14 August, 2019 2 2 Comments

Many Soulful Miles

August 14, 2019 By 2 Comments

Yulia at Angel’s Landing, Zion National Park.

“Never underestimate your dreams. If there is a will, there is a way to get anything you want in life.” –Yulia

 

Did you ever want to chuck it all?
 Start fresh.

Pick up and go.

Are you intrigued by adventure?

Do you admire the risk takers, the ‘go for it’ segment of our society who just seem to know how to live, really live?

I think it’s a feeling many if not most of us have experienced and while we may fantasize or even dip our toes into something different, the ties that bind tend to keep us in our place.

Not so for my friend Yulia Konovnitsyna.

She’s on a grand adventure as I write this. Or maybe that’s not the right word. Because an adventure implies a beginning, a middle and an end. My friend Yulia has changed her life and has adopted a new way of living.  I’m living vicariously through her travels with her dog Milo across our great country.

I’m having a great time doing so. Even if sometimes her posts stir a longing deep in my soul for change and transformation.

The Grand Tetons, Zion National Park, Antelope Canyon, Arches National Park and many, many stops along the way.

Yulia shares her photos and thoughts on social media—and they are sensational. She is a digital marketing entrepreneur and somehow she is managing to grow her business, serve her clients and live a life of adventure.

She’s sharing under the name “Many Soulful Miles” and I find that moniker fitting. Yulia is a soulful person and very much an old soul.

While she’s young in age, she positively oozes wisdom.

I started to hear about her a few years back through my friend Karen Granger, then the president of the Delray Chamber of Commerce.
 “You’ve got to meet Yulia,” Karen would gush. “She’s amazing.”
Knowing Karen’s keen sense of people and her ability to spot talent I was intrigued.

So Yulia and I met at The Coffee District and I was very impressed.

My three passions are community, entrepreneurship and leadership—and Yulia ticked all three boxes. She was building a community through Creative Mornings Palm Beach,  she was clearly a leader of that movement and she was an entrepreneur with an inspiring immigration story.

We became friends. She asked me to speak to Creative Mornings (which was an honor and a thrill) and I was happy when she announced that she was hitting the road with her adorable dog Milo.

I look forward to her posts—the photos and videos are magnificent. But it’s the occasional long form posts that I relish. Her thoughts on travel, on work, solitude, narcissism, friendship, self-reliance and the beauty of the places she visits are just wonderful. Soulful too…and we all need a little more soul these days.

As I stare down my 55th birthday in a few weeks, chances are I will never quite replicate what Yulia is doing but who knows? Maybe, just maybe Diane and I will steal away with our rescue dogs for an adventure. But right now, it’s August and I’m still trying to plan a vacation.

I have a strong hunch that this is more than an adventure for Yulia. She may have found a way to live her best life, yet another reason to admire her.

Who knows where the road will lead? Nobody really does. But if you make them soulful miles, well then maybe, just maybe you’ll discover the answers to a lot of life’s mysteries.

 

 

16 April, 2018 4 4 Comments

NYC Serenade: My Springsteen Obsession

April 16, 2018 By 4 Comments

“If the Beatles were about love and the Stones about sex, then Bruce is about hope. And hope springs eternal…as in Springsteen.” –Elliott Murphy, singer-songwriter.

In a few days, my wife and I will be making a pilgrimage to NYC to see Bruce Springsteen on Broadway.

While we are a hyperlocal blog, I ask for your indulgence because I want to spend a few moments on E Street, where I have lived off and on since 1975, when I was 11 and “Born to Run” was released.

The album is a classic. And I was instantly hooked on all things Bruce.

My Springsteen fixation has lasted 43 years and it is safe to say that it will be with me—happily—for the rest of my days.

My close friends know how much I love music—a wide range of it—at least in my mind.

Classic rock, 70s music, 80s music, pop, 60s music, disco, New Wave, Sinatra—even Neil Diamond—to the consternation of my wife and my ultra-cool friend Pame’ Williams.

(Just as an aside, there is nothing wrong with Neil Diamond. No one else can sing about chairs (“I am, I said”) and E.T. (“Turn on Your Heartlight”) like Neil and make it sound good—to my ears anyway.

But I digress.

My big five are the Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Beatles and Bruce; especially The Beatles and Bruce.

Sadly, while I have unbridled passion for music, I have absolutely zero talent. I can’t even play air guitar, but still I cannot imagine a life without music.

From an early age, I’ve found inspiration, solace, joy, motivation and a hundred other useful emotions from listening to great artists from the Allman Brothers to Warren Zevon.

But Springsteen is a touchstone. He’s the well, the mountain top, the apex— for me anyway.

His songs are cinematic, his writing is poetry mixed with journalism and his live performances are indescribable.

I can’t wait to experience his genius in a small venue.

