The Unseen
The Unseen
Early on in my time as the “Voice of the Hokies” at Virginia Tech, Buzz Williams was in the process of rebuilding the men’s basketball program. My first season was his second, and the program had finished in last place in the ACC in each of the previous four seasons. Virginia Tech was not a program that could compare traditions with the power programs of the conference such as Duke, North Carolina and in recent years, Virginia.
The task was a daunting one, a fool’s errand some might call it. But, in that first season, the Hokies boasted a youthful, but talented roster of exciting players. Those younger players mixed together with some holdovers and veteran role players. And we were better. At times electrifying, and at others, maddeningly inconsistent. Such is the growth process, when built for the long haul through the arduous task of collecting youth and talent.
I remember asking Coach Williams at some point during the season how he had recruited some of those players, who certainly had other options, to come to Blacksburg and help build something. He responded that he had to sell them on something that they couldn’t see. An eventual product that had no physical evidence it could be built. It is in essence, the basis for anything that is innovative.
The other night, as I worked my way up and down the bays at Drive Shack during our US Foods JingleBug Bash event, I couldn’t help but be reminded of that conversation.
I’m not great at doing this, but there were a few moments that night that I caught myself thinking ‘none of this existed six months ago.’ Not the relationships with business leaders and like-minded individuals who share our vision of what the Ladybugs can be. Six months ago there was no Laaser’s Ladybug Society. There had been no donations to the school districts. There was no Ladybug logo. There weren’t people wearing our hoodies, hats and taking home our golf head covers. There had been no Pickleball tournament, happy hour, mini-golf tournament, cornhole event and website.
None of this is meant as self-congratulatory. We are nowhere near where we hope to be. It is simply a reminder (to ourselves) that building something important is really hard. And remarkably rewarding. There are many other days where we wonder to ourselves if we are the right people to shepherd something of this magnitude. We (particularly me) have made massive mistakes in our lives. There are moments where we don’t trust ourselves or even like ourselves very much. It is the primary reason we are doing what we are doing. To help others, yes. To help ourselves, definitely.
At the end of that first season with Coach Williams, I was exhausted. I had been building something that year too. Trust from people, which isn’t gained in a day, or even in a year. People with a vision demand a lot of those around them. That was certainly true of Virginia Tech basketball. I would remember that exhaustion four years later when we were sitting court-side while the Hokies battled #1 Duke to the wire in the Sweet Sixteen.
I remember that exhaustion now. Because we are it. We are where the buck stops when it comes to our efforts. When something goes awry, there is no one to turn to except ourselves. That’s the way we like it, but I was exhausted at the end of our Drive Shack event. I am exhausted today. Not in a negative way. In a way that lets me know we have demanded a lot of ourselves. To be honest, I get angered, annoyed and discouraged when people and things let us down. Even more so when I am the one who isn’t equal to the goals that I have established for the Ladybugs. Or more specifically, our lives.
We do that a lot. It is the days that we can’t see the unseen. We know it is building, and we aren’t quite sure what the right next steps are. So we have to choose one. The next three weeks will be those days. 2023 looms, in a big, exciting and daunting way. We plan to grow rapidly. Bigger events, more partners, substantial giving. But to do that, we have to keep pounding. We have to figure out how to make payroll. We have to figure out how to grow from an inconsistent young organization to one that has consistent performance. In donors, partners, allies and vision.
Transparency is how we plan to get there. I can’t tell you how many times I have sucked up my pride in the last six months and let someone I used to help know that I needed there help. And you have no idea how gratifying it is that decidedly more often than not, they were there to heed that call.
Could we have pictured Drive Shack on a late-November Tuesday night being filled with 150 people? No. Did we know what Pickleball was? No. Did we know how to file a 503(b) form? No. And we still don’t.
But, we do know that there is passion there. From us, from you and most importantly in the desire to build something that truly makes a difference. Some days that is tangible and there is evidence to back that up. Many more, there still isn’t. However, six months ago, there was literally no evidence. It was completely unseen. Now, we can at least glimpse pieces of the picture. And there is a reward in that.
As always, this is where you come in. In this season of giving, we continue to need your help. And we thank all of you that have already provided that in a variety of ways. But, we need more. We humbly ask for your donations. Of money, sure. But also of time, of connections and of ideas. And more than anything, of encouragement. We are exhausted, but we are heartened. In what you have already done, and what we know is possible in the future. Please help us bring the unseen to life. And we promise to keep showing up.