“It was never about the money in any situation. If it was money, I could’ve taken that a long time ago on a very high deal. It’s about winning a Super Bowl and being fair.”

This quote is from running back Demarco Murray, talking about why he chose to leave Dallas and head to Philadelphia. He is seeking success.  By my standards, success is achieved when you align yourself with those on the same mission as you who share the same values.  By doing this, you’ve already succeeded before actually achieving your goals.

Working at a company that embodies my core values is the reason I am excited to come into work every day.

My core values are as follows:

o   Passion – Be passionate about everything I do. Find ways to intertwine my passions into elements of life that I am not passionate about, so that I may be driven and willing to put forth all of my effort.

o   Never Be Content –It is important to understand how much there is in this world. It offers so much to do, learn, and grow towards.  I am always willing to grow and push myself to improve.  I always try to learn and welcome constructive criticism. This is an extremely important value to have, in that it is extremely humbling. It serves as a constant reminder that I don’t know everything, and still have room to grow.

o   Be Where You Are – Over the course of my freshman year, I searched for a church/ministry on or near my campus. I struggled to find one to invest myself into, and I planned to stop my search. Until I had dinner with a friend who told me, “Be where you are. You are going to be in Cincinnati for the next four years, if not longer. Invest yourself here and leave your mark on this campus.” Since that conversation I now value the importance of giving myself to the community I spend my time in.

o   Give – It is essential to give what you have to those around you. Whether it be something you earned, own, possess, or were born with, nothing is too good to share with others. I consider everything in my life to be a blessing. As a blessing, that means that it can be taken away just as easily as it was given. Thus, I have come to the conclusion that I need to give what I have, while I have it.

Now to share AMEND’s Core Values:

o   Passion – We are privileged to serve our clients and drive them to become the best versions of themselves.

o   Being a Catalyst – We are the unwavering change agents who bring energy and accelerate growth.

o   Innovation – We are the master decision makers who use the right tool in the right place at the right time.

o   Honesty – We approach situations with hard-hitting transparency, especially in the face of adversity. We treat your business as our own.

o   Stewardship – We have been entrusted to use our gifts, build a stronger economy, and embrace our purpose.

As you can see there isn’t a whole lot that varies between AMEND’s core values and my own. My core values are the reason I get up in the morning, and AMEND’s are why I come to work. I am able to align my personal mission in life with others’ – and a team who can collectively enforce accountability between each other. The point of everything anyone does missionally should be to find those in agreement with them, and then move together in community. That is what we have here at AMEND: a group of people with the same beliefs, purpose, and mission.