OpsLens Deck of 52 Most Wanted Post 9/11 Frontline Leaders
In 2018, as a spin-off and salute to the original 2003 deck of 52 Most Wanted playing cards, let’s honor post 9/11 frontline leaders here at home. Once a week, for 52 weeks this year, OpsLens will post a card highlighting one of the 52 Most Wanted Post 9/11 Frontline Leaders. You’ll learn the top facts about their business or organization, as well as why they made the list, which comes down to impact, scalability, health, and unique value proposition.
I encourage you to look for these weekly updates, share the card with your network, and support or buy the products and services they offer. See the 52 Most Wanted Post 9/11 Frontline Leaders launch story here.
9 of Diamonds| The Giving Goose
This month, if you notice more people wearing gold ribbons, do not confuse these for the Support our Troops yellow ribbons that are commonly known by the general public. The gold ribbon is a symbol that represents childhood cancer. And the month of September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month—a month the Tyrney family never expected to mark on their calendar. In 2015, Robbie Tyrney, then an active-duty senior intelligence analyst, received a call from his wife Jessica that something was wrong with their 15-month-old daughter, Zoe. The pupils in her eyes were two different sizes. Alarmed, Jessica immediately scheduled for a check-up and learned their second child had a cancerous tumor behind her left eye. The U.S. Army compassionately reassigned Robbie so that Zoe could be close to the best doctors and hospitals in the country. An agonizing year followed—one that can be described as a special kind of hell—filled with radiation and chemotherapy treatments, two biopsies, a total of five surgeries, and three stem-cell transplants, to name a few of the procedures.
Zoe pulled through and her cancer is currently in remission. Her battle is not over, but she persists with what her parents describe as a fierce spirit to beat her childhood cancer. For their little girl who fondly earned the nickname Goose, an idea was born in the pain of this family’s journey. They wanted to help bring awareness and raise money to support childhood cancer research. With the goal of lighting a little hope for the childhood cancer community, they began selling handmade and hand-poured natural soy candles, donating 50 percent of all proceeds to childhood cancer research (they partner with Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research). And this initial product line was a hit! The Giving Goose was founded in 2016, and only two years since their launch, they have begun expanding their offerings and now have an online store. The Tyrney family is lighting the way for a one-of-a-kind, for-profit, socially conscious business model.
The Giving Goose is a frontline leader that should be on your list of most-wanted businesses to support in 2018.
Frontline Leader (Cofounder): Robbie and Jessica Tyrney.
Name of Company/Organization: The Giving Goose, founded 2016.
Location: HQ in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Post 9/11 Service Connection: U.S. Army.
Tours of Duty: Two tours for OEF (82nd Airborne and 5th Special Forces Group).
One sentence tagline &/or mission statement: Be fierce.
Website: www.thegivinggoose.org
“And though she be but little, she is fierce!” ~William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
