Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.         – Vince Lombardi

Give

Spring is here—well these days it feels more like summer—but it feels safe to say winter is behind us. With warm weather comes warm weather sports, and this season as part of my fulfillment of the program’s “Give” component I became a coach for a Detroit PAL under-six soccer team with two of my dear friends and co-fellows.

I’ve never played soccer outside gym class, and as an only child growing up my interaction with children has been fairly limited. One might wonder why I signed up to coach children’s soccer, and I will admit at times I was one of them, but as our season is nearing an end, I look back on this experience as one of the most fulfilling activities I’ve participated in all year, and one that has helped me grow personally more than anything I’ve done in a while.

Last week our little team Thunder scored 5 goals, shutting out our opponents. Now, this is under-six soccer so technically we don’t keep score, but our kids really stepped up and held it together for all seven-minute quarters of playtime (in the past they’ve been known to lose interest somewhere during the second half in favor of chasing each other and picking dandelions). But this week, we could actually see the results of our practice drills, throwing the ball into the game, stopping when it goes out of bounds, kicking and passing in the direction of the goal. It was truly something amazing to see, that our time spent teaching these adorable but often rambunctious children actually impacted them, beyond just entertainment for several hours a week but truly impacted their cognitive abilities.

Work

May is a particularly busy month in legal marketing, at least at our firm. We seem to have twice as many events, countless artwork due, and a huge annual trademark conference that entails very involved planning. Although at times busy and hectic, I really enjoy the fast-paced work environment and have gotten into a comfortable groove on the tail end of the learning curve. I’ve discussed this with other fellows as well and it seems like just that time of year where we’ve been in our positions long enough to have a good understanding of what we’re doing and have the ability to take initiative.

Coming in with little hands-on marketing experience, I’m very thankful for the skills I’ve learned over the past eight months with my host company. From coordinating small to large scale (150+ attendee) events, researching, testing and ordering promotional materials, to learning the adobe suite and creating advertising collateral, I’ve gained valuable skills I can utilize in any position.

Moreover, I’ve recently been able to leverage skills I learned at work in a meaningful way to give back. I’ve jointed two committees: the Detroit Young Professionals committee as their press contact to manage press releases for events and a press contact strategy for redistribution, as well as Alternatives for Girls’ Marketing and Fund Development committee.

20+ local establishments

Play

I could not think of a more exciting time to be living in Detroit. It feels like there are new bars and restaurants popping up weekly, from the Peterboro opening in what was once Chinatown just several blocks from my house, to Katoi, a trendy Thai-inspired compact restaurant in Corktown, to Grey Ghost, a meat-centric restaurant concept created by Chicago-chefs turned onto the Detroit scene opening up this summer in my building.

But aside from all the new “foodie” type places opening up, there’s plenty of local favorites that never tire being rediscovered. New restaurants are fun and exciting but sometimes you want to grab a quick breakfast at Detroit Institute of Bagels with your co-coaches before a Saturday game, or a relaxing happy hour on the patio at Northern Lights Lounge after a long and mentally taxing Friday working on a Challenge project, some weekends after a long night visiting old friends at Third Street you just want to grab some breakfast at Eastern Market at old favorites like Zef’s Coney Island or Louie’s Ham and Corned Beef, and of course, a personal favorite in our household is takeout from Detroit Coney One after one of those impossibly long and stressful days where the only thing left to send you over the edge is dealing with cooking and dishes. Brunch doesn’t always have to be a production at Honest John’s; or my personal favorite to grab a coffee and get some work done on a Saturday is Great Lakes Coffee because it’s a place I can easily walk to. Happy hour at the Block with $3 drinks and $3 appetizers is another favorite end to the week. These are the neighborhood staples, core anchors that can be repeated regularly for good food, drinks, reasonable prices and consistent service.

And of course, there are other neighborhood favorites that have yet to be discovered. For example checking out a restaurant like Mi Puebla for the first time in Southwest. Our recent Challenge projects have also opened the opportunity to try local restaurants for lunch in neighborhoods I’d not yet explored, such as Amar’s Pizza in Hamtramck and Raven’s Lounge on Chene street.

