Day 1 in Carrboro, NC

On my first day in North Carolina it snowed. I wasn’t in Aptos anymore.

Aptos Rainbow

On one of my last days in Aptos there was a bit of rain. It was a funny bit of rain though as it came down with sunshine. Short and sweet. I was happy it ended rapidly as I had planned a yard sale that day. The post-pour rainbow was most certainly photo-worthy!

Enjoy!

Tommy and Tank Abbott

One of my oldest and best friends, Tommy Talbot, has a hobby that would make any 12 year old jealous (and me too). Tommy collects sports memorabilia, namely autographs, and resells much of it on various auction sites. He makes a nice chunk of change on the side doing this and gets to meet some of his childhood heroes. I’ve yet to see his basement sports bar but have been hearing about it since before he even had a basement. As kids we knew that one of us would pull such a stunt off – and fortunately his wife is cool enough to let him do it!

Tommy recently went to a conference and got this photo of him and MMA legend Tank Abbott. Tank went to the same high school as I did in Huntington Beach, CA (Marina High). Tank signed a photo for me and his inscription read, “Go Vikings” (our high school mascot). Super cool.

I love the difference in Tank’s and Tommy’s hands. Tank’s fist is the size of Tommy’s head.

My Gramps, Tom Whitworth

My Grandpa’s been having some issues with his arm. Seems he cut his elbow a few months back and as it was healing he acquired a weird infection that put him in the hospital three times now. This guy’s a real fighter though. During his life he’s had 2 heart attacks (and has been pronounced dead once), has had an aneurism in his stomach that doctor’s claimed should have killed him, and now this infection which, per his doctor, could have also meant the end had he not gone to the hospital when he did. He’s led an interesting life and I cannot even put into words how happy I am that he’s finally recovering.

The pic of he and I is from a year ago but one that I like a lot. I’m not really that tall. He’s rather short.

Trip to New Orleans

I’ve been postponing my blog entries over the past month and have just today rededicated myself to getting them done. Odds are I’ll do them and then wait another month to do any more. But whatever. I have good intentions.
One event worth mentioning is my trip to New Orleans, LA for the Fleet Feet Winter Conference. I was very excited to visit this city – as a teacher I always enjoyed teaching the chapter on the Battle of New Orleans. Check out http://battleofneworleans.org/ for more details on this interesting battle at the tail end of the Revolutionary War (actually, it occurred after the war ended).
Conferences typically don’t afford attendees the opportunity to do much sightseeing, so I took action and booked my flight to leave a day early. I planned to do the tourist thing before being cooped up in a hotel for nearly a week. Well, that day came and I overslept. For the first time in my life I actually missed my flight. And of course the next available flight was the next day and it got me in just a few hours before the conference began. What did I miss out on? The ‘gator ranch tour, the haunted cemetery tour, and wicked fun on Bourbon Street. But wait, I DID have wicked fun on Bourbon Street. I guess a little is better than none.
A few pics of Café du Monde, Jackson Square, and the view from my hotel. Any incriminating photos have been deliberately left out.

Re-engineering bad habits

Eric Herrenkohl's email came at a perfect time. It reminded me of George Rich's lecture from back in my Anthropology days when he said that every action has a process leading up to it. Take smoking for example. We smoke when we are in a bar. Or stressed. Or drinking. Or when we have too much down time on our hands. We don't ever stop smoking because there are too many external stepping stones that lead to it. However, if we change the order of things (the processes that lead to the action) we find that the outcome is different. It's logical. If I don't go to a bar, I don't smoke. If I keep myself busy, I don't smoke. The challenge is managing the processes that create negative output.

Eric's article sent a similar message and concluded with, "Pay attention to the setting, situation, and environments in which you thrive and spend more time there. Re-engineer the circumstances that play into weakness. You have to consciously set yourself up to succeed."

We know ourselves best and need to take control of our lives. Step one is identifying the output that needs to change and backtracking the process. Then comes the re-engineering. We can't just bandage the festering wound. We need to kill the infection too.

Recession?

In reading a copy of USA Today during a recent trip to El Paso, TX, I came across a "USA Today Snapshot" that saluted consumers. Apparently they took a poll of 200 small-business owners with annual revenues of $10M or less, asking them how they managed to weather the recession. 46% said they "took actions such as having enough cash, reducing staff benefits, etc." and 54% said "(their) customers remained loyal". I am bothered by this blurb as it doesn't really say that anyone changed their way of doing things. I understand this stat to showcase business owners who either did day-to-day things less or more, OR they sat on their asses waiting for their loyal customers to keep them afloat.

Wrong answer.

When I owned a business in Aptos we not only weathered the storm, we raced ahead of it. But we never relaxed on this fact because we knew that celebrating our fortune would only slow us down and allow the storm to catch us. So what specifically did we/I do?

1. I demamded nothing short of excellence from my staff.
2. I set measurable expectations and goals for all staffers while explaining the relevance of the standards.
3. We hosted free events that brought folks into the store. Goal being to set the stage for future shopping.
4. I never allowed myself to cut corners - no matter how much easier things could get. I understood this to be a slippery slope.
5. I never felt the need to compete with lower prices. We bore down the hatches, stuck to our guns, and did what we do best without compromise. We took the high road 100% of the time and made our customers feel special.

The human component of small businesses is integral to success. If we are passionate about our job, we'll genuinely pull folks into our store. Consumers rarely get treated as human beings - so if we can manage to do that too we'll win them as customers for life. We needn't battle to do this. It should come naturally or else we're trying to drive a passion that doesn't exist.

But never, never did we sit around and wait for folks to come in. That's just plain ridiculous.