Hi there!
I’ve just come back from Southern Michigan, and I feel rested, rejuvenated, and newly creative…sort of like coming back from summer camp was when I was (much) younger.
The purpose of the trip was to attend a 3 day PeerSpectives facilitation training session at the Edward Lowe Foundation in Cassopolis, Michigan, which is 30 miles northeast of South Bend, Indiana. I grew up in the midwest, so it was literally like going home again, but in a good way. I even got to fit in a short visit to Notre Dame University, which alone was worth the trip!
Edward Lowe was the extraordinarily successful entrepreneur who “discovered” kitty litter. Actually, he discovered how to develop a patentable process, package the resulting product, and market it, which
is pretty much the same thing I suppose. From these humble beginnings he built a large empire, first calling the product “Kitty Litter” and then eventually coining the name “Tidy Cat”. I feel a certain affinity for Edward Lowe as we were both born in St. Paul, Minnesota and I’m certainly in awe of his accomplishments.
During his lifetime Ed Lowe accumulated 2500 acres outside of Cassopolis by buying up neighboring farms as they came on the market. They called the property “Big Rock Valley”. Eventually he and his wife Darlene, who had expertise in architecture and design, restored the old 1880 era farmhouses, remodeled many of the barns and outbuildings, and created a wonderful ambience for living and working. He must have employed many of the area’s tradespeople. In 1995, upon Ed’s death, the property, along with a significant bequest, went to Ed’s charitable foundation, the Edward Lowe Foundation, whose mission is to “Champion the Entrepreneurial Spirit”. PeerSpectives is one of their signature programs. You can read more about the foundation and their mission on their website.
This was like going to the best summer camp you could imagine. There were 8 of us from across the country in our training class. I shared a 3 bedroom beautifully restored farmhouse with a terrific roommate, a businesswoman from New York whose perspective on the process was just different enough from mine to really help my thinking. Being in the wonderful old house was just like stepping back into another time. What a great place for creative thinking!
Classes ran from 9 am to 9 pm, but that was the only thing we had to worry about. No cooking, no restaurants, no driving. Our little house had breakfast provisions, and we ate lunch and dinner as a group in the conference center, which was setup to look like a town from the old west. It was such fun, that we hardly noticed how hard we were working.
I suppose I should get to the point of this post, which is creativity. You’ll all remember (if you don’t, check out the Welcome page) that I started this blog to talk about what I call the “6 C’s of Business Success”:
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- Courage
- Creativity
- Conviction
- Commitment
- Compassion
- Character
I believe that creativity is hugely important to being successful with anything that we do in life, but particularly in business. Without creativity, it’s difficult to create new value in the world, which is what a truly successful business is all about. This trip to Big Rock Valley surprised me. I expected to learn a lot and come back ready to accomplish some new things, but I did not realize how much just being in a new place that was so different from my day to day world would spark my creativity and rejuvenate my spirit.
So maybe you should all “go to camp” this summer, at least for a few days. You’ll benefit, your family will benefit, and so will your business. Where else do you get that kind of return on investment? Yes, I am telling you to take a vacation!
In addition to their training sessions, The Edward Lowe Foundation offers leadership retreats to PeerSpectives participants as well as to the leadership of organizations who support second stage entrepreneurs. They have some other programs as well, which I’ll tell you about at a later time. It’s a pretty amazing place with talented staff who are exceptionally committed to what they’re doing, fulfilling Edward Lowe’s vision of building economic growth in America through supporting her entrepreneurs.
I’ll follow-up this post with more details in a day or so, but for now I’ll leave you with this, from the building which was Ed Lowe’s office:
My sentiments exactly!
Take care,
JoAnne
photo credits: my iPhone.
