Blog Layout
Keeping up with the Kardashians
Shayna Dupre • September 18, 2018
Have you ever been faced with a choice that it actually seems impossible to choose? No, really. Like the only option is not deciding because that’s how much you can’t decide! That is where I am right now. And that is because I’m supposed to choose just one speaker who impacted me on our recent experience at the 2018 Global Leadership Summit and: I. Just. Can’t! So, I’m going to cheat.
I won’t write about how inspired I was just by listening to how Angela Ahrendts starts her mornings each day (with coffee and a podcast by the way – I love tangible life tips like that and, well, coffee is involved so count me in). I won’t mention how Juliette Funt’s stories and video clips made me laugh harder than I have in recent memory or how, speaking of tangible advice, she is just spilling with actual, useful tools that make it impossible to NOT be inspired by her. I won’t recall how Danny Meyer’s passion and accessible hospitality wisdom made me grateful to have worked in a service industry and reminded me why I love it. And I definitely won’t even hint at how Danielle Strickland’s talk on equality made me shake with excitement, righteous anger, and down-right inspiration by the end. Nope. I’m so glad I resisted that temptation to talk about more than one speaker… 😊
But who I will mention, briefly now since I may have strayed from the rules a bit, is Simon Sinek, as his talk has stayed with me the longest and clearer than any other I heard during our two-day experience. The Infinite Game was his title and, long story short, it essentially posed the question to us…to me…what kind of life are you living? “Finite games have known players, fixed rules and agreed-upon objectives. Infinite games have known and unknown players, changeable rules and the objective is to perpetrate the game.” He went on about how your only competitor is actually yourself. And, for me, in a world that looks so different than the way I grew up, and I am only 33, where it seems like social media and hashtags and Kickstarter campaigns and Pinterest and this never-ending cycle of comparison, out doing each other and keeping up with the Kardashians, if you will, it was quite refreshing to be reminded that none of that is the point. Are you the best version YOU can be? Regardless of how Sally or Joe (or Khloe or Kim) are doing?
He told a story about speaking at two different summits: one for Microsoft and one for Apple. I bet you can guess, as I did, on his point here. Essentially his recollection was Microsoft’s focus was how to beat their competitor…. Apple’s objective was how to create the best products to meet their primary goal which was helping educators and students. Phew. That will preach! And yes, he spoke about how being driven to be better, even by some worthy competition, can be good. But our focus? Absolutely not.
I stay home with my 2-year-old son full time.
* Insert shameless plug here. Any stay at home parent reading this who is interested in freelancing for roux and doesn’t think it is an option to do both things – trust me: it is! And you should totally do it. End tangent. *
But I am painfully aware of the mommy blogging, mommy shaming, mommy hating on other hard working momminess of our generation and I don’t want any part of it. This talk by Simon was good for my business side, but it was great for my wanting to leave a lasting legacy for my family side. Leaving a forever impact on this world. Enabling the people around me to love working with me, spending time with me, and maybe even wanting to learn from me. I don’t want to focus on short term, non-consequential things that steal my focus from the infinite game of living the best life I can.
And I know I am not doing justice to all that was shared. The stories I heard and the eloquence with which he spoke…even his main points, which I wrote down, I think he would even argue are not the point though. More important than anything, he left me with the feeling of “I want to do better…be better…for me.” A feeling I won’t soon forget. And I truly couldn’t have asked for anything more.
Watch this video to hear more from Simon Sinek on ‘The Infinite Game’.
We are excited to announce the recipient of our most recent Food for Thought grant — the Hot Springs Food Pantry, located in Hot Springs, South Dakota. Food for Thought is a fund we created through The Community Foundation to offer grants to organizations that help feed children in our community. This isn’t just about money though. We’re also on the lookout for ways to teach kids about good food, to help them learn to prepare it, and to encourage them to love it as much as we do. We are always looking for organizations in our local communities whose mission aligns with ours and have specific needs we can provide grants for. Because our croux reaches far and wide, “local” doesn’t just mean Tennessee. In this case, the community is local to one of our core team members, Lauren. After moving back to her hometown of Hot Springs, South Dakota to be closer to family, she got involved with the local food pantry and saw a specific need there. The food pantry needed a refrigerator so they could provide more fresh produce and protein to families in the area. They were also seeing an above average need in the community due to rising costs which has depleted some of their funds. The grant received from Food for Thought will go towards these efforts and help provide fresh food for families in the area. 
We’re back with another creative croux feature. Normally, these pieces are put together by one of our freelance writers, Annie Van Essen, but this time, we’re spotlighting her!
We celebrated our 10-year anniversary in July 2023, making this our tenth Mardi Gras as a krewe. We are so thankful for the many projects, partnerships, clients and friends who have been a part of our journey so far. The essence of Mardi Gras can be summed up in one lighthearted phrase, “ Laissez les bons temps rouler!” — French, for “Let the good times roll!” We’ve had a lot of good times here at roux over the last decade, and we’re excited for them to keep on rollin’. Bon Mardi Gras and merci beaucoup, friends!
Every January we like to gather as a croux and plan for the year ahead. It serves as a holiday celebration and a strategy session. We look forward to it every year. Over the last few years, we’ve also begun incorporating a “word of the year” practice, where we each choose a word that we will focus on throughout the year.
This year, we decided to take our merry-making to the streets of Nashville to see how well the average passerby could interpret some of our favorite Creole vocab. The results were… entertaining. See for yourself!
Every year, our croux puts together a roundup of our favorite Super Bowl commercials.
This time around, we thought we’d switch it up and ask for submissions of our team’s favorite commercials EVER. Whether from 2023 or 2003, we want to celebrate the advertising magic of Super Bowl Sunday.
Here at roux, we have a wonderful team of creatives supporting us, including photographers, videographers, writers, and designers.
Today, we’re excited to introduce you to Kyle Sorvick, one of the talented graphic designers we work with as part of our extended croux.
We all look forward to receiving Christmas greetings from friends and loved ones, whether it’s a social media post or a physical card to display in our house or hang on the fridge. But when it comes to company Christmas cards, corporate greetings can sometimes fall a bit flat. We love when a company spices things up and sends a message that’s genuine and fun. Videos can also be a more effective and affordable option for a company, when you consider the reach made possible with email and social media, and the savings on printing and postage. Averitt and JetRight are two local companies that knock it out of the park every year when it comes to their video Christmas cards. Whether they choose to be lighthearted and silly or share a heartwarming message, watching their videos shows you the real people and spirit behind the companies. Check them out below!