Entrepreneurial Hopscotch

Presentation to Kent State University (KSU) Center of Excellence for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation

by Kathi Crawford, SPHR, IAC-CC

In March, I was invited to speak to the Entrepreneurial students at KSU. This was very meaningful to me on many fronts – my undergraduate degree is from KSU and I am an entrepreneur. It was an honor to have this opportunity and I wanted to inspire these students to reach for their dreams as I had throughout my life.

Before presenting my topic to the students, I learned about each of their businesses and the way in which KSU supports these students in creating an entrepreneurial experience. We then played a game of hopscotch. I asked the students to put “life step” cards in the order of how they saw their life playing out. These cards included steps like undergraduate degree, family, first job, first company, master’s degree, manager, “made it”, top job, and the rock.

In our lives, just as in hopscotch, we may be hitting two squares at the same time. So steps were placed either one-by-one or side-by-side. Some found a card was missing. If so, they created the card that fit the vision of their future. There were given a total of ten cards.

I was asked “what is the rock card for?” Great question! In the game of hopscotch, the rock is the marker. In life, the rock is our purpose, reason for being, and motivation to get up every day. As I shared my story, it was clear that I had used more than ten cards! In fact, we moved well past three jobs, a few “made it” steps, along with multiple education and family steps. All the while, I found that the reason I found my rock was self confidence, the ability to adapt and be flexible and an incredible belief in the possibilities available to me.

My personal brand speaks to my purpose – a constantly moving energizer and evangelist for people. The name of my company – People Possibilities – and its tagline – Be More – speak to my purpose as well. Our main goal in serving our clients is to create innovative solutions for people at work and change the culture of business one leader at a time. Many experiences over the course of my life have opened the door to create a company with this focus.

As I was preparing to meet with the KSU students, the message I wanted to share came in this way – The path in front of us is the most compelling yet the path inside of us is the most rewarding. Do you know what your rock is? Are you living your rock? No matter if you are a student graduating from college or someone who has lived a long life and is looking at the next stage, the journey is enhanced in fulfilling your purpose.