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THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ADVENTURE

In a week when the big media stories have been about disasters involving an oil spill off Louisiana, immigrant legislation in Arizona and bomb plots in Times Square, my “story of the week” was quite different. It was written in a San Francisco newspaper on April 29th, 1852. The story is a tale of a business adventure under the headline “San Francisco Girls Receive San Diego Cats.”

I believe that entrepreneurial opportunities are all around us and that they only need an adventuresome spirit to unlock them. I also believe that we now have several generations of Americans who don’t realize that. We have legions of people from college students to retirement ready folks who simply are not attuned to thinking like entrepreneurs even though in reality they should.

Let’s get back to that favorite story of mine from 1852. “It was reported that “Terrance “Phatty” Boden brought in a wagonload of cats the other night and cleared 50 dollars in profit by selling them to lonely dance-hall girls. Phatty says that he conceived the idea when he noticed the loneliness of the dance-hall girls when he was here (San Francisco) before as a stage driver. Upon his return to San Diego, Phatty resigned his job and bought a spring wagon and six mules to do some “shotgun freightin.” He offered two boys two bits (25 cents) apiece for all the cats they could find and he left with 250 or more cats—practically the entire cat population of San Diego. Setting up shop below Auggie’s Saloon, Phatty sold his cats for prices ranging from two to three dollars depending on their size.”

The story is a simple classic demonstrating the magic combination of perceiving an opportunity, figuring a way to fill a need or interest and assuming a bit of a risk. I doubt that Mr. Boden had ever heard the word entrepreneur or that he had an extensive education but he certainly knew how to act on a hunch based on something he’d seen. In the California of 1852 just about everyone had the ability to succeed grandly or fail miserably without a lot of interference or support.

To put this into context, I should mention that the California Gold Rush was in full frantic swing from 1848 through 1855 and was one of the great entrepreneurial adventures of the 19th century. As we have recently seen with the Wall Street meltdown, unguided capitalism can attract some of the best and worst human behavior. When James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma it unleashed a torrent of 300,000 people of all ages and many nationalities coming to California. It was all about the perceived opportunity to get rich quickly from gold or from the other people who were seeking it.

The California that we now know began to emerge because the intense business activity surrounding the Gold Rush. San Francisco grew from a small settlement into a booming town. It was a period when other towns, churches, schools and roads were built up and down the state. The wild frontier was tamed by a system of laws and levels of government that lead to the admission of California as a free state within the union in 1850. During this period, names that we recognize today on street signs and public buildings such as Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins and Leland Stanford began to earn their reputations as “robber barons”. Some of them weren’t digging for gold, but they were selling the shovels and pick axes that the prospectors needed. These were hard driving and sometimes ruthless people who among other accomplishments built chunks of our railway system. I don’t agree with some of their most rapacious ways, but it took large doses of the can-do American spirit for them to push past almost unimaginable difficulties. Like Steve Jobs, Walt Disney and Bill Gates in the 20th century, they began as ambitious small business owners whose visions became very big. They were people who made things happen instead of waiting for things to develop. For example, if you wonder how Stanford University was born, thank Leland Stanford who founded Leland Stanford Junior University with the equivalent of $400 million (in 2005 dollars) as a tribute to his late son.

While Terrence “Phatty” Boden’s name is not on street signs, performance venues or a great university I love his story and his spirit nonetheless. Whether dealing in gold nuggets or feral cats, the essential lesson is the same. The young men and women of today could benefit from realizing that they have to take that kind of initiative to make thing happen and realize their ambitions, no matter how modest or grand. At some level, everybody is a business owner of at least one enterprise—yourself. If you see it as an adventure, not some fearsome and impossible journey, you’ll be following in the footsteps of people who helped make our country great. If we want a future of greatness, entrepreneurial adventurers will have to be an important part of it.

