Tangental Side Step

PHOTO: CELEBRATING MY 18TH BIRTHDAY AT WORK

So... when I was 17 I started selling skateboards for Foundation. There were less than 25 regular accounts, the sales of which were tracked on index cards I kept filed alphabetically in a recipe box. When I left at 19 (to pursue community college more seriously) I had 674 accounts, many of whom ordered from me weekly. Foundation is still in business and a handful of the core group is still running it. I often credit my background in the skateboard world as the root of all things great in my professional life, and when I wrote this note to Tod today, I thought I should post it here as a sort of SHOUT OUT LOUD.

...the note starts with a little "how ya doin'," this is where the mushy part starts:

Two things: I know I have said it before, but my experience at FSC totally shaped my adult life in such a rad way and I carry all sorts of lessons in my back pocket all the time.

Working for you I learned that getting the job done right comes first, I learned how to be persuasive (my personal method is to "try and make people like me," for better or worse) and from you as an individual I learned entrepreneurial skills that make doing your own thing at any cost always worth it.

From skateboarding world I learned about loyalty and fostering the creative talents of your own network. That stuff is commonplace today and is why things like Facebook and all that have blown up. Underground cultures figured that out long ago- from secret backyard skate sessions, zine making, punk rock bands in basements to all KINDS of geeky tape trading. Those were the lessons I grew up on and they are also the things every blog and book about business will tell you are skills you need in order to make it in the world: Bootstrapping, leveraging resources, bartering and connecting. We had it down!

I loved selling skateboards for you, Tod. I think it was the most important thing I ever did in my life.

I was accepted to DreamIt, an incubator program that's providing me with seemingly endless resources but only for a short period of time. The advantage I feel I have is obvious, and I learned it with you. The team I have surrounding me- meaning the people I brought with me and the folks I'm meeting through the program- make me feel like the antsy, alive, super-worker bee in me can totally make this happen- that I was able to have that feeling at Foundation, at the START of my professional career, is invaluable. The fact that I even have "sales mode," is great. The fact that I'm committed to the people around me is great. The fact that I don't have to wear a suit to work (and never did)? The greatest gift of all. It proves something to me- and it's all treating me well. Just wanted to say it. Woo!