Why the Color Black?
I wear a lot of black. Maybe you’ve noticed all our gear is in black and it’s a major branding theme; it’s not a mistake. Don’t worry, this isn’t the next fashion blog. Other than speaking to several fashion groups in the past, I don’t claim to know much about the industry. We don’t even use black for the style. We use it for what it stands for and what it means to us. I think I’ve been asked enough times so I’ll share the highlights with you, too. This time “on the record”.
Black is the color of service. Little known fact about me, I volunteered to work stage-crew in a play in high school. You know what color we wore? Black. The same color as many wait staff and service-workers the world over. The great Terry Hawkins (no relation, believe it or not) told me this one. Do you know what I see my role as now? One of service, one of giving and one of contribution. I simply wouldn’t have a job if you weren’t gracious enough to listen, read and most importantly take action. And to some level I think service is part of all of our jobs or our lives, we can dress the part.
Black lets you focus on internal qualities. I’m not into fashion so you’ll have to bear with me here, but I’ve read that black takes the attention off of the superficial surroundings and redirects it to you at a deeper, personal level. I don’t want our gear to be the flashiest or the most bedazzled. We don’t need to stand out because we have the most vibrant clothes (nothing wrong with that if that’s your style). For me though, I want to be with you when we’re in front of each other -- on a stage, a Zoom call or a FaceTime video. If I can take external distractions and superficial connections out of the way of a deeper connection, I for one, will always do it.
Black represents every color. Black is the absorption of all colors. Technically not a color in and of itself, black is the presence of all colors in art. It’s the color representation of anything and everything coming together. The visible spectrum as one. Whole and complete. To me, it’s symbolic of the human creativity, ingenuity and determination that makes just about anything and everything possible in our businesses, communities and lives. It just takes some work (and of course the #NoMatterWhat framework ;) to do it. And yes, I know that in physics, black is the absence of color. If you want to go that direction, we could say that nothing is predetermined and the future is absent of anything until you create it.
All the #NoMatterWhat gear will continue to come in black. It’s for these same reasons. I feel a little like Henry Ford in 1909 when he was talking about the Model T. He said you can have “any color so long as it is black”. And just like Henry Ford was trying to simplify his production, focusing our gear on black is not only meaningful to us, it eliminates waste and simplifies things at that same time. I invite you to join me in wearing black, sometimes at least, with some new #NoMatterWhat gear!
Black, like every other color, can have both positive and negative associations. Some may think of the elegance of wearing black to a party, for example, while at the same time darkness, despair and even mourning can be symbolized by wearing black. I’ve been to each of those places. I’ve been through rock bottom, the dark night of the soul and I’m sure that I’ll be there again someday over my lifetime. I’m profoundly grateful to have come out the other side. And if you’ve been to some of those places I’m sure you are, too. Those times are incredibly hard and incredibly challenging. But hugely important as they are the opportunity (not the promise) to give up who you have been for the opportunity of who you can be. And if that’s not inspiring, I don’t know what is!
This isn’t every reason or as deep as the rabbit hole goes about some of these things, but it’s a taste. By the way, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for color, rainbows and sparkles. I love seeing the colors of spring come out and the vibrant colors of many celebrations. You might even see me in color from time to time. I do like it. But most likely when you see me I will still be wearing simple black. Now you know exactly why.