CREATE Endeavors in Living Well

There is an organization in my little town and big valley called Landing Well. It focuses on the welfare of neighbors helping neighbors, in the time when we are fortunate enough to be getting older. It seems to me that in order to land well, it is best to learn well and live well when we are young. Even when we have not, it is good to know there are people watching out for us as we come in for a landing. This week I had the opportunity to present my CREATE Daily products, services and endeavors to the Emergent Campus in Florence, Colorado. Brad Rowland, a veteran of the Tech and Digital industries, and Makenzie Ford have invested time, talent and treasure into growing the Entrepreneurship Mindset into the next generation, as well as those of us who still dream up ideas that will benefit our communities, our state and our nation.

Launching Well

From my perch in Westcliffe, I have been watching the Red-Tailed Hawk return to the Ponderosa Pines over Main Street. I watch as the training begins — from the hatching eggs in the nest to learning to fly. As school ends at Custer County High School and we start activities at Valley Park and Recreation, I wonder how emergent we can become? As a veteran of Media and Arts, I watch the curiosity of guitarists and singers, journalists and marketers, game designers and graphic artists as they walk by Music Mountain Instruments for Travel and Camping. Many take lessons from my wife Jill, and some take interest in my media studio. The main question on Main Street is: "Are we teaching our kids and grandkids to be thinking and acting through startups — and staying to solve the challenging puzzles through designing innovative products, services and endeavors at home, through our work and in community?"

Learning Well

I recently took the helm of "The Old Westcliffe Schoolhouse," and I am now the President of Valley Park and Recreation. The school is owned by Custer County School District and we have a 99-year lease which is not up until 2073 — 47 years from today. I asked, "How many entrepreneurs can we launch from the old Westcliffe Schoolhouse in the next 47 years?" Custer County Schools has a new lease on "launching well" into future generations. I will take on this stretch of road and pass it on in 2043. These are the orchards of good fruit. And for those of us who are in the "Landing Well" part of our lives, we can serve as mentors. Through my work as President with the Leadon Family Foundation University, Colorado Chapter, my mission is to CREATE Daily opportunities in the communities we serve — in recreation, education, arts and media, travel and transportation — and to raise up entrepreneurs to face the challenges in our economic, environmental and educational present and future, while changing the mindset of what employment means to the entrepreneurial: "I'm not looking for a job; I am doing the work that I am made to do!"

Landing Well

I met Tiffani Jones from Philadelphia today. She is a young media professional in a radio/podcasting producer position for Executive Leaders Radio, a national broadcaster with host Herb Cohen. They interview CEOs all over the greater Philadelphia area with the idea of challenging the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders. In 56 years as a media professional, I learned journalism, marketing and music from a Create Daily standpoint. The doors that have opened to me have been through Learning, Launching and Landing Well. And in the greatest law of living well in arts and science is the daily process of loving well.

My name is Richard Arnold Beattie. I am a leader at home, at work and in community. I am the President of the Colorado Chapter of the Leadon Family Foundation, an organization that brings entrepreneurship and innovative ideas to Colorado communities through TAG Teams (Think/Action/Groups), EAT Street (Entrepreneurial Answer Teams), and CREATE Café Presentations to clubs, schools and community centers near you. To find out more, email richardbeattie809@gmail.com.