In the know?

For those of you that don't know, I work from my apartment.  Every morning, the alarm goes off, I get ready (Reach's office is business casual), and I sit down at the desk in my living room.  As you can imagine, it's not always easy to find the motivation to get down to work.  All of us are forced, at times, to work despite challenges in our personal lives.  It has been surprising to learn recently that this becomes more difficult when one works alone.  When having a bad day, who would know if I stayed in my pajamas and lounged on the couch? No one.  In recent weeks, this has been a challenge for me, so I've found it necessary to develop routines to ensure that Reach continues moving forward.  We all have personal challenges, but entrepreneurial endeavors allow no room for these challenges to take over.  Reach must keep going, and so must I.

It has, however, been exciting to learn that I can personally draw energy from Reach's successes.  During the past week, we have had two significant - albeit small - events that make me feel like some real progress has been made.  First, Reach was approved for our first foundation grant.  Before we get too excited, it should be noted that the grant is a small, discretionary grant, but it will be nice to be able to add our first foundation, The MB and Edna Zale Foundation, to our list of supporters.  

Additionally, those that read regularly know that much of my work involves talking with educators, nonprofit executives, and funders all over DC.  During a lunch today with Megan Aghazadian of the DC Public Education Fund, we discussed a number of issues related to the DC education scene.  An amazing thing happened during the conversation.  I actually knew what she was talking about!  I knew the people she mentioned and the initiatives she discussed.  I knew of the people she thought I should be talking to, and I had even already met with a couple of them.  While I was actually kind of thrown off, it was a nice feeling to know that I've infiltrated the DC education scene to some degree.  Perhaps I'm no longer the outsider I was a couple months ago.  The conversation with Megan was a great one, and I look forward to learning from her vast knowledge of DC's foundations.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Founder and President - Reach, Inc.