“We Not Me”
Following protests in the summer, political tension, and the global pandemic some people might be asking, where do we go from here?
Co-authors Rich Janor and Shelby Bobosky work to answer that question in their new book, “We Not Me: In Sports, Business, and Life.”
“‘We Not Me’ is all about trying to inspire people to create a culture within their family, their business, their sports team, or whatever organization they may be involved with where the greater group is more important than any individual accolades. So we go through a number of different stories from history, from sports, from pretty much all areas of life in hopes of inspiring people and hopes of having a positive impact,” said Janor. “In our country today we’re dealing with cancel culture and a lot of toxic rhetoric that starts at the political level and trickles its way all the way to our own social media feeds and our own businesses, families, households, sports teams. So we’re really trying to have a positive impact to improve the situation.”
Top: Brand Bobosky, Bottom: Rich Janor, Right: Shelby Bobosky
Who are the Authors?
Janor is a Naperville Park District commissioner and president of Game Day USA. He was connected with his Naperville native co-author, who now lives and practices law in Texas, through her father – president of the Naperville Century Walk, Brand Bobosky. Brand also wrote the foreword of the book.
“Even in writing this book, there were so many ‘we not me’ moments between Rich and I because it really demonstrated that although we may disagree on certain things, we can always come together and agree on things that relate to humanity, things that relate to positive experiences in sports,” said Shelby Bobosky. “And so I thought ‘let’s get two people that couldn’t be more different, bring them together, and see where this goes.’ And we have the book as a result.”
‘We not me’ is also a statement that Shelby grew up with. She said her parents taught her the message as she watched them contribute to the Naperville community.
Spreading the Message
The authors hope through the book, they can also start a grassroots movement to spread their message. The goal is to start an apparel line selling shirts, hats, and stickers with the phrase.
“The country is very raw right now and so it’s just a very simple message and a very simple book trying to remind people why the message of ‘we not me’ is so important. Because it is about others and not just ourselves,” said Shelby. “It’s about the message and spreading it and being reminded,” added Brand. “We’re human, we forget and we get emotional and we get opinionated. But if you’re reminded [and] take a look, it’s really a ‘we’ world. Let’s live that way.”
The book is available to purchase through wenotme.com.
Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.
