"Learned Leadership"
Dear Eufora Nation,
As This past October, just prior to the Eufora Business Summit - Vision Quest, Don was busy preparing his opening remarks for main stage. Although he loved Eufora’s big events and spending time with Eufora stylists, he always took very seriously his time on stage and preparing the right message he wanted to share with the Eufora Nation. Just recently as I was putting away his ipad, I came across his unfinished speech and the notes that he’d been working on for his opening remarks. While Don never got to deliver this message himself, I feel fortunate to be able to share an excerpt of it now with you all. As always he wrote with passion and from the heart, and his message resonates even more as we move forward to build a strong Eufora Nation. So, from the heart of Don Bewley… Here We Go!
“I learned very early in my career that if I was to achieve my goals and dreams, I had to embrace the whole of my industry. I loved cutting hair, transforming lives, connecting with people… but it wasn’t enough. I had to become business savvy. I went on a journey of learning important business principles. I was lucky to find great mentors and I invested myself completely in becoming the leader that my team needed. It has been a great, and sometimes hard, journey that brought me to levels of success I’d only dreamed of, and lead me to where I am today. Because of this, delivering valuable business education has always been an important part of our Eufora mission. I’m proud to stand here today welcoming everyone to this special Eufora event that is completely focused on helping everyone become more successful as business leaders. I hope you’ve come with an open mind because new and exciting ideas will surround you but you must be open to them. Sometimes you have to “unlearn” to “learn”. What I mean by this is we often hang on to old ideas and ways of thinking and we get stuck. We hold on tight to “the way things are” because changing can be a little scary. Breaking through the status quo thinking is not an easy thing to do. It requires a desire to be bigger and better than we are today and an ability to “think different”. This weekend is about stepping out of your comfort zone, getting out of your own way, and opening your mind to new ideas that will help make you greater than you already are. This weekend is also about stepping up, all of us, and taking on a leadership role for the future of our beautiful industry. Our industry is always changing and evolving, sometimes for the good and sometimes not; but, the power to forge the future path of our industry is within all of you, yes everyone here in this room. YOU are the visionaries of our future industry. “ ~Don Bewley
Don’s passion has always been my inspiration, as I know it has been for so many. So while Vision Quest is now a part of our history, Don’s message is timeless and we can still take our cues from his words.… Think Different. Get out of comfort zones. Listen and embrace new ideas. Step up and take a leadership role for the
industry. He’d just love to watch that happen, so let’s make him proud.
Very Truly Yours,