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| Connor Franta, 'A Work In Progress' |
In this intimate memoir of life beyond the camera, Connor Franta shares the lessons he has learned on his journey from small-town boy to Internet sensation—so far. Here, Connor offers a look at his Midwestern upbringing as one of four children in the home and one of five in the classroom; his struggles with identity, body image, and sexuality in his teen years; and his decision to finally pursue his creative and artistic passions in his early twenties, setting up his thrilling career as a YouTube personality, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and tastemaker.
Exploring his past with insight and humor, his present with humility, and his future with hope, Connor reveals his private struggles while providing heartfelt words of wisdom for young adults.
His words will resonate with anyone coming of age in the digital era, but at the core is a timeless message for people of all ages: don’t be afraid to be yourself and to go after what you truly want.
This full-color collection includes photography and childhood clippings provided by Connor and is a must-have for anyone inspired by his journey.
CF, an American YouTube vlogger, writer and entrepreneur.
Inspired by other YouTube vloggers such as Shane Dawson and Mitchell Davis, Franta uploaded his first video to YouTube in August 2010.
He has more than 250 million views on his channel and over 4.7 million subscribers, making it the 145th most subscribed channel in the world. In 2014, Franta was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in the "Web Star: Male" category. Now, Let' have an open conversation w/ CF . . .
Warning!, This Video May Offend You. It's as simple as that.
Other Projects: Franta has recently become involved in various entrepreneurial enterprises, including a clothing line, music curation, as well as a coffee and lifestyle brand named Common Culture. It's true —"Anyone can have a voice on the internet."
GRIT; Humanity’s Great Equalizer
Sadly, we live in a world that equates uber success with the “it” factor – having Mensa sized intelligence, virtuoso talent, or incredible wealth. But, in fact, research has shown that only 2% of born prodigies ever amount to anything in life. Yet 98% of the world’s most successful people possess, not the “it” factor, but the “grit” factor – guts, resilience, initiative and tenacity. Case in point, Colin Powell was a C- student all through college, Michael Jordan couldn’t make his high school varsity basketball team, and Steven Spielberg was rejected from film school – twice! What propelled them to extraordinary success was a winning combo of determination and perseverance to achieve their goals, no matter how lofty, no matter how far reaching. And the best thing about possessing the “grit” factor, we have found, is that anyone can develop it, whether you’re eight or eighty eight.– 98% of the world’s most successful people possess, not the “it” factor, but the “grit” factor. GRIT: 'The Four Letter Word'
In Grit to Great, Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval tackle a topic that is close to their hearts, one that they feel is the real secret to their own success in their careers--and in the careers of so many people they know and have met. And that is the incredible power of grit, perseverance, perspiration, determination, and sheer stick-to-it-tiveness.We are all dazzled by the notion that there are some people who get ahead, who reach the corner office because they are simply gifted, or well-connected, or both. But research shows that we far overvalue talent and intellectual ability in our culture.
The fact is, so many people get ahead--even the gifted ones--because they worked incredibly hard, put in the thousands of hours of practice and extra sweat equity, and made their own luck. And Linda and Robin should know--they are two girls from the Bronx who had no special advantages or privileges and rose up through their own hard work and relentless drive to succeed to the top of their highly competitive profession.
In a book illustrated with a cornucopia of stories and the latest research on success, the authors reveal the strategies that helped them, and countless others, succeed at the highest levels in their careers and professions, and in their personal lives. They talk about the guts--the courage--necessary to take on tough challenges and not give up at the first sign of difficulty. They discuss the essential quality of resiliency. Everyone suffers setbacks in their careers and in life. The key, however, is to pick yourself up and bounce back. Drawing on the latest research in positive psychology, they discuss why optimists do better in school, work, and on the playing field--and how to reset that optimistic set point. They talk about industriousness, the notion that Malcolm Gladwell popularized with the 10,000-hour rule in his book Outliers. Creativity theorist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi believes it takes a minimum of 10 years for one's true creative potential to be realized. And the authors explore the concept of tenacity--the quality that allows us to remain focused and avoid distraction in order to get the job done--an increasingly difficult task in today's fragmented, cluttered, high-tech, connected world.
Written in the same short, concise format as The Power of Nice and leavened with the natural humor that characterizes Linda's and Robin's lives--and books--Grit to Great is destined to be the book everyone in business needs.
“You don’t need to be brilliant or incredibly talented to become hugely successful. But what you do need is to read this book. Grit to Great teaches us all how to develop our grit quotient so almost any goal is possible.” –James Patterson, bestselling author, former CEO of J. Walter Thompson
“An insightful guide to achieving success in work and life, filled with real-life stories, tools and techniques that can help us all live with more passion, perseverance and resilience.” – Arianna Huffington
Grit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion, and Pluck Take You from Ordinary to Extraordinary by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval .
About the Authors
Linda Kaplan Thaler is responsible for some of America’s most famous, relevant and touching advertising campaigns in the industry, including the Aflac duck quack heard round the world and the daring “Yes, Yes, Yes” for Clairol Herbal Essences. Much of her work has become part of the American pop-culture landscape. She has authored and composed jingles that are among the industry’s gold standard, including “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us Kid,” and “Kodak Moments.” Of her 13 Clio Awards, two were for Best Original Music and Lyrics.
Koval, Robin - American Legacy Foundation
Robin Koval leads Legacy®, the nation’s largest public health foundation devoted to the issue of tobacco use prevention and cessation. As a leader in the world of advertising and marketing for more than 25 years, her impressive background pairs up perfectly with the foundation’s public education mandate, particularly in relation to its innovative youth tobacco prevention counter-marketing campaign truth®and the evolution of the program for a new generation of youth and the complexities of today’s communication landscape. Committed to public service.
On August 4, 2015, the White House hosted a Demo Day: showcased a wide-ranging talents of innovators from across the country. Unlike a private-sector Demo Day, where entrepreneurs “pitch” their ideas to funders, innovators from around the country joined the POTUS to “demo” their individual success stories, a display of need to give every American the opportunity to pursue their bold, game-changing ideas. Demo Day’s activity was not to be limited to events in Washington, DC.
The POTUS encourages entrepreneurs, innovation spaces, universities, and more to host their own Demo Day events and follow along live and engage in conversations about how we can ensure that everyone has access to the tools and resources they need to make their ideas a reality.
Meet the first ever White House exhibiting entrepreneurs and learn more about their innovations.
Poboycorp!
Social entrepreneurship begins with a noble cause, which turns into a passion, and soon becomes a mission worth dedicating your life to.—
The #business of society:http://t.co/PqKmeod94n One of the many beauties of social #entrepreneurship is that it’s never too late to start.
— Po'boycorp (@poboycorp) August 11, 2015
An Online Network Presentation/Publications:
“When you look at people who are dreamers, they rarely put in the effort to wake up, stop dreaming and put in the work every day.”— LKT: The worst risk you can take is no risk at all. Be Disruptive!
