So to make sure CBSA was moving forward at full speed – I decided a day trip into the heart of NYC would only seem appropriate. The day’s two most important meetings were to be with a founder of Hoops India and later with JD Walsh. The other pieces were to try and actually speak to a person at Adidas and Nike as well as get some information on NPO bank accounts.
The first meeting of the day with Neel of Hoops India was great. We met up at Aroma Cafe on Houston Street just off of Broadway. Interesting spot that was so close to all the tourists and yet not a single tourist was there to my knowledge. The coffee was great and so was the meeting. Hoops India is a for profit company that wants to build up the popularity of the sport in India. Neel had some great insights into navigating the terrain and definitely was great to meet in person and get to know.
Meetings with the banks; not such an easy task. Each bank has their own policies of course, while one woman at a Bank of America branch essentially told me that there were no specific programs for NPO’s. Not believing her led me to a different branch and some much more clear information. This “simple” experience of meeting with various banks to gather information proved to be quite the study of personalities. While some banks had no one around to greet me, and most seemed prepared to offer a lot of overviews and “should we start the paperwork now” only one took the time to get to know what we were about, what prompted the idea and actually asked questions about the execution. Guess who left the best impression. Want to meet with one more bank up here in Boston before opening the account (ie – give me another few days before everyone starts flooding us with wire transfers and checks).
I ended my time in NYC getting to sit down with JD Walsh. I had met JD before both via social media and in person. If you don’t know about JD – you should. Here is a man who has been praised by former United States Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage for his outstanding efforts in international public diplomacy for his work in China, India, Israel, and Kashmir along with having been awarded a grant from the State Department. He’s both a businessman and a committed humanitarian and is easily considered a friend. We had a great talk about camps in India; the common pitfalls and difficulties of sustaining a successful business over there. Regardless of your role, JD Walsh is hopefully a name you will remember is certainly someone who will be kept in the loop as CBSA moves forward on this endeavor.
Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to catch up with Peter Robert Casey or Susan Shan but there are still plenty of days to do that. There are only so many hours in a day.
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” Lao Tzu
This journey is only just beginning but nothing great ever started without those first few steps. So who’s up for going on this walk?