At Peace

The most at peace I’ve felt in recent memory was the other day. My good pal in the Reagan Fellow community, Marisa Burton, was kind enough to introduce me to a family member of hers. He works at Nissan, too, and has for many years. We both got up early before work and headed to a popular local coffee shop called Frothy Monkey. We were at the doors for the 6 a.m. opening.

(Photo courtesy of Frothy Monkey, Franklin, TN)

In typical mid-south fashion, the early morning was perfect. It was silent, even in downtown Franklin, and a perfect southern breeze cooled the warm, southern air. We chatted about careers, swapped stories and talked about our likes and goals. I got a crash course on what he does, some interesting stories from his functional group and some informal mentoring to help me find success in the field that I want to work in. It just so happens that, as an industry expert, he had a lot to share about the products, processes and people which make up the automotive industry. We talked cars, engineering, product planning and marketing for over an hour, sipping on coffee.

I would have taken a picture but decided that I wanted to spend more time living in the moment than documenting it. I’ll be getting up at 5 a.m. more mornings now. The peaceful weather and great coffee blend well with a good automotive talk.

Thanks, Dave, for your kind words of wisdom, encouragement and your eagerness to help a young professional find a way to shine in his dream job.