It’s a Tuesday night. BFD. For a just a few weeks longer I get to carry the Tuesday night BFD banner. But come early 2016, I’ll be changing up my schedule a bit so that I can fully invest myself into the altMBA workshop that I’ll be participating in. That means that for the first time in a long time, Tuesday nights will look a bit different for me. Have no fear, and make no mistake — I’ll be figuring out a different night of the week to make sure that I keep the BFD candle burning at both ends. And following the #altMBA, Eric, Rusty and I will be diving in for some needed planning sessions. Part of that will be figuring out a pace for the rest of 2016. A pace that will help us keep moving this project onward.
The altMBA reading list is amazing. A couple of weeks ago, the altMBA team sent me a box full of amazing books. Including The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander and The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. These two books have me absolutely enthralled at the moment, and they are building a lot of anticipation for me towards starting the altMBA workshop. Reading these has me laughing at myself, and almost skipping along as I consider a new way to think about the possibilities that lie ahead of us, and indeed, all around us.
Those of you reading this blog that are close to me most probably know that I’ve been a tad bit stressed and concerned about the very poor timing at which we are approaching the diving board to launch. I had originally thought, of course, that we would have been ready to launch Badass Backpacks before the Christmas 2015 season. And disappointment began to set in for me when I finally reconciled within that we would not have our bags in time to get them up for sale prior to Christmas. Damn.
And then — just as I really needed it to… the altMBA nudges me along, looking toward something so much more important than that momentary feeling of disappointment. Look at the possibility. Look up and think about how beautiful this moment is, that our first small batch of bags, has arrived.
I had a chance to sell our first ever bag tonight. Bags #1-5 were all gifts. And that was a beautiful milestone to reach. But hitting this milestone of finally selling our first bag — just wow. It felt amazing. I met with my friend Cody at Yahala, and we had a chance to talk about Badass Backpacks for the entirety of the evening. It was pure joy. And watching Cody open the box was a lot of fun. One more time Cody: thank you for your amazing and enduring belief in me and in this endeavor — your encouragement has helped me so much! Cody chose Lucky bag #13. So that’s the first bag that we sold. Bag #13. 🙂
As 2015 prepares to come to an end, and as I prepare to enter a new phase for Badass Backpacks (altMBA and beyond) — we will eventually be launching BadassBackpacks.com (as soon as we can in 2016) so that we can sell to a larger audience. But in the meantime, I’m going to savor and enjoy some of these initial connected moments that I will get to have, as I sell some more bags, one at a time. 2015 has been an absolutely incredible ride for Badass Backpacks. And tonight’s milestone has me feeling just as light as a feather. Cheers to the possibilities found in connecting. 2016, here we come!