The Cool Bus

What kind of artistic outflow of energy will take over from here?  That is the question.  Since the sale/merger of Pfoodman, I have had time to reflect on a thing or two.  First, I am proud of what we were able to accomplish and because I have chronicled a thing or two along the way, perhaps I will be able to shred some light on the entrepreneurial thing to those who might not have a clear meaning.  Nope, I won't be teaching, but pontification will occur, as usual.

I can tell you this. Stepping into the arena (or the circle of endeavor, as I have called it in the past), makes you put on a couple of pounds.  Not talking about the kind of weight that comes on with overindulgence in your 30's and then again in your 40's. It has more to do with the cloak of thick skin that one has to wear in order to do what needs to be done; a heavier, thicker outer surface to keep things from getting infected.  It doesn't keep you from doing things, but you simply always know that it is there. The more advanced your thought process, the thicker the skin you will need.

Now, I chose to put my journey (my entrepreneurial endeavor) out there in the form of a vision quest; bouncing things off of whomever would listen, posting my intentions and achievements along the way on various mediums, usually always the Internet.  Social media was in a start up in the late 90's and I actually launched Pfoodman.com, in 1996 with an international student at Lindenwood University.  There wasn't much to the site, and I was working for somebody else at the time; it wasn't my intention to start a business.  I simply wanted to launch the brand without having a clue as to what it would be, it was ME!  It was an early exercise in Social Media Personal Branding.  Early and insignificant in content, but it carved out a space on the web for that which would give me brand recognition in the future.  I was getting hits and the search engines were picking it up.

At the time, I was going through a bit of a health re-invention that would later be the center of content for the site once the business took off.  Who doesn't like a story of perseverance?-I basically exploited my own journey from over indulgence to amateur bicycle racer.  The story hit the papers, I captured all of it, storing everything on the web and Pow!  Pages of search items.  This, along with some strategically placed race results and sponsorship mentions, filled up the search content provided authenticity and legitimacy towards my eventual broadcast of the sale of commodity, food and service.

That was about it, with lots of stories and good times in between.  As a promoter of the business, I likely tested the loyalties a time or two with some folks who, while on the receiving end of the success of the business, felt it necessary to get off and change buses.  I am OK with that, and I certainly understand what it is like to be on the bus with a driver who is a little less orthodox than the others; the reason I have had my own bus. I was born to drive a bus regardless of the thickness of my skin. Perhaps my bus has a little bit more flash, a little more creativity and a lot better music, a lot more laughter, challenge and activity.  It's a good bus on a mission to make a difference.