And one of my favorite memories, was rediscovering the shops and restaurants in my own neighborhood, because believe it or not it’s changing everyday. About a month ago, on one of the first, real, nice-weather days, with not much to do I decided with my good friend and co-fellow to walk around Midtown with no particular destination. We discovered new, old, and everywhere in between destinations exploring cute shops like Flo’s Boutique, Tulani Rose, and Thrift on the Ave, as well as stumbling into OPTIK Detroit popup, a Birmingham eye-wear shop testing a month long popup on Cass, and finally ending for drinks and tapas at La Feria. Plenty of these shops had always been around in my own backyard since I moved in a year ago but I was finally discovering many of them for the first time with the weather being nice enough to walk around and explore.

Lead

Our last leadership Friday happened to fall during the incoming fellow interview trip. Being back at the Fort Shelby Double Tree was deja vu in the best way. I had forgotten how much promise, hope, inspiration and excitement filled the room during our interview trip just one year ago. It was during this trip that I met one of my closest friends today, the very first person I spoke to actually. To be more accurate, the very first person who spoke to me, as I frantically looked over my interview materials with my venti Starbucks latte (go ahead, you can say it, “basic.” But see back then I was too far removed to know what that meant, nor did I have snapchat, now I have working knowledge of both thanks to my young-twenty-something friends. If that’s not progress in a year I don’t know what is).

Nervous about the interviews, nervous about making friends and competing against over 90 of the best and brightest from around the country, I wasn’t expecting to make friends. But Clare plopped down right across from me and instantly I knew we would get along. She made me feel comfortable, as anyone who knows her knows she has the talent and tendency to do, and somehow a little less nervous about the days events. I remember being very surprised how everyone on the trip, regardless of the fact there was 90 of us competing for 30 spots, was genuinely friendly, collegiate and interested in getting to know one another.

It became clear to me quickly that this year, all of that rang true once again. Whether it’s thanks to our program directors for curating such an incredible interview trip or the carefully selected individuals that make the experience amazing, it is truly a unique experience whether candidates actually end up becoming a fellow or not. Another friend I met on the trip ended up working for a local non profit which I now volunteer for and still continue to stay in touch with irrespective of our separate paths.

What made this year different of course, was we were no longer candidates competing for the few select spots, we were leaders. Now we were answering the questions about our host companies, our various moves whether relocating from across the country or moving back home after college; questions about the program and Challenges. We were also facilitating the project teams and coordinating the design thinking exercises. It was exciting, fulfilling and simultaneously bittersweet passing along this knowledge and experience to our successors.

Live

As noted above, Detroit and my neighborhood in particular are changing every day. For the most part, these changes are exciting. New development, new investment, more housing opportunities, job creation, and expanded entertainment options all go a long way to improving the quality of life in Detroit.

For proof on just how fast my neighborhood is changing, this video shows a building directly next to mine, that started as two empty lots when I moved in just one year ago. Today, it’s a massive structure that will soon be a high end condo building with outdoor pool and top class facilities.

Every day it feels like there are announcements of new investments such as this $65mm investment in Brush Park for the aforementioned building, or this $7mm redevelopmentof an iconic Detroit mansion on Peterboro, less than one block from the homeless shelter we worked with earlier in the year. Olympia Entertainment’s District Detroit development is projected to bring $1.2 billion in total investment by 2020.

But at the same time organizations like the City of Detroit and Detroit Collaborative Design Center are hosting community meetings for these surrounding neighborhoods like Brush Park, Brewster Homes and Eastern Market, to obtain feedback on the urban planning process in an effort to obtain federal funding for development planned by the community and designed based their needs and voices. Organizations like Olympia Entertainment and Bedrock also employ full time community engagement partners who’s core function is to coordinate development with its surrounding communities.

And while there is a lot of maret rate housing development and investment, at the same time organizations like the Roxbury Group are committed to keeping certain spaces affordable senior housing right in the middle of Detroit’s urban core. Other developers, such as The Platform LLC (owners of the well-known Fisher and Albert Kahn buildings), are also catching on to the need for investment in underserved areas, and have announced plans to do just that.

And beyond the more well-known, well-publicized, Downtown, Midtown, Corktown corridors, we’re also starting to see investment reach Detroit’s neighborhoods, such as this developer’s $5mm project along Detroit’s iconic Avenue of Fashion.

As a resident, I’m excited and thrilled to see growth in any and every area of the city. As a realist I also understand the struggles and challenges some of these changes may pose for a significant portion of Detroit’s population. But the eternal optimist in me wants to believe that the advocates for change and claims of injustice are being heard. And like the very first blooms of chrysanthemums peaking their heads out on the first few days of Spring, perhaps these are just a few signs and the beginning of more to come, of inclusive, diverse development and investment serving Detroit at all economic levels and demographics.