The Napa Valley is breathtakingly, achingly beautiful . . . even at the end of winter. Yesterday I met up with the group in downtown San Francisco and we drove up here to visit a winery and get situated in our cottage.

I only have a few minutes to write this before we hit the road for the day, so I wanted to spend it talking about the caliber of people I’ve already met. I was just talking to Alison, one of my new friends here, and I mentioned that I have worked with a lot of different groups over the last year of ItStartsWith.Us, and my favorite one by far has been the Foodservice/Hospitality group. I’ve never met so many individuals with such a passion for people, even when it’s not technically in their job description.

It energizes me to be around people like this – people who share my excitement around touching lives and transforming ourselves along the way. The ItStartsWith.Us concept of micro-giving, doing small, focused actions that make a difference in the lives of the people around us, is one that resonates with just about everybody, so it’s really cool to see it land in the minds of people who are in a position to make big things happen. Sometimes when I talk to people, I can see them stop paying close attention to me as their mind starts churning with ideas about what this is, and what it could be . . . what they could do with it.

And that’s exactly what I want.

I want to help people give their ideas wings . . . I want them to be able to see some of the massive effects that can result from a large group of people making a small, focused effort. I want them to change the world.

I get the most excited in this job when I talk to people about their specific community, and the possibilities available for them to do something incredible. This is so cool because each group is different. Each group brings a unique skill set or passion or opportunity to the table, and when you sit down to think about what would happen if that group were a cohesive, organized body ready and willing to give back to others, the implications are staggering. They can transform their environment. They can change the rules and break the status quo. They can change the world.

And I’m here to help.

Right now I think I have the best job in the world.

Similar Posts:

• Our First ItStartsWith.Us Meetup
• Napa Valley Trip (Part I)
• Napa Valley Trip (Part III)
• Seeding Relationships: Tom Krieglstein
• Connecting Others and Building Communities: Part of the ItStartsWith.Us Mission