225’s Pop-up think tank

During the planning stages of this issue, we decided to move beyond the many men and women in our community we have discussed ideas with and gather a diverse group of young Baton Rougeans for a more focused period of brainstorming.

Each is well-educated, and opinionated, and passionate about improving our city.

Each is a big thinker.

At the table sat business owners and organizational leaders, left brains and right brains, an architect, a record-label founder, an automotive expert whose Facebook posts keep followers glued to their news feeds and city officials on notice, and a visionary young man who could have run a lot farther and faster than anyone else in the room.

We even invited a Yankee—and a state worker, too.

After several hours and too much coffee, we asked each to share a favorite inspirational quote about ideas. Here’s what they said.

Executive Director, Baton Rouge Gallery, age 29, from Miami

“It’s easy to come up with new ideas. The hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out of date.”— Roger von Oech

Senior Project Manager, BRAF; President, Forum 35, age 35, from Houston

“Don’t allow your mind to tell your heart what to do. The mind gives up easily.”— Paulo Coelho

Communications & Public Relations, Louisiana Workforce Commission, age 42, from Baton Rouge

“Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.”— Charles F. Kettering

CEO/Director of Operations, PlusOne Design + Construction, age 40, from Freedom, Penn.

“Never, never, never, never, never, never give up.”— Winston Churchill.

“Either that or, ‘Pain is only weakness leaving the body,’” Embaugh says. “My Marine Corps drill instructor told me that. I still use it today, but don’t like him as much as Churchill.”

Engineering Consultant, GoTech, Inc., age 35, from Baton Rouge

“People may not remember exactly what you did, or they might not remember exactly what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.”— Maya Angelou

Director of Communications, CPEX; Co-owner, Valcour Records, age 33, from Lake Charles

“Every wall is a door.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Operations Manager, All-Star Automotive, age 34 from Baton Rouge

“Don’t loaf and invite inspiration; light out after it with a club.”— Jack London

Director of Strategy, Development and Outreach, LSU Continuing Education, age 41, from San Antonio

“People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.”— Bre Pettis and Kio Stark

Founder, Claim Your Journey, age 25, from Baton Rouge

“It’s not how good you are; it’s how good you want to be.”—Paul Arden