, , , , , ,

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for…

I wanted to wait to publish this week’s post, so it coincided with Thanksgiving. It’s a proper time to give thanks to those around me. Also, it’s a good time to reflect/ appreciate experiences to shape my entrepreneurial journey.
Since Thanksgiving last year, I’ve done many things:

Those seem pretty “professional-related”, but that’s also what has shaped much of my life. Accomplishing any of those has required the support of many others. Accomplishing any of those has also forced me to appreciate time alone and personal-growth. These have included:

  • Read six books with subjects ranging from sales to leadership to personal development.
  • Upped my yoga game, practicing at a legit yoga studio.
  • Maintained good strength and development in the gym.

So before I go into a reflective post best saved for the end of the year, my thanks:

  • My SalesWise team. Joined them at the beginning of this year, and we’ve been through a lot with our pivots. However, we’re getting some good traction now, and we’ve learned a lot. We’ve poured a lot of effort into the company. We’ve also had fun doing it. Meanwhile, the team has trusted me to do a lot. They’ve continued to put their faith in me to do right by them.
  • Infinity Yoga — that “legit yoga studio” I mentioned earlier.They were recently named one of the Best Small Business by Mindbody, and it’s easy to see why. The community at the studio is special. The culture cultivated by Becky (owner) and the other yoga teachers is amazing, and I’m proud to be a part of it. It’s why no matter how busy I get, I make time to end many weekdays at Infinity. Oh, and yes, the yoga teaching is top-notch.
  • Communities at Atlanta Tech Village and Starbucks. Atlanta Tech Village is a great place to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs. They’ve been there, done that, or are doing that. Starbucks, meanwhile, continues to broaden my circle of people from all walks of life. It may be a local Starbucks, but the people who walk in and out of the doors are anything but “local”.
  • My close friends. You know who you are. Many of you were editors for my book. Many of you have attended my speaking engagements to support me. Many of you “stop by” (via random texts, emails, etc.) to just say hello and see what’s happening. The little events are what make a big difference. Spending hours or minutes with people is great. But even a few seconds to say you’re thinking of me or have a question is precious.
  • My oh-so-many new friends. I’ve met so many people (beyond the Strangers) who continue to shape my day-to-day. I meet them at ATV, at Starbucks, etc. It’s an amazing feeling when you see these new and old friends. They always manage to bring a smile to my face no matter what. When they flash a smile, I can’t help but do the same. Smiles matter.
  • My family. Hard to say anything without my family, right? They’ve always been there to also pull me out of my work and alone time. My niece is growing so fast, that it’s been beautiful to watch.

Many more thanks to give, I’m sure, but that’s where I’ll start. Happy Thanksgiving!

/by
, ,

Fresh Thanksgiving Thanks – Because It’s Cheesy But Fun

Ah, we’re back already for Thanksgiving. Not sure where this year went, and it won’t be too long before I do my end-of-the-year post.
It’s cheesy to write a post giving thanks, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do anyways. Last year‘s post already covers many of the same things I would want to cover now, so I won’t list them again. 
Here are five fresh thankful things:
1.      Ever expanding connections from anywhere and everywhere. This year, I’ve picked up projects from meeting people at UK Consulate events, Starbucks, and the like. Doesn’t matter where I am, people have been happy to meet, talk shop, and stay connected.
2.      Adding odd experiences to my CV. This year, I’ve been pulled into FOUR different photoshoots ranging from school magazines to company collateral. Never done that before.
3.      Keep On Getting Up. Early part of this summer was brutal for me – I’m Tired of Faking It, But I Want This War. But after realizing I was at a soul-crushing place, I put in elements to catch myself and get back up.
4.      New experiences, and continual self-confidence and awareness. I’ve been pushing a lot of openness with others. It’s been a continuous practice in being self-confident. Meanwhile, sharing my journey has inspired others, too.

5.      Being in Atlanta. Atlanta is one of those places that has got ups and downs. I love that. It’s weather offers seasons. The transformation of the Beltline is invigorating. Meanwhile, you can get in touch with just about anyone you want to. The small community and cultural desire to help each other is vibrant. Forever, I love Atlanta.
What would your cheesy Thanksgiving giving thanks post say? What’re two things you’re thankful for?
/1 Comment/by
, , , , ,

