beBetter 

My daughter Kelsey has two beautiful kids, Kyler and Kylie. Now, these two kids have enough energy to power three or four Tesla cars. If only I could bottle it up. Today, we are celebrating Kylie’s fourth birthday with lunch, which will include ice cream! CeCe and I have arrived early and are waiting on our energizer bunnies.

Having the intent for HORNE and myself to make a difference during this time of social unrest, I wanted to share my prayer with you. Only with an intentional sense of belonging that provides each of us the safe place to share will we make the progress we all desire. It’s not one huge step. It’s lots of small steps, prayers and conversations every day that will turn the tide on individual and systemic racism. Together we can #beEvenBetter every day. Let’s not only pray together—let’s make progress together. 

In this time of social unrest, I’ve pondered what to say to our team, what to say to you, and I choose to err on the side of “not getting it entirely right” rather than remaining silent. Racism is a problem that we continue to struggle with as a nation. And it’s everyone’s problem. Each of us are also part of the solution.

One of our family traditions at Christmas is to host the kids and grandkids a couple of weeks early so they can stay home on Christmas Day and enjoy Santa and all the festivities that we are blessed to enjoy. My favorite time is when I read the Christmas story to our grandkids as they listen so intently. (I’ve also learned they are even more attentive when they know the gift exchange is up next. Ha!) They love seeing the pictures of baby Jesus in the manger. And for our family, it is really important that they understand the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

Think about the Pilgrims in 1621 who hosted the first Thanksgiving dinner and how little they had to be thankful for compared to the many comforts we enjoy today. Thanksgiving is really a cool celebration as we step away from the fast treadmill of life to pause with family and friends to just be thankful. Giving thanks to God for our blessings and sharing our love with each other.

We recently lost our Yorkie and best friend, Jazzy. Jazzy was almost 16 years old and was truly a member of the family.

I’ve shared several stories about Jazzy’s comfortable lifestyle and the lack of change in his day compared to ours. CeCe treated him like royalty and they even shared a favorite snack, white cheddar Cheetos. Jazzy often traveled with us to some of his favorite spots in Oxford, Destin or Eagle Lake where he knew his way around and made himself right at home. He had always been independent in that he would do his napping anywhere, but the last six months, we knew his time was close when he wanted to be held or sit/lay right beside you (preferably CeCe, I was more or less his backup plan).

Innovation is a key to our future success, and we can build a culture of innovation within our own teams. This 3-part series explores what it means to build a truly innovative culture at your business or firm. Make sure to read Choosing to be Open Minded, Part 1 of Building a Culture of Innovation, to understand the entire journey.

Sunday, I went to a church where my son Brandon and his family attend. CeCe was not feeling well so I was meeting Brandon, Margie and the kids there. On the way to the church, I got a text that they were not going to make it as they had been up all night with the baby. Sully (Sullivant) is four months old now and our sixth grandkid. As I sat in the parking lot realizing I barely knew anyone at this church, I started thinking about heading home. I did not have a sense of belonging and was really dreading having to meet a lot of new people or explain why I was alone visiting today. Lots of excuses go through our minds when we do not have that sense of security—our sense of belonging.