GenJuice’s Top 100 Most Desirable Mentors list

GenJuice just released its list of Top 100 Most Desirable Mentors, and… through either a) divine intervention, b) a computer glitch, c) a case of mistaken identity or d) a perfectly aimed envelope containing about 300 Pesos, I somehow managed to find myself in 81st place, squeezed between President Obama and American Apparel CEO Dov Charney.

My initial reaction, as you can well imagine:

1. Wow.
2. What the hell is going on over at GenJuice? Have those kids lost their minds over there? Did the computer go crazy? What the…

… But as it turns out, the process was completely scientific (as in completely human) and 100% legit. How did GenJuice come up with the list? By asking their audience. So there you go. Don’t blame dimpled chads and glitchy polling booths for this one. From the brains at GenJuice:

Who do you look up to? What movers and shakers take your aspirations to new heights because of everything they achieved? GenJuice spoke with young adults around the world to find out the people they most admire.

Today’s young adults have access to so many research and communication tools and resources thanks to technology, but one thing remains certain: mentorship is an irreplaceable asset for personal and professional growth. This is precisely why GenJuice spoke with young adults and compiled our first Top 100 Most Desirable Mentors. You will find pioneers in policy, technology, entertainment, media, and more.

The result was GenJuice’s list of a 100 most desirable mentors, and through some strange twist of circumstance, my name came up. To get us started, let’s take a quick look at my favorite co-listers in the top 20:

Not a bad start, but it gets better:

… and hotter:

(Update: Congrats to Natalie for now being ‘Academy Award Winner Natalie Portman!’ Well deserved.)

… and now things start to get really interesting:

Unfortunately, the editors of GenJuice stopped posting profile photos outside of the Top 20, but let me list a few more names I plucked out from the back of the plane just now:

21 Chris Anderson (Curator of TED)

23 Steve Jobs (from, you know… Apple)

33 Nelson Mandela (not to be confused with Morgan Freeman, and vis-versa)

40 Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park)

53 Colin Powell (Former Secretary of State)

58 Jack Dorsey (Twitter)

65 Bill Clinton (you know… THE Bill Clinton)

67 Sanjay Gupta (CNN)

80 President Barack Obama

81 Me (owner of Chico the chihuahua)

85 Bono (U2)

94 Brian Solis (who kindly wrote my foreword)

96 Annie Leibovitz (who inspired me to be a photographer)

98 MC Hammer (who inspired me to wear parachute pants)

100 J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter author)

Wait a second… I’m on a list alongside Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela and Bono?!?!? (Not to mention the delicious Academy Award Winner Natalie Portman.)

Best day ever. Thanks, GenJuice!

PS: I think my consulting fees just went up at least $0.03 per day.

Cheers.

… Oh by the way, did I mention I have a book coming out just in time for my spring European tour? You can pre-order it now and everything. I know, crazy:

 

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I almost forgot a few quick shoutouts.

Also present at this weekend’s National Cycling Championships were a few of my favorite bloggers:

Below, Greenville’s very own James T:

And Andy Woolard at the Hincapie Sportswear party and fashion show (left of frame just a few feet behind George, probably posting to Twitter):

I’ll even throw in H3O – even though they aren’t bloggers. They are, however, a sports marketing/branding firm, so I guess they’re relevant here. AND they were EVERYWHERE filming my every move!!! (Or maybe I just got in their way a lot. Whatever floats my boat.):

And last but not least: BikeHugger‘s crew… which I didn’t shoot photos of because by the time I ran into them, a) the Canon was safely retired for the evening and b) my camera hand was busy holding a chilled glass of delicious yet suspiciously tangy… lemonade. Very cool group of folks. 🙂

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37

This day in 1971, I was forcibly removed from my mother’s womb by an unscrupulous “clope au bec” French OBGYN with a fetish for smelling dog’s feet and slapped on the ass by a jaded and prickly old nurse with a nasty ether habit. Or so the story goes.

Let’s take an inventory of the last 37 years, shall we?

Places where I’ve lived:
Paris, France
Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Brussels, Belgium
Madrid, Spain
Landrum, SC (USA)
Lorient, France
Bram, France
Cannes, France
Greenville, SC (USA)

Countries I’ve visited (in addition to the above, obviously):
UK, Luxemburg, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Bosnia, Monaco, Senegal, Egypt, Djibouti, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Bahamas, Mexico.

Jobs I’ve had (in no particular order):
Naval Officer, Photographer, Copywriter, Product Manager, Sandwich Artist, Professional student, Ranch Hand, Retail Monkey, Carpenter, door-to-door Salesman, Sales Manager, Brand Manager, Marketing Director, Marketing Consultant, Magazine Editor, blogger.

Time spent sleeping: 12 years, 4 months
Time spent working: 5 years
Time sitting in front of the TV: 5 years
Pounds of food consumed: 15,000
Liters (of various beverages) consumed: 28,000
Words written or typed: Somewhere north of 9,000,000.
Cars owned: 5
Bicycles owned: 14

Here’s to another year biting the dust.

photo: yours truly with the paternal grandparent unit. Paris, circa 1980.

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