Archives

Jarrett Ford, also known as “Wylie Ford Brother #2”, “The Younger, Better-Looking Wylie”, or, as Wylie affectionately named him “Stubborn B@#$A%D” is joining the Dreams Team.

Out of all the above-mentioned nicknames, I have to side with Wylie on this one, Jarrett is most definitely stubborn. It took many, many hours of convincing to get Jarrett to join the team and follow his dream. In fairness to Jarrett, taking a chance to follow your dreams is a risk and one that he had already taken once.

When Wylie came to work with us he told me the story of his baby brother Jarrett. Wylie described Jarrett as his “book-end”; very alike in not only their looks and personalities, but also the life path they’ve both taken. It seems Jarrett headed out to beautiful British Columbia to follow his dream of becoming a camera operator for movies and TV. He went to school to learn how to operate the cameras, volunteered his time to gain the necessary experience, and did anything else he could to get a break in the industry and get his foot in the door.

The competitiveness of the industry made it difficult to get the opportunities he needed and Jarrett found himself working at the Keg to pay the bills while waiting for his chance. It seems that Jarrett was in a very similar position to Wylie, knowing what his dream was, but not exactly on the path to following it.

It was in that first conversation about Jarrett that Wylie told me his personal dream – to help his little brother become a success doing what he loved. He knew that if someone would give Jarrett the opportunity he, himself, had been given, that Jarrett too would be a success.

We recruited Jarrett at the last W-1 event as a camera operator for our media personality from Fox Sports, Jay Adams, and to do video to be posted on the official W-1 website (w1mma.com). It was apparent that Jarrett knew what he was doing with the camera and he instantly clicked with the entire team. He also showcased another Wylie trait, a self-critical desire to be perfect in his work.

After the event we talked about getting Jarrett out here (to Ontario from B.C.) to begin doing more video projects for our numerous companies. In our early discussions he was resistant to the idea, not wanting to move for small projects when he felt that the opportunity was in B.C.

In the past couple of months, the demand for video in all our companies has grown so much that we now needed Jarrett.

Wylie began presenting the idea of moving and joining the Team to Jarrett, who liked the idea but turned it down. Then Wylie and I began talking to Jarrett, who once again, turned us down and left us feeling frustrated at his stubbornness. We couldn’t believe that he wouldn’t jump at the chance to move home where his family and friends were and be able to follow his dream by actually working in his chosen field. How could he not see this amazing opportunity for what it was and JUMP at it?! Where we had failed we knew one who could succeed and brought in Shaun.

I woke up one Saturday morning and Shaun informed me that Wylie would be going to B.C. on August 28th to bring Jarrett home; that Jarrett would begin work on a whole list of projects and officially become part of the Dreams Team. How this all transpired is still a little fuzzy to me, but the bottom line is, he’s joined the Team!!

As an added bonus, Jarrett will be doing a video-diary of his experience of following his dream. I can tell you from watching this play out in real life, Jarrett’s story will be something to enjoy; not only because watching someone follow their dreams is amazing and inspiring but because watching two brothers live their dreams together is something you won’t want to miss.

Join me in officially welcoming Jarrett to the team. My hope is that your talent out-weighs your stubbornness and that you enjoy every minute of this ride you’re on. You are the man!!

Keep smiling~
Sarah Mac

P.S. Not to out-do Jarrett in his very own blog, but it should be mentioned that Wylie has now made not only his professional dream a reality, but also his personal one…congrats Wy!