I’ll take inspiration anywhere I can find it: books, podcasts, even Snapple caps. I have a Hang In There Kitty! poster on the back of my office door. Yesterday I found inspiration on Spotify. A song came on that grabbed my attention with the very first line. Both the music and the lyrics were energizing. It had a good beat, and I could dance to it. I give it a 10 Dick Clark.
Here are the lyrcis. If you click on title you can watch a live performance. And the band name is fun to say.
The harder you work, the luckier you get The more you get done, boy, the less you’ll regret Write it down so you never forget The harder you work, the luckier you get The harder you work, the luckier you get
When I turned thirteen, my old man sat me down He said, “Boy, there’s only two ways out of this town A Greyhound bus that’s boot camp-bound Or put your nose is a book and keep your ear to the ground”
So I set off to college, but it weren’t for me So I bought a guitar and started playin’ for free Wrote a couple hundred bad ones ’til I had two or three That I thought were good enough folks might pay me to sing
I’ve heard far less “Yes”s than I have “No”s Seen far less highs than I have lows I’d rather get to the top steady and slow Than end up there too fast with nowhere to go
The harder you work, the luckier you get The more you get done, boy, the less you’ll regret Write it down so you never forget The harder you work, the luckier you get The harder you work, the luckier you get
Key Takeaway
If you want to improve your luck don’t pluck a 4-leaf clover or amputate a rabbit’s foot. Put in more work. Good things seem to keep happening over and over to those who do the most to help their own cause. Prepare for good things to happen. Hard work is like a net that catches good luck. The harder you work the bigger your net becomes. And bigger nets catch more and bigger luck.
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19 years into my advertising career I did something cray-cray. Despite the fact that there were already a bazillion ad agencies I could have worked at I decided to start my own. That agency, The Weaponry, just turned 5-years old. Which is kind of a big deal because so many businesses bite the dust before they hit the 5-candle cake.
Reflecting
Our recent milestone has prompted me to reflect on my entrepreneurial journey. What I have discovered is that entrepreneurship is like an epic game of connect the dots. Most of those dots are people. And in my case, none of them are actually named Dot.
I have been thinking of many of the people who have played an important dot in my experience. And I quickly go back to the very beginning. Which is a very good place to start. Because the hardest part of entrepreneurship is simply getting started. Here are some of the people that inspired me to get started and the role they played in my adventure.
16-ish People Who Have Played An Important Role In My Entrepreneurial Adventure.
Bob and Jill Albrecht My parents gave me the confidence to think I could do anything I set my mind to. Except maybe play baseball. Or win at The Quiet Game.
My parents, during one of my speeches.
2. Dawn Albrecht My wife fully supported me trading in a well-paid career as an employee to chase the elusive success of entrepreneurship. And she had the most to lose. Like food, shelter, and wi-fi.
Me and Dawn: The Early Years. A good life partner makes all the difference.
3. My Uncles I have 18 uncles, most of whom are either farmers or other forms of entrepreneurs, or both. Seeing that kind of self-reliance all around you makes you believe in yourself. My Aunts (rhymes with wants) were also important partners in the team’s success. Which provided a template for Dawn and me to follow. And some shared genetics.
4. Roger Rathke My college journalism professor at the University of Wisconsin was a copywriter who eventually owned his own agency and made plenty of money in the process. He provided a model and a path I wanted to follow. Plus he had a fancy sports car. Which is not something most professors have. He also introduced me to an agency CEO named Paul Counsell, which was the first domino. We all need a first domino.
My college professor Roger Rathke really got my career rolling.
5.Paul Counsell Paul was the CEO of Cramer Krasselt, and hired me for my first job in advertising. He provided another great agency leader model for me. He had also started his own agency. And when I asked what he would have done differently in his entrepreneurial journey he said he would have gone after bigger clients sooner. I never forgot that and followed his advice when I started The Weaponry. He also once told me I had no diplomacy. He was right. I fixed that.
Roger, Paul, and me at an awards banquet. I was voted most likely not to wear a sport coat.
6. Neil Casey My first boss. At a lunch 2 years into my career, he told me I had the skills to lead the whole agency. I was 25. That made a major impression on me.
Neil Casey, without the sunshine band.
7. Ashley Lazarus Ashley is a world-class director, who in 1999 told me I had to start my own agency to stay in control of my own career. I believed him. Our discussion was a key driver in my career. I wrote about it here.
Ashley was the first person who told me I had to start my own agency to protect my career. He also made cranberries look delicious. Not like the little balls of face-contortion that they really are.
8.Chris Dawson Chris and I first met 21 years ago when he was a marketing hotshot at Ski-Doo, leading their advertising agency review. Me and my team pitched and won the account. Chris is hyper-smart and we became good friends and excellent collaborators. In the summer of 2015, Chris called me and encouraged me to start my own agency. While the idea of entrepreneurship had been simmering for years, that call and that encouragement was the tipping point. Chris has now helped hire The Weaponry 3 different times for 3 different companies.
