Tag: Smallbusiness

Ramble On, 1.18.2022

“Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life” – Confucius.

I call BS!

I don’t know who to attribute this quote to because there are so many people that have said it or a variation of it. I chose to put Confucius because he was the earliest figure of the bunch I have seen. Whoever said the quote above, I call BS on it.

There are two main arguments I have. First, a job is a job no matter how you define it. Whether you love what you do or hate it, you still have to put in the work. You have to suit up and show up whether you want to or not. Loving it just makes it easier.

Secondly, if you love what you do you are just going to work more and harder. That is my experience. Even more so if what you love to do involves owning your own business. In this scenario there are no set workdays with punching in or out. There are no forty hour work weeks. You just work and work until what needs to get done is completed. Work life balance is non-existent. There is always something pressing that needs to be done when own a business, especially in the beginning.

Having said that, It is also my experience that when you love what you do the work is typically more rewarding, making it easier to show up day after day to put in the time and effort. The hardest part about the work for me is finding the ability to let go and create some balance in life. There comes a time when you have to pass off some responsibly to others in order to minimize the time spent working. If you don’t do this you are sure to burn out.

Therefore, the key is to find work that you can enjoy to make it more fulfilling while putting parameters and boundaries in place so you punch out at quitting time.

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

It’s So Easy, When I Keep It Simple

A very important concept to understand is that “simple” doesn’t translate into “easy.” It is important to make this distinction. Especially this day and age where the social media feeds are running rampant with the “get rich quick” pitches. It seems like the majority of my feed is selling some simple path to success, wealth, health, you name it. Any of the things one desires are easily achieved with little effort as long as you buy today. After the timer hits zero, the deal is over.

I know most are not get rich schemes but many are definitely presented in a way that can easily be interpreted that way. Now add the countdown timer and it becomes even more important to hurry up resulting is a rash, impulsive purchase. It’s easy to be seduced by the idea that in just five simple steps we can have the life we’ve always dreamed of. Or in just thirty days we can have our beach worthy body without any diet or any exercise. Now add that expiration date and it becomes even harder to pass up. There are always exceptions to rules and outliers but the reality is that any significant result or desired reward takes time and effort. There is not a magic pill or formula that takes the work out of it.

I am not saying that everything out there is a scam, but there are definitely bottom feeders that are looking for a quick buck by manipulating people. I have been seduced by them in the past and drank the Kool-Aid. Fortunately, I have learned from those costly mistakes. My biggest mistake was falling into the trap of thinking any of these things are fast and easy. When I think these simple strategies, formulas, or processes are actually easy and take little effort I have lost sight of reality and allowed myself to be manipulated. It is really not the people publishing the content; it is my own mind that is the culprit by convincing me otherwise.

The reality is simple strategies are great. They work and are effective if executed correctly. That takes both hard work and time. The biggest lesson that I have learned is that just because something is simple doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. Simple plans take hard work to be successful.  That said. If there is a way to simplify the process I am all for it. I just do not believe there are any true short cuts that eliminate the work. There might be a proven process that someone has already tested and is offering. Great. Do the research and if it makes sense fits goals then go for it.

The second important lesson that I have learned is that I am my biggest obstacle. I search for the easier way because I am constantly making things more difficult. I can over think a very simple plan right into a state of paralysis. Then I find myself talking to the monkeys and squirrels in my head as I rock in a corner drooling.  That is not a fun place to be.

That is why using a mentor or coach is so important. I have learned that I need to untangle my thoughts and ideas by putting them down on paper. Then I can search out solutions or advice from another. Once I can see the ideas in their simplest form, stripped of all the fat and fear I wind them with, I see a simple plan of action that can be executed one step at a time. Now, if I cam only remember this moving forward and keep it simple.

It’s simple but not easy!

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

Ramble On, 1.10.2022

“The oldest, shortest words – ‘yes’ and ‘no’ – are those which require the most thought.” Pythagoras

Isn’t this so true? There are so many opinions on saying yes or no these days. If I am to consolidate the thoughts and opinions of all my mentors throughout the years I think it would come down to this…

In the beginning, say yes to EVERYTHING! When you are staring out and have not made any sort of name for yourself you should say yes to anything that comes your way.

Once you have established yourself, learn to say no. It seems to be a common theme that once a level of success, however one defines that, is achieved, saying no is what will provide the greatest opportunity for continued growth and freedom.

I am not going to argue with this but I do think there are exceptions to every rule and personal influences on them as well. The reality is these cannot be blanket statements. The rules for saying yes or no cannot be made as one-size-fits-all solution.

