“Ideas can be life-changing,” said Jim Rohn, world-renowned business entrepreneur and considered America’s foremost business philosopher. “Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea.”
Early last month approximately two hundred social entrepreneurs, creatives, and local business professionals were exposed to a wealth of good ideas at Plywood Presents: Making Ideas Happen; ideas that without a doubt have since been opening up doors both here in Atlanta and across the country. The day featured best selling author Scott Belsky, a local city planner, Aaron Fortner, and four other local Atlanta change makers, all of whom are currently in the process of making their ideas happen in extraordinary ways.
We Are the Process, a local clothing design firm made up of Georgios Saliaris, Larry Luk, and Jorge Menes, is all about the idea making process as their name suggests. Unlike some design firms, We Are the Process strives to see all of it’s designs through to fruition, understanding that in order to see their ideas happen they need to be involved in the process from start to finish, from initial design to production to marketing and sales. Their firm is continually informed by the surrounding culture and their own ethnic diversity, with each individual bringing a different perspective to the job and task at hand; sometimes a difficult thing to do, but they admit that the strength of We Are the Process comes from their ability to bring opposed ideas into play. Relying heavily on their local Atlanta followers, We Are the Process puts a lot of faith in their tribe and eagerly shares their products with those who they believe will continue to gorilla market We Are the Process in the way that has already brought their line to the pages of The Wall Street Journal and onto the stage of the BET Hip-Hop Awards. As Georgios, Larry, and Jorge continue to produce great ideas, and great designs, they will continue be the taste makers of a region, a generation, and the thriving city of Atlanta.
If you have heard of Scoutmob, then you have Michael Tavanni and his team to thank for that. If you have not heard of Scoutmob, then you are apparently not from Atlanta. A new movement that is sweeping the city, Scoutmob is crowd sourcing at its best as it daily generates great deals at local eateries and shops around Atlanta easily accessible through a simple to use iPhone application. In one creative way Scoutmob is meeting two needs, by providing local businesses with a “flash mob” of customers almost immediately through their application and by encouraging spontaneity in consumers to try new places and get to know their local city better. Michael, the financial director of the young but rapidly growing company, strives to balance the creative idea of Scoutmob and actually being able to pay the bills each month, especially since the company decided to make its services available for free; they lost revenue in the decision, but the Scoutmob team wanted to be the best experience for the consumer as possible and that meant costing absolutely nothing. With Scoutmob bringing in up to 4,500 hits per day, Michael and his team have their work cut out for them as they continue to daily release a new local deal and are regularly working on expanding Scoutmob to other cities across the country. We can’t help following Scoutmob as they continue sharing great ideas and great deals with all of Atlanta, and are eager to see what city the mob will hit next!
The King of Pops is another trend taking Atlanta by storm, and a tasty one at that. Steven Carse is the King of Pops, the owner and creator of the city’s favorite popsicle stand, who daily makes his all-natural popsicles, often from local produce, and sells them without fail on the corner of North Highland Avenue and North Ave. A year ago Steven was in the process of being laid off from his job and instead of taking that as a cue to mope, give up, or get angry, he decided to get creative. Steven had for quite some time had the desire to open his own popsicle shop, so he began to test his flavors and market; but soon summer was on it’s way so Steven skipped the store front and head to the streets. At first the refreshing treats of the King of Pops and his popsicle cart was spread only through word of mouth, but soon he caught the ears, and taste buds, of Fox News, CNN, and most everyone in Atlanta. With flavors like Grapefruit Mint, Apricot Mojito, and Mexican Chocolate who wouldn’t be tempted to join in Steven’s enticing idea and the creative process that led him there.
The closing speaker of the day may well have been the most powerful, with the attendees of Plywood Presents: Making Ideas Happen having the honor of hearing from Luma Mufleh, the courageous founder and no-nonsense coach of a local soccer team, the Fugees Family. A number of years ago, Luma was driving through her neighborhood when she discovered a group of local refugee boys playing soccer and, a lover of the sport herself, asked to join in the game. As she began to build friendships with the boys, she was heartbroken to learn about the hard conditions many of their families were living in as they struggled to make ends meet. Impassioned to help these boys whom she already considered family, Luma sold her own business to start a fair-wage maid service to help employ some of the mothers of the refugee families, and soon after turned a parking lot soccer team into an after-school program, a mentoring organization, and darn good soccer team. The Fugees Family, made up of boys from war-torn countries from all over the world, aims to strengthen and empower the boys, help them with their studies, and teach them life skills as they daily learn from Luma what it means to put others before oneself. Luma’s humility and hesitancy as she spoke only added to the warmth of her account, and serves as a needed reminded that our creativity and good ideas can be used to create needed change in our own neighborhoods and cities.
As the day came to a close and two hundred individuals parted ways, they each left with fresh insight and a few good ideas. But as Jim Rohn points out, “Ideas can be life-changing,” so let’s take these few good ideas, from local creatives such as Georgios, Larry, Jorge, Michael, Steven, and Luma, and let’s not be afraid to make our ideas happen. We might just change some lives along the way.
Photo Courtesy of Above the Grey Photography.
