April 2014: It was a warm spring day at Terrapin Brewery in Athens, GA. I was out with friends having a great time, but then all of a sudden my focus suddenly shifted to business. I overheard a girl I knew from class mention that her friend from home is the nanny to Mark Cuban’s family. I listened in a little closer, and then I heard the name of the nanny.
When I returned home, I went on Facebook and looked up the name of the nanny using the mutual friends search option (Thanks Mark Zuckerberg). I found the nanny and sent her a message … No reply. Another message a week later … No reply. After another message she finally replied, “Bryan, here is his email address, keep it short.”
So I emailed Mark:
- April 2014 … No reply
- June 2014 … No reply
I didn’t expect a reply, but it was worth a try because I had nothing to lose. I believe Mark and I will cross paths one day, so I was just trying to expedite the process.
I still had hope, I was determined to make it happen.
January 1, 2015: I launched a writing platform called The Wish Dish. I thought it would be neat to ask Mark to help promote the platform. Plus, the third time is the charm, so I emailed him again.
But here’s the catch, why would he reply to my third email? It wasn’t much different than the first two emails, so I had to get creative and change my approach.
And this is where the real story begins:
I used my twitter account @the_wishdish & tweeted at him saying “We recently reached out to you on email. We look forward to hearing back!” But my efforts didn’t stop there, it was just the beginning of an incredible journey for the day.
My goal was to have #50retweetsby5pm … I marched to my class at 2:00 and made an announcement about the web platform and twitter campaign. While my teacher was giving a lecture I made a “pass it on” sheet of paper and told my class I’d buy them donuts if we received 15 retweets.
While the “pass it on” paper was making its’ rounds I made 3 replica sheets. When class finished I went to Sanford Hall (the business school) and made 3 class announcements, in 2 classes of which where I didn’t even know the teachers.
The campaign was going well … By 3:30 pm, we had 45 retweets … We were going to reach our goal … So my next thought was #100tweetsby10pm
I then walked to downtown Athens and walked into Einstein Bagel where I saw some sorority friends in Kappa Delta and asked them to retweet. I followed suit and walked into Starbucks and met 4 different people, told hem about the site and the twitter campaign. They were on board with my agenda! I even met a girl in a student organization who invited me to her groups next meeting.
After I left the coffee shop I started asking random people on the street to retweet. I believed Mark Cuban was going to reply!
By the time I left downtown Athens at 5pm I had about 65 retweets. 35 retweets away from 100.
I then went back to my living quarters and had 2 hours before my intramural basketball game. I went door to door, floor to floor, meeting new people and telling them about my platform and twitter campaign.
During my travels, I even met the UGA Brand Ambassador for Yik Yak. Not only did he retweet but he gave me a box of Yik Yak pens to give to the first 100 writers on my platform. I also met the former pledge brother of a student who I have been working with all year on the Atlanta Hawks College Ambassador Program.
And lastly, I met a model for Red Dress Botique, which was a store in Athens funded by Shark Tank just a few months ago. Ironically enough, I have emailed Diana the owner 2x about writing her story over the course of the past month and haven’t heard back. I thought it’d be neat to show off the Athens business owners on my platform.
By 7pm, I had 97 retweets and by 8pm we eclipsed 100.
And I thought to myself … What a day. What a journey. What an adventure. How fun. I met at least 70 new people I never knew and had incredible conversations with people who were all supportive of my platform. Without the people I met and the awesome students on my team, we would never have reached our goal. (make sure to read below picture)
So the question you are all wondering … Did Mark Cuban ever reply. No, not yet. But I believe he will.
What will be great is when I change the featured photo on this post to one us standing side by side. And maybe that will be in 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, but I know it is possible. Anything is.
But regardless of whether he replies or not … What I learned is so much more valuable from a learning and life standpoint:
1. Sell and Do something you believe in that has a higher purpose greater than yourself:
(Thank you Christopher Michael Harris – College Moving Company in Athens, GA) I love my platform. I love the people who are helping me. And I love giving people a unique space to share who they are.
2. Time constraints / Limits make you think outside the box:
I had to figure out in a span of 6 hours how to get 100 retweets. I had no idea how when I started but I was determined to figure it out.
3. The power of an unknown journey:
I met incredible people I never thought I’d meet. I was taken to places I never thought I’d go and gave myself more public speaking engagements in 1 day than I’ve had in the last 3 months combined.
4. People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do what you do – Simon Sinek “Start With Why”
Lastly, I’d love to hear from you. I’d love for you to submit your story. Because I believe, a small story that you have not shared before may be able to impact the lives of those around you.
