Big Words start conversations and open doors to new places.
Author: anwaryusef
Anwar Y. Dunbar is a Regulatory Scientist. Being a naturally curious person, he is also a student of all things. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor’s Degree in General Biology from Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU). Prior to starting the Big Words Blog Site, Anwar published and contributed to numerous research articles in competitive scientific journals reporting on his research from graduate school and postdoctoral years. After falling in love with writing, he contributed to the now defunct Examiner.com, and the Edvocate where he regularly wrote about: Education-related stories/topics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Financial Literacy; as well as conducted interviews with notable individuals such as actor and author Hill Harper. Having many influences, one of his most notable heroes is author, intellectual and speaker, Malcolm Gladwell, author of books including Outliers and David and Goliath.
Anwar has his hands in many, many activities. In addition to writing, Anwar actively mentors youth, works to spread awareness of STEM careers, serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium, serves as Treasurer for the JCSU Washington, DC Alumni Chapter, and is active in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church. He also tutors in the subjects of biology, chemistry and physics.
Along with his multi-talented older brother Amahl Dunbar (designer of the Big Words logos, inventor and a plethora of other things), Anwar is a “Fanboy” and really enjoys Science-Fiction and Superhero movies including but not restricted to Captain America Civil War, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Prometheus. He is a proud native of Buffalo, NY.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Many businesses fail initially. In the excitement of wanting to succeed, many new entrepreneurs overlook several critical details. As such they run into numerous hurdles. The following contributed post is entitled, Overcoming Business Hurdles as an Enthusiastic Entrepreneur.
* * *
If owning a business was a walk in the park, everybody would be doing it, right? Unfortunately, entrepreneurship isn’t that easy. When running a business it is likely that you will face many challenges along the way. Keeping your company up and running during difficult times is what will make you a successful business owner. When hurdles get in the way of your success, you can rectify the problem in an instant if you keep a positive mindset. Don’t allow small setbacks to stop you from achieving your full potential and consider some of the following ideas.
Seek Assistance Where Necessary
Being an entrepreneur doesn’t automatically denote that you have to do every business task on your own. Seeking assistance might just mean the difference between success and failure. Have you ever started your working day and struggled with your current technology? If you sought advice from a professional IT Consulting company, your hurdles would be instantly overcome. Whatever your unique business needs may be, the experts will be able to help you. Nowadays business technology is complicated, so why make it more difficult? Accept the help you deserve and have complete peace of mind.
It is very easy to fall into financial troubles in the early stages of entrepreneurship. Hire an accountant and don’t turn a blind eye to any money worries you may have. Be wary of your spending in the first months and years; don’t make risky business decisions without weighing up the pros and cons. Money is everything in the initial stages of your business, so try to be as thrifty as possible.
Keep a Close Eye on Your Competitors
The competitors in your market can seem like hurdles, but you can actually use them to your advantage without a doubt. By tracking the movements of other companies in your market you can stay one step ahead and remain a strong contender at all times. Whether you’re tracking their keywords on Google searches or taking note of their marketing campaigns, you can learn a lot from opposing businesses.
Don’t Give Up
Your enthusiasm levels as an entrepreneur may dwindle from time to time, especially when new competitors emerge onto the scene. Staying motivated as a business owner is easier said than done, but you need to concentrate on why you started your company in the first place. Read your business plan again and you will soon regain the fire you once had in your belly.
Many business owners wallow in self pity and allow hurdles to get in the way of their success. If you let minor or major problems stop you from pursuing your career goals, you will never be able to reach your full potential. Whether you’re accepting IT help or carrying out competitor research, each one of these steps will help you to get the best out of your business. Don’t let the hurdles defeat you; accept the challenge and learn from everything it teaches you.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Small business owners have a different set of considerations than large business owners. Following a certain set of keys can ensure that your business will make that transition and grow. The following contributed post is entitled, The Things That Every Small Business Owner Should Do To Get Ahead.
* * *
Your small business might seem insignificant at the moment, but every big corporation had to start in the same place as you. If you have the motivation and the willingness to persevere through mistakes and slow financial periods, your company could slowly start to grow into something more successful on a long-term basis. The key is to be willing to take risks and not shy away from pressing onwards when you occasionally face setbacks. That’s a part of the learning process, even if it feels as if you’re facing setbacks and no instances of success. These are the things that every small business owner should do to get ahead.
Research the target market. First of all, you need to research the target market, as explained at bizfluent.com. Your company can’t stand out from the crowd if it doesn’t know what the crowd is missing. Simply offering the same products and services in the same way as your competitors will not help you to get ahead. Why should consumers choose you over your bigger and more established rivals? That’s the question you need to answer. And if you can solve a problem that your competitors have yet to solve, then you’ll have given the target market a reason to choose you.