For example, I actually need to learn to stop saying no. I say no all the time. Too much I am told. My no saying issue falls into the knee-jerk reactive category. This type of reaction without any thought has caused a lot of problems for me. I need to learn to process the data and provide a responsive answer of yes or no. The truth is that many of my knee-jerk no’s have turned into yeses once I stopped and thought about the question, offer, or proposal in question.

The lesson for me is to work on responding rather than reacting. This is a lesson I have been working on, and getting better at I might add, for years. It goes beyond the simple yes – no dilemma.

Think before you speak!

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

Ramble On, 1.7.2022

“Can you hear the Holy Mountains?” – System of a Down

The mountains are holy to me. They hold a sacred place in my heart.

I have been thinking a lot about this lately because the weather has not been conducive to certain outdoor exercises I like to partake in. These are mountain biking or cycling and trail running. I am not a fair-weather trail user but the snow and rain has made the trails near my house quite messy. This has forced me to ride a stationary bike indoors. I much prefer to be outside.

Yesterday on the way home from my other favorite outdoor activity, snowboarding, the song “Holy Mountains” came on and it just confirmed the importance of getting out to these special places. It is good for the mind, body, and spirit. For me, it is really any hilly terrain with trails that take me away from the regular chaos of the day and the crowds. They don’t have to be rugged mountains in the wilderness, just a trail far enough away from the daily noise that provides an escape and a means to quiet the monkeys and squirrels.

The song has nothing to with what it inspired in my mind but I am glad it came on. It reminded me that working hard is great but it is important that I always find time to get away and play. Heading to hills is more than a way to stay fit for me, it is a way to decompress, relieve stress, and reflect.

Remember to always find time to play.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

Ramble On, 1.6.2022

A skill or talent left unused atrophies…

This has been my recurring thought of the year thus far, haunting my mind daily. That is why you are reading it. I have a very active mind an imagination. The squirrel cage in my head is usually in hyper drive with a full crew of monkeys surrounding it at all times.

Writing is a great way to get the noise out of my mind and slow things down. I do this every day. I have been doing it every day for a very long time. I just haven’t shared, posted, or published it every day. There really in no need to. Much of what I scribble is nonsense, simply random thoughts that need to be released from the cage to relieve some pressure between my ears.

Every once in a while, however, a thought emerges in my writing that I think others might need or want to hear. That said, I decided on New Year’s Day that I would start sharing some of these ramblings for a couple of reasons. One, because some of these thoughts might be just what someone needs to hear. And two, because I do not want my wiring muscles to atrophy as the opening thought suggests.

I am by no means asserting that I have any skill or talent in writing, but I do love to write and improvement and mastery comes with practice. I write often but the regularity in both writing and posting has dwindled over the last two years. I do believe that I have many years of experience in life and business and have some thoughts that many can find value in to assist along their own journey. With that, I thank you for being my victims and I hope I am able to help.

I plan to make the “Ramble On” feature short and sweet, sharing simple thoughts that I think will provide value to others. I do not plan to do this daily, but a few times a week to start as long as the inspiration fuels me. Don’t worry, I will do my best to refrain from sharing the chaotic, mumbo jumbo swirling my brain from the arguing monkeys and squirrels.

To close, the second half of the opening thought is that an unused skill or talent also deprives the world of gifts. When you leave a skill or talent in your tool chest to collect dust, not only does it wither away, it also deprives the world of the gifts you have to share. You never know who needs to receive what you have to offer.

Make 2022 the year you open up your chest, dust off the contents, and take that leap to share your gifts.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

Can I Say…Something On That Mark Cuban?

“Success is about making your life a special kind of unique that fits who you are – not what other people want you to be” – Mark Cuban

This might be one of the greatest definitions of success I have ever heard. I often struggle with the word success. Not only in terms of how I measure and define my own success but also how others will judge my success, or failure for that matter. Not that I look to others to justify or qualify my success, but I often find myself wondering if people will read and consume my content.  Will they buy my book, if I ever get around to finishing it? Will they hire me as consultant or coach?

The simple question there is to ask will people deem me successful enough to become a client, follower, or fan. I am obviously not a celebrity chef or founder of a fortune 500 company. I am simply the entrepreneur next door that has quietly started and run a handful of businesses for more than two decades. Is that enough? Will the simple fact that publishing a book, assuming aging that I get around to it, be enough to whisper “success” the in the ears of prospects?

