I didn’t know it, but when I hit the legal working age of 14 years and 9 months in the state of Michigan, my career began. I was a grocery store bagger; stock associate; restaurant host and waiter; marketing intern; ticket sales account executive, vendor operations lead; and now a…

“Forecheck, backcheck, paycheck.” Today, January 13, 2021, the National Hockey League (NHL) kicks off the abbreviated 56 game season, and I couldn’t be more excited for hockey to come back. Hockey has always been a big part of my life (I wrote about it here four years ago). I was…

Two weeks ago, my wife told me that I am a “pretty memorable person.” While I know she is incredibly biased, it got me thinking — what makes someone memorable? Is it what someone says, or how they say it? Is it simply about being genuine and authentic? What about…

In James Clear’s book Atomic Habits, he references a story from the University of Florida that struck me a few weeks ago: On the first day of class, Jerry Uelsmann, a professor at the University of Florida, divided his film photography students into two groups. Everyone on the left side…

Fact: We’re in the middle of August. Rant: I hate August. August is one of the few months in the year without a major holiday on the calendar (No, “National Marshmallow Toasting Day” is not a major holiday, and yes, Halloween in October is), and while “bringing my A game”…

On Friday, February 25, 2022, I walked to the main campus at Google with my now-former colleague Orrin Hancock and turned in my badge at the security desk. “May I ask how long you’ve been with the company?” the kind security guard inquired (to my surprise). “Just over ten years,”…

When I moved my life to Chicago in the Fall of 2007, I got myself mixed up in a marketing scam job. …

We didn’t take many vacations as a family when I was younger. Outside of the trip out West to see grandparents in San Diego, California and the occasional trip to visit family in Villa Park, Illinois (West Chicago), we rarely traveled outside of Michigan. However, when we did travel, I…

“Reflection teaches you only the best of what you know. Reading teaches you the best of what others know.” — James Clear In 2018, I read zero (0) books. In 2019, I read four (4) books. In 2020, I read ten (10) books (up from my goal of only six…