Curated Pt. 45
A roundup of my personal and professional life
What’s up!
This cadence is nice… feels like I have more to talk about.
If you’re new here, I share BTS (behind-the-scenes) of everything I’m working on and provide a space to meet talented people through my community, ParkSMB.
I don’t run ads or sell anything, so I have one ask…
Share this with one person.
Here’s a blurb you can send them:
“I think you'd enjoy this newsletter I read! It's a behind-the-scenes look into small business. Check it out here.”
Upcoming Events
A list of my in-person and virtual events around the country
Founder Co-Working (w/ Coffee & Bagels)
Date: November 22)
Time: 9-12 PM MTN
Location: Remix Coffee
DETAILS HEREPlunge.Sweat.Coffee. (+ Ice Cream)
Date: November 23
Time: 10-1 PM MTN
Location: 1348 W Roosevelt St
DETAILS HERE (use NOVEL5 for $5 off)Private Business Owner Dinner (Arizona business owners only)
Date: TBA
Time: 7-9 PM
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
APPLY HERE
For real-time updates and to stay in touch:
Twitter/X: @shawnwallard
Linkedin: Shawn Allard
Instagram: @shawnallard
Youtube: @shawnwallard
Projects
If you didn’t read the last one, go here first.
Project updates won’t always make sense without going back in time.
Lot of company policy and role restructuring in the past 2 weeks.
I’m trying to dial in shop management protocols and system improvements so as we ramp up the 4th setup, we’re not stuck fixing a thousand issues.
As I mentioned in the last post, marketing is priority right now so I’m delegating as much of the daily operations as possible to focus on brand building.
I’m struggling, like I have for years to sit down and commit to creating content for myself and the brands.
I understand there are seasons for everything and certain things take priority but this has been tough to crack.
I’ll figure it out though…
Updates this week:
Novel #4 (Truck)
3 more events down with at least 4 more this month:
We have most of the kinks ironed out since I’ve worked every event so now it’s a matter of documenting the pre-, during, and post-event protocols and getting team members trained on the truck.
The plan is to run every event through the end of the year so I can battle-test it all before handing it off to a manager.
In progress with the truck:
City and state permits
Initial review is done but waiting to schedule in-person visit
Location schedule
Pending a decision on where we want to be in the valley
Can’t setup in Avondale
Full-time manager
Think I found the right fit
Finalizing decision soon
Small full/part-time crew
Won’t hire full crew until the new year
Utilizing current team members
If you want to follow Novel’s journey, you can on IG and our newsletter.
We’re 2 weeks into adding Tuesday and Wednesday to the schedule and it’s going well.
Our team is dialed…
Our menu is dialed…
And we’ve found product/market fit (for you tech nerds).
Not much to report this week other than that we’re hiring 2 more team members in the coming weeks and that we added a new sandwich - The Maven to our staple menu:
Our Winter Menu is also dropping after Thanksgiving.
It’s gonna be a hit:
If you want to follow the journey, you can on IG and our newsletter.
VEER CONCEPTS
No updates on this front other than the conversations around the Hospitality Fund.
If there’s interest and/or you have experience in raising capital or building funds, let me know.
PARKSMB - Built by Mesa Media
Please add your info to this sheet if you’ve attended one of my events or want to connect with others in the community.
Last Founder Co-Working (w/ Coffee & Bagels) was amazing.
Shoutout to Luis for co-hosting:
And as always, make sure to check out my 3 favorite people:
Chad Bellin (Disca): Disca is a software development consultancy focused on helping small and medium-sized businesses that need expert-level technical expertise.
You can connect with Chad here.
Daniel Cheetham (Captains Club): Captains Club specializes in aligning Integrators, COOs, and Presidents, unleashing you from the business to deliver your highest value. Connect with Daniel here.
Kendi Brown (Coati Consulting) Coati’s goal is to enhance the connective tissue between people and processes, so your company and team can reach the next level of growth through efficient operations. Connect with Kendi here.
Podcast
Love a good founder story
Music
Health
Working is still consuming right now so training has been tough to carve but we’re doing our best.
A friend and I signed up for a Hyrox Sim on December 15 at Suffer City in Gilbert which should be fun.
It’s a buddy sim so we split the race in half… I assume it’s like a relay.
With that, we’re moving from strength-focused to hybrid for the coming month.
I Can Help
Buy, rent, and/or lease property in Arizona. Email me.
Buy, sell, and/or invest in a business. Let’s find you some deals.
Raise capital and/or debt for your new/existing business. Let’s find you some money.
Need a backpack or travel gear? Check out Bellroy. They’re the best.
Thanks for reading and talk next week,
Shawn