We sometimes have our heads down trying to get stuff done big and small that we miss the amazing things going on around us.
This past week I received another example of why its good to look left and right, and at the same time realizing how circular our business and the relationships are that we have.
Case in point.
Bailey Carlin is one of the smartest digital storytellers anywhere. He has a great grasp of the social space and knows how to put his clients into and around conversations big and small. He is also a quick study, a hard worker and someone who pays great attention to detail, a lifelong learner already at a very young age.
I first met Bailey when he was working on the digital platforms at Sports Illustrated when he was just starting out. A colleague, Laura Brandt, was helping SI out with their digital storytelling at the time, and I was working on the film “Shaft 2,” building out some of their storytelling as part of the junket they were doing in Harlem. Samuel L. Jackson was amongst the actors we had at the junket, and given his role fairly recently in the film “Coach Carter,” as well some of the other work he had done in his storied career, we felt that the video team of Sports Illustrated might enjoy talking to the cast.
Alas it was a Saturday in the summer, and Laura said her main host, Robin Lundberg, was out that day, but this kid named Bailey was a hustler and really good with video, and could he come? Sure, why not, a great opportunity for a young person, right? It’s all about showing up.
So, Bailey joins us with several other New York and national media types for their time with the cast at the junket, but as we are waiting he tells me about why this is so special to him. There was a moment in the film “Coach Carter” where a young actor named Rick Gonzalez (the character Timo Cruz) reads a monologue that has now become famous, written by Maryianne Williamson. It is one of the most moving moments of the film.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
Did he want to share that moment as a quick sidebar with Sam Jackson, who plays Ken Carter in the film? Well…yes…but there was more to the story. Bailey had the phrase from the monologue tattooed on his arm. He wondered for a quick second if he should tell Jackson the story…and I said yes, 100%, which he did respectfully at the end of his short junket session, to the astonishment of everyone in the room. It made a great day better and was another reason that validates why you shown up…you never know what will happen.
The story doesn’t end there.
We fast forward to earlier this summer, and the leadership team of SlamBall was looking for someone to jump start their social platforms. We suggested Bailey, whose career, in addition to teaching at Marist College, has seen him do great work with the XFL, Barstool Sports and for a host of other individual clients in and out of sports, all built on amplifying their social storytelling. In short, Bailey gets the work (and continues to do an amazing job on social for SlamBall), but what I had forgotten at first was the rest of the story.
One of SlamBall’s coaches is Ken Carter…the actual Coach Carter that the Sam Jackson character was based on, and last week in Las Vegas, Bailey got to meet Coach Carter and show him the tattoo and tell him the story.
A path of sports business storytelling and random connecting goes full circle all because Bailey Carlin took the time from his personal schedule to show up without knowing where or who he would connect with on a warm summer Saturday, and because he excelled at his craft to create another opportunity for himself.
You just never know. That’s the fun of what we do in this business. All if we make the effort and take the path it leads you to paces you could never make up. Inspiring way to start August off.
