Biggest Challenges Faced By A Managing Director At Street Soccer USA

I think today and always, the key has been getting comfortable with uncertainty. A mentor once told me, "Get comfortable being uncomfortable because you just never know." It's a tough way to exist, as we never know what tomorrow will bring or how we'll get the things we need to operate.

We're in uncharted territory, and there aren't many organizations that do what we do. We're unique, which means we have to explain why what we're doing is important, how it's important, and why people should support us.

We're all doing this for the first time, so we don't know what we don't know. But you can't use that as an excuse not to work hard. Like in any game or anything in life, if you have a goal, it's much easier to move toward it.

We know our goals, and we also have to create goals based on what we see and hear. There's a lot of learning involved. The learning curve has always been tricky for me because I didn't formally study this; it's all driven by passion, experience, and what I think I know and can learn.

With nonprofits, funding can be here one year and gone the next. There's not a lot that's guaranteed. The hardest part is that I'm confident what we're doing is meaningful and that if we weren't doing it, no one else would be.

I wish I could say the same about funding opportunities or what the future will look like. I don't know. I hope we'll be around, but some days are difficult. I say "I don't know" all the time, and then we figure it out.

People want to know what's going to happen and when funding will come in. I may not know the specifics, but I'm confident we'll get there. This is something I grapple with a lot, and I believe it's a quality most leaders need.

I wish I could promise people everything they want, but I can't. I'm committed to sticking this out with you, but I can't guarantee anything. Especially in today's climate, it's difficult to know what will be here tomorrow. You just have to find the reasons to keep going.