Me speaking to the eager marketing students at BCIT

Public speaking infront of a group of critical strangers is universally mans’ greatest fear. Personally, I used to share echo this sentiment. I’ll admit it’s something I’ve avoided when possible. I’m not completely frightened per say — in the past I just didn’t feel comfortable speaking in front of a group of people whom I don’t know. My public speaking nerves take over.

Part of my apprehension is value based. If I didn’t have much to contribute, (translation: who cares what some dumbass like me has to say?) why potentially embarrass myself in front of a group of strangers? The risk-reward didn’t seem to check out… Much like how terrified I was starting this blog.

I firmly believe in not talking for the sake of talking – only speak when you truly have something to ‘say.’

The issue is vulnerability — we struggle to step outside the comfort and safety of our daily routines to which we can control.

A transformation

I’ve come to realise I’m in a somewhat unique situation (narcissistic rant coming). I’ve accomplished my goal of startimg a career the social media landscape — making the transformation from full-time amateur athlete / student to working at a upstart tech company.

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The last few months have been pretty amazing. I went from being a lost puppy without direction to fulltime employment doing what I love. I also graduated, finally putting an end to my six year arts degree marathon.

How did I pull off the transformation from intern to HootSuite employee status?  A few things come to mind which i will lay out below.

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School is starting to wind down. After a brutal week, I managed to get through the last two term papers of my illustrious UBC career. Classes end next week. One final separates me from freedom. My amateur hour undergrad is almost over. What happens next? That right there is a loaded question.

Soon I will be free from the burden of painful lectures, trivial exams and papers that I can barely get through reading in order to edit.

The so called freedom brings a future of uncertainty. The ability to use school as a scapegoat or excuse for why you haven’t accomplished anything yet is gone.

My amateur hour is almost up; the big bad real world beckons. This is great because now I can focus on the things that matter. Leading the charge is my internship at HootSuite.

The terms of my internship are 24 hours or three days a week. I will say that I look forward to every day I get to spend at work; I love it.

Work days I wake up giddy, much like a crew of pre-pubescent girls at a Justin Bieber concert. Days on campus have been brutal compared to days at the office.

The relief of classes ending means I can spend more time learning (wow that’s ironic). I plan on showing up to work every day, whether they like it or not. Why? I love it.

I have some exciting things on the go, my co-workers are awesome and I want to make the most of the opportunity.

At the end of the day I want what everyone else wants: fulfillment. I have a voice (perhaps a quiet one), I feel like I have something unique to contribute. I want to share. Basically I want to put myself in a situation to help people and inspire change.

Anyone miss being in school?

Finding balance into week three at HootSuite

Life has been super busy since I started interning at HootSuite. I am working Monday –Wednesday-Friday. Mondays and Wednesdays I head straight from the office (love saying this) to practice at UBC. These end up being pretty long and exhausting days The Renaissance Man wouldn’t have it any other way.

The scheduling works out pretty well given that all my classes are on Tuesday and Thursday. I’ve been able to manage everything pretty well… Up until midterm season kicks around. Case in point was last week when a midterm came up. It was brutal getting home from work / practice at 7:30 then having to eat something and head to the library.

As I invest more time and energy into work, the burden of school lurks in the background, like this guy. I am stoked to be graduating at the end of April, but I wish it was over now.  School feels like an unnecessary weight on my burly shoulders at this point.

The blog has taken a bit of a hit as well. My ambitions were to post three times per week. This is clearly a bit of a stretch at this point. Bi-weekly posts will suffice for the time being.

Midterm season is over; term paper season is in full swing. Time to see if my blogging prowess transfers to writing research papers.

No excuses, play like a champion.

I wanted to let people know about an online newspaper I started. I call it The Social Shaker Daily. Those who read my tweets may already be familiar. The Social Shaker is a collection of amazing articles I read on a daily basis. I felt like it was a good way to share the type of stuff I read while I eat breakfast or when I should be doing something productive. The paper puts everything into one page rather than tweeting and sharing links all day.

I setup The Social Shaker through http://paper.li/. This is a pretty cool site that lets you build and completely customize your own online newspaper. The site automatically collects the best trending articles from twitter every morning.

The content is largely pop culture, sports and social networking with some reality TV sprinkled in (because reality TV is amazing).

The Social Shaker is best served with a piping hot beverage. My hope is that people find it useful and entertaining compared to the boring mainstream newspapers out there.

I need your help!

Are people remotely interested in this sort of thing or is it a waste of time? If you have any suggestions or feedback for the type of articles you would like to read, please get in touch via comment and let me know.

Along with archery and a handful of other activities, cooking is an integral skill for the modern day Renaissance Man. I learned to cook watching my parents. Experimentation filled in the rest of the gaps. I am by no means an expert, but am pretty confident that I know my way around a kitchen. Cooking a thanksgiving feast for 15 of my friends in November was my arrival as a confident chef.

The Paella Bash was a huge success. I was concerned having never cooked with saffron. It requires quite a bit of precision and timing. With the help of my my buddy William and sister Maleah, we made it happen, cooking enough chow to feed a small army.
A couple of Cooking shots

I know nothing about food blogging (or any blogging for that matter). Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Paella is one of my top three favourite meals. Ten blog comments and I will host another feast with my second favourite meal.

What is your favorite meal?