I was blessed to have a great corporate career.

I came from the franchise world, and the last 20 years of my career I was in disaster restoration.

A good fit for someone who had created many disasters and was in need of restoration.

And redemption.

I worked my way to the c-suite in a family-owned business.

Not my family.

But they became my family.

I thought I would be there forever.

After all, it was a pretty good gig for a ninth grade dropout.

But sometimes life has other plans.

My boss, one of the owners, saw something in me that I couldn’t see.

The ability to communicate.

To connect.

To tell a story.

Over time, I found myself on more and more stages in front of our franchisees and teammates.

People were kind to me.

They let me experiment and find my voice.

And then one day it was time to test my wings.

To stand on a new stage.

In front of people who didn’t know me.

And they were kind to me too.

The next chapter in my life was being written.

Partially by me.

Mostly by fate.

I quickly learned as a speaker that you are only as good as your last performance.

It’s true in any business.

You’re only as good as your last job.

No one cares how good we used to be.

The truth is the best of the best pushes themselves harder than anyone else.

They hold themselves to a different standard.

They know that the real competition is within them.

To dig deeper.

To focus.

To do the work.

To leave it all on the field.

Or the stage.

Whether your audience is one or one thousand, they deserve your best.

And they’re rooting for you.

They want you to win.

Because if you do, they will too.

Make it a great week!

Kevin D. Brown is a branding and culture expert. He’s an award-winning motivational storyteller, bestselling author, and the creator of The Hero Effect®.