Curated Pt. 4
A weekly roundup of cool stuff I hope you'll like
Good fricken morning and happy Thanksgiving week,
Hopefully you planned some cool stuff this week with your family.
I was planning on heading to Mexico for a few days but apparently, crossing the border with expired tags is a no-no so I should probably take care of that.
Anyway, let’s get into this week’s curation of business, health, and life stuff to write home about.
Feel free to forward this to a friend (if you’re into it).
Upcoming Events
PHX Small Business Meetup
Date: November 29
Time: 6-8 PM
Location: The Churchill in Downtown Phoenix
For real-time updates:
Twitter/X: @shawnwallard
Linkedin: Shawn Allard
Instagram: @shawnallard
The Written Word
I did 1-1’s with all 20 of my team members last week and my hope was to walk away with one new lesson.
I had a feeling about this going into it but it reaffirmed that I believe it’s the most effective way to build strong relationships with your team and finally get ultimate buy-in.
This was a timely newsletter from a very talented entrepreneur - Jarrod Deaton that outlined his approach to company surveys and their impact.
Check out his latest post and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Book / Audible
Shoe Dog by Phill Knight portrays the inside story of Nike’s early days as an audacious start-up and its evolution into one of the world's most iconic brands.
Great read/listen to see what focus and persistence actually look like.
Podcast
Hear from a gentleman you may know - Paul Graham. I began consuming his content a few months ago and think he has rather profound thoughts on everything from building companies to AI. Check out his Founders episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts:
Video
If haven’t heard of Nick Bare… go hear of him. His YouTube channel inspired me to start building a local community around the things I love (business and fitness).
I encourage you to think about this for yourself.
Over the next 30 days, I committed to running a 10k every day after running my first one last Sunday. And this video 1) humbled me and 2) gave me something to work toward.
You may relate to this but I’m not someone who does things for “fun”. For example, I’m not a lifestyle fitness kinda guy… if I’m going to be in the gym every day, why not train for something? If I’m going to run every day, why not run for something?
Crazy? Probably.
Health
Last week I attended the greatest small business conference there is. Main Street Summit was put together by Brent Beshore and his team who seriously blew it out of the park. From touring downtown Columbia to the speaker lineup, it was buttoned up.
I decided to throw this in the health section based on a few of my takeaways:
People and community - There is something to be said about surrounding yourself with like-minded people. You feel like you belong. I’m not always myself in certain environments based on the conversations but this just felt right. There wasn’t a dull moment all week and being around others who are also in the trenches of business really solidified the importance of being part of a community.
Slow and consistent - I’m notorious for wanting everything yesterday and having the attention span and focus of a gerbil. After a few talks, I noticed a commonality with many of the bigger players in the space. They think very long term. Being in the game for 20 years makes it pretty hard to fail and it sure feels a lot better to not feel every business decision is life or death through a 24-hour lens. Stay the course, every day, and don’t quit and you’ll find a way. Simple, but never easy.
Comparison - I’ve never gone a single day without comparing myself to others my age, others in my industry, and just about every other successful person on the planet. But I asked myself a good question on the flight home “What exactly is this doing for me?” The answer is nada. Everyone is on their own journey and it would be ridiculous to think that every journey should look the same. Pretty freeing once you let go of that.
The journey vs. the goal - You’ve heard this one a thousand times but this came up in almost every conversation. We all face it as driven people. Our blinders are on through the entire journey toward that goal that we never take a moment to enjoy the process, the struggle, the wins and losses, and all of the other insanities of life. Imagine how good you’ll feel every night knowing you’ve made personal and professional progress every single day. That’s what it’s all about. Not the $100M sale.
Focus - One thing. That’s all I need to say.
Community Supporter
Daniel Cheetham is the Founder and Principal of Captains Club. He will be speaking at the upcoming meetup about how he helps business owners find the highest quality successor when the time is right.
Schedule a call with him to learn more about the process here.
SMB Directory
Buy or rent property in Arizona. Let’s chat.
Buy or sell a business. Where do you need the most support?
Raise capital. Let’s find you some money.
Photography. Need good photos taken?
Video production. Need solid video content?
If you’re a retail business owner, we’re probably facing similar challenges right now so let’s chat! You can always reply to this email.
See you on November 29th! Don’t forget to RSVP for the meetup.
Shawn