March 2022

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Wayne Gretzky

Ever since I started Platform, I believe I failed to write one newsletter once when my mother underwent a spinal fusion surgery.  I basically lived at the hospital and then the recovery center for a couple of weeks.  And when she returned home, I don’t think I was able to leave her side for months when she returned home.  This time, I completely forgot about the February newsletter.  By the time I remembered to write the newsletter, it was already mid-February.  Again, it was a health issue regarding my mother.  Life happens wherever and whenever it feels like showing up.

Since I usually write these newsletters for myself to reflect on the progress of this organization, one may ask, what is the big deal?  It allows me to assess how I need to grow Platform so we can reach a larger audience and therefore develop a more impactful leadership for our communities.  One may ask, aren’t there enough organizations and academic institutions that already have an established platform working to this very end?  Yes, but let’s be honest, not all programs are alike.  Each speak to a different audience and some more effectively than others.  I am not disparaging all institutions but rather the unique approach I have developed, a more intimate and engaging program that focuses on individuals becoming more aware of their power and using this confidence to transform the what-is of our institutions.  It is not a simple online program but a daring virtual space in which participants will be challenged to really tap into their power.  Embodied Presence represents what I have learned over my lifetime in terms of ideas (theory), method of teaching (pedagogy), and practical knowledge (praxis). 

While I am confident of the leadership program’s ability to grow leaders, I am still struggling with marketing.  I failed to get enough students to sign up for Activism@Work and I only met the bare minimum for Embodied Presence.  The uncertainty of schedules in our pandemic-stressed schools has really impacted in how I am able to promote the youth program.  And for the adult program, How am I to convince people to take the 13-week plunge in their busy schedules?  I think it is worth every penny and compared to other programs relatively cheap.

So marketing will be my focus this summer.  Once I am able to make final revisions on all the books and publish them, I think I will have an easier time branding and promoting our programs.  I have so many ideas I would like to pursue but they ride on the success of Embodied Presence program.  Will I ever get the programs to sell themselves?  I don’t know yet but I will give it 1000%.