I’ve been working relentlessly on my company Ocean SF for the past five years. Sometimes that is embarrassing to admit. How can you keeping working on something so hard and for so long with little reward? Last year was the first year we had profits and even those went right back into the business.
During this time I’ve faced serious obstacles like the death of my husband and a worldwide pandemic. Yet, I am determined and will not be deterred. Recently, while reading about the Flywheel effect, a concept developed in the book Good to Great by Jim Collins, it began to make sense why it is important to never give up on our dreams. No matter how dramatic the end result, good-to-great transformation never happens in one fell swoop. It takes time, patience and perseverance. In building a great company there is no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment. In fact the process resembles relentlessly pushing a giant, heavy flywheel, turn after turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond.
Last night I had dinner with my summer intern Emma and her parents. We all worked so hard over the summer, all of my interns and my daughter Paris who managed them. At some point Ocean SF must take off. It’s inevitable.
Never. Give. Up. That’s our motto.
2022 is our year to shine and I know that hard work always pays off. Always. Like sign posts every day good things keep happening. I got an email from an 8th grader I’ve never met in San Francisco who asked to interview me for a school paper on sustainability, and then yesterday I got photos sent from San Diego Yacht Club by my biggest fans after a sailboat race.
Never. Give. Up.
Love & blessings to all.
Sydney 