Chris Dawson, before he grew his ZZ Top beard.
9.Chad ThompsonChad was a former client of mine at Nationwide Insurance. He called me 2 hours after I talked to Chris Dawson and also told me he was interested in working together again but didn’t think my current agency was right for his needs. I told him that was good news because I was going to start my own agency. This second call of the afternoon felt like the universe hitting me over the head, telling me it was time to get going.
Chad Thompson, inducing hair envy with a smile.
10. Mark O’BrienI had a 4-hour dinner with Mark, a close friend, and former client a few days later at Marlow’s in Alpharetta, Georgia. #SweetTeaBender I told him that I was thinking of starting my own agency. He said, ‘You HAVE to do this!’ Not you should, or could. He made it clear that success was certain, and the world needed what I was planning to build. That was a huge endorsement. A few months later he hired The Weaponry to work on Mizuno.
Mark made me wear this Clay Matthews jersey for a presentation. I have no idea why.
11. Nicole Hallada My friend Nicole and I had a phone call shortly after my dinner with Mark. When she asked me what I was up to I told her I was planning on starting my own agency. She told me that if I did she had work for me. She has now been a very important client for 5 years.
The first freelance project I did for Nicole in 2006 was paid for with a sandwich, and a bag of chips.
12. Christien LouviereChristien is a friend and entrepreneur in Atlanta. But most importantly as it relates to me, he is also a content creator. His blog post Top 10 Things You Don’t Need to Do To Start Your Own Business had a major impact on me. Because in the post he enlightened me to the fact that I should start my business before quitting my day job. He said let your day job fund your startup as long as you can. That key unlocked the gate for me. It took the pressure off of the need for immediate success. In fact, that advice was so important to me that I have now published nearly 600 blog posts since then in hopes that I help unlock something important for someone else by sharing what I know.
Don’t stare at Christien too long or his handsomeness will hypnotize you.
13.Jeff HilimireJeff is a serial entrepreneur and was the President of Engauge when I was the Chief Creative Officer. After Engauge was acquired by Publicis, Jeff started Dragon Army and was fully immersed in his new agency when I was ready to start The Weaponry. He was and has been a great advisor and supporter throughout my journey. I remember sitting on the deck at Dragon Army with Jeff in Atlanta when he asked me, ‘What is the percent chance you will actually start your own agency?‘ I told him ‘100%. I will fail at this before I do anything else.’ Which illustrated how committed I was to entrepreneurship. I wrote about it here.
Jeff and I and a meaty backdrop.
14.Dan Richards Dan and I grew up together in Norwich, Vermont. We played football and were on the track team together at Hanover High School. He is one of my closest friends. He is also an amazing entrepreneur and Founder and CEO of Global Rescue. Dan hired an embryonic version of The Weaponry to do its very first project on October 31st of 2015 in Boston. Over the following 12 months not only was Global Rescue our biggest client, Dan was a great mentor, sharing everything I wanted to know about running a business. Every aspiring entrepreneur should have a Dan Richards.
Just a couple of Green Mountain Boys. Never meaning no harm.
15. Troy Allen Troy and I both lived in Dublin, Ohio. We were both advertising guys. But when I met him he had already started his own agency called Elevate. Then he started another amazing business called Rise Brands, which creates amazing brands, including the wildly successful 16-Bit Arcade, Pins Mechanical, and No Soliciting. Troy was extremely helpful in sharing his experience and providing insights into pricing and offering revenue numbers to benchmark against. Having someone to talk real numbers with you is huge for new entrepreneurs.
Troy and I representing the bookends of the hair spectrum.
16.Brooks AlbrechtMy cousin Brooks was in Seattle working for Amazon in 2015. But we talked often. We have a lot in common. Including a good chunk of our DNA and our last name. Brooks played football and baseball at The University of Minnesota. I was on the track team at the University of Wisconsin. We both were on Big 10 Championship teams. And we were both looking for our next career challenge. So we teamed up to launch The Weaponry together. We planned and prepped and researched together. Brooks solidified our operations and was part of The Weaponry for the first year. He was a huge help, and really fun to work with. We still talk frequently and are always looking for our next collaboration.
My cousin Brooks and I demonstrating the 2 basic ways to wear a hat.
Key Takeaway
Entrepreneurship may appear to be an individual sport, but it is far from that. It is full of supporters, encouragers, and role models. Finding those people is key to your success. Surround yourself with great people. It increases the likelihood of you doing great things too.
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For most of us, the weekends are our free time. But when you consider that time is your most precious and un-renewable resource, wasting your free time comes at a very high cost. That’s why I employ time investment strategies to help me get the most out of my days.
