Rich Karlgaard with Mary Babbitt

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LATE BLOOMERS

Patience for Alternative Paths

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According to Rich Karlgaard, there is nothing wrong with applauding or encouraging early success.  Yet the reality is that most of us do not explode out of the gate early in life. Excessively promoting early measurable achievement – grades, test scores, glamour job, money, celebrity – conceals a dark flipside. We start to believe that if our kids don’t ace their SATs, gain admittance to a top-ten university, reinvent an industry or land a top job early in life, they have somehow failed and are destined to be also-rans for the rest of their lives. Late bloomers are undervalued – in popular culture, by educators and employers, and even unwittingly by parents. Karlgaard encourages parents to relax and allow time for their children’s unique talents, passions, and gifts to develop. Join us for a groundbreaking exploration of what it means to be a late bloomer and how finding one’s way later in life can be an advantage to long-term achievement and happiness.  

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Late bloomer Rich Karlgaard worked as a dishwasher and night-watchman before finally finding the inner motivation and drive that ultimately led him to start a high-tech magazine in Silicon Valley, and eventually to become the publisher of Forbes magazine. Karlgaard writes a biweekly column, “Innovation Rules” for Forbes, known for its witty and honest assessment of technology trends and current business issues. He is a regular panelist on cable news’ most popular business show, Forbes on FOX, and is a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal’s Op-Ed page. He is also a popular lecturer, a pilot and the author of four acclaimed books, most recently Late Bloomers – The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement. 

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Mary Babbitt is a three-time Emmy Award-winning host and voice-acting talent with 25 years experience in broadcasting. She began her career in television news at KCOY-TV in Santa Barbara County and later moved to San Jose to become a news anchor at KNTV/NBC Bay Area. She is mostly widely known as the Emmy and James Beard Award-winning host of “In Wine Country” which was syndicated nationally on NBC. Currently, Mary hosts a podcast about wine, “Sip, Sip, Hooray” (www.sipsiphooraypodcast.com) and does some freelance writing, as well as voiceover and on-camera projects. She is proud of having narrated two documentaries, “The Brain of a Boxer” and “As the Twig is Bent”.  A graduate of the University of California Santa Barbara, Mary now lives with her husband and four children, aged 13-20, in the San Francisco Bay Area where she struggles to keep the refrigerator stocked and the laundry pile manageable.