Thank you
By Jesse Lee Eller | Chief Executive Officer
This time of year often calls upon us to reflect and process on what the past 12 months brought us. For me, 2021 was a year of smiles and tears, successes and losses. This year I lost the most important man in my life—my father, John Eller (Papa). In closing out this year, I’d like to share with you the leadership and life lessons I learned from my Papa, and how they have not only shaped the entrepreneur I am, but have also guided me in how I have built Studio 5.
I invite you to join me through the 3 lessons learned, and reflect on the lessons you’ve learned in your life and how they show up each and every day.
Lesson #1: Embrace the chaos. Learning and life are messy.
“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
I cannot imagine a better quote to define the family that raised me, the family of Studio 5, and the incredible Thought Partners we get to work with every day.
I was truly blessed with an amazing, supportive family. Papa and my mom, Donna Lee, raised my brother and I to be independent thinkers, to be creative and bold in the risks we took. They taught us kids the importance of being polite and always saying, “thank you.” Growing up, they called me “Jesse Rotten”—apparently I thought highly of myself and felt I could debate my way out of any situation, or convince my older brother to join me on adventures we would later get in trouble for. Growing up on a ranch in rural California gave us the landscape to dream, build, and play.
One year for Christmas, I vividly remember my parents getting my brother and I the ultimate gift we had wanted all year: the (now old school & vintage) “Cowboys & Indians” toy set. You might recall the miniature plastic figurines of cowboys, gunslingers, horses, and Native Americans. That year we were given the mega set: thousands of plastic figurines, complete with a stagecoach. My brother and I would create scenarios and spend an entire rainy day setting up our battles—thousands of plastic toys flung all throughout the house. It was complete chaos, and a mess I'm sure my mom doesn’t miss; yet during these times my parents embraced the chaos, encouraging us to use our imaginations, to be in the moment as long as we could, and to let our creativity run strong and our imaginations be at peak performance.
My Papa was the person who taught my brother and I how to dream big, to take risks, and to immerse ourselves into parts of life that illuminated us. He taught us that life, like learning, is messy.
That part of my childhood and development was so vital to the entrepreneur I am today, and the passion I have for the learning process. Our job as architects of learning design is to create those moments that excite us, that calls on our creativity, and invites us to embrace the chaos of learning. It's knowing that learning can be a messy process, and at the same time from the mess, something beautiful and impactful often emerges.
When was the last time you embraced the chaos of learning? What was the outcome?
Lesson #2: Value your inner circle & grow it.
Building a company from the ground up is no easy task—it takes a great deal of patience, commitment, vision, and the sheer desire to not have an option to fail. Piece-by-piece, brick-by-brick, my Papa helped build the very first brick and mortar of Studio 5.
He had a successful career in launching his own construction firm, so it was not only helpful, it was literally the lane he slayed in. To not have asked to help with any type of construction would have been offensive. He was masterful in his craftsmanship. Every home I lived in growing up, he built with his own hands. He taught me the importance of valuing your people: your inner circle.
Valuing your inner circle is about welcoming the time, talent, or treasures from others in order for something to come to life. No entrepreneur has ever been successful in building a business without their people, their mentors, their inner circle to help support the vision. When Studio 5 launched, I was the only employee. Now, 8 years later, we are a team of nearly 30 full-time and contract employees from all across the country. And every hiring decision I have made since the beginning has been about adding the right people to my inner circle, nurturing the talents and perspectives of these individuals, and investing in those relationships along the way. It’s about appreciating people and the short time we have on earth; making every moment count.
Who are the people in your inner circle? What time, talent and treasures do they provide; what do you provide them?
Lesson #3: Move your feet. Stagnancy ≠ growth
In the final weeks of Papa’s life, we took one last family trip to his favorite place on earth: Alaska. If you have not yet been, I encourage you to put it on your travel bucket-list. Each day of the trip, when my Papa was well enough, our family would go fishing on the river. From an outside perspective, one would think that fishing looked simple—stand in one spot and keep casting a line out. In reality, the motion of your feet while fishing in a river is just as important as the motion of your line and rod.
I’ll never forget one morning while casting my line out into the river, after not getting even a nibble from a fish in over an hour. My Papa said to me, “Jesse, even in a rushing river, you can become stagnant. Reposition your feet, even just a little. It will give you a new perspective.” He reinforced for me on that chilly beautiful morning on the river that you cannot wait for the right time in life—you simply have to make it happen.
Often in life, it may feel easy to just keep doing the same ol’ thing. Copy and paste, rinse and repeat. However, we know from experience that stagnancy never yields growth—quite the opposite, in fact. At Studio 5, we get to work with some incredible Thought Partner’s who are trying to change the perspectives of and behaviors in their employees, so that they can show up each day to do the best work of their lives. To accomplish this, we work with our Thought Partners to help move their “feet”—help them reposition how they are approaching learning solutions, and gain a new perspective.
When was the last time you gained a new perspective? What factors led to the paradigm shift?
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Life is about the people we meet and the lessons we learn along the way. In the middle of all the chaos, growth, tears, and laughter, 2021 has brought an unstoppable, new energy to Studio 5. From launching our Collective to nearly doubling in full-time head count, this year was nothing short of electrifying. Studio 5 has been blessed, not only with a group of passionate and talented learning designers; we have also been fortunate to work with some of the most dynamic and visionary Thought Partners from around the world, as we helped them transform their teams' learning ecosystems.
Thank you for helping us build the Studio 5 we know today, and being a part of our journey, growth, and success. For getting messy with us, for seeing things differently, and believing that we have the ability to make people's lives better. I hope you are able to find some time over the next couple of weeks to reflect on this past year, and that your time is spent with those that bring you love and happiness.
Our gratitude never takes a holiday. We appreciate your support, and wish you and your family the very best in 2022.
In your corner and on your side,