Many people define success by something that is easily quantified. How much money have they made? How many tangible assets do they have? The reality is it doesn’t matter how much you make, it’s how much you get to keep! I am not broke, but I am not super rich either. I have a nice home and drive a nice truck, that’s about it. I am not into fancy clothes or jewelry and I buy most of my clothes on sale. I usually have one or two pairs of brand new shoes in my closet because I try to buy them when they are on sale or during buy on get one specials. That said, I do love watches, although my most expensive is probably around $200. One day when I feel like treating myself, I will pick out a watch I really like and buy it regardless of the price tag.

The point is that we all have the privilege to define our own success. We get to personally decide what success means for us. I have been my own boss for over twenty years now. I have started or have helped start many businesses. Many have crashed and burned, some are still in their infancy, while others are still plugging away. The reality is, it only takes one. I have gained a level of freedom and flexibility in my life and that is what I call success. I am able to work, and do the things I love to do, mostly, when I want to do them.

Success is being happy and living life on the “unique” terms you define. Thanks Mark!

Talk Soon,

Kevin W.
@Leap272

You have to leap if you want to live.

To Defy The Laws Of Tradition Part 6: Heed Thy Calling

“Let the music be your master” – Led Zeppelin

I always thought my calling was to be a rock star. That is all I ever wanted to be. Music was my master, my savior, my medicine, my escape, my love…my everything. Then one day I just quit. The truth is the story is more complicated than that but the details are better left for another piece.

To wrap up this series , however, the relevant cliff note version is that through some soul searching after I quit music I discovered that whether I play and write music or not I must create. If I don’t, my soul slowly withers away into the darkness.

Cooking and writing is my current form of creating that nourishes my soul and allows me to heed my calling. I might not be creating traditional music but what I create is inspired by music and the rhythm of my soul. This internal music is what inspires ideas and action. I hope that what I create for others in my shop is like music for their taste buds and what I write is like poetry that resonates within.

I often approach my writing and cooking much like I did when writing and playing music. While writing I often talk it out in my head first much like I would hear a riff or a lyric. I talk it through in my head with a cadence as if signing along to the beat of a song. When I cook I think of flavors that will play well together and enhance the other ingredients. Once I have worked that out I practice. Practice, practice, and more practice. I write out sentences or I create a dish and work on it until I have produced what closely matches song I heard in my head.

Even more, I like to create that which hasn’t been made before, or doesn’t seem like it would fit but the flavors meld and accompany each other and come together in brilliance. As I touched on it in the beginning of this series, this approach has often produced many things that simply do not work.

I don’t like to waste time, money, or food so I have to be careful. I also do not like being told what I can and can’t do. That is where the laws of tradition come back in to play. What I create must be confined by some basic rules. Very basic that is. I love music and art because the freedom it allows the creator. The rules are there to keep the artistic process moving and flowing, not to restrict or prevent. Yes, they are rules but they are basic and do not crush the spirit of creativity and passion. They are there so an artist can produce something that truly works. They allow a musician to create a song that is played in key, a pastry chef to create a cake that rises and holds its shape, or a writer to create a poem that can be read. None of which has to make sense, it just has to work.

So, will you heed your master’s call? Will you defy the laws of tradition and push your art to the boundaries of creativity to create your masterpiece?

I hope so; the world needs more of what the artists create.

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

To Defy The Laws Of Tradition Part #5: All In The Family

“Remember to laugh kiddo” – Jerry Williams, my Dad

I write this on the tail end of our annual Thanksgiving closure at the pie shop. Thanksgiving is our Super Bowl. It is our busiest time of year. The closure is always a wonderful way to rest, recover, and enjoy time with family and friends.

This year we did Thanksgiving at our house. My daughter was missing her papa, my dad, and really wanted to be at home this year. It was great; we all had a very nice holiday.

This really allowed me to think about the traditions we have that date back as far as I can remember. The Thanksgiving traditions I remember most from my early childhood are the stuffing, the turkey cooking process, grandma’s jell-o mold, and my mom baking pumpkin pies for our home and some for her lifelong friend. She did this as long as I can remember, up until the day she lost her friend.

Oh, the stuffing. Every family seems to have their own version of stuffing. My dad’s is the best that I have ever had. I don’t know how far back it goes. I am sure it is documented somewhere, but my dad always made it by memory. Fortunately, one year my oldest sister and I finally stood by and watched him with a notebook so we could document the recipe and pass it down. Making the stuffing the night before is a process and one of my favorites traditions. It was always the kickoff to Thanksgiving and the holiday season. My daughter has helped every year since she was little whenever it was our turn to make it. These are memories that will last a lifetime that strengthen the traditions so they will last generations.

