When we knew we were moving to Savannah, GA I was so excited to have more nights at Grayson Stadium. Growing up my family would do baseball nights in Savannah and I was excited to share that experience with my husband Adam. Except when I went to get tickets in 2019… the team had a new name, The Savannah Bananas, and they were already sold out for the 2020 season. I quickly realized that it was not the same team planning in Grayson Stadium that I grew up with!
One of the best things about COVID-19 was the Savannah Bananas had to cancel their normal sold out season and we were able to get tickets to attend their games post lockdown. This got us on the season ticket holder list and The Savannah Bananas because an amazing part of our Medical School experience.
As we prepare to leave Savannah, GA for Memphis and Adam’s next stage of training, I have reflected on these five lessons that I learned and will take with me.
- Make time to do the things that inspire you.
We were so lucky to get season tickets for the Savannah Bananas in a very hard season of our life. I was building an insurance career and building start-ups while Adam was fresh into medical school. There were days when we had ‘Savannah Bananas’ on the calendar but by 6pm we were DIRT tired and had no energy to go to the games. We would sit at the table and ask ourselves if we should go to the game or stay home. Every time we decided to go to the games. And every time we were so thankful we did.
We so easily get caught up in the idea that career is over everything and that includes over FUN. When we show up to Grayson stadium there is always something that instantly makes us smile. It is normally a BananaScanner scanning our tickets or a cute kid in their head to toe outfit! It is crazy to look back and think, we were so caught up in school and work that we were too tired to do something that we knew would make us smile.
Post school and me losing myself in ‘hustle culture’ we now both take intentional time to do things that inspire us. And now I even plan it into my weeks! I had the false belief for such a long time that work and money would open doors to fun and happiness. I learned the hard way that it leaves very little time or energy for things that inspire!
I am so thankful for the Savannah Banana team for creating events that are FUN and inspire. Specifically for the simple inspiration. The little details. The little things that remind me that inspiration doesn’t have to be elaborate.
- You can create anything you desire. Be yourself. Get rid of the unnecessary pain and suffering of trying to fit in. Break the rules. Do the unexpected.
If you don’t know…the Savannah Bananas are a baseball team and a show all in one! That is right. They took the baseball tradition and BROKE. IT. UP! But it wasn’t always like that. They started a little at a time. They fit in the box with some creative ideas thrown in. Once that proved to work, they added more, and more, and more, until they were ready to take the box apart and make something brand new.
They created Banana Ball and decided to only play Banana Ball! I remember sitting at one of their first Banana Ball games! It was a Fans-giving and we were with our dear friends with two elementary age girls. We had the best time with all the thanksgiving themed entertainment…but we could hear the rumbling of the crowd trying to understand what is Banana Ball and why are they not playing ‘normal’ baseball. We were on the edge of our seats trying to follow what seemed very simple rules but struggling to take the subconscious rules of baseball out of our head.
Here are the rules:
- A ball caught by a fan is an out
- No wasted time. If batter steps out of the box they are out.
- Ball four- the batter sprints to base while the EVERY member in the field must touch the ball before trying to get the batter out.
- Batter can steal first base
- The team that scores the most in the inning gets a point. The team with the most won innings wins the game.
- Time limit to each game. No new innings are started after 120 minutes.
When you show up to watch a baseball game and these are the rules it is pretty confusing. We ended up LOVING it and realized if we looked away we may miss something. And where we were normally leaving the stadium after 10pm. The game was over at an amazing time!
The Savannah Bananas taught me that GREAT things come by doing the unexpected and breaking the rules. They created Banana Ball out of the pain and suffering that fans experienced in the traditional baseball game. So many times I get overwhelmed with a business venture or life because I don’t like the way I see other people doing it. I have taken this lesson from the Bananas to rewrite the whole script. Take everything in my life, rethink it and make it my own.
- Surround yourself with different people with different talents.