So, make sure you conduct extensive research on a regular basis. Talk to your current customers and any potential customers who want to share their opinions. Use your social media pages to connect with people by running polls and surveys. Make posts requesting direct feedback on your business and your industry as a whole. That’s how you’ll start to figure out what your intended audience needs from a company such as yours. Once you start solving their problems, your small business will start standing out. And, as a result, you’ll increase your customer base, as outlined at inc.com.
Outsource certain services. You should also outsource certain services if you want your small business to get ahead. You might have a small and reliable team of professionals who help you to deliver high-quality products or services to the market, but you might still find that your company is falling behind in the market. However, before you start hiring new full-time employees, consider a more cost-effective investment: outsourcing. You might need full-time employees to handle the more technical aspects of your daily operations which relate to your specific field of work, but you don’t necessarily need full-time employees to deal with every aspect of your operations (whilst your business is still small and limited in funding, anyway). You might want to visit safebitsolutions.com for IT support services. If you don’t have a proper IT team or you simply need technological guidance, then those outsourced professionals could consult you effectively. Outsourcing can help you to grow your small business in a cost-effective manner.
Use digital marketing properly. As a modern-day entrepreneur, you probably know that digital marketing is crucial for businesses. Still, you might be struggling to make an impression on your target market. Online marketing is competitive; it takes more than a website and a few social media pages to advertise your company effectively on the internet. You need a strong social networking strategy. Create content regularly on multiple platforms to widen your reach, as has been suggested on this site before. You need a constant presence online to not only engage with consumers but maintain their interest.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Most new businesses initially fail and if you’ve started one of the select few to make it passed the early stages, there are a couple of key considerations that you need to keep in mind. The following contributed post is entitled, Getting Your Best Business Support.
* * *
When you’re up and running and your start-up is showing signs of growth, this isn’t the time to take your foot off the gas. No, now’s the time to push forward, to invest, to think big, to reimagine your yearly targets and overall goals and see just how far your business is going to take you.
This might mean it’s time to take on more staff. Increasing your sales or marketing team to push for higher selling figures. Perhaps you’ll also need a greater amount of the stock or product that you sell and that might mean more warehouse space too, or more boots on the ground if you sell services.
But none of this will pay off unless you have the infrastructure in place to support your ambitions.
In this blog we take a look at the structure that supports your whole business, your IT network, and whether recruiting an IT team to keep you on track is always the best option.
In House Options
Recruitment is a time consuming process, more so when you have several posts to recruit for. Nevertheless, when you’ve assembled the right amount of people and have a fully functioning IT team in place, their expertise is invaluable.
You’ll never have to wait for outside support, you’ll always have someone on hand to come and help you fix whatever computer or software issue that arises.
When things are going well, your team will have time to develop new software and upgrade your network to keep it functioning at its best and when there’s a problem, they’ll work tirelessly to fix it.
But what if problems are few and far between? Do you need to have the physical presence of an IT on site seven days a week?
The Outsourcing Option
You might instead consider outsourcing your IT needs to a company like Infotech Management, Inc. Why? There are several good reasons to consider and here are some of the advantages: you’ll have access to a larger support network with more resources then you might be able to provide through your own business.
Like your team they’ll be on hand 24-hours a day to help you out. This work can most often be done remotely and down the phone, so there’s no need to provide desks and computers or have to look for larger office space.
Look for a company that has engineers based near you, so if there is a need to have someone on site, they can be with you in as short a time as possible.
Your business deserves to have the best when it comes to IT support and how you choose to provide that is going to depend entirely on the nature of your business and your personal preferences. Recruiting a team does have its advantages but if you’re looking to potentially save money and desk space looking at outside support might just be the right solution for you. Talk to your local managed support team today and find the right solution.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Career Discussions. Becoming an Event Planner can be a lucrative career choice. Event Planning is a world all its own with nuances and keys for success. There are several mistakes that novices make. Avoiding the mistakes can propel you far beyond your competition. The following contributed post is entitled, Mistakes Made By New Event Planners.
If you have recently become an event planner or this is a career you are thinking about, learn from the mistakes that others have made by avoiding the errors we discuss below.
Not mastering the world of online marketing
There is only one place to begin, and this is with online marketing. All event planners need to have a good online presence today. If you do not have any knowledge or experience in this, or you do not have the time to dedicate to marketing your services, hire a SEO company. They will be able to help you with everything from building an effective website to producing quality content and ensuring you have a good presence on social media.
Using fresh flowers all of the time
Virtually all events require flowers. Without them, it can be difficult to adorn a venue beautifully, or create the right ambience. With that being said, read on to discover more about artificial blooms and why they are a must for your business.
