Ever since its inception, the Spirit of Entrepreneurship has been presented to business entrepreneurs and politicos (Jim Keyes, Ray Hunt, Craig Hall, T. Boone Pickens, Roger Staubach, Charles (pictured left with Patrick and Natalie Brandt) and Sam Wyly, U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry). Thursday night that tradition was broken with the presentation of the ninth annual Spirit of Entrepreneurship award plus navy blue blazer, cuff links and custom pen to Bill Lively at Communities Foundation of Texas. He was recognized as a “social entrepreneur” by the Entrepreneurs for North Texas. You gotta love entrepreneurs. They’re such mavericks and are not limited by traditions or rules.
Just listening to Bill’s acceptance speech made you realize that he belonged with this crowd:
- “Being an entrepreneur is as my dad said to me when I was in the fifth grade: ‘Just think you can do anything.’ And in Dallas, you probably can.”
- “In Dallas if you galvanize leaders, you can do anything.”
- On the Super Bowl: “Everyone will see that Dallas is the greatest place in this country to live.”
- To young people: “Give back to Dallas. Make Dallas a better place. Find projects that will make a difference.”
- “We were raised in Oak Cliff. We were poor, but my parents valued two things: us and education. We also learned the importance of teams from my dad, who participated in ‘teams’ at church, at the PTA, etc.”
Among the crowd of can-do’s were
- Mayor Tom Leppert who said, “If Bill comes near you, you may want to guard your wallet.”
- Mavericks’ go-to-man Terdema Ussery (pictured right with Mickey and Bill Lively): “You can reach this guy (Bill) 24/7 — especially if you want to give him a check!”
Also recognized for their support of entrepreneurship in Dallas and awarded the EFNT’s North Star Recognition were