So now the local part…Consider this:

-I built a talk I gave to Creative Mornings at the Arts Garage around the magic of his songwriting. The topic: genius. You can see it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5sz9scEoZ4

 

-E Street Band drummer “Mighty Max” Weinberg lives in Delray, played a benefit at the Arts Garage, loves Caffe Luna Rosa, has read our downtown master plan and has become a friend. They say never meet your heroes because you’ll be disappointed, but the truth is Max is just a great guy.

-Inspired by Bruce’s first album “Greetings from Asbury Park”, I based the design of the cover of my book “Adventures in Local Politics” on the album’s iconic poster card.

-Local event producer Bern Ryan might be an even bigger fan than I am—hard to imagine—but he’s seen Bruce and the E Street Band all over the world, in Asbury Park and on Broadway. Bern has warned me that three songs into “Springsteen on Broadway” that we will be in tears. (I cry when I read a Hallmark card so Bern’s probably correct).

Anyway, I don’t expect that everybody will get my happy obsession.

But let’s just say that music that touched my soul at age 11 resonates even more as I grow older.

Hope does spring eternal—and Springsteen’s music provides me with a reservoir of hope.

 

 

6 November, 2017 0 Comments

Growing Our Own

November 6, 2017 By Leave a Comment

No bigger game than Amazon.

November is National Entrepreneurship Month.

I didn’t know that, but as far as I’m concerned we ought to be spotlighting and helping entrepreneurs 12 months a year.

Since 2008, there has been a net decline in new business creation in the U.S. One of the contributing factors appears to be a growing aversion to risk for young adults who grew up during the Great Recession.

 

A new survey by Junior Achievement shows that 9-out-of-10 parents would support their kids starting a business as adults, but only 1-in-3 teens say they would consider becoming an entrepreneur, identifying “risk” as one of the top reasons for not striking out on their own.

We need to reverse that trend—it’s not an overstatement to say that if we don’t we will lose our edge as a nation.

America was built by entrepreneurs: people in business, government, science, education and the non-profit world who took risks because they saw opportunity.

Entrepreneurs are the people who solve problems, build, create, sustain and design successful societies.

We’ve all been reading lately about the efforts of close to 250 cities and regions to lure a second Amazon headquarters and its promise of 50,000 jobs. It’s a big opportunity—no doubt a game changer for the lucky winner who will have to put up billions in incentives to make it happen. South Florida, including our own Business Development Board, is playing the game and to some extent I guess you have too.

But personally, I would rather make an investment in seeding a new generation of entrepreneurs than throwing money at an already wealthy company like Amazon. I prefer what they call “economic gardening” (growing your own) to chasing smoke stacks or the modern digital version.

Fortunately, there is a lot beginning to happen on the gardening front: FAU and Lynn University have good business schools, Tech Runway at FAU has potential and the business community in Palm Beach County is relatively strong. Boca Raton’s economic development efforts are impressive, West Palm Beach is coming of age and Boynton Beach has some very exciting projects under consideration. Northern Palm Beach County has a very strong business community anchored by a progressive Chamber of Commerce (shout out to our friend Chamber president Beth Kigel) and Lake Worth has tremendous potential especially in the energy sector.

As a two time board member of our BDB, I can attest that we have a solid economic development organization that in my opinion has been a little starved of resources by the county over the years (relative to budgets in Broward, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough counties).

I’m especially intrigued and excited by some of the emerging groups of young creative entrepreneurs that we are seeing pop up: Creative Mornings Palm Beach, Palm Beach Tech and One Million Cups are just a few of the groups emerging filled with energy, ambition and community building potential.

There are also some real interesting co-working spaces popping up.

I’m especially happy to see the growth and excitement behind Palm Beach Entrepreneur Week Nov. 10-18. (Like The Beatles song, that’s actually an 8 day week).

Highlights include a meetup at the Social House in Lake Worth, a Creative Morning at Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach, a pitch competition in West Palm Beach, a Florida Venture Forum showcase at FAU’s Tech Runway and more… Check out the website for a full schedule: https://eweekpb.com/#landing-events

All this is really cool to see. But we need more.

More angel investors, more mentors, more venture capital, more news about entrepreneurs and more outreach into schools. The Boca Chamber’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy is a great start. We also need more affordable space in key downtowns like Delray—not easy to do based on market forces and high prices.

We sit in a great location—close enough to Miami (an international city and a gateway to the Americas), close to an emerging Fort Lauderdale and within a county that offers a great quality of life.

If we reach our potential—the Amazon’s of the world will be asking to move here and ideally the next Amazon will be born here.