3rd Thanksgiving into My Entrepreneurial Journey: Giving Thanks

Thankful for a lot this Thanksgiving
Welp, it’s Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. No frills, pills, or chills with this post, but listing a few things I give thanks for this year.
  • Friends– I put friends first because I’ve had a couple really close friends who have been great supporters and motivators over the last year especially with Body Boss and Dee Duper. Everyone always seems highly engaged in what I’m working on, and offering some tremendous support including helping me learn how to program.
  • Family– Always able to be counted on, my family has largely been a great support system. Though, I do have family members who believe I’m bat-shit crazy for continuing on my low-income-pursuit-of-my-dreams. I know that in the end, they just want me to be happy and comfortable. We haven’t seen eye-to-eye in some other cases, but overall, they’ve been exemplary to lean on especially when I’m dying from food poisoning and bed-ridden. Yeah.
  • The Body Boss Fitness Team – Okay, so these guys are already pretty much captured in the above with Friends and Family (yes, they’re in both because that’s just how close we are). They’ve been a great team and are highly skilled at what they do. Everyone’s largely moved onto new paths, and it’s apparent the high quality these guys are with each joining some incredible startups even spearheaded by two of (who I call) the Atlanta Entrepreneurial All-Stars.  
  • Brookhaven Police Department – Shout out to the newly incorporated city of Brookhaven’s police department for responding to my 9-1-1 call back in May when I had a break-in at 4AM and woke with a stranger standing in front of me as I woke up — read “When a Break-In at 4AM Inspires 5 Entrepreneurial Lessons Learned“. The other night, I woke up thinking I heard something. False alarm, but it was enough for me to relive that night. Needless to say, I didn’t go back to sleep the rest of the night. Not going to lie – that night was scary, but glad the officers responded quickly and professionally.
Scene from “The Walking Dead”… the only picture I could really find of a legit guy hiding under the bed. This might’ve happened when I woke up to a break-in at 4AM…
  • Atlanta’s Startup Community – I once read, “only entrepreneurs understand entrepreneurs.” True story. Not many people really understand the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, so it’s great to have a growing, vibrant startup community here in Atlanta that is tight-knit. I’ve met some great people ranging from startup employees, founders of all levels (early, growth, failed, successful sales), lawyers, etc. Most everyone has been happy to meet or introduce me to others. Very thankful for the connections.
  • Great Tools and Resources to Learn How to Code – I’ve only started programming in Apple’s Swift since August, and I feel I’ve been able to get up and running pretty… swiftly (get it?!). I’ve been able to pick up these new skills thanks to free YouTube channels, One Month [Rails], Stack Overflow, Parse, Facebook, etc. Especially for the platforms like Parse and Facebook, they’ve been very easy to integrate into.
  • Fantastic Professional Network From a Life Before (and kinda still) – Every once in a while, I need to fill up the coffers to keep my entrepreneurial journey going. Though to an even greater degree, I’ve wanted/ needed to know I’m still capable of doing great work, even if the startups haven’t quite reflected that. So, it’s been great to be able to pick up the phone and tell prior colleagues that I’m up for some consulting work, and every one of them has been eager to bring me on asking, “How many hours do you want? When can you start?” I’ve been fortunate through my prior life as a consultant to have formed some stellar relationships and built up good, adaptable skills.
There’s a number of others who I’m leaving out, and for that, apologies, but know you’ve been helpful on my journey. The ones I put above are those I’ve been thinking about for a while now, and many are likely to be staples to my Thanksgiving posts year in and year out. However, it’s good to call them out anyways, and thank them. Hopefully, this won’t be news to others if I’ve shown my appreciation throughout the last year.
And finally, THANK YOU! for reading my blog posts. If you have any questions or comments, I’m always up for hearing or connecting. Just give me a shout either via Twitter @TheDLuor email me at the.daryl.lu@gmail.com.
Who/ what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? How are you showing appreciation not just on this holiday, but in your interactions?
/3 Comments/by
, , , , , , , ,

Employee Morale to Make Black Friday (Thursday) Happen… Thanksgiving Thoughts and Tributes

Today’s post, not so much supply chain specific, but just as ninjas should be, I’m going to be flexible and talk about employee morale and culture.  I just finished reading an article by Fortune magazine re-posted on CNNMoney.com titled “Wal-Mart and the perils of ignoring staff complaints” (article is linked here).  I know myself and countless others have been thinking about how Black Friday has not-so-subtly crept into Thursday with many retailers opening their doors at 8PM on Thanksgiving Day.  It’s like 2013 car models have hit showrooms in August 2012 or Christmas decorations the day the spider web, pumpkins, and other Halloween decorations are taken down. But this time, creeping Black Friday into a holiday… that’s interesting.

The article primarily talks about how unhappy staff members are kept out of the loop of big changes (i.e. opening doors at 8PM on Thanksgiving Day for Wal-Mart).  The staff are now forced to work on a holiday where we, the consumers, get to relax and have time off to spend with our families.  The staff used to have this same holiday and time to spend with family.  Not so much anymore.  Big companies such as Wal-Mart, kinda-sorta big RIM (maker of Blackberry devices), and the like have had track records of ignoring staff.  Without a means of discussing complaints internally and with the explosion of social media, it only makes sense for these same employees to voice their frustrations out in the open on Facebook, Twitter, etc.  And that just makes everything spread like wildfire.  And to make things worse, some of these companies just fail to even address the complaints, and instead, send a canned, generic response which then adds fuel to the fire as more staff jump in igniting more attention from the outside world.  See the vicious cycle?

As we think about great companies and the bad, we think about the brand image.  The article went further to highlight a Weber Shandwick study (see study here) on company reputation and found that 63% of Execs say their companies’ market values are tied to reputations.  That doesn’t shock me.  How much do we hold Apple, Google, IBM in high regard?  Look at their stock prices… 561.70, 665.87, and 190.29, respectively as of November 21, 2012 4PM EST).  If you’re like me, you believe they have pretty good reputations and that they’ve got pretty good track records (in general) with their employees.

And you know what?  It’s not just about the employees of Wal-Mart, too, who actually now miss out on some nice family time.  I mean granted, to get ready for Black Friday at 12AM or 6AM still calls for some work on Thursday, but 8PM on Thursday just forces staffers to move up that time table.  However, it’s not just the staffers, right?  Thinking about it from a supply chain perspective, all the different movements in the supply chain also requires shippers, transporters (i.e. truckers), customer service centers (call centers), and the like to also move their time table up. 

So as you consider Wal-Mart and other retailers’ employees, consider the holistic view of everyone involved who makes Black Friday happen.  I guess we should start calling it Black Thursday or Black Thanksgiving.  Not sure how I feel or if I’ll be out elbowing my way to the latest and greatest deals, but I’ll take the time now to give thanks to the hardworking men and women who make commerce happen, if you wanted to work or not.  

And of course, I give thanks to YOU for reading… stay tuned for my thoughts on culture.  I ended up writing more than I thought so I’ll make this part 1 of… a couple. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks,
Supply Chain Ninja

/by