Connecting with Hajj Flemings at ISU- August 26, 2009
Wednesday a small group of tweeps were able to sit down and connect over bottles of water and cookies with Hajj Flemings (@HajjFlemings). The branding expert, speaker, author of The Brand YU Life: Re-thinking personal brand management and founder of Brand Camp University put his best foot forward, and was more interested in listening than talking.
The group that came to listen and connect all shared an entrepreneurial spirit and understood passion. As we went around the table of five, we all shared our ideas to better the world, our community and our personal lives. Once the conversation got going, you would have thought we were trying to burn the place down. The room was filled with fire like passion, excitement and electric currents of connectivity. Following Hajj’s lead we all put our best foot forward as well, to listen and offer words of wisdom and thoughts to the ides on the table. We shared a few laughs, personal stories and our plans for the future.
Apart from the connections I made Wednesday there were two pieces of information I took away was from the man we came to see and connect with. One thing I learned was the term “Grustle” which is a combination of Grind and Hustle. Your “Grustle” can be broken down into two parts. The first part, your Grind in what provides your income, pays the rent and puts food on the table. The second part, your Hustle is what you love and are passionate about, it’s what you aspire to do full time. It’s also something that could possibly offer more advances and opportunity and the career of your dreams. You can check Hajj’s video blog for more info about “Grustle.” The other thing I learned and really got me thinking was about “Operating In Your Genius” which means using talents you have, the things you are good at and fully utilize them. You can also check out the Brand Camp blog to learn more about how to find and utilize “Your Genius.”
I have to say thank you to Debra Sanborn (@DebraSanborn) for letting me know about Hajj coming to ISU and them both wanting to get a group together. I also want to say thank you to Hajj for making it a point to connect with people while he was here. It was great meeting Hajj and seeing Debra again. I’m glad that we were able to get a few people together for this event, Kate (@kate919), Krandon Henry (@KrandonHenry) and myself Dallas J. Moore (@mrdallasjmoore), all have big plans and dreams for the near future. I can’t wait to watch those dreams develop.
After first meeting Hajj, before everyone else arrived I posted on Twitter, saying that Hajj had “a killer handshake.” Later in the afternoon he responded, “my handshake is part of my brand”. He was right, it was heartfelt, confident, strong and memorable.
Thanks again for the book. I haven’t been able to put it down yet and plan on finishing it today.
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