Someone I respected invited me to attend what is known as nights for radio. We'll just call it F up night and F up night is where local business leaders share their professional failing forward stories. This particular event was hosted by Innovative Global strategy consultant Jason Teeters in partnership with. The alliance for the Arts, the F up speakers were Neil Bulls from the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
Brian Keith Franklin, Jr. from Gulf Coast Leisure, and Marilyn Santiago from Creative Architectural Resin Products.
Brian Keith Franklin junior talked about the F up lesson he learned creating a poetry night in Southwest Florida.
"The lessons I learned was that you can't do anything by yourself, especially when you're doing it for others. Have a team of like-minded individuals," he said. "Put the Aces in their places. Everyone had a role in the job. We all made the dream work because the team worked. And now 11 years of GCL, which is the name of our company, Gulf Course Leisure, we are now not only one of the longest running poetry, art and community events, we are also a nonprofit 501c3."
Neil Volz shared his F-up story of going from a six-figure lobbyist in Washington, DC to participating in one of the largest lobbying scandals in a generation, which led to prison, to his current role as executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. He described what he took away from his lesson.
"One thing that I'm hoping to leave behind with folks is is that it really, really is OK to relearn things, right?," said Volz. "That as much as I enjoyed my experience in DC, as kind of up and down as it was, it's more fulfilling, it's more meaningful and there's more purpose when you work on behalf of something bigger than yourself."
He continued, "I like what Brian said about. Doing things together. Because that that really creates the kind of purpose. That now feeds. We as we continue to do work because there's a lot of work to be done. Anybody in the room who's got old arrest or criminal conviction. I know you're out there. There's a lot of usm, connect with me. Because there's ways that we can be helpful to each other."
The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition has been instrumental in getting voting rights for 1.4 million formerly incarcerated people in Florida and nominated for the Nobel Prize.
Marilyn Santiago talked about her career in the cutthroat arena of National Broadcast Radio and shared the positive outcome of her F-up.
"Own your story with confidence and conviction. Embrace the truth of your journey, sharing it authentically and unapologetically. Dismiss imposter syndrome and stepping to the power of your own story. You deserve to thrive, to be seen, and to make your mark in the world one F-Up at a time."
F.U Nights will be back when they do come back. Expect an evening of authenticity, inspiration and knowing that almost every success comes from the pain of failure.
Karen Moore is a contributing partner for WGCU and the publisher of SWFL Business Today.
