Underdogs

I have always loved the movies. Why? Because the best ones tell stories that are universal. Those that transcend culture, gender, race, ethnicity – in short those that celebrate the indomitable human spirit. Showing my age, one of my favorite movies growing up was The Goonies. A ragtag bunch of misfit kids who band together to ward off tragedy (their friend selling their home and having to move away) by embarking on an unlikely and difficult journey to find One-Eyed Willie’s treasure overcoming criminal adults and mean-spirited popular kids.

Best part? Both the characters and the actors who played them were underdogs. And if you have had a chance to check out the PassionFruit™ website, you know I love an underdog. Even the names of the key Goonies showed their underdog status - Mouth, Chunk, and of course Data.

As a movie lover, I love the Oscars. While the Oscars is well deserving of a lot of criticism, I have to say some of the best moments celebrating underdogs and the human spirit were delivered this year. No one exemplified this better than Ke Huy Quan who won Best Supporting Actor. You may remember him as Data from The Goonies, a beloved but overly stereotypical character. Quan was typecast as so many Asian actors are but even with that, he was only cast in 6 movies between the 1985 hit and the darling of 2022 Everything Everywhere and All at Once. While his career path veered away from acting at times, in his heart he never gave up. He persevered because he knew at his core that he was an actor. Acting was his passion. In his incredible speech accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, Quan shared more of his journey from starting in a refugee camp to being celebrated for his talent and passion on Hollywood’s biggest stage.

So why am I talking about this in PassionFruit’s first blog/newsletter? Because many of us can find parallels to Quan’s journey in our own professional lives. Defeats, rejections, taking jobs we don’t love to pay the bills, toxic corporate cultures, being stereotyped and pigeonholed. Those moments provide opportunities to reveal what is most important to us in our professional journey. They can show us what our true “non-negotiables” are. Quan credits his agent (and fellow Goonie - Chunk) Jeff Cohen with helping him get to the Oscars stage, for helping him to never give up.

Whether PassionFruit™ is the right partner for you or not, I wish for each of you someone who helps you clarify your passion, strengths, and non-negotiables.