Pleasant T. Rowland
Founder
Rowland Reading Foundation
American Girl
2009

Bio | Induction Speech | Acceptance Speech

Induction Speech
by Leanna Landsmann, Industry Veteran and Hall of Fame Member

We do not fully honor those who are inducted into the AEP Hall of Fame unless we identify, and are inspired by, the traits that got them here.

In your program, you have a snapshot of Pleasant T. Rowland's spectacular achievements. And in the video, you have a sneak peak at those still to come.

But neither really spells out Pleasant's "secrets."

Today - as we present to Pleasant educational publishing's highest award - I want to distill for you the 'essence' of this accomplished woman.

It is the take-away that Pleasant - a private person in a tell-all world - won't mind me sharing.

As a magazine editor I tend to think in "cover lines" so I'm calling this introduction: Five Traits that Took This Founder to the Top.

What about Pleasant should inspire us?

Number one: Pleasant knows who she is and what she stands for.
No one will ever say of Pleasant, 'Wow once you get her out of the office she's a completely different person!"

Ask people who know her well, "Tell me about Pleasant" and they respond with a remarkable, respectful and affectionate consistency.
They use the same words: committed, focused, passionate, exacting, brilliant, generous, sense of humor, fun, unending energy. Knows how to convey sense of mission.

One said, Do you know what her initials, P T R stand for? Prepare to Redo! She's demanding! She's authentic. What you see is what you get.

It is clear that Pleasant follows that Shakespearean advice: "to thine own self be true."

Number two: Certitude. She knows what she knows and isn't afraid to act on it.

She wrote a program in the mid 1960s to teach kindergarteners to read even though the conventional wisdom at the time said it was way too early. She proceeded based on her observations as a teacher and her assessment of what the children in her classroom were capable of.

If she'd accepted as gospel the research of the era, SuperKids would never have come to be. Today as we scramble to provide 'evidenced based' teaching materials, this is worth noting.

Here's another example. Smack in the middle of the 1990s when Britney Spears, one of Disney's wayward children was catapulting her sassy self to the top of the charts by shedding her clothes and shredding Disney's mores, Pleasant was succeeding wildly with The American Girl. Now this a company founded on the notion that if presented with compelling stories, young girls will want to read our nation's history and 'live it' it through their dolls.

Pleasant didn't see pervasive pop culture as a business threat. No, to her, it was proof that there was room - and need - for The American Girl.

Number three: Pleasant is an unabashed proponent of great design.
Design is the process of developing a plan to create something with intention. Great design yields successful results. It communicates. Pleasant understands this like few others of us in this room.

She seeks the best designers, whether for a catalog cover or a doll's wardrobe, whether restoring buildings at her alma mater, Wells College, or working with world renowned architect Cesar Pelli to create the magnificent Overture Center for the Arts, in Madison, Wisconsin. Pleasant knows that good design confers order and therefore allows us to enjoy an aesthetic benefit we might otherwise be denied.

Number four: Like many entrepreneurs and inventors Pleasant has a deep respect for intuition.

She thinks we should be guided by the voice deep inside us.
Trust it. Don't bully it when it says 'no.' Honor it when it says, "yes."

We've all had times in our lives when that voice said, "No" but we went ahead anyway, only to pay a lawyer to undo the decision later. Or when the voice said 'yes' but we ignored it because success seemed far away, yet afterward we learned just how close it was.
Einstein said, "The only real valuable thing is intuition." Pleasant may not go THAT far, but it's clear that in listening to her internal voice, she has amplified her success.

Number five: Pleasant understands that commitment and focus are twin traits essential to great achievement.

Pleasant like to quote one of Goethe's couplets: "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

Until you commit, says Pleasant, there is always hesitancy, the chance you'll draw back, and let ineffectiveness creep in.

For Pleasant, strong focus is the partner of commitment. She clears away the extraneous, even if it's interesting to her if it does not push her toward her goal.

In a world where bragging about multi-tasking is fashionable, where friends invite us to "twitter" away our precious time, and smart phones intrude on our thoughts 24-7, Pleasant embraces concentration; she pushes away clutter; ignores that which does not compel her. It is a good lesson for those of us who have too much on our plate and think we have too little time to accomplish it.

Francie Alexander was once a California kindergarten teacher who used Pleasant's original reading program in her classroom. Francie noticed how proud her students were to keep their "Letter Books" - parents said that some kept them for years as reminder of the moment they learned to read.

Francie found it inspiring that a teacher would take it upon her self to create her own materials because she found those given to her lacking. Today, Pleasant continues to inspire us all with her conviction that one can change the status quo.

Francie sums up Pleasant's strengths when she says "Pleasant just has a habit of making things better."

Pleasant, we honor you today for what you've accomplished in your roles as alumna, educator, publisher, businesswoman, friend, and philanthropist and wife. And we honor you for your fierce commitment to making even more things better tomorrow.