
The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change

Take advantage of the freedom that comes with your youth. Inhale life, exhale fire, and embrace the late, sleepless nights, because that’s when the magic happens—when everyone else is asleep and you’re awake thinking about the world as it is, and the world as it could be. Make the most of those moments,”
Adam Braun • The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change
As he walked toward the elevator after his final-round interview, I used my favorite tactic to get someone to commit to working for us. I asked him not to send me a traditional follow-up email that night, but to take a few days and send me a marathon letter from the heart about whether he wanted the role. If he was unsure, in writing that letter he
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Most people rush to get their story out, but by waiting until our “holy shit” story, our staff, and our website were in place, we were prepared to convert people’s interest into action.
Adam Braun • The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change
but internally I was beginning to ask fewer questions about money and more questions about meaning.
Adam Braun • The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change
When I think back to how this all began, one thing is incredibly clear: I was hopelessly idealistic from the start. I use the word hopelessly purposely, as my belief in PoP has always been devoid of hope. I never thought, I hope this works out. I knew it would. From the moment that first bolt of electric energy hit me at the New York Philharmonic,
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We decided to hold an annual gala to cover our operating expenses and then promised to commit 100 percent of funds donated online throughout the year to our school programs.
Adam Braun • The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change
As I rode the bus back to my cramped East Village apartment, I thought about how important it was for me to occasionally and deliberately separate from my normal routine. The meaningful connections I’d had over the previous few days didn’t happen when I was staring at my computer, banging out emails, but when I focused on being present with the peo
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SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF THE PERSON YOU WANT TO BECOME
Adam Braun • The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change
I decided early on that we wouldn’t share our story through traditional press until we had three pieces in place: (1) what I called a “holy shit” story. You needed to hear about PoP and think, Holy shit! How have I not heard about this? I need to tell someone else about it now; (2) a beautiful website with a back-end system to handle inbound inquir
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