difficult feat of losing all this weight and I had just a small amount to lose, I didn’t necessarily feel that “I could do it too.”The reason I felt that way is, I saw she had other things going on that I didn’t. She was a well-spoken, funny, married, working mom that ledWeight Watcher meetings at night in her spare time. I was a high school student that found it difficult to get to school on time in the morning. In my mind, if anyone could lose 100 pounds, it was this woman. Me losing a few pounds? Not so much. Since that time, I have heard many people share that sentiment of “If I can do this, you can too.”There is nothing I like more than a rags-to-riches, against-all-odds story. I love books and movies based on true stories. But that doesn’t mean I’ve ever felt like I could be that person to win a marathon, or be the next Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook. I’ve also never had the desire to do those things. I’ve never had that burning desire to accomplish that big thing until five years ago when Michael and I started our company. I will never forget when Michael won his first Inc. 5000 award (he actually won two of them back to back) in 2010, and we went to the Awards Conference and Gala held at the Gaylord Hotel in Washington, D.C. There were over a thousand people attending. We received a big welcome package filled with gifts, there were amazing speakers like Tony Hsieh (pronounced “Shay”), the founder of Zappos, a cocktail reception worthy of a Hollywood movie premiere party, and the black-tie awards dinner ceremony. I sat next to the mother-daughter authors of “Elf on the Shelf,” who also won an award. I was inspired by their story of the daughter selling her house to help her mother and her realize their vision. I still have their business cards, and I’ve watched their company grow, cheering them on in the background. They still own their company along with another daughter/sister. I never thought winning an Inc. 5000 award would be something I would personally want to accomplish, at least not until June 2014. Soon after we launched our company,
I thought back to that 2010 Inc. conference, and a burning desire to win that award was ignited in me. I went online to see the requirements, and the first one listed said you had to be in business for three years. And I kid you not, I marked my calendar for three years later. I’m not going to go into all the details of winning an Inc. 5000 award; that’s not the important part. Winning this award isn’t about the award, it’s about what it represents to me. It was a goal I achieved with Michael, but it was also a personal goal. We wouldn’t have won this award without the help of so many people who played a role in our success, but I led the charge on this one. I was laser-focused on winning, and I asked Michael what to do each step of the way to make it happen. As a 60-something-year-old woman, it feels so good to win this award. Anything great can happen at any age if you have the mindset, motivation, focus, and, most of all, the burning desire to achieve it. I’ve never had that burning desire to accomplish that big thing until five years ago when Michael and I started our company.
So, here’s my question to you: What’s your burning desire?
P.S. I still want to lose five pounds.
–Roslyn Rozbruch
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