I wasn’t loafing, but I did learn a lesson for $83

August 8, 2026

Well, not to cut straight to it, but I’ve never been one to beat around the bush. It’s probably why, when I speak at events, my presentations are usually under 10 minutes. That’s about my attention span when listening to someone else’s monologue anyway. Now, teach me something? Start a conversation? Ask me a question? Good luck getting me to stop talking. So, I guess I contradicted myself already. Anyway ... I didn’t do it. I did not make enough money selling banana bread to cover my bill. As startup businesses go, though, I’d actually call it a success. I didn’t ...

Complacency and the banana bread experiment

August 1, 2026

Have you ever thought about trying something? Not something fun like kayaking or skydiving — although I would argue what I’m about to tell you is just as exciting and exhilarating. At least to me. This story is also why it can be a little dangerous to be around me when you speak your dreams out loud. You see, I have a bad habit of finding ways to make things happen. I’ve matured enough over the years not to do it for other people. Someone once told me, “You can deliver the mail, but it’s not your job to open it.” That lesson took me a while to learn but I stick to it like ...

Make sure you are looking at the bigger picture

July 25, 2026

There is so much in life that we are constantly striving for. We chase goals. We build businesses. We train for races. We join organizations and committees. We pour our time and energy into making an impact, hoping to leave things a little better than we found them. Maybe it looks like running a marathon. Maybe it looks like building a company that employs 500 people and solves a problem that desperately needs solving. Maybe it looks like being part of an organization that fills a gap while larger, flashier successes are happening all around it. Humankind has always been in pursuit ...

The more you bounce, the more you will be bounced

July 18, 2026

“The more you bounce, the more you will be bounced.” I will never forget hearing those words as I was learning to ride a horse when I was younger. At the time, the lesson was simple. If I bounced around in the saddle, the horse would bounce me right back. The less steady I was, the rougher the ride became. And the more pain I experienced. The instructor wasn’t trying to teach me a life lesson that day. She was simply trying to keep me from falling off. But years later, those words have become one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received. Because they’re true. The ...

It’s the people who make the experiences stand out

July 11, 2026

There is no doubt about it — I’ve entered a new season of my life. Funny how a few years back I started thinking about making some of the changes I have recently made. It began with those little internal whispers we all get. The “I want to.” The “I need to.” The “I probably should.” But wanting and doing are two very different things. I think a lot of us get stuck in that space for far longer than we should. We know something needs to change. We know we’re being nudged. We know we’re outgrowing a habit, a routine, a relationship with something or maybe even a ...

The true heartbeat of America

July 3, 2026

There is nothing more ironic than a writer sitting in front of a blinking cursor with absolutely nothing to say. Or maybe not nothing to say, but too much. Too many thoughts trying to organize themselves into something meaningful. Too much pressure to make it timely, impactful, thoughtful, relevant. And believe it or not, that’s exactly what happened to me with this article. This one. Right here. For a very long time, I couldn’t write it. I kept thinking maybe it was because I wanted it to somehow connect to the Fourth of July weekend and the celebration of 250 years of ...