These are not traditions I want to defy. I want to uphold and keep them alive. I also do not want to be too rigid. I believe there is room for traditions to evolve and adapt. As I reflect on all the various traditions, I realize how many revolve around food and that there are traditions the traditions and within the cooking processes. It is almost ritualistic. These are traditions I want to share with my family and my customer at the pie shop.

Many of the products we make at our shop have been inspired by dishes that were first created long before my time by my family members and ancestors. The recipes are only part of the traditions that were passed on to me. The more important aspect of all the traditions are the people, the rituals, the processes, the feelings, the stories, and the experiences they provide for others. They are made stronger by the people they are shred with and solidified by the stories we tell and remember year after year. These traditions are meant to bring joy and happiness. They are meant to create bonds and memories. And most importantly, they are meant to evolve and adapt so they can be shared for generations to come.

I hope you are as lucky as I am to have so many wonderful family traditions that get better and better every year.

Happy Holidays!

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

To Defy The Laws Of Tradition Part #3: Man In The Box

“Rules are mostly made to be broken and are too often for the lazy to hide behind.” – Douglas MacArthur

Don’t put me in a box. I don’t like small spaces. I get claustrophobic, anxious and I panic. I don’t like elevators and will take the stairs whenever possible. I don’t particularly like planes, trains, or automobiles, except for the movie, of course. Oh wait, this is not literally about being put inside a physical box? Why am I asking you? I am the author.

No, this is not about being put inside a physical box. This is about a categorical, metaphorical, organizational box. Do not put me in one of those either. I don’t want your labels. I don’t want your titles. And, most importantly, I don’t want your rules. If you would like, give me a box that I can throw all your rules and other crap into and set it afire. Or, as Jello Biafra would say “Why don’t you take your social regulations, shove ’em up your @$$?”

The question I have is does the opening quote speak the truth or is it actually the opposite and simply a justification for the lazy to do whatever they want and not follow the rules? I think there is probably a strong argument for both sides. I will argue in support of the quote because I do not like to follow the rules and believe that creativity should not be placed in a box or confined by rules. That said, I will admit that I do have a lazy bone that takes over now and again.

I was always pretty creative. My generation had to be in order to avoid death by boredom. Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of great technological inventions when I was younger but we did not have smart phones, 24/7 streaming TV, social media, or the internet among many other things. What we did have was the outdoors, skateboards, bikes, big wheels, green machines, Star Wars figures, toy guns, and most of all, imagination. If I couldn’t go outside for whatever reason, I was daydreaming of being outside, on another planet, in another galaxy flying x-wing fighters or playing music on stage in front of a sea of people.

That imagination carried over and fueled my creativity when I began to play music, write, and later when I began cooking. Music will always be my first love and passion but my career was very short lived. I will save those details for another story and jump to cooking because that is what I do professionally as I write this.

I always loved food, especially junk food. Cookies were always my favorite. I am not sure where my love of cooking started but food was always an integral part of our family tradition whether it was a holiday, birthday, or just a Sunday dinner with family. I also have a hard time pinpointing when I first started to enjoy cooking, although the first things I remember learning to cook were eggs and sandwiches. Maybe that is why one of my favorite things to do is put an egg on a sandwich.

Growing up, my go to items were creative sandwiches, a variety of cookies, milkshakes, and eventually grilling. Fast forward to when Kerry and I had our second child, I was working at home and ended up watching a lot of cooking shows. That led to a lot of experimentation and my repertoire just exploded. That said, our family has a long standing tradition of marathon Christmas baking that just began to roll in to other holidays. We made so much there was just too much to even eat. The large variety was partially fueled by my desire to try new flavors of fudge and create new cookies with different ingredients. My oldest sister did the same with cookies and rocky road.

During all of this, I started trying to cook new dishes, then entire meals with accompaniments that paired well together. I always started by following recipes. Once I became comfortable, however, I broke out of the box. I can honestly attribute part to being lazy. I simply did not want to pull out a cook book and take the time to follow it step by step every time I made a meal or baked cookies. The other reason was I just did not want to be confined to follow and prepare another person’s dish. I wanted to create my own. It is important to note that by this time in my life my musical outlet was absent for many years but the creativity was still there and needed an outlet. Cooking is one of the areas in my life that provide a release.

As the years passed and I became more and more passionate and more and more confident, I continued to break the molds of convention and defy the laws of cooking tradition. Am I saying I am unique and created everything on my own? No. I was inspired by many chefs, besides, most things have been done already. Yes, I did come up with many things on my own and put my unique twist others. It doesn’t really matter because I am not looking for credit or doing this for accolades. I am doing this first and foremost because I love to create unique foods and share them with others.

