Sometimes being a business owner is very rewarding, and not just financially. Seeing your employees, many whom I call friends, mature in their rolls within the company is great. Watching as their careers progress, whether inside or outside of Fat Atom, and thinking that possibly I had a little part in that progress…well, it does feed my ego a bit. Then there are the times when it isn’t so great. Telling prospective applicants you decided to go a different direction, losing that client you thought loved you and the worst thing…having to let an employee go.

We all have to sleep at night and I try everything to make sure that my conscious is clear to do so. I am always thinking, “Am I doing everything I can to help the person, team and company get succeed.” When problems arise, and they always will, the person needs to be talked to like an adult. They need to know where you stand and they need to be given a path to rise above the situation that got them in the hole to begin with. The team needs coaching, and learning that no one person is bigger than the team and that the team will go on without the star is an important lesson everyone on the team needs to learn. And then the their is the company. Every decision I make, has to be best for the company and the 20+ people that rely on me and what my team has helped me create.

Am I perfect…Hell no. I make more mistakes in a week than most people make in six months. But the one thing I do better than most people I believe, is to learn from my experiences and improve upon those situations the next time they transpire. As the saying goes, “Punch me once, your bad, punch me twice…mine.”