Howdy Partners,

It’s Stampede Week in Calgary – there aren’t 10 more fun days in the calendar – but they’re also 10 of the toughest in many ways. The western themed action and events are all very fun in nature but are also fairly aggressive in more ways than one from events lined up one on top of each other to beverage consumption to the dent it takes on your bank account and amount of sleep you get. I’m not complaining though! It’s one of the best opportunities to meet people, especially when you’re young and new-ish to a city. Before I get my boots and Wranglers back on, I thought I should get a Mailbag out! Here we go:

• I made it a goal of mine to qualify for the Alberta Amateur this summer, in which I successfully did so a month ago at Silverwing Links in the Calgary Qualifier. Kind of surprised myself to be honest but it was nice to see my hard work pay off! The real tournament is a four-day, PGA style event next week hosted by the Innisfail Golf Club. If you’d like to stay abreast of all the action, 120 of the best amateur players in Alberta will be competing. The leaderboard and course/player statistics can be found here: 2016 Alberta Amateur Leaderboard.

• This is a really powerful interview on Inside Quest with Gabby Reece (supermodel, volleyball legend, fitness mogul). I didn’t know too much about Gabby until I watched this. Definitely recommend this for everyone, girl/guy, young/old, athlete/non-athlete, you name it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3Sh5AbjD4c
  

• This is a great perspective piece by one of my best friend’s, Chris. He’s no stranger to the Mailbag both as a contributor and reader. Short and to the point piece titled “Find What You Love and Let It Kill You.“

• This is a very genuine piece written by a very successful businesswoman, Jessica DiLullo Herrin, who did not start at the top titled “The Unicorn Train Is Not Hiring“…

“Don’t for a minute confuse passion with fantasy. Even in your dream job, at your dream company, doing something where the mission matters, you will do things you’d rather not. Not once, not twice, but all the time. Show up ready to work and ready to learn. Be open to the possibility that this role will be a career defining experience and ask yourself what you can do to make it so.” – Jessica DiLullo Herrin.

Quote of the Week: “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito in your bedroom.”  – Dalai Lama

Song of the Week: Song of the summer thus far for me… “Lawn Chair Lazy” – James Barker Band.

If you’re looking for a good country mix, head over to my Spotify page and check out the “Pede’ 16” playlist. You’ll want to have a beer close by to crack 🙂

Saddle Up,

Wilkesy

My Pops and I at the Rodeo. If you’re a fan of my shirt, head over to https://www.vintageshirtco.com/ to support a good friend of mine’s, Matt Kielbasinski, side project. You’d think designing shirts would be his day job with how nice his first product on the market turned out!