One of the biggest lessons I am learning is that nothing on earth is guaranteed forever. The Savannah Bananas keep their line up full of different people with different talents. But not everyone is signed for life. They bring in people for month long contracts or just for a season. Where I used to get so upset and my feelings hurt when people would only be in my life for a little and not forever. I have learned that nothing is forever and people come in for seasons.
One of my favorite characters from the Bananas was coach grandma. She was the sideline coach that brought the umpires milk and cookies! She only lasted a season (that I know of). I loved her so much! Then next season she was gone. Another idea and character was brought in.
The Savannah Bananas have taught me to look for and be open to people with all different walks of life and talents. And to welcome them in my life if it is only for just a season. I used to have the mindset of ‘this is not my forever home so why would I try to build community or a business?’ Everything is a season so why not have the best lineup and the best talent in every season of life I am blessed with?
- Time is an illusion
The Savannah Bananas are known around the world as an overnight sensation. But we see them in a different light. During COVID and before they blew up on social media, we were able to go to games where there was no wrapped around line 2 hours before show time. We went to games where we could get tickets pretty easily. We would show up 5 minutes before start time. Get a great parking spot and get perfect seats right behind home base! There was even a time where I could text the announcer and he would welcome our friends as first time Banana visitors!
Getting to watch the Savannah Bananas blow up has been a true pleasure. And knowing Jesse and Emily’s story is even a bigger pleasure. Jesse’s baseball story starts in childhood but his out of the box thinking with baseball started in 2006. His first concept was a success but it was not known to anyone outside of the town. From 2006 – 2022 there was so much time, thought, creativity that was put in behind the scenes without recognition.
I get so frustrated at times because I look at my success in college and I thought that would pick right up and continue into my adult career. I look at the vision God has set on my heart and I get overwhelmed with the multiple steps it will take to achieve it. The Bananas taught me that it is best to take it one idea, one day/game, at a time.
Time is simply an illusion. Instead of thinking there is no time to do everything, use the time you have today to try something out:
Prioritize yourself and your team. Love on the people/clients/fans in front of you today. Good things take time. The best ideas are the ones that have been tried, tested, and come after a lot of not great ideas.
- Use everything to do good.
The Bananas Foster is a nonprofit from Fans First Entertainment that brings families together by celebrating the foster care community, while educating and inspiring others to get involved. They could have stuck to baseball and entertainment. But the owners Jesse & Emily chose to take a personal passion and bring awareness. They were foster parents during their time of building the Savannah Bananas and they never let their passion for the foster care community take a back seat to their ‘money making career’.
This has inspired me so much. Not only for my love of supporting the foster care community but for keeping the things God has on your heart at the front of everything you do. I got sucked up in hustle culture that there was not even a thought to take time to volunteer or to give back. It was always a conversation but never real action steps or time taken away from ‘profitable sales hours’.
Even in all of their growth, they kept others and their hearts’ passion a priority. They could have easily said ‘we are too busy to be foster parents’ or ‘we are too busy to create a non profit’. But they made it a priority and committed to it.
Because of their commitment they are educating and inspiring SOLD OUT stadiums about the need for foster care in each city. Their commitment to giving back is the most inspiring thing to me through their whole story.
If there is one thing I have learned from Jesse and Emily since 2020 is this. They have used everything for good. All the fans aside, they gave foster care children a home who would not have had a forever home. They kept family in front of the business growth.
Their fostering and adoption story is the most beautiful story out of all of this to me.
All of the fun aside, I have learned so much from Jesse & Emily Cole and how they built their Fans First Entertainment business. The Savannah Bananas have been such an inspiration to me in this season of life. I have sat through so many games and made so many memories. I am a better wife, business woman, creative, and person overall because of the things I have learned at Grayson Stadium.
P.S. if Jesse & Emily see this
Thank you for being exactly who God created you to be! Thank you for creating an environment of inspiration and fun. But more than that, thank you for being so open about your process and allowing me to go to ‘Banana Academy Business School’ and graduate as a better person overall.