Inspiration From The Land of Oz

I never realized how much Dorothy was right, when she clicked her heels, begging to go back to Kansas. There really is no place like home.

I’ve called Madison, Wis. home for four years now, but you come to realize just how important your real home is. I hadn’t been in Framingham, Mass. since January, and the more I’m away from home, the more refreshing it is to be with the people with whom I grew up. You just can’t substitute home for anything, and new friends can never replace old ones.

What’s been even more inspiring for me has been the energy and excitement that has been radiating from some of my friends over the past few days, energy that I haven’t experienced before in Framingham, energy that can only come from maturity and motivation to succeed in the real world.

I’ve already had some great talks with friends in the mere 103 hours since landing in Massachusetts. Becky Abrahams is psyched about her new job with Coupme.com. It seems like she’s in a great spot, earning some valuable experience at a small startup in Needham, Mass.

Missy and Kristy Owens like working for Puma and are talking about moving to the Los Angeles office in the future. To be honest, I never would have expected that out of the homegrown Boston sisters. But I love the mindset; we should all experience as much as we can while we’re still young and damage our livers way too much on the weekends.

Sam Osborn’s got a good actuarial internship in Connecticut. To be honest, I wasn’t worried (not that I necessarily was about anyone else) about her; I knew success loomed in her future a long time ago.

My dad's got the entrepreneurial juices flowing these days, too, which is also awesome. Check out his new venture, which revolves around a 400 horsepower 2000 red Ferrari. Yeah, I whipped it on the Mass Pike last week. No big deal.

What’s really made me pumped over the last 36 hours is the pair of conversations I’ve had with two of my best friends, Danny Sullivan and Justin Martino. Danny just landed his dream job on Friday, a supply chain management gig in Fall River. The kid’s energy, excitement and motivation rival mine, which at this point is pretty difficult to achieve. To be honest, I don’t think even he, nor his mother, for that matter, could have envisioned this four years ago. But the kid’s worked his ass off and deserves everything he gets. No one gave him anything; he earned it all on his own. That shit makes me pumped more than anything in the world.

Of course Justin and I had a two-hour conversation about life, coupled with stogies and a bit of Admiral Nelson’s on the side. Anyone who knows us shouldn’t be surprised about that. But the kid just gets it. His perspective on life is spot on, and that’s coming from someone who’s been to Iraq and has a stint in Afghanistan on the horizon. But expect big things from him when he gets back. And expect us to co-write a book in that general timeframe. You think I’m kidding.

People sometimes speak of Framingham as if it’s a black hole, a place to waste time and underachieve. False. I just gave you multiple examples against that theory. Success flourishes in Framingham!

Dorothy was right. There’s no place like home.