Trailblazers and pioneers
A history lesson, Thought Dumpling style
Every day, I’m immersed in a mess of marketing and copywriting gobbly-gook.
I spend my days stretching, pulling, and mish-mashing lines of copy to make sense of the mirky, muddled nonsense that percolates in marketing and technology. As a result, buzzwords, jargon, and jilted corporate copy spin around my brain like flies around a steaming pile of cow poop.
On any given day, I’m tasked with writing about best-in-class solutions that are industry-leading in their ability to optimize ROI for the world’s biggest companies by utilizing dynamic algorithms to strategically and comprehensively deliver personalized, hyper-relevant, and meaningful customer experiences, powered by artificial intelligence.
It all gets a bit acidic after a while.
But the benefit of desperately bargaining with the English language for a living is that you start to pay an obese amount of attention to the specifics. The subtle nuances that dictate how a particular word is used, when, why, and for what purpose.
These nuances matter because when you ignore them, and you unleash words without proper due diligence, they fail. Sentences lose all meaning. They’re filled with fluff and glut, and so they fade into a sea of sameness, with no discerning features or messages worth remembering.
The reason I’m saying all this is because I’ve written about companies and executives trailblazing and pioneering this and that for as long as I can remember. I’ve never worked in a business that didn’t want to be at the forefront of their field, and there’s no secret or shame in that. Setting standards for others to follow is a tried and true tactic that drives credibility, establishes authority on a subject, and makes selling products easier. It’s marketing 101.
But trailblazer and pioneer are powerful words, not to be administered lightly. Their presence in the monotone world of business is questionable. Yet, here I am free-pouring them with the same slap-happy attitude of a drunk teenage driver.
So on that note, let’s give some air time to a genuine blazer of trails. I’m talking about a veritable rule-breaker who shaped popular culture, transformed opinion, and pulled apart the stitching of society as we know it.
Queen Victoria.
Sit down and brace yourself, ‘cause you’re about to learn some cool shit.
Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 until her death in 1901 and she was a bonafide take-no-shit bohemian.
If you think you’re overwhelmed at work, imagine being 18, settling into bed one evening, only to wake up the following day to the news that your uncle, King William IV, didn’t. Before you’ve even had a chance to tuck into your full-English, you’re anointed as the ruler of the British empire.
That’s how the dice rolled for Queen Vic, and such was the catalyst for a life spent thumbing her hooked nose at every convention she could muster.
At the age of 21, Victoria took a knee in front of her boyfriend of 4 years, Prince Albert, and put a ring on it, probably to the period-equivalent tune of Beyonce’s Run the World. I’m sure Albert and Victoria were deeply in love, but I do wonder whether the poor sod, who was her first cousin, had any choice in the matter. Historians will note here that because Victoria was the Queen, Prince Albert was barred from proposing to her, and that’s why she had to do the deed, but that doesn’t fit the narrative of this post so let’s move on. Also, stop fact-checking me.
Ladies, you can thank Queen Victoria for the significance of the white wedding dress. Up until her stately waltz down the aisle, white was the color of mourning, and wedding dresses came in a variety of colors. Who knows what these people were thinking. But even amid mass criticism and the ghastly groupthink of the time, she remained steadfast in her commitment to her lace gown, and she clearly knew she was onto a heater because she had the pattern burned afterward.
Not one to stay still, Queen Victoria happened to be the first monarch to ride a train, became the first known carrier of hemophilia, or the Royal Disease, and she had nine children. Proving that you really can have it all.
The real clincher that puts her in the rarefied air of true iconoclasts was her ability to stay alive. Not only is she the second-longest reigning Queen—sitting at the throne for nearly 64 years until the current Queen Elizabeth surpassed her in 2015—she managed to survive a total of nine assassination attempts during that time. And you thought it was bad that Carol from accounting was after you, with all her vengeful and unrelenting expense vendettas.
Now, I don't know what truly constitutes a trailblazer or pioneer—the closest I’ve come to experiencing such a thing is when I tried to frost my ginger tips—but thanks to Queen Victoria, I have a much better idea. And I think it’s fair to say you do, too.
Cool shit, right?
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Allan