David Niven, Ph.D.
“You have teenagers here looking for something worthwhile to do, and you have a space that you’d like to rent to generate some income. Forget about renting it. Let’s create a café ourselves,” Lacey told the group’s board. She proposed letting the teens be involved in every aspect of the operation, while she would use her years of small business experience to make sure it ran smoothly. With that, Lacey put together a group of teens who learned about the business by visiting other cafés and reading about the subject. The idea of teaching business skills to teens was so intriguing that the center was able to attract grant money to help pay start-up costs of the business. Soon, the Youth Entrepreneur Café, serving coffee and juice, was up and running. Lacey loves teaching the children about their options in life, that whether they pursue business or something else, “Life is a choice, as opposed to something that happens to them.” As for Lacey, when the mind and heart are focused on the same thing, “I can do anything. Watch me.”
When end-of-career managers discussed their relative success and moments of peak performance during their careers, more than half spoke in terms of the significance of personal fulfillment. Thornton, Privette, and Bundrick 1999
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