About the Author

Nelson Davis was born in Andalusia, Alabama (near Montgomery) and grew up in Niagara Falls, New York. From the age of fourteen on, his burning desire was to get into radio broadcasting. Nelson’s career began with a high school internship program and part-time announcing job at a local radio station. From Niagara Falls he moved to a larger station in Ottawa, Ontario, where he continued his formal education with business courses. In addition to disc jockey duties, he became a program director and host of various television shows.

Eleven years later found Nelson in Los Angeles with his hopes of becoming a game show host transformed into learning the production side of television. Freelancing as a discussions show host and producer, he produced and/or directed such diverse projects as a series for PBS, commercials for presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, and a film in Africa.

Mr. Davis joined the NBC TV Network in 1980 as Manager of Mini-series, eventually becoming Director of Daytime Programming. One of his early jobs at NBC TV was Censor for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Between NBC and starting his own production company in 1988, Mr. Davis was involved in many interesting projects as a producer. He was hired by Merv Griffin to produce the pilot episode of Jeopardy to bring it back to television; he was Executive Producer of Name That Tune for its rebirth in 1984; and he helped launch the Fashion Channel.

Mr. Davis began Nelson Davis Television Productions with the idea of bringing together special television programming with sponsors who wish to reach a niche audience. His first weekly series was “MAKING IT! Minority Success Stories”. The show has been on the air since March 1989 and has received over twenty-five awards and citations from all levels of government and business organizations, including two Emmys as Best Public Affairs series. “MAKING IT!” is broadcast in several California markets and is seen by satellite and cable viewers across the country.

In 1989, Nelson Davis TV Productions also created and co-produced Campus All-Star Challenge, a quiz series for historically black colleges. Sponsored by Honda and broadcast on BET for five years, the program has enabled cash grants of over $2.3 million to be awarded to participating schools. Nelson Davis TV Productions is also proud to have produced children’s specials built around oral storytelling, and Black History Notes, which celebrates Black History month.

Nelson is committed to combining his knowledge of television production and marketing to use TV as a medium to communicate positive messages and enable economic empowerment. Among community organizations, Nelson serves as: Los Angeles Area Vice President of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; Board of Advisors member for the National Association of Women Business Owners; Board of Directors member of the Pacific Coast Regional Small Business Development Corporation; Member of Santa Monica College Associates. Mr. Davis has also been active with Big Brothers.

RECENT AWARDS
Media Advocate of the Year Award- U.S. Small Business Administration
Supplier of the Year Award – Southern California Regional Purchasing Council
Entrepreneurial Dream Maker Award – Women’s Enterprise Development Corporation
Minority Advocate of the Year Award – U.S. Small Business Administration
Two Emmy Award winner – as Executive Producer of “MAKING IT!”
Entertainment Award – Los Angeles Mayor’s Minority Business Committee

How long does it generally take to get to an intermediate ballet level?

It’s possible that I might end up attending ASA (Arizona School for the Arts) next year and (because they are a preforming arts school) they have a ballet program.I love dance but, if I enter at an eight grade level, I can’t take beginner lessons because they require at least one year of previous lessons. If it’s possible, I want to take eighth grade music for that year and take private dance lessons. Hopefully, I will get at a high enough level to go straight to intermediate ballet the next year. Is it possible that, if I work hard enough, that I can do this?

your going to have to really work hard in class, because it really all depends on how much effort and commitment you put into it, i was able to go from beginner to second highest level at my studio in a year and a half,

only taking one ballet class a week will really hold you back, i would say at minimum take two, because the more time you have in a class they better you could get, but it also depends on the place you are taking ballet, as in how good their instruction is, also i depends on the ballet program you are wanting to get into, there may be a huge gap between beginner and intermediate, so if possible you could ask for a overview or requirements for the class so if you take private lessons that is what you and the teacher could work on

then at home you could be practicing too, stretching at least ever other day to gain flexibility, using a theraband to strengthen your ankles, doing a lot of releves

doing this will be really hard, but if you try extremely hard you could possibly do it,

Phoniex AZ Decho Kraev & Bree Watson Dance Professionals

Dancing Lessons Arizona