2014 is going to eat up bigger footage in the journey I have covered / uncovered so far 🙂 – A year full of actions, emotions, drama, entertainment and learning!

 

But as far as this little chapter is concern, in interest of everyone’s time and to leave few interesting things for another chapters, I’ll cut it short and stay focused on three exciting experiences which might be of interest for larger audiences.

 

I always believed that exposure is the key to growth – It just cannot get better than that!

 

I want to share three inter connected events occurred in the month of Octorber 2014 – which were invaluable for me. They going to remain on the surface of my memories for quite a long, probably forever!

 

Key Executive Workshop @ MIT

 

Streebo leadership team make sure to meet at least once in a year in some part of the world with an idea of health check-up and to setup next milestones 🙂

 

To take a high level glance at the direction, the speed, fuel, food, fitness level, team blah blah blah. One of the objective also is to catch up with each other’s life, share experiences & learn from each other.

 

Earlier years, We clubbed it with T20 Cricket world cup in Srilanka, with scuba diving in Koh Samui, Thailand and with African wild life safari in Masai Mara, Kenya – Memorable experiences…. All of them!

 

But 2014 was above and beyond – we clubbed it with the Key Executive Program in the campus of MIT –  Beat it !!!!

 

Three days’ workshop with entrepreneurs & executives from around the world, experienced & skilful speakers. Collaborating for live case studies, fireside chit chatting and sharing experiences –

 

Without having such a brilliant platform, it is hard to get such an elite group of people under one umbrella.  A group of people who share one common vision of running their own show, their own ways – sharing their struggles, their ups & downs, their successes & failures – What worked, what didn’t, when, how and how much – so much to learn !!! Hard to beat that.

 

It’s impossible to create such vibe otherwise – The livelihood of the whole experience is pretty much unexplainable – but what I can surely tell is that there was a lot to bring back home – which is priceless and TAX Free for a change :))

 

Strategy Meet 2015

 

After 3 days of rigorous sessions at the MIT – It was 3 days of our Streebo’s partner’s meet, so from MIT campus, we chipped into a house at Marblehead, New Hampshire.

 

The weather by the way gets awesome, pretty much in the whole United States during this part of the year – The fall starts showering colors all around –  It makes Boston and the surroundings beautiful – I have never seen these manier shades of leaves, both sides of the road, throughout. The temperature remains pretty much friendly too, stays between 10 to 20 degrees – What more I have asked for, coming out from the consistent 35-40 degrees of Ahmedabad 🙂

 

That makes it even better – Along with back to back sessions around the health-check of the organization & the roadmap, it’s an opportunity to connect with friends, colleagues & mentors on a different ground – to play and compete, wine and dine, sharing experiences, exploring the world together and bond better – It’s like reenergizing & preparing for next rounds – Exciting isn’t it ??

 

Business is a passionate game – It’s a game of Ideas & Belief. It’s game of big hearts – You got to have balls to play it.

 

But playing it with buddies and like-minded surroundings makes it much easier I feel. Every individual from top to bottom matters to win. A group of like-minded people, sharing similar likes of belief, have higher probability to succeed.

 

I’m not a seasoned entrepreneur by nature, But I’m grateful to be part of such platform where I have an opportunity to work so close to all business functions – opportunity to pick and choose. What more I could have ask for ?

 

Passion is just a by-product, if you really enjoy what you do. That’s true for me and the leadership team @ Streebo is committed to make it real for all Streeboites. We are working to build an organization where everyone gets opportunities to pick and choose, take their own path, to grow in the direction they want to grow – where every individual is empowered enough to take their own decisions and run their own show. We are mandated to create a factory of Entrepreneurs.

 

The Road Trip

 

After this blessed experience of our strategy meet, It was THE road trip – the long awaited & dreamed one.  Sajid joined us at Boston and from there after it was just three of us, Usman, Sajid & Myself.

 

From New Hampshire to Boston, Cambridge, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington DC, Shenandoah Valley, Raleigh, Pensacola Iceland to Houston – round about 2600 Miles in 10 days, 13-15 states and about 7-8 cities – Meeting couple of dozens of partners/customers and exploring the whole country – mixing up work with the fun trip – Woo hoooo!!!

 

We touched base most of the places which symbolizes these cities, states & the country of United States – From greatest monuments to the massive architectures, from museums to the white house, from lakes, rivers & falls to the white sand beaches, from beautiful roads to colorful mountains & valleys, from streets to the campuses of MIT & Harvard, universities which produce largest number of intellectuals every year, from meditation centres to party places.

 

From street food to, American Burgers, Thai, Persian, Sushi, Hibachi, Lebanese, Middle eastern, Steakhouses and what not – WE DID it ALL.

 

And imagine you doing it all with the best of your buddies – You dreamed it together since years, you talked about it all the time, you fantasized it quite a lot. You asked for it and you got it. Hard to believe but It was happening in real – Wooooo !!!

 

Trust me it was so very fulfilling – We couldn’t have asked for more, three of us riding the beauty… (I meant the SUV….don’t get wrong ideas..). Hitting the roads of United States, chilling around – doing whatever we wanted to do – Pulled over wherever we wanted, extended wherever we felt like, got out whenever we wished – We were well in control of the whole of the journey –

 

Apart from the fun part of it, It also allowed three of us to connect at different level. Although we know each other since couple of decades now, but travelling & living for such long time was for the first time – We had all the time in the world to talk, discuss and bullshit around. The chemistry surely hit different highs & lows of it. It provided an opportunity to learn & explore new things about each other – at least a couple, if not too many.

 

Road trip was a completely different experience – you get a different vibe of places you visit, you got to meet and interact with locals, you are so close to them to understand their culture, their nature, their perspective, their actions and reactions in different situations.

 

You are close to weather conditions, natural resources, infrastructure, overall system & the society for that matter – You have an opportunity to experience & learn more about their efficiency & effectiveness – You probably can understand why they have reached where they are – You have an opportunity to pick the best of it – An opportunity to improvise.

 

We ended the trip on a high note at Houston and then back to the pavilion, to our home town, Ahmedabad. With a promise of sequels –   travelling the world together. We will be in lookout for such opportunities.Opportunities to connect better, explore the world together & to bring the best of it to our lives, our families and our surroundings.

 

So that was it – The MIT, The strategy meet with the  partners & the Road tip. Although I’m not a big time dreamer but this was indeed a dream come true – I am grateful to my Almighty for being so kind to me, for the people around me. I feel blessed, Not just today but all the time, throughout my life.