Thursday, July 7, 2011

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Miss United States 2010, Jessica Black speaks at the monthly Atlanta Jaycees. An inspiring story of daring to dream and the importance of giving.

A Blog Post by Mr. Andrew Kimball in his blog - "Freewheelin' Lifestyle". He is an amazing person and writer ..... ENJOY!


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“The Power of Words” and a date with Miss United States

Wow what an awesome event this week with the Atlanta Jaycees.  It was a huge turnout at Park Tavern with LOTS of new faces, several new members, and of course, a special appearance by none other than Miss United States, Jessica Black.
Before I get into Jessica’s presentation (and her captivating theme: “The Power of Words”), I should point out a little about what the Jaycees are all about.  Not only is it a great place to network and connect with other young entrepreneurs, this group is all about giving back to the community.  This is especially evident in their event schedule this coming month:
“Hero for a Day” – July 16th – Georgia’s largest field day event for children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.
“Cocktails for Kidneys” – July 21st – Young Professionals fundraiser benefitting Camp Independence, a six day overnight camp for medically fragile children and adolescents with kidney disease or who have heart, liver, lung, or kidney transplants.
Their commitment to charities and giving back is just one reason why it’s my #1 favorite young professionals group in Atlanta.  It’s awesome, you should seriously check it out.
Ok so back to my date with Miss United States (haha ok not really, but I did have a great conversation with her afterwards, she’s super cool, more on that in a minute).
Now you may be thinking, “Oh geez, another beauty queen, probably with an entourage, PR staff, people telling her what to do and how to act (remember Kramer on that Seinfeld episode?  Classic), just like all the others…right?” Not exactly.  I mean, I’m not a big fan of beauty pageants (sure I’ll watch for a few minutes, you know for the talent show part haha), and beauty queens in general.  I don’t pay attention to this stuff.  That’s what made this Jaycees event so interesting.  Jessica is the real deal, here’s why…
Her “off the cuff” speech (she talked non-stop with no script for like 30 minutes and it was all good stuff) was centered around this video (only 9 million some views!):
Knowing “The Power of Words” and combining that with her life motto ”Dare to Dream take the Journey”, Jessica has had some amazing success already, both personally and professionally.  She’s sold for IBM, modeled for top dress designers, and helped raise tons of money for local and national charities.  Cool huh?
Totally.  What’s really cool though, is when you talk with her, you realize that she’s super down to earth, genuine, authentic, and pretty much the complete opposite of the stereo-typical blonde bombshell beauty queen. (lol)
"The Power of Words" - Miss United States 2010, Jessica Black
What I admire most about her is that not only is shededicated to giving back and helping others, but she has clearly found her purpose in life and is truly living a life in line with that purpose. It’s cool to see.  I encourage you to learn more about Jessica and the many charities she’s a part of.