Valerie and I have been drinking wine every night to reduce our wine collection and the anxiety related to: selling a house, buying a house, moving, preparing for our backpacking trip, starting a business, and exercising Tulip the pug. We are in a whirlwind of change and it’s coming from all directions, but we’ve built a good foundation and are holding on!
The lesson of the “Three Little Pigs” is to be more like the pig who, in the face of a looming force of wind, built his house out of bricks. He was consistently working hard every day, slowly and with care. His dedicated effort protected him from the blow-hard wolf and after the victory he celebrated with his two piggy friends, happily ever after. We should all strive to be that industrious pig but I can tell you, having spent a couple months renovating a house, being that pig isn’t easy.
We did it all: installed new flooring in the main living area and we hired some people to paint and install carpet, and I personally repaired or replaced almost everything else inside and out. Thankfully, the hard work has paid off- we received an offer above what we asked for, before the house was listed on the MLS. The buyers love the house, and appreciate our updates and attention to detail. Val signed some documents and is bringing home the bacon. The house closes in a couple weeks!
So now we have to pack our belongings and store ’em.
Val also resigned from her job this week, and we finally bought our tickets to Kathmandu. We’ll be leaving the first week of March. Our plan is to fly to Kathmandu, Nepal, and spend a few weeks there, trekking in the Himalayas. We were advised NOT to buy any guided tours in advance because the tour guides often advertise significantly higher prices online, and better deals can be found negotiating in person.
We haven’t made an itinerary because this trip is partially about discovery and exploration. We want our experience to be guided by the people we meet and inspired by our surroundings. That said, the must-sees are the Himalayas, some UNESCO world heritage sites, and the reefs of Southeast Asia (we love scuba). Other than that, we’re letting fate guide us.
Simultaneously moving and preparing for the trip is proving to be a bit of a headache: travel insurance, purchasing tickets, mail redirection, selling unnecessary belongings, packing, finishing last-minute business at home, and getting medicine so we don’t die of dysentery or Malaria.
By the way, the drugs prescribed by the travel clinic aren’t always covered by insurance, and they can be pretty expensive. Our travel doctor informed us that different pharmacies carry the same drug at different prices. For example, buying our malaria medication at Walmart was about 30% compared to CVS. There are a number of websites that compare the prices of drugs at various local pharmacies; but our doctor noted that the prices listed online aren’t always correct, so you should call to verify the price before filling the prescription. Save yourself some money!
That’s the scoop on the travel plans. Below are some quick updates on my business.
Last week I traveled to Washington D.C. for a laboratory automation trade show to find new clients for my marketing consulting practice and to discover new business opportunities. I wrote about my experience and will be publishing a summary on LinkedIn.
I decided to halt the LLC-formation process for my marketing consulting venture. Though the LLC offers legal protection (shielding me from liability), it costs $800- which at this point, just isn’t worth that kind of investment. In the meantime I’ll operate as a sole-proprietor and buy insurance to protect the family assets.
A couple people have asked me what it’s like to not be working for an employer. For me, the most difficult aspect of self-employment is determining the best use of my time. I have a solid Vision and Mission statement that helps guide my decision-making to a certain extent, but it would also be helpful to have another form of guidance. To that end, I’ve been meeting with people who’ve had successful careers in marketing in hopes of learning from them. I’m also evaluating some new business opportunities. Honestly, I didn’t expect them to appear this quickly, so it’s been a balancing act splitting my time between the marketing consulting and evaluating the businesses.
I’ve also received a lot of advice pertaining to the soft-skills involved in entrepreneurship and leadership. I’ll be writing an in-depth post about this subject in the future.
I faced a somewhat unexpected social hurdle recently when explaining my ambitions to a former colleague at a trade show. After hearing my plans, she (very publicly) attributed my success, good habits, and risk tolerance to my “privileged” upbringing. I was a bit insulted at first- but then, I realized, she was right. I am privileged. I have parents who taught me to be smart with my money, work hard, foster my professional relationships and reputation, and to be comfortable taking calculated risks. I also had access to high quality public education and a stable home life with supportive parents to help me better calculate those risks. These are all advantages many people will never have, and I acknowledge and appreciate the positive influence my upbringing has had on my prior success and new start in entrepreneurship.
However, attributing all of my success to these advantages would definitely be misleading. She hasn’t seen the countless hours I spent educating myself, attaining skills, building confidence, and obsessively strategizing; evaluating my strengths and weaknesses, which were necessary before finally having my dream of entrepreneurship come to fruition. I’ve come a long way to develop the skills and confidence I needed to take the final “leap of of faith” that comes with quitting a salaried job at an employer.
In the words of Jay-Z, “I’ve got 99 problems and a job ain’t one.” Or… something like that.
What advantages do you have as a result of your upbringing? What are you grateful for? What disadvantages did you overcome? What are your strengths? Please email me your story; it inspires me.
Writing these blog posts is a labor of love. Do you like what you’re reading? Do you have any questions for Valerie and I? Is there a topic you’d like me to explore? Please share your thoughts so I can make this blog better.
Love,
Joe
TL;DR:
Keep on keepin’ on and keep on thinking out loud.
Thanks Tom
Travel food blog pls! With pics and descriptions of native edible plants!
Good idea!
Great post bud!! Did you guys buy another house?! Where are you moving to after the trip??
I like it so far! Your voice is clear and articulate. I am more curious about the process how you are going from taking your own clients versus when you worked for your company–what are some of the things you did or did not expect? Also, what about the pup? How are you guys taking care of it while you’re away?
It is nice to hear someone who was raised privileged acknowledge said privilege. However, privilege is a bit mis-leading. Your success is mostly because of your own hard work. Your parents support and ability to teach you success is important–but not necessary. I know plenty of “privileged” people raised by successful parents without monetary restriction and they themselves are not successful. Basically what you said.
I understand the mindset–too often I have lamented with extreme frustration the lack of wisdom that was imparted on me by my parents. But where does that lead me? Blaming people who did the best they could do with what they were given? That’s not fair to me or my parents. Sure, I would love to know though first-hand experience the shrewdness of a financially stable household or the day-to-day realities of owning a business. Or maybe it would be super rad to not work part-time on a minimum wage job just to make rent during an 18 unit semester all while watching my friends have all the time in the world to do school work and then some.
Yeah, that would’ve been rad. But, it’s also fucking crazy to wish the past played out differently. To end on a shitty cliche: we were all dealt hands, shitty or not, and life’s successes is all about how we play them.
Thanks for your comment! It’s good to know what you’re interested in hearing about. Thanks for your comments on privilege, too. It’s a hot buzz word and everyone seems to have their own definition; I should’ve probably defined mine the post.
I always strive to be more aware of my cognitive bias and other people’s perspective on life because it gives me a truer picture of reality. As Marcus Aurelius said, “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”