Our nation is also approaching a season of change, with the midterm elections on deck. While that voting period rolls around every two years, it doesn’t mean that change can only happen on that schedule. It’s been said that change is the only constant in life. The four seasons in weather might have a certain cycle, but each day there’s some change that’s happening in us as individuals in mind, body or inner core, even if not entirely visible. Plus, when people or companies want new results, they don’t just wave a wand but put a rebrand on it. In other words, change is key to human development and market advancement.

A big sports news these days is the start of another pro basketball season with Lebron James suiting up under different colors. Over his career he’s changed teams to work on reaching his full potential and winning multiple championships. That doesn’t come easy as there are often financial strings, emotional things and other trappings that must get cut or rewired in the process. To understand the importance of change, whether in a civic, economic, athletic or artistic context, just think about change as a close companion for success. You can’t live without change, as you must change to live your best life.

My own experience with change led to the shift from computer engineer to entrepreneur. Something wasn’t clicking between sun-up to sundown or wasn’t reflecting from looking in the mirror. I had to then treat change as a friend that would stick close like a sidekick, which surprisingly helped reveal my life’s purpose as a change agent and dream merchant by seeing the:

1. Face of change: It doesn’t always look pretty, but being real makes beautiful dreams come true.

2. Pace of change: Some change is needed in an instant, others over time or a lifetime.

3. Place of change: It can happen right where you are or move you where you want/need to be.

4. Trace of change: When you look back on the trail there’s a trace that reveals your magic power.

In a professional sense, that process started for me with a feeling of unrealized gains. Not that I wasn’t doing well to prosper, it just felt like investing my skillset needed a reset, rework or re-alignment. This is true for folks whether as employee, entrepreneur or executive. That helped with shaping my own rebrand into what’s described as going from average “Joe to CEO” without the good luck charm or inside-track. That simply means, my skillset has been upgraded by thinking like the “CEO of Me Inc”. So, this Substack aligns with that framing where my communication skills went from ‘tech heavy’ to social impact savvy.

There’s a civic aspect to this mindset that made the rebrand more inclusive and universal. With See America In Color (SAIC) as a key part of my portfolio rebrand, there’s a new & improved marketplace benefit. Many know the term B2B for market activity between two or more businesses. Then there’s B2C for market activity between business and consumer. What my rebrand means to corporate social responsibility or civic engagement as a nation, can now be experienced through B2CE, business to civic ends. So, my work is “open for business” to all who believe in change for ‘career + life’ growing seasons.

The election results will signal what kind of change voters want for the future. As you subscribe and ‘Empower with Doc’ beyond the voting booth or hometown block, you’ll know change as a friend for tweaking your skills or a total re-do for better results. Some change happens on a regular basis in daily life or a gradual shift at key moments/seasons in your work life. However, be ready for possible times that might require a shift in mindset or skillset for radical or structural change. This way we can chart a path towards a more popular product/service in the marketplace or a more perfect Union as a nation.

The reason for the game in Australia made sense. They’re looking to expand football viewership to as wide a global audience as possible. How they’re doing that is helpful in knowing what it means to be standing on business as a brand. After the recent World Championship soccer tournament, we were reminded how that game (aka football in many countries) has the largest participation/fan base in the world. Another sport with a long and related history is rugby. One way to think of American football is like a shift between rugby and tradition football, to the American version now being exported to the world.

This Substack kickoff might be a good time to explain See America In Color (SAIC), the social-edge campaign/platform for which I’m the founder/creator. SAIC is built on a shift between black & white TV and color TV. One beams ‘white light’ with varying intensity to show images in black, white and gray. The other combines colored light (RGB: red, green, blue) for a beautiful TV picture. SAIC’s ‘smart shift’ brings a good handle on hot-button issues by how we See America in color, not just in black & white. In addition, ‘Empower With Doc’ is where shared purpose invites group action to shift results that level-up America.

American football is marketed as sports entertainment. They are standing on business as a brand to give customers (fans) an exciting and enjoyable product. With SAIC, we are standing on business as a civic brand to give residents/citizens, employees, students an educational and empowering consumer value. While these two brands are very different in audience size and activity volume, they deliver:

1. Content: Information or human-interest stories on the ins/outs of the game and life.

2. Programs: Content delivery sources for a multi-cultural consumer market.

3. Events: Regular scheduled activities that ‘feed’ the interests/wishes of customers.

4. Juice: Boost in adrenalin, fun, insight or knowledge, based on consumer demand.

We tune to weekly football games across various channels, whether on streaming or traditional platforms. The American football brand has such traction that their own cable channel is merged with a mainstream sports network. Somewhere, people are upset about the pricing and positioning of the brand, which is making it harder to keep up. While ‘Empower With Doc’ isn’t designed as a media or programming endorsement outlet, the point is that consumers watch sports sprinkled in with hot-button topics, social impact and community empowerment. SAIC helps connect the dots across those areas in American life and beyond the U.S.

For example, it provides an eye-opening lens on civic/social issues for a higher level of citizenship. This can help take the edge off from ongoing political storms in the same way we receive alerts for impending weather storms. The forecaster isn’t trying to scare us but instead warn and inform us. Our Substack won’t be trying to scare people, just inform and empower towards best life experiences. How we do that via this and other SAIC venues will be helpful to understanding America’s first 250 years of independence and charting a path for the next chapter towards life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

So, subscribing to ‘Empower With Doc’ is like a staging ground for civic engagement, community uplift and social branding. These align with my book Public Good Sense: Rebirth in Voice of a People and Soul of a Nation. Whether your work life has various tasks or life’s work is part of a business roundtable, governing legislature, organization board or hometown/alumni collective, we strive to have public service, education, business and community come together and make our journeys one (mojo). Plus, if sports can celebrate athletes on their field of dreams, we can be a forum and showcase for our American dream journey.