We put up this website scottstankavage.com the other day, and I initially had mixed feelings. While it was exciting to see pictures of my family and things I care about deeply available to share (sort of my own expanded Facebook page), another part of me questioned what was my motive? Was it for recognition? An audience? Or attention? I answer that heart question with a resounding NO and I am pretty sure I am not deceiving myself either. As a high school athlete, then college and former NFL player, I have had plenty of media attention. I have several scrapbooks with hundreds of articles and photos, DVDs with TV interviews, and even recordings of talks I have given and awards I have received. I have had more than my fair share and I asked myself 'Is this website just another form of media attention?‘ No, its not, because I have actually tried to operate life and my business in a less public profile way in the last ten years.
In my career in commercial real estate, I used to want to be mentioned and recognized in the media hoping it would lead to more business. But later in my career, that wasn’t the way I wanted to expand my network. I wanted to be stealth and do large, quiet transactions behind the scenes, often without anyone knowing they were even taking place. I always loved to compete, but the older I got the more I applied a motto that "it is easier to win when there is little to no competition.” I didn’t want to advertise my business accomplishments and draw the attention nor the competition.
So at a few weeks shy of turning 53 years old, why do I want to put up a website and blog under my own name?
The answer is simple. It is because my story might be able help other people. This is the why behind scottstankavage.com. Not more than that, and not less than that.
I began accepting speaking engagements to talk about what it felt like to be diagnosed with stage 4 leukemia in July of 2013. I do not consider my self a polished public speaker, but I am authentic and genuine and speak from my heart. Although sometimes I stutter or use the wrong word or even go blank for moments from what I call “chemo brain", people have reacted with such encouragement and have thanked me for sharing. I have been asked for copies of my talks, copies of my notes, and even autographs. And soon I was also asked about "a website". I was humbled, overwhelmed, and happy to connect with so many people. And to have possibly uplifted and encouraged them by something I said or by just meeting them and connecting for a moment after a talk makes it even more worthwhile.
So, I agreed to put up scottstankavage.com, as a single place for people to come and be able to connect with me, the talks, and the thoughts and the perspectives that my life experiences have afforded me. By doing so, I hope to be encouraging and uplifting to as many others as possible.
Zoweh Ministries, founded and run by my close friend Michael Thompson refers to the continuum of development into manhood as starting with ‘disoriented’ and proceeding to "oriented" and then “settled“ and ultimately to "on kingdom mission." I think that scottstankavage.com is part of my growth and effort to pay forward all the blessings I have received in my life that I could never pay back, and is my way of being “on kingdom mission”, which is about what we can do for others, and not living life focused just on ourselves.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to your feedback over time.
Amen and AMEN
#blessed
Scott