Articles

Finding The Light In The Darkness (A Quick Ask…)

Giving. It’s what I do. I’m thankful to serve you.

The other week, I wrote an article about the 16th anniversary of Six Pixels of Separation (you can check it out right here: Happy Sweet 16, Six Pixels of Separation). 16 years. Almost 6000 articles. Over 690 episodes of the Six Pixels of Separation podcast. 480+ weekly link exchanges with Alistair Croll and Hugh McGuire. 6+ years of weekly appearances on CHOM 97.7 FM (I Heart Radio) every Monday am. 2 books (Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete). About 1000 speaking events all over the world. I could not be more thankful to everyone who reads, listens and follows everything that has happened here, at Six Pixels of Separation. What makes it all worthwhile is not just you, the individual, but the community that we are all a part of. This desire to make business (and our work) more interesting. This need to decode the future. It fuels me. I hope it fuels you.

I’ve made a ton of friends. We have built a great community.

I have seen people who started out their careers by reading the words here (or listening to the podcast), and now they have become true leaders. There is nothing more gratifying.

Today, I need your help. Today, I am asking you to help and to step up.

Back in 2010, my best friend called to let me know that his five year old daughter, Leah, had cancer… leukemia. My world collapsed. A few weeks prior she was at my kid’s birthday party, laughing, playing… perfect. Now… leukemia? It was – without a question – one of the hardest moments in my life… trying to understand, and take in what my best friend was telling me about his daughter… who I would treat as my own daughter, in terms of love and care. I went into a tailspin. Leah’s courage throughout this nightmare is what pulled everyone through – family and friends. If there were ever a definition for the word “survivor” it is Leah. After a lengthy and hard battle, she is – thankfully – in remission, and back home where she belongs: with her family and friends. Nine years later, and Leah leads a happy and healthy life, as she currently tackles high school as an awesome teenager.

She’s lucky, but many, many people are not this lucky.

An unacceptable percentage of children diagnosed with AML don’t make it. Sadly, a boy who went to school with my child passed away after two relapses at the age of five. I can’t fathom what this family has gone through. There are many stories. Many people trying to raise money. Like I said, it’s never easy to ask. But I am asking you. The year, I will once again be taking part in the Light The Night fundraising campaign. The walk will take place on Saturday, October 19th. Our team, Leah’s Helpers, has raised a lot of money over the years, and have been one of the most prolific teams in the history of the walk.

I am asking you to help me support this noble cause.

I do my best to put out lots of content every week. This isn’t about me raising money. It’s about our kids, the randomness and cruelty that is leukemia, and because none of us are safe.

Please help.

I set a goal of $5000 to raise from friends and family. I do realize that times are tough, and many of us are watching our wallets just a little bit closer than we usually have, but please consider giving something. If over the years, any of my content has struck a chord with you, made you smile, made you see your business world in a different way, I hope that you will consider this ask as the “tip jar” for my thoughts.

If you can find it in your heart to give, please do so right here: Light The Night Walk.

Now, it’s your turn. Please help out. Thank you.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.