CHANGING THE WORLD - Day 0
Ever since I was a young kid, I have always been fascinated with mechanical movement. I remember going to the Oklahoma City Science Museum (I still refer to it as the Omniplex) and sitting in front of the "Gravitram 2" for hours. And I mean that in the literal sense - if I was ever separated from my parents, they knew where to find me without fail.
I loved to focus on just one of the 1" polished steel ball bearings and follow it as it went through the maze of twisted wire. I could get lost inside there as one would get caught in a section and then patiently wait for another ball to come along and release it; almost as if they were playing freeze-tag. With each newly trapped polished marble came a new level of anticipation until it would finally crescendo as the last ball bearing came to rescue them. Melodic ‘tings’ announced their jail break as they raced down the remainder of the track.
I think that Rolling Ball Structure partially laid the foundation for how I see the world today - sometimes we're following life's path and the next we fall into a metaphorical cage waiting for someone to come along and break us free. Sometimes life even makes us feel like we're going in mind-numbing circles. But every once in a while, we find ourselves alongside others who are going through the same hurdles, same fears, and only after we're together do we learn how strong we actually are. Not because the other person "fixes" us, but because we now know we're no longer alone! That sort of knowledge can be liberating...
My life radically changed 19 years ago when I first saw 3D printing. I saw those same hypnotic mechanical movements with the Gravitram 2 being replicated in a 3D printer. No longer was I watching the same ball go in the same path over and over - 3D Printing created more than an object, it began creating ideas for me. With each new line of melted plastic I daydreamed over new inventions I wanted to design or gadgets to print!! So at 14 years old, I swore that someday I would own my own 3D printing company. Fast forward to February 2022 and that daydream came to life when I started OBSESS3D Printing - suddenly I found myself on a new marble track of life.
I quickly learned all the obstacles you encounter as a new, and small, business owner. Most of the little knowledge I did learn came through mistakes (FAFO, am I right?) until a few weeks ago when I was invited to participate in a groundbreaking entrepreneur reality show called, The Blox.
I walked in feeling like a first-class phony because I didn't see myself as an entrepreneur... I still have a full time job, I had no idea how to safely scale my business without needing to go into massive debt, and I don't even have a fully functional website. I was the walking personification of imposter syndrome! But as I got to know more and more amazing people, the more I learned how many others shared my same fears and insecurities. It would have been understandable if we accidentally fed off each others fears and spiraled into deeper caverns of self-doubt, but instead, something amazing happened... we all felt empowered. We each came from completely different walks in life, but you’d swear we were given the same script in life! “My name is [name], and I started [business name] because I experienced [hardship/trauma] and I knew I had to do something about it.” And just like those marbles, we no longer felt trapped because we now had concrete proof that we were no longer alone!
I understand that my company name is OBSESS3D, but 3D printing is more of my passion than obsession even though that line gets blurred often. But my unrelenting conviction of changing the world through 3D printing (different story for a different day) drove me to function on roughly 4.5-5 hours of sleep over 6 straight days during the competition...
4:30 gym
5:30 bible reading, visualizing, and downloading the notes for class that day
6:00 emails and work
7:30 downstairs and taking notes on the slides in notebook #1
11:00 class starts and I take fresh notes in notebook #2
1:00 cram lunch and memorize notes
2:00 breakout exercises
6:00 dinner & more studying (in case I would get called on stage later)
7:30 BLOX off
10:00 Socializing
11:00 emails and work
12:00 bed
In corporate circles, this would be considered "flaunting your work ethic". In the Gen-Z world, this would be a flex, no cap. But it's truly none of the above... In the words of a modern day wordsmith,
"If you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it, or just let it slip?" - Marshall Mathers
THIS. WAS. MY. MOMENT.
I walked in feeling like an imposter, but I walked out with a newfound internal mantra roaring, "I'm on FIIIRE" accompanied with a Lebron-esque Silencer celebration. I got significantly more out of those 5 classes than just business IQ - I gained some deep connections and a spontaneous entrepreneur-support-system along the way.
So... here I am, day 0 ready to change the world. Who wants a free 3D printer?