18 September, 2017 2 2 Comments

Still Swimming After All These Years

September 18, 2017 By 2 Comments

 

I read two stories recently about musical legends Paul Simon and Artie Shaw.
One story focused on Simon’s enduring genius and the fact that he is still writing and performing music into his 70s. The other focused on Shaw walking away from music at the age of 44 never to record again.
When you hit your 50s thoughts inevitably turn to “what’s next” as retirement and retirement planning begins to consume a larger space in your mind.
Many of my friends are beginning to think about when and where they’ll retire. Some are trying to figure out how or if they’ll be able to.
Some are stepping away from businesses, others are selling their homes and downsizing and still others are beginning to spend months at a time in other locales.
Truthfully, I feel a step behind.
Oh, I’m beginning to think about aging and changes. My wife recently left the daily grind and is happily consulting these days.
It has been gratifying to see her more relaxed and happier.
As for me, well let’s just say relaxing isn’t my strong suit.

Recently I told you about my talk to Creative Mornings Palm Beach which focused on aspiration, leadership, genius, community and entrepreneurship.
At the end of the talk,  a friend in the audience asked a question that related to the Disney character Nemo and his desire to keep swimming.
The friend wondered whether I would keep swimming and my answer was an emphatic yes..for as long as I can.
For as long as I am able.
So count me more of a Simon than a Shaw.

Fortunately, I’ve been exposed to some amazing people who continue to contribute, create and aspire well into their 70s, 80s and even 90s.
They seem to be very happy.
And so–lord willing– I hope to follow in their footsteps.
Oh and one more thing.
I recently saw this quote from entrepreneur Drew Houston. It struck me:  “There are 30,000 days in your life. When I was 24, I realized I’m almost 9,000 days down. There are no warm-ups, no practice rounds, no reset buttons. Your biggest risk isn’t failing, it’s getting too comfortable. Every day, we’re writing a few more words of a story. I wanted my story to be an adventure and that’s made all the difference.”
That’s it, isn’t it?
I don’t want to get comfortable. And with over 19,000 days lived it’s important to make the last 10,000 or so count. It’s important to keep life an adventure.

28 August, 2017 3 3 Comments

10 Things We Loved in August

August 28, 2017 By 3 Comments

Tequila & Tacos was a highlight of the summer craft cocktail series at Old School Square.

Editor’s note: Our hearts are heavy this morning thinking of those suffering from the impact of Hurricane Harvey.

We in South Florida and in Delray Beach and Boca Raton can relate to the disruption that hurricanes cause. Please consider donating what you can to relief organizations that are on the scene in the Houston area. And please be vigilant with your hurricane preparations. We are entering the height of the hurricane season.

 

“I can’t believe the news today..

Oh, I can’t close my eyes
And make it go away”– U2 Sunday Bloody Sunday. 
 
No we can’t make it go away. 
But we can inject a little positivity into our lives can’t we?
And so we will. 
Here’s 10 things we liked this month. 
1. Kudos to Old School Square for its social media tsunami and uplifting videos designed to remind one and all how special Delray’s cultural arts center is and how important it is to the life of our community. 
2. Festival Management Group, the producers of the Garlic Festival and Delray Affair among other signature everts, spent more than a year being bullied by short sighted politicians. But it didn’t dissuade the team. They re-tooled and reinvented and came up with a terrific series of summer events at The Fieldhouse at Old School Square. We attended a few and loved them all. Great events, great cocktails and robust ticket sales brightened our summer. We loved the integration with local restaurants and discovered a few new places as a result. Kudos Nancy, John and Sarah.  
3. Louie Bossi is a welcome addition to downtown Boca. Brilliant concept, big menu and wonderful food equals a great time. 
4. We had a chance to meet with Campbell Creative, a new addition to our entrepreneurial scene. We predict you will be hearing more about this innovative agency. 
5. We are thrilled to hear about the continued success of Modernizing Medicine which raised a whopping $231 million in investment and continues to hire and blaze new trails. CEO Dan Cane is a brilliant business visionary and a nice guy too. Kudos to the FAU Research Park for nurturing scores of great businesses.
6. We had a chance to hang with Boca Mayor Susan Haynie and former Councilwoman Constance Scott at a recent Palm Beach County League of Cities meeting and it was fun. Mayor Haynie recently completed a stint as president of the Florida League, a great honor. Cities are under siege in this state by some short sighted state leaders. Good to see our local officials stand up for home rule. 
7. We were thrilled to see Pame Williams receive recognition (and celebrate in her own way) her 30 years of service to the taxpayers of Delray Beach. We just adore her. 
8. Also good to see the late Lamar Shuler’s legacy celebrated at the S.D. Spady Museum. 
9. Nice to see dirt moving at the iPic Theatre four years after the CRA chose the project after an RFP process. 
10. We were thrilled to see Creative Mornings Palm Beach visit the Arts Garage.
All in all, August was a very fine month.