My menu and cooking continues to evolve and I continue to ask the question “why?” Why must it be done like this? Why can’t I put these flavors together? Why hasn’t anybody made this type of pie? Or, how can I create this or that? How can I make something people will never forget? How can my food provide an experience that will never be forgotten and add joy to someone’s journey? I will tell you how. By breaking out of the box and continuing to defy the laws of tradition. By continuing to create flavor profiles that top the taste charts. I am blessed with the perfect vehicle for experimentation; I own a restaurant. Nothing fancy, it is a small bakeshop and eatery, but provides the much needed creative outlet.

In my humble restaurant where I am constantly defying the laws of tradition, I am bringing back the long standing traditions of my family by adapting old recipes from family and friends for our menu at the shop. Also, buy learning when traditions and rules must be followed and I have to stay inside the lines. I do not like to do this, but some things must be done just as they have been laid out in recipes for centuries with precision if I want an edible product for my customers. I have learned this the hard way by trying to do certain things on my own when I really needed to follow a precise formula.

See you next time when I discuss getting back in to the box to follow certain rules. It hurts but the results are delicious.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

To Defy The Laws Of Tradition Part 2: Rock and Roll Rebel

“If it’s illegal to rock and roll, throw my ass in jail!” – Kurt Cobain

I have been rebellious lately with my writing. Meaning, I haven’t posted for a while because I just haven’t had the spark. I feel like I have been in limbo with the open ended series, “The End”, about the closure of Go-Go Babyz. I haven’t officially sold the business so I f=don’t have a final installment to write for the series. It’s quite frustrating. I have slid a post in here and there but nothing consistent and everything has felt a bit off so I just sat back and hid in the shadows of my mind, creating and contemplating as I often do. But now I must rebel against my reclusive mind and write. So here is part two of the series I started a couple months ago.  

They say rock and roll is for the rebellious; the outcasts, misfits, degenerates, fill in the blank with any degrading adjective. They also say you can’t kill rock and roll. I don’t know who “they” are, but I agree, you can’t kill rock and roll. It’s true, “rock and roll can never die” Neil Young said it himself.

Rock and Roll is a pretty broad term covering so many different genres and styles ranging from R&B, funk, punk, hard rock, soft rock, shock rock, classic rock, and even heavy metal. Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, often referred to as the godfather of heavy metal, would introduce Motorhead at their shows by saying “we’re Motorhead and we play rock and roll.”  That is some hard ass rock and roll music, and I love it.

I grew up with music all around me; Neil Diamond, John Denver and all sorts of weird stuff that just didn’t do it for me. It was just background noise. What did do it for me were the sounds of Led Zeppelin, The Police, Pink Floyd, Judas Priest, Deep Purple and other bands from the late sixties and seventies. These were the sounds played on the “rock” stations of my childhood. It helped having older sisters that listened to rock and roll too. Then I heard the sounds of Rush and my love for music exploded, especially anything with a harder sound to it; Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Dio, Van Halen, Scorpions, Motley Crue and others I am sure I forgot about.

At this point you could say I was a heavy metal rock and roll fan. Although, I did have some experience with a few punk bands like the Dead Kennedys thanks to Benji, I started collecting my own records of all my favorite bands that I mentioned above. Then it happened in what seemed like a wrinkle in time. One of my friends bought a compilation called “Metal Massacre I” and when the needle reached the last song on the album my life changed forever. It was a song called “Hit The Lights” by a band called Metallica. We had never heard anything as raw, gritty, and powerful. These guys seemed to defy the laws of everything traditional. My life would never be the same.

That was the moment that sent me deep into creating the soundtrack of my life. Ranging from thrash, speed, black, death, British, new, prog and everything in between. I had a draw to the fast, heavy, and raw sounds of metal and punk and the melodic foundation of good old rock and roll and blues. These bands did their own thing. They didn’t follow the rules of the status quo. They didn’t even seem to follow the rules of musical composition. They did what they wanted to do, and it somehow worked. And, I liked that.

The question is, “did rock n roll, and music in general, turn me into a rebel or simply awaken the rebel within?” I don’t know for sure, but music has always been my greatest love and for forty years now I have followed the beat of what I love most. Perhaps it is the creative composition of the music, the attitude, the energy, the emotion, and the power of the scene. Or, maybe it is just part my makeup and the music just enhances and brings to life what is already there.

What I can say for certain is that whatever the cause the result has been a life long journey of doing what I do and defying the laws of tradition as I do it. I just never did well following rules and being forced to color within the lines. From creating my own music to creating my own recipes, I choose to do it my own way and join the crusade of the brave.

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live