As briefly touched upon, all occasions, be it a wedding or a birthday party, require flowers. This is a must-have decoration. It can help to make a venue look show stopping while also creating the right mood, from excitement to romance. But, why should you look for cheap artificial flowers in particular? There are many different reasons, but mainly it comes down to the fact that fresh blooms are too much of a hassle and risk.
When dealing with fresh flowers, you will need to get them delivered on the day of the event to make sure their appearance does not deteriorate and they do not lose their beauty. This can be very risky for any business. What if they do not get delivered on time? If you take the opposite approach, i.e. you buy fresh flowers in advance, you run the risk of not using them at an event, and thus you are going to make a loss. With artificial flowers, you don’t have to worry about any of this, you can order them in advance for minimal hassle and you can use them again and again to make sure you get your money’s worth. Not only this, but artificial blooms make sure you can cater to the demands of all of your clients, as you are never restricted to what is in season.
Putting all of your eggs in one basket
Last but not least, it can be a very big deal for any event planner when they manage to secure a big client. However, you need to be mindful and make sure you do not put all of your eggs in one basket. What would happen if this client then decide to take their work elsewhere?
Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. As today’s world has become more digital, your social media presence is critical to your business’s success. While social media is misused on a personal level by many people, it’s a very valuable weapon in your arsenal for your business. The following contributed post is entitled, Get Social: Brilliant Benefits For Your Business.
* * *
More than 3 billion people use social media platforms. While social networks may have started out as a communications hub designed to help friends, colleagues and family members stay in touch, its role has undoubtedly evolved. Today, social media plays an integral role in promoting businesses and enabling companies to reach out to customers. If you’re not already reaping the rewards of utilizing these networks and apps for your business, now is the time to get social.
Brilliant benefits for your business If you’ve never used social media as a business tool before, you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. The truth is that social sites offer an incredible platform for all kinds of companies, and an effective social media marketing campaign can have an amazing impact. Here are some of the most significant advantages of using social media as a marketing tool:
Raising brand awareness
Branding is a means of giving your business personality and showing potential customers what you are all about. Social networks offer an opportunity to enable followers and friends to get to know your brand and to show the human side of your company. Whether you’re a fun, quirky business selling gifts, toys or novelty items, or a smart, professional firm offering services like accounting or legal advice, you can use social media to enhance your brand image. You can also get your name out there by encouraging all your existing friends and followers to share your pages and posts. A small group of virtual friends can soon become an expansive network.
Reaching more customers Billions of people use social apps and sites, and many subscribers check their profiles and news feeds several times per day. Using social media advertising and sharing posts can help you build your client base and reach out to users you may never have been able to contact without social networks.
Defining an audience Social platforms often have tools you can use to pinpoint users and define your audience. If you’re using adverts to promote your business, for example, you don’t want to pay for posts that have no chance of converting. You can use features like Facebook’s audience insights to maximize your chances of targeting people who are likely to have an interest in the products or services you’re selling. If you are looking to use social media to expand your customer base and increase conversion rates, and you’re not sure how to go about it, it’s wise to consider working with a social media agency. Marketing experts will be able to design and implement a campaign based on your objectives and your target market.
Engaging and communicating with users Communication is key in modern business, and many customers like to have a relationship with the brands they buy from. Social sites enable you to share posts, comment and send messages within a matter of seconds.
Social media may be a platform for catching up with friends and sharing funny videos, but it can also be an incredibly effective marketing ploy. If you’re not already using these networks to showcase your business and attract customers, what are you waiting for?
Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. In today’s digital world, most businesses and organizations have an information technology (IT) component. As such, large amounts of critical data must be properly stored. Not doing so can have several negative consequences. The following contributed post is entitled, Storage Options – Is There a Best Option?
* * *
When it comes to looking after your business, there is a lot of information passing through. Some you will need to keep, others you won’t, and there will be plenty of projects and other files that you will need to hold on to until the end of your contract. When it comes to storage, you’ll need to spend some time thinking about what you need, and then you will know your best option.
Before you settle on the best storage for your needs, you will have to assess your business. Here are a few questions to get you started:
● How old is the data you want to store?
● Is it all related to your business?
● How much of it is doubled up?
● Where do you need to access the data from?
● Who needs access?
● How fast do you need access?
Once you understand your data, and what will make a difference to you, you will begin to see what kind of storage is your best option. In most cases, it will be a combination of solutions.
Options
Once you have answered those questions, you can move on to researching or refreshing knowledge on different options.
External hard drives
This is one of the most cost-effective ways to store a large amount of data that you need to have on hand most of the time. They simply plug into your computer and are ideal for travel. But you have to remember that you can lose an HDD, and it can get damaged by being dropped, wet, and can be susceptible to corruption.
