It was the summer between seventh and eighth grade, and I was enrolled in a small private school. As the son of parents who ran their own small business, we were on the constant roller coaster of success and however you want to define “not-success.” To cover my tuition, I spent that summer working on [...]

I had a moment a few nights back to slow down and catch some recent episodes of Anthony Bourdain. Think of him what you will, but since his passing I’ve become enamored with his storytelling ability and how he masterfully developed a fusion between food and lifestyle with the unique ability to capture the humanity [...]

I dropped my kids off at school this morning, for their first day of seventh grade. It’s their second year of middle school and so much of the apprehension from last year around new buildings and new classrooms is gone. Instead, it has been replaced with a new chorus of "what-if’s" and unknowns that lead [...]

A client of ours, as we were reflecting on the Brand Bounce Bootcamp we had just facilitated, brought this up to our team. Her feedback ended up being very valuable as we continue to refine our approach to coaching clients. “You did a great job of setting my expectations for our day’s work. You set [...]

I’m writing this from a cabin tucked deep into northern Wisconsin, with limited access to the outside world. Freeway noise has been replaced by an occasional boat motor and the sound of laughing kids, and I’ve traded in my go-go schedule and constant desire to sneak in “just one more” email, project note, or design. [...]

“You have no idea how many hats I wear.” That statement has somehow become a badge of honor for many entrepreneurs and leaders. We love to brag about how much we have to do and how long our to-do lists are. If we’re not patting ourselves on the back for wearing those hats, we’re complaining about [...]

I committed eight weeks ago to post a weekly article to LinkedIn on Tuesdays. It’s been a good run, but this past week I got busy, and now it’s 9:30 on Tuesday night and I have a decision to make. Do I stick to my commitment, write an article, and post it yet today? Or, [...]

Sitting across the table from me in our conference room were two entrepreneurs. They walked into our firm with a new product, an excellent product in fact, looking for a strategy and guidance to successfully market it. Let me paint a picture for you. These entrepreneurs are bootstrapping their launch. They’re taking a gigantic leap [...]

“John is one of our vendors.” The thought of hearing that gives me shivers, and it makes me cringe. For anyone who has a product or service to share, the “V” word can sting. Being a vendor puts you in a pool with all the other vendors. The peddlers, the hawkers, and the dealers. You [...]

Every once in awhile, a specific theme gets brought up multiple times in the course of just a few days. Usually, after about the third time that this happens, I shift from thinking it might be a coincidence to knowing it’s something I should be paying closer attention to. Here’s the concept that has come [...]