"Passion positions excellence." -Cory Cotton

A few thoughts for the day,

I am currently listening to "GO BIG" by Cory Cotton on Audible and there is a point in this book that I would like to share. Although I am not far into the audio book, there is a very specific part that has resonated very deep within me. Cory Cotton, the twin of one of my biggest internet crushes (I LOVE COBY COTTON), a member of Dude Perfect (the YouTube gurus of trick shots) wrote in his book "Passion positions excellence". I couldn't agree more, I think passion makes someone with a basic talent the better player in any game. I also believe passion makes all the difference on the improvement of any player, team, person, or idea. Passion can be defined as many things, and I often time feel like people mistake passion for happiness. Although I don't think they are interchangeable, I do think they strongly correlate with one another.

My Take On Passion (Part One) 

If you talk to any of my friends, they will tell you that I can talk about passion for days. I talk about passion, like it's my passion. So here is one of my takes on a passion and some food for thoughts for you today.

With my gap semester a big goal of mine was to re-channel my passion. I don't think I have it all figured out yet, but I know I have a direction I want to walk in. It has always been a passion of mine to build teams and and strong senses of trust and connection. My thoughts of building my empire start here. I know that no real empire or empress would ever say they did it on her own, and I know for sure that I want to build something strong with a great foundation. So far, and throughout my history of work experience, which I know isnt much yet. I did notice quickly that the best environments and the strongest teams came from a great amount of passion. Leaders that were enthusiastic, and could tune themselves into the passion of those around them had the greatest teamwork and the greatest turn outs/outcomes. Take for instance a high school football team, look at the teams in the very top of their division. Yeah, some of these teams are at the very top because of players with extremely high talent, but I can almost always promise you that there is always a team up in the top rankings with players with average skills but the team has high passion. I know first hand that being and playing on a team where there are strong bonds, good ethics, and large amounts of passion can take ordinary players and make them into great teams. Using this knowledge, I know that as I move forward I ask myself, "Is this something I am passionate about, and how does this help me position excellence?" way more often. I have found that when the answer is yes, and I can see the vision of how the passion that is there sparks a fire, I am much more happy and push through even stronger.  

Until next time, 
Samantha S. Lee

Welcome to MY Empire - Introduction to Me

Samantha S. Lee

Thank you - Introduction

First of all, thank you for visiting my blog! I'm extremely new to the lyfe of blogging and documenting my journey but I hope you enjoy the crazy world that I live in. Just a little bit about myself, I currently a 20 year old that took the leap to the cream city for college and decided a little too late to take a gap semester... Can you even call it that anymore if I technically went to school right after high school? 

Well to give a little insight, I was/am a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. GO PANTHERS! Hoping to add to the Alma Mater that my Dad, Uncle, and plenty of cousins have been a part of. Although many of us were Lubar (Business) students we have a wide range of talents and skills. I am looking forward to adding to that when I go back to school this fall. I started as a Panther in the fall of 2014, all happy and excited for this new experience and much like many students, I had some ups and downs. I decided mid semester of Fall 2015 that it would be best to come home for spring semester and give myself a breather. It was probably one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. I know that in order to build an empire, a higher education will be important and will be a key to success of my goals. With that being said, I mustered up the courage, packed up my dorm room and came back home to work and give myself a little bit of a distressing. I am beyond excited to see what kind of endeavors I can experience while going about college non-traditional way. 

Aside from working in the hospitality industry and pursuing a degree I absolutely love traveling, learning about new and different cultures, and eating good food. I also have a passion for living vicariously through other people's instagrams and youtube videos. I hope to share with all of you this year's travels and good eats as I take on 2016 with a lot planned! Through Building An Empire: The Samantha Way, I hope everyone will learn a little more about me and see first hand at how my empire will take flight. 


Samantha S. Lee