Growing Up Austin

While my hometown is vastly different from what I remember growing up here, Austin is an inspired and empowering place. It's always had an "everyone is welcome here" vibe and despite its rapid growth in the last decade and a half, it is as charming as ever.

In the first chapter of my book, titled Growing Up Austin, I revisit my childhood in the ATX and how the city wrapped its arms around my family and me during our darkest times. "Like a favorite track buried in an album yet to be released as a single," the book reads, "Austin was and always will be the song that I already knew and loved by the time it became popular."

For as long as I can remember, I've been walking, riding, or running around the Town Lake Trail (likely more well known as "Lady Bird Lake" to you recent comers). The only time when this wasn't a common occurrence took place during my six years mired in the fog of addiction, when I couldn't have cared less about being alive.

After breaking free of the clutches of narcotic drug dependency, I returned to the trail, oftentimes with my best friend, Alex. Together we'd traverse the 3-, 5-, or 7-mile loops around the lake, with a trip to the beloved Whole Foods Market flagship store on South Lamar Boulevard and West 6th Street. Alex and I would beeline straight for the smoothie counter, then stroll through the aisles while letting our stomachs pick out whatever they wanted for dinner.

For practical purposes, Whole Foods provides ample sustenance for recovery meals, with wall to wall healthy and delicious ingredients and meals from which to choose. For symbolic purposes, the grocery giant served as a guiding force: at that point in my life I made the decision to be as whole as I could possibly be.

Fast forward to today, and I am beyond excited to join hundreds of Whole Foods Market Team Member Services (TMS) representatives to deliver my first presentation since publishing the book, titled Being WHOLE Now: Achieving Professional Prosperity Using the FINDING GOOD Framework. In about 3 hours, everything I have worked toward in the last 15 years since being freed from addiction will come to fruition.

My friend and powerhouse content creator Chris Kim will be onsite to capture the magic, and I will be sharing content from the talk in the coming weeks. A HUGE shoutout to my teammate Paul for helping create a brilliant pitch deck, and to my friend and mentor, Andres, for making the connection to Whole Foods and for always sharing my story. More to come!

I also wanted to share more good news. The Inaugural FINDING GOOD GOLF Classic is officially a GO! This event WILL sell out, so don't wait to sign up! Click the graphic below to secure your entry, and save the date for Thursday, August 22!

Finally, if you listened to the first episode of The FINDING GOOD Podcast, you were privileged to get to know my friend and fellow cancer warrior, Rachel Wimberely. Last Saturday, with support from mutual friends Carly and Cameron, the Austin running community came together to support Rachel as she prepares for her tumor removal surgery next week.

The same support I felt as a child was on display once again as it raised $30,000 for Rachel, Andrew, and their kiddos Ezra and Ruby! Just incredible.

That's all for now, my friends! Have a great rest of your week!

That concludes our fifth installment of If you missed the first few you can read them here. As always, don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, want to learn more about communication theory, are in need of some added inspiration, or just want to grab tacos and catch up.

Keep finding good, y'all! - Mike

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