Thumb Drives
If you are on the go a lot, then a small thumb drive is going to be ideal. They are small enough to put in your pocket, or more preferably, on a keychain somewhere safe. They don’t hold much, so you will need to be very selective. You can only share the thumb with people you are physical with.
Cloud
Online storage is what people should be looking at. Cloud computing is one of the best solutions for most businesses. It allows you to share huge files with clients all over the world. And, multiple people can work on a project at the same time, and the information will be available immediately. This also means that you won’t need to travel with your own computer, you can access what you need from any system with internet access. It is typically well encrypted, and you can’t lose it, drop it, or otherwise damage it.
NAS
Network-attached storage is super-fast, reliable, and gives you access to data in an IP networking environment. They are suitable for small businesses that need a large amount of cheap storage for multiple users – but only within their own network. They are easy to manage and an excellent option for centrally managed storage.
Before you implement any data storage, you should talk to an IT advisor or do a lot of research so you can get the best for your business. Don’t wait until you need mass storage to have things in place, plan ahead.
Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. In today’s digital world, significant amounts of business are done online and thus having a website which will attract attention is key. The following contributed post is entitled, Tips To Bring More Attention To Your Website.
* * *
To compete with other businesses in today’s world, it can often be very difficult. This is because there’s a lot more competition out there simply due to the internet. Anyone can create a business, and for some, you don’t even need to have any funding to start off with.
If you’re not entirely happy with the host you have chosen for your current website, then it’s never too late to transfer your domain to another platform. Ultimately, you need to feel completely comfortable and confident when making edits to your business website. Whether you choose Wix or Squarespace, you should always opt in for a trial run so you know how it would work for you. As soon as you make sure that the platform has a blogging platform, a shopping option and smooth automations you will have made the right choice for your business.
Create A Web Page Design That Fits Your Brand
When it comes to your website, it’s important that your website reflects your branding. As a business, having branding is important because it helps your customers recognize your business. If they see the same logo and colors from what you have in terms of social media to the website, you’ve got brand consistency that’s going to help you become more successful in more ways than one. Looking at your web page design now, is it a little too basic? Perhaps you got a web design template that other people online also have. You want to spend some money on getting a good web design, so seek out a good web designer and make it a collaborative process to come up with something that’s unique. It should be tailored to your business and really help show it off in a way that you’d like it to be.
Produce More Content On A Daily Basis
More content for your website is going to mean more traffic over time. You want to be consistent in when you’re posting on your website, and every website should have a blog. As a business, you will likely have topics that you could cover in relation to the business, and providing high-quality content can help your website become a great source of information and knowledge for those who are your customers or who are within the same industry as you. When it comes to the amount of content that you should be making, at least once every couple of days is a great start. Ideally, having someone in the role of a content writer can be beneficial so that you can post at least once a day.
Invest In Some Training
We’ve always got the ability to improve, and when it comes to training and building up skills, there’s a lot you can do when it comes to knowing how to improve a website. SEO is a big contributor to your website, and if you know how to do this, then you can really help develop the site into something more popular and traffic-driven. With sites like Loud Programmer, you can get great training that helps provide you with the tools in order to really build on what you have already. If you’re willing to invest in some training, it’ll definitely end up paying you back further down the line, and it’s one thing that is worth doing, especially if you have very little awareness of how to run a website.
Try Out Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is where you create content for other websites. When guest blogging, you want to ensure that the websites you are providing content for, have a similar audience to yours. You also want to get a link back to your own website so that people are clicking through and landing on your webpage. With blogging on other sites, it can be a little time-consuming, particularly if you are the only one doing it or you’ve got a limited amount of staff. Therefore, take care when it comes to picking the sites that you guest blog on. You want them to be effective for your own site, and that will only happen if you’ve done your research.
Promote Your Site Everywhere
Every opportunity is a chance for self-promotion, and when it comes to running a website and business, you can’t be shy or embarrassed about it. Use every networking session and event in general to promote your site. Don’t forget about advertising, and how beneficial it can be to do it online. Online advertising is a lot more affordable than traditional advertising and with traditional formats, you’re limited to how far it can reach. With online advertising, you have the ability to reach a global scale, and that can be pretty incredible to have as a business. So take advantage of every opportunity that’s out there in order to make your website known.
Building a strong website takes time, so be willing to put in the man-hours and financial investment needed to bring attention to your website. With these tips, you’ll definitely see some progress, and it’s essential that your business continues to be prominent online.
Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Health/Wellness. Pretty much everyone needs dental care, but will patients trust your dental practice and services. Just like medicine, there have been instances of dental malpractice and fatal accidents. What are some keys to patients trusting you? The following contributed post is entitled, Becoming a Dental Practice That People Trust.
