Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cassie Warren. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Cassie with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
When I was 17 my mother asked me if I could complete a chore that evening before I went to bed and I told her I would do it, no problem. She restated the question to me a second time “Are you sure you will be able to do it?” and I ensured her, “it will get done”. Also that evening I happened to be multitasking a couple of college assignments that were due the next morning. I loved procrastinating on assignments because I felt I worked better under pressure but this time I had underestimated how much time I needed to complete these assignments. I worked through the night and early the next morning I was still frantically working on my assignments when my mother asked me if I had accomplished her task. I gave her the explanation that “I did not have enough time” with extreme confidence that she would understand and forgive me. To my surprise, she looked at me with extreme disappointment, and in that moment, even though I thought her task was mundane to compared to mine, I realized to her it was much more important. Then she responded “If it was important enough to you, you would have made time”. Her statement has forever been a motivator in my life because I realized she was right; if you care enough about something, you will make it a priority.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am an investor and community leader via the non-profit, Northside Business Association, located in Northside Fort Worth. The most exciting thing about being involved in this area is being able to work along side such amazing community partners. Some of the best history of Fort Worth and Texas took place in Northside and so just walking the streets to see the unique early 1900’s architecture and talking with the diverse people it composes, is the coolest thing.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three areas that I am so happy to be knowledgeable in are Leadership, Character, and Integrity. I was very fortunate to join Civil Air Patrol when I was 16, I attribute my ease of progress in many of life’s challenges due to the firm foundational knowledge they gave me on leadership. I also give credit to the Bible for leadership guidance; Jesus is the perfect leader. My definition of character is “doing what’s right, even though it is difficult”. Nothing worth doing in life is easy, therefor we must choose to have character and push through. Integrity is most commonly referred to as “doing what’s right, when no one is looking”. I don’t really like this description because it implies “only when no one is looking”. Over all however, Integrity is doing what is right all the time, with a life long devotion to upholding values of ones morality. These three things, I am so thankful to have known, understood and embraced at an early age.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
I love trying to be “Well-Rounded”. When I was a teenager, my friends used to make fun of me because I wanted to have so many different occupations when I “grew-up” and couldn’t decide on just one. I didn’t want to pick just one… even though for along time I felt socially obligated, but one day I realized “why limit myself? all I have in life is time, so if I like it, I will learn it!” So I decided if I was interested in it, I would pursue it, despite my age or what others would think. This has turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made in my lifestyle. I now have a large knowledge base on multiple subjects; from social studies to science and medicine to art and botany.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Jake Rodriguez with Trinity Aerialz and Sarah Burgess at sarahephotos.com
