Believe in Empathy.
And Strengthen Resilience Towards Your Purpose.
My team and I came up with a new product that we’re excited to share with you. I’m extremely proud of it and of our team for bringing it to life.
The Inspiration
When we held some of our first creative meetings, I told the team that I wanted it to feel like the scene with Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. The one where Richard Gear snaps her fingers in the Tiffany box. But you wouldn’t believe what it took to get this here to you just in time for Mental Health Awareness Month.
There is a famous quote from Steve Jobs. It goes, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” The word “crazy” wouldn’t be the most empathetic choice today. But, as an entrepreneur or activist, we sometimes need this suspension of logic to keep going.
Overcoming Challenges with Empathy
Over the last year, I faced business headwinds that I thought I’d left behind in 2020. I’ve had to take a long look at my ego and ask myself, “Am I committed to spreading empathy?” or “Am I addicted to the image of being an empathetic leader?”.
I found an honest answer and a self-aware response, “both can be true for me”.
I noticed that I and other empathetic leaders like me are willing to own the bad. It helps us as we work to amplify the good.
It’s from that place that I decided that though I may be back to the scrappy days of growing this empathy movement. Even if I may need to treat the Actually Curious Cards as though we were starting from zero. I have to keep going.
Remembering the “Why”
This purpose is exactly what our world needs now. The world is marked by heightened division. It is also marked by a collective quest for well-being and resilience. The willingness to be crazy enough to pursue this purpose is key.
We have to change this world we live in. Individually and collectively.
I’ve faced challenges keeping the growth I found in 2021 and 2022. But, we’re further along than we imagined in 2019 and 2020.
Being Willing to Lower Your Ego
In Q1 of 2024, we cut our cost to the barest minimum, and we took a hard look at what was working best.
Our Actually Curious conversation game was continuing to find new audiences. And when it does, consumers tend to buy two or more of our editions.
We found that when people buy from us online. They often do it because they are searching for our brand Actually Curious.
We were grateful for the fact that our first two decks are our highest selling. They are used by people around the world in homes, offices, workshops, and even events!
We decided to take the feedback from some of our larger retail partners. We will move forward with presenting Actually Curious in a larger package. It will help it stand out in cluttered spaces.
Betting on My Purpose
We all know that inventory is one of the highest costs for consumer product businesses.
Curiosity Lab faced the simultaneous issues of depleted inventory and cash flow challenges.
I was faced with a couple of choices.
One option was to wait for an infusion of capital from investors or other lines of business. But, this would allow the brand potential that the brand might run out of inventory.
From careful reflection, emerged a solution. Even though Actually Curious helped me to become debt-free for the first time since I entered college. I can use debt to finance new inventory and a new product. It might be the way to infuse the brand and mission with new belief and excitement.
I felt such pride being able to tout that I was debt-free. Today I’m aware that debt well managed, is not inherently bad.
Reassessing and Manifesting Abundance
I can do good in the world using my superpowers. It gives me freedom and purpose. It has unlocked more wealth, both emotional and actual, than my life before this awakening.
There is no turning back. Fuck the shame that debt might bring. Fuck the fear that keeps me and many of us locked in scarcity.
Fuck the belief that those that mean to divide us from each other, and ourselves, have won.
This gesture, small as it may be, is a stand for belief in empathy. I hope that you’ll remain among the crazy ones with me.
About Michael Tennant
Michael Tennant, CEO of Curiosity Lab is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker, brand strategist, and author of The Power of Empathy available now at Target, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and book and audio booksellers everywhere. He’s also the creator of Actually Curious™ the empathy conversation game, Values Exercise™, and the Five Phases of Empathy™.
Connect with me on LinkedIn / Instagram / TikTok, Thank you.