* * *
Unfortunately, dentists are a group of people that many of us struggle to trust. It’s not that we don’t like them as people. Or that we don’t understand the importance of their work. But, most of us experience some form of dental phobia at some point in our lives. This can range from mild worry to debilitating anxiety around an appointment, and often how we feel about the treatment gets confused with how we feel about the dental practice itself.
If you own or run, your own dental practice, this can be a problem. You want your patients to trust you and even like you. You certainly don’t want them to be scared of you. So, here are some of the things that you can do to become a practice that people can trust.
Patients won’t trust you if you make mistakes with things like booking or billing — partner with an IT provider at https://www.pact-one.com/ to become more efficient. Getting someone to run your IT systems can help you to take more bookings, and manage them more efficiently. This can be great for your relationships with your patients.
Employ the Right Staff
Every member of your team has an important role to play when it comes to building trust with patients. The person that answers the phones should be friendly, polite and knowledgeable. The people on the front desk should be welcoming and respectful. Dental staff need to be patient, helpful and great at their jobs. Take your time with recruitment, trying to find people that are happy to go the extra mile to make people feel safe.
Build an Online Presence
You might think that online interaction is only important for online business and influencers. But this isn’t true. We spend so much of our time online, and we expect all of the companies and services that we use to be online. Patients might Google your practice for more information. So, think about what they might find. Social media channels are a great way to share information, communicate, and build relationships, and an efficient website is professional and can help you to make a great first impression. Find more tips on social media at https://bennisinc.com/7-ways-to-make-your-company-social-media-more-engaging/.
Get to Know Patients
Think about your own experience with other services and businesses. Isn’t it nice when you walk in to be greeted by someone that remembers you? Dentist appointments make people uncomfortable, and this kind of recognition can reduce anxiety and make your patients feel calmer. You might not see them that often, but try your best to get to know them, enjoy small talk and ask them about their days. Taking a personal interest can increase trust tremendously.
Create a Friendly and Informative Waiting Room
It’s not just the people that you employ and your relationships with patients that contributes towards their trust. Your surgery itself also plays its part. Your treatment rooms should be clean, bright and welcoming. Your waiting room should also be bright and clean. Add some toys for younger patients, magazines and wifi access, as well as informative (but not scary) flyers and posters. Try to make people feel more comfortable while they wait.
“The coaches at some of the other Yale Cup schools thought I had an unfair competitive advantage because of the intramural program I started at Hutch-Tech!”
The first principle of my blog is “Creating Ecosystems of Success”. I originally published this series on the Examiner back in 2014 and have subsequently began adding to it. As a teen I dreamt of being a basketball player just like a lot of kids – a dream for which one must have lots of ability, drive, and luck to achieve. My experience turned out to be quite the adventure, and I didn’t formally play basketball beyond high school. The lessons I learned there however, not all of them happy and pleasant, helped me as I progressed into adulthood and into my Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) career. As mentioned, when I began reposting this series, I’ve started working on an ambitious writing project chronicling my early basketball journey in Western New York.
If I’m able to get my project published, one of the things that will be special about it is that it’s a story involving real people. The project has required me to do multiple interviews. It has been both an interesting and fun experience. As noted by well-established authors like John U. Bacon, who has written numerous books on Michigan Football, some people are open to being interviewed and being characters in book projects, while others are reluctant. Some agree and then drop out of contact, while others are difficult to contact. As a writer I now understand why some names must be changed in the final story.
I consider my breakthrough interview to be that of Jason Rowe, which led to interviews with others, and I want to thank everyone who participated; some of whom I’ve never met personally. My interview with Jason was followed by an interview with Coach Pat Monti and then his star guards, Carlos Bradberry and Tim Winn. It’s been a fun ride with at least one more big interview on the way, so stay tuned.
One of the key figures in my story is Dr. Kenneth Leon Jones, who was the Head Coach of the Hutch-Tech Boys’ Basketball Team during my freshman, sophomore and junior years. Before he passed away at the end of 2018, Coach Jones told me that he was okay with being a character in my story. In my piece about his basketball camp, I discussed Coach Jones, what I learned from him and what he meant to me.
That was just my perspective though and I discovered many other points of view on Coach Jones in my research. I actually started learning of other peoples’ views of Coach Jones in my junior season where I hit some personal adversities. My struggles, in part, contributed to our team’s struggling and spiraling out of control that season. During my personal storm one classmate sought me out one day and told me that he disliked Coach Jones because he had ‘cut’ his brother years earlier. It was then that I realized that there were many backstories to Coach’s tenure at Hutch-Tech in addition to the successes he experienced my freshman year.
