story behind the name Bridge City
the work of building Bridge City
I have been obsessed with greatness. It feels good to get that out of the way because my obsession with it has hindered me from getting anywhere close to achieving it. Funny how life works that way sometimes. The thing you think about the most constantly eludes you because blind focus on it becomes like walking through a forest while looking down at your feet the whole time, which we all know will guarantee that you run face first into a tree.
Part of the definition for the word "drive" is "motivation, ambition, single mindedness, doggedness, tenacity, commitment, aggression, vigor"; informal "get-up-and-go." Drive is what made some of the most successful people great: Elon Musk, Michael Jordan, Marie Curie, Bill Gates, Peyton Manning, etc. I'm not at all advocating that hard work and dedication aren't integral to truly achieve success, because I believe they are. But on the road we choose to walk we all have a choice to put our efforts into building a monument shaped after ourselves for our own glory or to build something bigger than ourselves. Something that outshines who we are because it's not about us. Rather, it's about building something for other people that continues working and succeeding even if we're not a part of it.
story behind the name
Non profits provide some of the most meaningful, needed services for people who need a leg up. I'm fortunate to have been a part of some, like Purple Door, and witness others in action. Often they are very specialized in the populations they serve. While this specialization allows them to serve people in ways no other organizations can there can also be quite the adjustment for participants when they phase out or move on from the non profits services. I want to be clear that this is not criticism, it's simply reality. But this is where we want Bridge City to thrive. Our goal is to work alongside non profits, mainly who serve youth, to help young adults transition well into the real world, which is often cold, harsh and doesn't give a damn where or how you grew up. Our goal is to pick up where our partner organizations leave off and bridge the gap between non profit services and real world employment. We will also hire people who are not involved with our partners in any capacity, but hopefully that explanation communicates what we're trying to do.
einstein
Back to my unhealthy obsession with greatness. In all honesty, I'm terrified to live a life of mediocrity that is forgotten the moment I'm put in the ground. I'm not writing this so any of you who know me send a text or email trying to convince me otherwise. In fact I would appreciate it if you didn't. The reason I'm including it here is because if Jon and I ever try to separate or elevate ourselves above what we are trying to accomplish or who we are trying to reach, we have failed. If all we try to do is be great, we never will be. I think Einstein said it best, "Try not to be a man of success, rather try to become a man of value." Which is similar to the drive behind our mission statement: Building hope and value through coffee. We want to inspire hope in our employees that life is worth living and can be so much more than just getting by. And we want them to leave their time with us knowing how much each one of them matter - that they are of value.
