Mercadante's Paradiso
I first met Curt Mercadante in eighth grade. You have no idea how many times I had to be left back in order to have classes with this man. He ran for class president and I came up with his slogan. "Vote for Curt and you won't get hurt." Well, you should know Catholics are uptight so they did not see the irony of that slogan. I switched it to "Up the ante with Curt Mercadante" and he lost to some cheerleader because class elections are a popularity contest.
Print the legend. Curt arrived in my life two years ago. There are people who make LinkedIn videos whom I despise. It has become a participation trophy where everyone says every video is great. Well, they aren't. I was not taken by Curt's message as much as the volume of videos.
Next thing I knew he was appearing at LinkedIn Locals in different cities. I cannot fault anyone for traveling and he was building a business. When the announcement came down he would attend No Longer Virtual my first thought was "Oh, no. Him again?" Someone I never met seemed overexposed.
Backstory: I had recently left a position that was close to slavery. The pay was fine. The supervisor found a bunch of minions who made him feel superior. A lot of the women who worked there practically asked permission to go to the bathroom. I was hired for my experience and then he wanted me to use GPS in an area where streets were almost memorized.
He did not like being questioned. No longer my problem. The ones surrounding me in that position lived for where they would go to lunch. They personified the scarcity mindset Curt spoke about. How are they doing now? The same.
There is a difference between consistency and living the same day repeatedly. That group is in the rear view and I learned about living a life of freedom. In fact? That is what helped me out of the doldrums during the period I call "Rehab".
It is better to find solutions on my own. May take longer. It means more when I find solutions at my own pace. We all have our paths to enlightenment.
The relationship begins where most relationships begin. At the bar. Curt had met Sarah at a previous function. When I noted they were roughly the same height? I had to mention the obvious.
Sarah Elkins makes a federal case over her height. Heather Younger. Amy Blaschka. Hannah Bratterud. Yes, Alex: I'll take Married Women Easy To Love for five hundred?
Alex: I'm sorry, Thomas. The topic was "Women over Five Foot Ten Who Blow the Bell Curve of Average Height."
Before I answer this article in the form of a question: I mentioned that Curt's height was not a big deal. My first comment was about seeing eye to eye with someone taller in real life. As we spoke? Tom Dietzler was also there. His height is no issue. There were excellent conversations; exactly the icebreaker one would want at The Only Conference That Matters.
While the second day was not as good as the night before (the level of curiosity from the first conference was strangely absent.) there was a session where we moved our chairs into a circle instead of sitting six to a table. I happened to sit next to Curt. There was a feeling of warmth emanating from him.
Not everyone has this. Many lovely, magnificent people are rough around the edges. Curt can walk with kings and not lose the common touch. I waited my whole life to meet a Catholic who isn't uptight.
My journey in religion and school which were inextricably linked dealt with people of various ages saying "Awwwww- I'm telling! You're in trouble now." The only "crime" committed in the presence of Curt was switching tables before dinner leading a footnote to history to yell "That seat is reserved!"
Great first impression. She can talk about diversity and social justice as much as she wants. Excommunicating me from a seat near Tom and Curt? It had nothing to with Curt and the shaky ground I was experiencing.
After the conference: I connected with Curt. He thought we were already connected since I made comments on some videos that came to me. The man is inspirational. He is the antithesis of the five words that drove me from institutional life: Can't, Don't, Won't, Never and Impossible.
Hearing a combination of those words? What CAN I do? Work it out. Things were going well until Curt began talking about his father. When he described his loving, hard working father? It's the infallibility of the Pope. Liquid metal in Terminator 2. Michael Jordan in the NBA Finals. The chase scene in The French Connection. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Side two of Abbey Road when The Beatles played like they would never collaborate as a quartet again.
A loving father. Wow, Curt- what is that like? I had an idea for a presentation called Dueling Fathers. Interestingly: a lot of what I would cover with my father doubling down on test scores and studying in school has come up in different podcasts of Curt's as ineffective ways to teach children.
We never really worked it out. Both stories would have ended positively. No one wants to hear "Your dad was great and mine was a narcissistic jerk". That presentation was rejected. Sarah wanted to hear it in a podcast and no one has ever invited me onto a podcast.
I don't know who will be the topic of my 2020 Season Finale. Hopefully someone I haven't met yet or somebody who rises up exceeding expectations. Twelve months from now? I shall note that no one invited me onto a podcast. Like a vampire; I cannot enter unless invited. Did you think I was going to transform myself into a bat, fly into a studio and appear on a podcast as a creature of the night?
More interesting than Twilight, that's for sure. Curt did not make this year's #NoLongerVirtual. Between paying gigs and wanting to spend time with his wife and children? He left his corporate job because he felt like his family was not seen enough.
Children are not small for long. Curt has carved himself a niche in the business world. I am proud of the work accomplished. I had little to do with it. You thought I was going to take credit?
We are in different places. He isn't too good for me now. Nor I him. Relationships change. Sometimes the best friends in freshman year are less relevant in sophomore year, not seen in junior year and by senior year? We are close enough to being on the same page with that history and new frames of reference to come back around.
If you have the chance to meet Curt Mercadante? Take it. We all have different priorities. I think there is Work-Life Balance. He does not. It is one life. There are accomplishments at work and at home that cannot be achieved in the other part of your life.
On earth as it is in Heaven. Curt is the baby of his family. That might have led to a closer relationship with his father. It explains his fandom of Notre Dame. I always root for Stanford because my father went there. Gotta love the smart schools...
When Curt posts about his father passing? It's as if I am in the room with someone I never had the chance to meet. As memory serves: he was given a time to live and exceeded it. Doctors never really know. I shall end with the advice Mr. Mercadante gave his youngest son in their final encounter:
It's Not Over Yet.