The Entrepreneurial Spirit of Aggieland


Book Description

A book unlike any other Aggie-related publication, The Entrepreneurial Spirit of Aggieland details the insightful, fascinating and inspirational stories of twelve Aggies who’ve chased their entrepreneurial dreams, conquered obstacles and succeeded beyond their wildest imaginations. Their stories will serve as a roadmap to success for current and former Texas A&M students with their own entrepreneurial dreams, as each first-person narrative features advice to aspiring entrepreneurs. These innovators have walked the Texas A&M campus and achieved tremendous success, and they each believe you can, too! Every penny of proceeds from book sales will be donated to Startup Aggieland, a multidisciplinary business incubator and accelerator devoted to helping current Aggies pursue their dreams. This is truly a one-of-a-kind book designed to propel current and former students to reach their entrepreneurial goals!




Win Forever


Book Description

"I know that I'll be evaluated in Seattle with wins and losses, as that is the nature of my profession for the last thirty-five years. But our record will not be what motivates me. Years ago I was asked, 'Pete, which is better: winning or competing?' My response was instantaneous: 'Competing. . . because it lasts longer.'" Pete Carroll is one of the most successful coaches in football today. As the head coach at USC, he brought the Trojans back to national prominence, amassing a 97-19 record over nine seasons. Now he shares the championship-winning philosophy that led USC to seven straight Pac-10 titles. This same mind-set and culture will shape his program as he returns to the NFL to coach the Seattle Seahawks. Carroll developed his unique coaching style by trial and error over his career. He learned that you get better results by teaching instead of screaming, and by helping players grow as people, not just on the field. He learned that an upbeat, energetic atmosphere in the locker room can coexist with an unstoppable competitive drive. He learned why you should stop worrying about your opponents, why you should always act as if the whole world is watching, and many other contrarian insights. Carroll shows us how the Win Forever philosophy really works, both in NCAA Division I competition and in the NFL. He reveals how his recruiting strategies, training routines, and game-day rituals preserve a team's culture year after year, during championship seasons and disappointing seasons alike. Win Forever is about more than winning football games; it's about maximizing your potential in every aspect of your life. Carroll has taught business leaders facing tough challenges. He has helped troubled kids on the streets of Los Angeles through his foundation A Better LA. His words are true in any situation: "If you want to win forever, always compete."




Things That Make White People Uncomfortable


Book Description

Michael Bennett is a Super Bowl Champion, a three-time Pro Bowl defensive end, a fearless activist, a feminist, a grassroots philanthropist, an organizer, and a change maker. He's also one of the most scathingly humorous athletes on the planet, and he wants to make you uncomfortable. Bennett adds his unmistakable voice to discussions of racism and police violence, Black athletes and their relationship to powerful institutions like the NCAA and the NFL, the role of protest in history, and the responsibilities of athletes as role models to speak out against injustice. Following in the footsteps of activist-athletes from Muhammad Ali to Colin Kaepernick, Bennett demonstrates his outspoken leadership both on and off the field.Written with award-winning sportswriter and author Dave Zirin, Things that Make White People Uncomfortable is a sports book for our turbulent times, a memoir, and a manifesto as hilarious and engaging as it is illuminating.




Becoming


Book Description

For most of his life, Clint Gresham, like many if not most of us, experienced the world through the lens of outcomes: Academics. Behavior. Sports victories. Career. Relationships. Material success. The underlying message? When the outcomes are good, you are good. When the outcomes are bad, you are bad.Becoming unfolds a gripping and inspirational reality check, reminding us all that the point of life is not the destination, but the journey. Each of us is in the process of becoming who God designed us to be. While the journey can be painful, it is also necessary-a process that must be fully embraced if we are to experience wholeness of soul. By ¿xing your heart on God¿s process, the outcomes take care of themselves. Step back. Breathe. Stay in the moment. And take the long-term approach. Your ups and downs are a beautiful story God is telling through you. We are all Becoming . . . something incredible.




Still in the Game


Book Description

In an era of cynicism and divisiveness, the tale of this young angel who refused to give up hope combined with the simple act of a young father doing what he ought to do—standing by his ailing daughter through thick and thin—set the social-media world into a whirlwind of positivity. Their inspirational story made the sports world (and the celebrity world alongside it) sit up and smile at the ESPYs. It grabbed the attention of audiences far outside of sports, too, on the Today Show and Good Morning America, and in the pages of People magazine, US Weekly, and more. Everyone seemed to want to know one thing: How did this dad and his little girl find a way to smile through the pain, and to keep fighting even when everything seemed to be going against them? The news media fell in love with the message and told the story the best they could in sound bites and interview clips, and yet the millions of readers and viewers who watched it all unfold in real time are still hungering for more. To Devon Still and his daughter, this wasn’t just a story. This was their test. This was their faith on the line. And this book is their chance to show the world just how powerful faith can be. It’s their chance to show people there’s always reason for hope—and to give them some actionable steps they can take to better their own lives, right now.




Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country


Book Description

Winner of the 2020 Reading the West Advocacy Award Winner of the 2020 Colorado Book Award for Creative Nonfiction "This is a book for all of us, right now." —Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild On her 120-acre homestead high in the Colorado Rockies, beloved writer Pam Houston learns what it means to care for a piece of land and the creatures on it. Elk calves and bluebirds mark the changing seasons, winter temperatures drop to 35 below, and lightning sparks a 110,000-acre wildfire, threatening her century-old barn and all its inhabitants. Through her travels from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska, she explores what ties her to the earth, the ranch most of all. Alongside her devoted Irish wolfhounds and a spirited troupe of horses, donkeys, and Icelandic sheep, the ranch becomes Houston’s sanctuary, a place where she discovers how the natural world has mothered and healed her after a childhood of horrific parental abuse and neglect. In essays as lucid and invigorating as mountain air, Deep Creek delivers Houston’s most profound meditations yet on how “to live simultaneously inside the wonder and the grief… to love the damaged world and do what I can to help it thrive.”




Fit2Fat2Fit


Book Description

Drawing from the lessons and insights of his breakout website, Fit2Fat2Fit.com, personal trainer Drew Manning delivers the story of his quest to go from fit to fat to fit again in one year in order to better understand the weight-loss struggles of his clients and the online community. Drew embarked on this journey to prove to clients, website followers, and people across the country that it is possible to get back into shape—and his bottomless desire to kindle a new hope for his readers comes through on every page of Fit2Fat2Fit. With before and after (and after...) photos to that tell their own striking story, and intimate reflections from Drew’s wife Lynn, Fit2Fat2Fit is more than a spectacle or a gimmick; it’s an inspiring story, and sound proof that anyone can reach the level of fitness they desire to make themselves happy.




After the Cheering Stops


Book Description

Former NFL wife Cyndy Feasel tells the tragic story of her family’s journey into chaos and darkness resulting from the damage her husband suffered due to football-related concussions and head trauma—and the faith that saved her. “If I’d only known what I loved the most would end up killing me and taking away everything I loved, I would have never done it.” – Grant Feasel Grant Feasel spent ten years in the NFL, playing 117 games as a center and a long snapper mostly for the Seattle Seahawks. The skull-battering, jaw-shaking collisions he absorbed during those years ultimately destroyed his marriage and fractured his family. Grant died on July 15, 2012, at the age of 52, the victim of alcohol abuse and a degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Cyndy Feasel watched their life together become a living hell as alcohol became Grant’s medication for a disease rooted in the scores of concussions he suffered on the football field. Helmet-to-helmet collisions opened the door to CTE and transformed him from a sunny, strong, and loving man into a dark shadow of his former self. In this raw and emotional memoir that takes a closer look at the destruction wrought by a game millions love, Cyndy describes in painful and excruciating detail what can happen to an NFL player and his family when the stadium empties and the lights go down. A powerful tale of warning for football moms and NFL wives everywhere, After the Cheering Stops is also a story of the hard-won hope found in God’s presence when everything else falls apart.




Ghost Music


Book Description

Named a Readers' Favorite Book Award Winner"a commendable and flawless mystery"Seattle Detective Marcus Brace is falling apart, both professionally and personally. Before he can put his own demons to rest, a brutal homicide and an unusual summons from family long-forgotten force Marcus to confront everything he's been running from and consider how the past continues to haunt our present. With the killer targeting those closest to him, Marcus is on a journey to not only find a murderer but also solve a family mystery that was hidden for decades.




Ruff and Tumble


Book Description

It's the most anticipated sporting even of the year: PUPPY FOOTBALL! But this year things get a little complicated when: The hottest professional quarterback in Seattle goes toe-to-toe with A determined production assistant of the yearly Puppy Cup and Her adorably bumbling pack of puppies In a showdown that'll leave everyone happy ever after. As a production assistant for the Puppy Cup, Hailey Lincoln knows all things puppies and football. She also knows all things Cole Bennett, star quarterback for the Seattle Lumberjacks and sexiest man alive. But years spent cheering for Cole from the sidelines never prepared her to meet his famous winning grin—or his unexpected plea for help. Cole's entire life revolves around football, but that's not the future he wants. He's in a bind: if he leaves the spotlight, he risks disappointing his team, his fans, and his incredibly tight-knit family. He needs a bit of good PR to help him out, and Hailey (and her puppies) are perfect for the job. But winning at puppy football is only the start. If Hailey really wants to win—the game, the man, and the family she never thought could be hers—she needs to pull out all the stops. And Cole, who's spent his entire life playing a game, has to realize that losing football isn't nearly as catastrophic as losing the woman he loves. "AS APPEALING AS A PUPPY."—Publishers Weekly STARRED for Puppy Christmas