The Answer is in the Cards
Do you collect sports cards these days? Or, did you as a kid? I was the keynote speaker at the Topps Industry Conference (just acquired by Fanatics) this past Monday, an industry event by one of the few companies that actually makes the cards. And if you didn’t know, business is booming for the hobby world! Card values are through the roof and it had me digging into old boxes from when I was a kid to see if I saved anything good.
No such luck… But as part of my keynote process – I had the opportunity to interview and get to know many across the industry. I can’t say enough about every person I met and how helpful they were. And it turns out I found something in those conversations even more powerful than a million dollar card.
Michael Fruitman owns Mike’s Stadium Sports Cards – and he’s a legend in the hobby world. Lucky me, his store happens to be just a 20 minute drive from where I live in Denver, CO. When I arrived, Mike’s store was packed! Between collectors (customers in the hobby world) he was answering my questions about how he got into the industry…
He told me about when he was a kid – back when the Atari 2600 was a thing – he was at a party where they gave him a gift bag with a piece of bubble gum and a Pete Rose baseball card. It was a rush! The rush, passion and inspiration in that moment would end up becoming such a big part of his life every single day after that it became the driving force behind why he ended up opening a store. The passion was so present in Mike, I found myself buying a pack of cards just to be part of it!
If you don’t know already, passion is contagious. If it lights you up it will quite naturally light up those around you, as well. And it’s this passion that I saw in Mike and across the hobby world that’s more valuable than any individual card. That passion they have can never be taken away from them. You could even say, they have it #NoMatterWhat. And it’s that passion that keeps the hobby industry flowing and each of them going through good times and bad.
Now, we’re all not lucky enough to be living out our childhood dreams of collecting cards for a living. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have passion for what it is you’re doing or maybe why you’re doing it to begin with. It might just take some uncovering to discover it. If you need help, my new book, Hunting Discomfort, which, lucky enough, is now available for pre-order, goes deep into getting out of the way, what might be in the way of the passion you’ve always had. And once you have it, you can unleash it on the world without worry that you’ll ever lose it again. Just like Mike.
It was George Hegel, German Philosopher, who said “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” I don’t know what it is about these German philosophers, but they’re on to something. Whether it’s something in the world – or something in your world – that passion will undoubtedly lead to something great being in it. For Mike, it’s the kid that came into his store while I was there that he hooked up with free cards that will now be a fan for life. For you, it’s…
