Stacey Chillemi asked me a question on The Authority Business Show that most founders never sit with long enough.
Are you the reason the business runs? Or are you the reason it cannot run without you?
For most founders, those two things feel like the same thing. They are n...
See Original Forbes Business Council Article
A few years into building Solpak, I was having the same conversation with my wife again.
She asked why I was still at the office. I had no good answer.
Then she said something that stopped me cold. “When you first started out, you used to tell me how y...
Dr. Caroline Biesalski asked me a question on the Inspired Choice Podcast that most founders build their identity around.
Why does the business need you in it every hour of every day?
Most founders answer with reasons. Client trust, team direction, quality control. Those are r...
See Podcast Episode
What Does Freedom Actually Mean to You?
That is one of the questions Lily Patrascu asked me on the Awakened Titans Podcast.
It sounds simple. Most founders cannot answer it.
They say more time, more money, less stress. Those are results, not definitions. Without a clear definit...
See Original Forbes Business Council Article
The hardest conversation I have ever had as a founder was the one where I told someone good they could not stay.
Not because they were bad at their job. Because the fit between them and where the business was going no longer worked.
There is no easy ve...
I’m speaking to the next generation of student painters today.
I’m bringing this with me.
It’s my business card from when I ran a paint franchise on the South Shore of Montreal. My first company. I was 17.
A comb, shaped like a brush, made to stick on a fridge. My Instagram,
...
See Original Forbes Business Council Article
Early in building Solpak, I would introduce myself at networking events and watch people's eyes glaze over.
“I'm in packaging.”
“Oh, cool. What kind?”
“For food.”
“Like for the meat platters at the butcher?”
“No, not really. More for prepared meals...
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Most entrepreneurs start a business chasing freedom.
What they get instead is a job they cannot quit, a team that cannot move without them, and a calendar that owns every hour of their life.
I know that trap because I lived in it for years.
Solpak started with me doing everythi...
See Original Forbes Business Council Article
My wife had just given birth.
It was a complicated delivery. She was finally holding our newborn. Family, music, chaos. Her smile looked forced.
Then my phone rang
One of my largest clients. Equipment failure. I was the only person on the team who k...
The host of Honest Wealth Builders asked me a direct question once.
He wanted to know Solpak’s customer lifetime value.
I had been running through the business for about 30 minutes. Revenue model. Order frequency. Margins. All the stuff I know cold. Then he asked for a number ...
See Original El Cronista Article
Build for Freedom. Not to Be Indispensable.
I started Solpak at 31.
I had saved a good amount of money. I thought it was enough. It was not. Growth outpaced capital. I ended up emptying every registered savings account I had to keep funding it.
That is a decision y...
See Original Forbes Business Council Expert Panel Post
One of our team players asked me a direct question once.
She wanted to know what Solpak's growth meant for her future.
Performance bonuses reward this year. Profit sharing rewards this quarter. Both matter. But neither answers the question a go...
