22 year old founder of Non-Profit Organization: Leadership initiatives (DC Inspirations)

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Tony Cord, from DC Inspirations, interviews Marshall Bailly, founder of Leadership Initiatives. Leadership Initiatives empowers university students from underdeveloped countries with leadership potential and ethical reputations to create their own sustainable development projects; thereby, lifting themselves and their communities out of poverty. DC Inspirations finds and reports on inspiring people and stories in the Washington, DC Metro area.

From Small Town Farmer to Successful Businessman

Here are some stories from the life of Charles S. Wassum, my great-grandfather. He was a farmboy from a town of 100 people in the late 1800's, Charles dreamed big and went on to develop a lot of land in southern Virginia and open successful businesses (selling boxwoods, etc.)

Will Smith on Creating your Future

The main part I like about this video is when Will Smith says that when you decide your future and stick with it nothing can stop you. The universe will get out of your way and let you do it once you decide what it is you really want to do. Of course, deciding on what you really want to do is a challenge in itself!

Story of Dreaming Big from My Great Grandfather

My Great Grandfather, Charles S. Wassum was born in the 1870's on a farm in Atkins, VA. Atkins was a town of about 100 people at that time. When he was a child he didn't think that many cities could be much bigger than the neighboring Marion, VA, which itself had about 3,000 inhabitants. He was even intimidated going to school in Marion because so many of the other kids seemed to be much better off financially than himself. He would often get to school after the long horse ride from Atkins to Marion with dirty clothes from all the mud on the trek. He would see some of the kids in Marion get dropped off at school in their family's nice carriages. Finally, he quit going to school in Marion because "the embarressment and humiliation was just too much for [his]inferior complex."

However, he was still dreaming of something bigger. When he was under 14 years old he saw a gathering of Gypsies close to his town. It was common knowledge at that time to not ever trust a Gypsie because they would cheat you out of money or property and people warned Charles to stay far away from them. But, Charles was fascinated with the Gypsies. He watched them often and thought that "they were the happiest people that could be." He saw them dancing and singing in a way that he had never seen before. Seeing them put "a roving nature into [him]."

Even though he managed to have his own share of fun fishing and playing with friends he began to think that there was a whole world outside of Atkins, VA to see. He decided to leave Atkins.

Day after day he would beg his father to let him leave. When he was 14 years old, Charles left home with $4 dollars and was on his way to find adventure. His parents thought he would be gone for only a couple weeks before coming back to his senses and to the family farm, but he didn't come back for years. He saw much of the United States as a mail delivery boy, dishwasher and announcer for a circus, and railroad worker. His vision was too big for Atkins, VA and led him to leave in search of adventure. And he found it.

Invitations: Key to change

Sometimes all it takes is an invitation to lead one to make lasting, positive changes in one's life.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens illustrates this principle. The play starts out with Scrooge, a greedy and selfish businessman, sitting in his cold and dreary office the day before Christmas. He then receives three invitations. First, his assistant asks him if he may start a fire to warm the office. Second, he is visited by his nephew who invites him to dinner on Christmas eve. Finally, two men collecting money for a charitable organization come by and invite Scrooge to give a donation. He rejects each of these invitations, but these invitations ultimately become a catalyst and foreshadowing of his ultimate transformation from the most self-interested members of his community to the greatest giver.

After the play, it struck me that Scrooge’s name is synonymous with greed, selfishness, and hatred of Christmas when in reality he should be a symbol of hope that the most hardened person can change.

Scrooge’s nephew made it a point to invite Scrooge to dinner on Christmas eve because as he explains it later, he believed in Scrooge and wanted to give him a chance to change.

Giving your family members, friends or associates a chance to change from who they are to who they are capable of becoming is a great gift all are capable of giving. Seeing others potential and inviting them to reach toward that potential is another gift we can give people that may have powerful implications on the direction of their future.

Your current circumstances will be forced to surrender to the vision you cherish in your heart.

This is a thought from “As A Man Thinketh” by James Allen (free audio recording here). An example of this principle is from Benjamin Franklin's Life. When he was like 10 years old his vision was already becoming too large to continue training to become a candle maker like his Dad. At this young age he convinced his Dad to let him go into the printing business, and his reality began to match his lofty vision.

Artwork courtesy of Maria Sabino