“Most of the time, when somebody is giving you orders and instructions, if you’re not emotionally ready – if you’ve got your mind on the wrong part, you’re not going to try as hard. You’re not going to be into it. You’re not going to absorb as much,” said a player I’ll call “Curtis” about Coach Jones in my interview with him. Curtis was the ‘engine’ that powered Coach Jones’ 1990-91 city and sectional championship team. He said a lot of powerful things during our interview, but this quote very much applies to the relationship between coaches and players, much which I experienced myself, or witnessed with teammates.
One of the cool things about working on a project where you’re interviewing multiple people is that you get to hear multiple points of view. Amazingly, my interviews for The Engineers revealed that Coach Jones was multiple things to multiple people. While there was a group of us who held him in high reverence, appreciated his teachings and the mentoring he gave us, he had several detractors as well. Again, he was multiple things to multiple people. His detractors fell into three groups, some of which might surprise you.
The first group consisted of some of the other coaches in our league called the “Yale Cup”, which was the league for all the Buffalo Public Schools. For those readers unfamiliar with the Yale Cup in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it consisted of fourteen schools. Three schools that no longer exist today are: Buffalo Traditional, Kensington and Seneca Vocational High School.
The Yale Cup was a poorly funded league which lacked a Junior Varsity (JV) program at all its schools to properly prepare its players for Varsity competition. Coach Jones and the Buffalo News called this a “feeder system”. The result was a 14-team league where all of the teams were run differently, and where all the coaches had varying levels of experience and interest. This led to drastically different levels of coaching and attention to detail. Some of the Varsity coaches (Coach Jones included), ran an informal JV program for no extra pay simply because there was a need for it.
We also played in outdated and antiquated facilities. Many of the gyms in the Yale Cup league looked like antiquated factory storage rooms with peeling paint and old industrial smells. Most of our gyms had solid white backboards without ‘break away’ rims. Only a few of the courts, like those at Grover Cleveland and McKinley for example, had ‘regulation-size’ courts with the proper dimensions. Our old little gym at Hutch-Tech was more of a small box than anything. Someone I interviewed recently jokingly said that Performing Arts’ gym resembled a bit of a bowling alley.
“The coaches at the other schools thought I had an unfair competitive advantage because of the intramural program I started at Hutch-Tech,” Coach Jones said during one of our interviews. He shared a lot of things with me that I didn’t know as a teen and probably wouldn’t have understood. There were so many layers – so many things happening at once surrounding the Hutch-Tech Boys’ Basketball Team in plain sight and behind the scenes. The same is true for Coach Jones’ two immediate successors who I’ll keep anonymous at this time.
One of the hallmarks of Coach Jones’ tenure at Hutch-Tech was his intramural program. The program was for all the boys in the school so that everyone could get taste of competition and where a champion was crowned. More specifically, it allowed Coach Jones to scout the talent in each class. It wasn’t something he was doing for extra pay, but instead it was something for the students and for the school.
“Some of Jones’ players played angry,” a former player also from Coach Jones’ city and sectional championship team who I’ll call “Pep”, said jokingly. My interview with Pep might be my favorite of all of the interviews I’ve done simply because I could hear that he was having so much fun talking about his playing days. In any case, Coach Jones’ second group of detractors were surprisingly on some of his rosters.
Before getting to Hutch-Tech, the program looked like a utopia from the outside. My research though revealed that there were several conflicts and perpetually hurt feelings involving some of Coach Jones’ players. In some instances, there were personality conflicts. In other instances, there were players who felt they had to prove themselves repeatedly and in general felt unappreciated. Some players felt that they didn’t play enough, and others didn’t play at all though they were given roster spots.
The third group of detractors were outside of the team, but in the student body. The individual who stands out the most for this group is the classmate described above, but there were others. The reality in life is that there are winners and losers, and there usually isn’t enough of everything to go around. This particularly applies to a basketball team where a coach can realistically keep up to 18 players, while only being able to play 8-10 regularly.
In short, not every kid at my school who wanted a roster spot got one, and there are any number of reasons for that. I may write another teaser-piece just on the criteria Coach Jones presented on his ‘invite list’. That’s right, during his tenure, you couldn’t just come out for the basketball team, you had to be invited. This cut a lot of kids out of the picture from the start even before having a chance to show him they could dribble the ball, make baskets, play defense or even run one of his offenses.
Why does this all matter? Like the entire story, it was a sample of what was to come throughout the rest of my life in college and then in the adult world. For some of us who earned roster spots and submitted to his coaching, Coach was father figure, a mentor and a leader. Others on his teams felt like his whipping boys and even underappreciated. Other students didn’t feel like they were given a fair chance to play. Some didn’t like his fundamentals-based way of teaching the game. Some of the other coaches in our Yale Cup league thought he was cheating.
