Life is Good – Optimism Prevails at FPA 2009

I just returned from the 2009 FPA Conference in San Diego and I have to say that the overall message of the conference was Optimism. 

I’ll be posting several blogs about my experience there, but I want to start off with a report on our first keynote speaker, Bert Jacobs, co-founder of Life is Good – the T-shirt, Hat and Apparel company. Bert’s presentation was overflowing with optimism and he “Wowed” the audience. Bert and his brother run the company that did $120 million last year – selling optimism and positive feelings and then giving much of what they earn back to the community, primarily to children’s charities.

His key points included:

• Life is good.

• We all need more optimism in our lives

• We need to be more open, less closed and more childlike in how we view the world

• People crave simplicity

• Sharing your blessings is important.

• People want to work somewhere that actually contributes positively to the world.

I was most impressed with two things –

• The clear mission that he has for his company and a desire to not stray from that mission. They have a way they want to run the company and they stick to it. They refuse to do things that might make them more money if it moves them away from their mission.

• Their commitment to helping kids. They have adopted several charities that focus on children facing life-threatening diseases and they work harder every year to increase their contirbution to them. Life is Good! Visit thier website at http://www.lifeisgood.com .