The Williams Randall Book Club had a special guest for our discussion of Life is Good: The Book by Bert and John Jacobs. Life is Good's Senior Marketing Manager Taylor Capuano called in for the video conference to tell us some more about the popular t-shirt company and also get our thoughts on the book. Win-win, indeed!

Associate Creative Director Gail Hayes, who facilitates our book club, often looks for videos of authors to enhance the discussions. "After getting to know the company a little better from reading the book, I thought someone would be willing to join us live," she said. "You never know until you ask, right? We were excited to have Taylor join us."

The Boston-based company has been thinking about writing a discussion guide for the book, published in 2015, so Capuano was really interested to find out what intrigued us. One thing we concluded is that all kinds of book clubs would enjoy reading and discussing the book, because its content has great advice at both personal and professional levels. 

(Keep reading below the following picture.)

Swinging in a sky chair is the perfect place to read Life is Good.

10 Superpowers

Spreading optimism is Life is Good's driving principle, so it's fitting that the book's subtitle is "How to Live with Purpose & Enjoy the Ride." Their advice? Live by their 10 guiding superpowers:

• openness
• courage
• simplicity
• humor
• gratitude
• fun
• compassion
• creativity
• authenticity
• love

These superpowers served as the basis for our discussion as we called out the attributes that stood out to us the most. 

Indiana Connections

The two founding brothers spent their first five years living in and selling t-shirts out of their van. No, really. After that, they decided they needed to give that up or try to be something else. It was fun for us to learn that Galyan's, an Indianapolis-based company, was their first big break with a national retailer. They hosted the Galyan's reps for a spaghetti dinner at their apartment (which was their living quarters/office/warehouse all rolled into one) because the Jacobs boys couldn't afford a flight to Indianapolis. The Indianapolis guests were so impressed with their spunk, humor, and down-to-earthness that they placed more orders. And the rest, as they say, is history. Galyan's, which was later bought by Dick's Sporting Goods, became their biggest account and took the Life is Good brand national. Of course, the Boston boys also loved watching Larry Bird growing up, and we loved another important Indiana connection.

A Welcome Dose of Optimism

Our group was unanimous in agreeing that this book selection was an excellent one, especially this year. And we are appreciative of the openness (superpower #1) of Taylor to join us for our discussion this week.