This is why interscholastic sports are good teachers going forward in life. Two of the things you learn about in addition to your sport, are people and leadership – neither of which are easy aspects to manage. As a leader, whether it’s a coach, a college professor, a clergyman or a supervisor, not everyone sees you the same way. Depending on our backgrounds, our values, our individual natures, and where our minds are in seasons of our lives, our experiences with that person will vary, and in many instances, vary greatly. It’s also true that because we may see a given person differently, our truths may be different.
Whether it was the Hutch-Tech Boys’ Basketball Team, my research lab in graduate school, or now within the government agency I work in everyday, there were always individuals charged with leading larger groups or teams. Some people within those teams possess different levels and proficiencies at their crafts. All possess different levels of emotional intelligence. Some are better communicators than others, and some are just better team players than others.
“If I could go back, I would be just as demanding, but more understanding,” Coach Jones said to me several times during our talks. He knew that he drove his players hard and demanded a lot from us. He also concluded that he could’ve been a little more understanding of each player and what they were going through as each of us came from different homes and had different life struggles in our teens.
“If you look at that team that almost made it to Glens Falls, Coach Jones let that team do a lot, but that was all earned. He said, ‘Hey, I’ll let you shoot a three-pointer or a long jump shot outside the offense because I know that we’re playing good enough defense that we’re going to get a possession back,” said a former teammate named “Chris” who played under Coach Jones for four years. Chris was a captain on our team in my sophomore year and a true leader. Some of Coach Jones’ critics thought he was too restrictive and controlling of his teams, particularly on offense.
“When I went to college, I played Division III at the Coast Guard Academy. I didn’t play Varsity, but instead played on the equivalent of our JV squad. We played against a bunch of junior colleges and prep schools. I’ll say that I was able to shoot the ball a lot more,” Chris said. “I look back though, and I think if we were able to play defense like we did in high school, we would’ve been able to keep up with a bunch of those teams. So, shooting the ball wasn’t always the best policy.”
I’ll probably write another teaser-piece just talking about the program Coach Jones created at Hutch-Tech, but for now I’ll just say that if done right, while it can be rewarding, coaching isn’t easy. You must not only have to know your sport and its evolving nuances, but you must also assemble a team of players, develop them and get them to buy into a common goal. That isn’t easy as coaches must also play psychologist, in addition to a quasi-parent in some instances, especially for kids who don’t have fathers or who come from tumultuous homes.
This piece isn’t unique to Coach Jones. He was my coach. If you read my interview with Jason Rowe, Jason stated that while his Coach, Joe Cardinal, was highly scrutinized, his players loved him. Ironically, even though Coach Cardinal was highly criticized, his Bulls coincidentally made deep runs in the post-season play most years. The same is true for Coach Pat Monti who led the LaSalle basketball dynasty. During his 10-year run of dominance leading the LaSalle Explorers, there were numerous critiques about him and his program from the outside. Talking to him and his players on the inside was completely different though.
The first picture used for this post is the schedule for the 1989-90 Hutch-Tech Boys’ Basketball Team. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Pepsi-Cola of Western New York used to create cardboard schedules for the area high school teams in addition to hosting the Al Pastor Memorial Basketball Tournament for a select number of schools. It was Coach Jones’ second season at Hutch-Tech. I was an eighth grader looking to go into high school and was learning about Coach and his teams through my brother Amahl who was a sophomore that year and his Hutch-Tech yearbooks.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post. If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy:
If you’ve found value here and think it will benefit others, please share it and or leave a comment. To receive the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the subscription box in the right-hand column in this post and throughout the site. Please visit my YouTube channel entitled Big Discussions76. Lastly, follow me on the Big Words Blog Site Facebook page, on Twitter at @BWArePowerful, and on Instagram at @anwaryusef76. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, there are other blogs/sites I endorse which can be found on that particular page of my site.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Health/Wellness. No matter what your purpose or mission is in life, one of the most key components in your life will be your health and fitness. If you’re healthy, you can accomplish most things. The following contributed post is entitled, 10 Simple Ways to Improve Your Health and Fitness.
* * *
When it comes to improving our health and fitness levels, we usually think that we have to do things that are beyond boring: it’s all about eating salads, and spending your evenings in the gym, or whatever. In fact, this is not true. We can push ourselves to an improved state just by making subtle changes to our lifestyle. Below, we outline some of the most influential changes that you can make. Adopt them all (or as many as you can), and you’ll find that you’re on the path towards living a healthier, fitter life.
Before you can figure out how you’re going to reach the top of the mountain, you need to figure out where you are. In health terms, this means taking a look at your lifestyle and figuring out your positive and negative health points. We’re pretty busy these days, and that means that we rarely get time to sit down and review our lifestyles. It is worthwhile, however. You might find that you’re making a few fundamental errors which, if amended, would lead to much improved fitness levels. So ask yourself: are you living a healthy or unhealthy lifestyle?
Get Walking
It’s not something that is often discussed, but the way we live is a bit unusual. At least in terms of how all the other humans on earth have lived, that is. There has never been a point in human history when people have sat down as much as they do now. Some people spend the vast majority of their day off their feet. They’re in the car, or sitting behind a desk, or watching television on the couch. Make no mistake: this type of sedentary life will have a hugely detrimental impact on your health in the long run. Fortunately, it’s one of those things that can be remedied relatively easily. Get moving! You can incorporate more activity by making subtle changes to your life. For example, could you cycle to work, or park further away from the office so that you can walk a little? Can you take the stairs rather than the elevator? These things might seem inconsequential, but all tallied up, they can make a big difference.
Working Up a Sweat
Of course, while building more activity into your lifestyle will be a good start, it might not dramatically improve your health and fitness levels. It’ll just put you on the right path. There is no substitute for working up a sweat — it will do wonders for your physical and mental health. And the beautiful part of this stage is that there are various ways that you can go about it. You can work out in the gym if you’re drawn that way, but you can also look at running, cycling, playing team sports, hiking in the outdoors. Whatever you’ll find the most enjoyable, essentially (this will ensure that you stick to your activity).
How to Eat Well
What we feed into our body is super important when it comes to our health and fitness. It is the foundation for our health, the building blocks. You can’t (or shouldn’t) expect to reach your peak state if you’re forever eating unhealthy foods, no matter how much exercise you’re doing. People tend to think that eating healthy meals is a time-consuming or laborious task. Not so! Indeed, there are plenty of easy to prepare, twenty minute meals that’ll put you on the path towards healthy eating. At a minimum, you should avoid those obviously unhealthy foods. That fast food burger might task good, but it’s a disaster for your body.
Cutting Down on Vices
We all like to have fun, but sometimes, the ways in which we have fun can have a negative impact on our health. Take, for example, how we socialize. We can end up drinking too many alcoholic drinks and smoking too many cigarettes. While these things are sometimes presented as normal, the truth is that they can both have a hugely negative impact on our health. So it’s worthwhile looking at cutting down, or stopping them altogether. Easier said than done, right? There are things you can do to make it easier. If you want to stop smoking, take a look at mtbakervapor.com, and transition to vaping instead. To moderate your alcohol intake, you can look at social activities that don’t involve alcohol. If you do have to spend time in a bar, then consider alternating your drinks from alcoholic to non-alcoholic options. You’ll barely notice that anything’s different at the time, but will feel the effect when it comes to your bank balance and how good you feel the next morning.
Into the Outdoors
We tend to think of ourselves as somehow apart from nature. It’s something that happens away from us, in other places. We’re civilized! As much as we want to deny the animal side of our existence, the fact is that it’s there, and always will be. We’ve come to understand in recent decades just how important it is to have nature time in our lives. Studies have shown that it can have a significant impact on our physical and mental health. If you can’t recall the last time you were surrounded by nothing but the great outdoors, look at making it part of your lifestyle. No matter where you live, there will surely be a beautiful spot near you that you can visit.
For too long, we’ve thought of our health only in terms of the physical. Our body is what’s important. You can see the thinking behind this idea, but there’s little wonder that it has been shown to be too limiting. There’s been an explosion in mental health conditions in recent years, and indeed, the problem is only projected to get worse. As such, it’s important that we’re taking the time to ensure we’re in a good mental space. You can do this by limiting the amount of stress in your life, and taking breaks when you feel overwhelmed. Meditation can also do wonders for your mental wellness, too.
Sleeping Well
It’s much harder to be at our healthy best if we’re tired. It might not feel like it, but you’ll be less likely to work out and prepare a healthy meal if you haven’t slept well. Long-term sleeping problems have also been associated with more serious health problems too. So if you’re not sleeping all that well, look at making some changes to your routine. If you improve your pre-sleeping routine to include less screen time and more relaxing activities such as reading and meditating, you’ll find that it’s much easier to reach the land of Nod.
Trips to the Doctor
It’s worth remembering that while you can influence your health in many ways, there are some areas in which you’ll need help. Take what’s happening under the hood, for instance. If you have an illness or genetic condition, then it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to manage your health and fitness all on your own. Take the time to find a doctor who knows what they’re talking about and that you trust, and work with them to find lifestyle adjustments that’ll push you in the right direction.
Setting Goals
Finally, look at setting goals for your health and fitness. It’s all too easy to get blown off course when life gets busy. Having a target will help to keep you on the right path, and will also cultivate discipline over time.