Yesterday, was a Saturday on my part of the planet. And I only really had one must-do obligation. But I scheduled my entire day on a calendar so that I could get the greatest return on my free time. Here’s what it looked like.
Adam Albrecht’s Yesterday
6:30am Wake Up (I set my alarm for no later than 6:30am every Saturday, Sunday, Holiday and Vacation Day.)
6:45am Read Principles by Ray Dalio (It’s not about Victoria’s family or leaders of high schools)
7:45am Take Ava to driving lessons (I dropped my little girl off to drive around in a car for 2 hours with a dude I had never met. She said the strangest part was that he was listening to sports talk radio. And commercials about erectile disfunction came on at least 3 times during her drive. #awkward )
8:10am: Eat Breakfast (3 eggs)
8:30am: Finish Planning My Day (This is when I finished out my calendar)
9:15am: Clean Bedroom/Bathroom and Laundry (Every Saturday morning I make sure to clean up the stuff I didn’t put away properly during the week. Don’t give me too much credit for the laundry. That’s mostly to-and-from laundry room stuff. Dawn doesn’t trust me to do much more.)
9:50am: Pick up Ava and run to the library. (Ava was alive. And her arms were tired from all the 10-and-2ing. We dropped off Chronicles of Narnia books and picked up 3 science project kits for the kids. Yep, we are those parents.)
10:15am: Yardwork (The kids picked up sticks and I mowed the lawn for the first time this spring. It felt good to get back in the saddle of my John Deere lawn tractor. #shethinksmytractorssexy)
12:00pm: Magnus’ Lacrosse game (First game ever. Only 4 practices to prepare. They won 6-1.)
2:00pm: Eat lunch
2:30pm Nap (I scheduled this)
3:00pm Work on T-shirt Business (I love making t-shirts. And I have bigger plans in the works. Which I worked on at 3pm yesterday.)
3:30pm Organize next steps on my book (I have written a manuscript for my first book. And I needed to focus on what needs to happen next.)
4:00pm Plan next steps for Tucker Hill Properties (The property investment business Dawn and I started has some serious work in the works right now.)
4:30pm Go to the gym with Ava and Johann (My kids and I lift weights together 4 times per week.)
6:15pm Dinner (I eat. It helps me stay alive)
7:00pm Walk with Dawn (We take a regular 1.5 to 5-mile walk-and-talk. It’s good for marriage.)
8:00pm Family Game Night (Mexican Dominoes)
9:00pm Reading (This is the only thing on the calendar that didn’t happen. Because game night went until after 10pm. Then I worked on a puzzle for 20 minutes instead. Because I am a party animal.)
The Result
By scheduling my Saturday full and putting it into my Google calendar I made the most of my day. I prioritized my activities, which were a combination of work, play, togetherness, exercise, and responsibility. And aside from my evening reading, my day went exactly as planned. The time felt well invested and purposeful. And I moved a lot of my important trains forward.
Key Takeaway
Schedule your free time. By making a specific plan for your evenings, weekends, and vacations you will make the most of your ever-dwindling time. It is a great way to feel productive. Yet it lets you bake in your perfect combination of work and play. Plus, by utilizing a time-blocking calendar you face the reality of how much can actually be accomplished in a day. No overestimating. No underestimating. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish this up. I have a lot of other things to do today.
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While researching a longer post about key people who supported my entrepreneurial adventure I came across an email from my first boss in advertising, Neil Casey.
Neil was a partner at Cramer Krasselt and the Executive Creative Director. I started as a junior copywriter and thought I would get fired every day for the first 6 months. Neil and I were opposites in many ways. But I liked his style, and he tolerated mine. Neil is a really great swearer. I am not sure he knows this. He also taught me a lot about advertising, writing, strategy, creative thinking and how to stand up for your ideas.
The following email was from August 25, 2016. I had officially launched The Weaponry, an advertising and idea agency just a few months earlier. I was moving form Atlanta to Milwaukee for family reasons. Neil found out what I was doing and shared this note.
The note:
Hey Adam, Paul told me you were opening an ad agency in Milwaukee. ARE YOU NUTS?! Yeah, Paul had I went bonkers circa 1980 and opened Counsell & Casey. After melding back into C-K things turned out pretty well. Luck is always a component, bad or good. We were fortunate to have good luck.
Put yourself in situations and environments that foster good luck. Then add your unique talent and you’re on your way to fame and fortune. Oh yeah, I forgot about all the drudgery and long hours. Hang out with talented people. Keep the faith.
I always saw you as a Brand Enthusiast, Adam. Milk it for all you can.
Let’s have lunch sometime soon.
Neil
Key Takeaway
Support and encourage people whenever you can. Every bit helps.
Sidenote (actually below note): Neil hates the name The Weaponry. But I love it. And I have always enjoyed being the pea under Neil’s mattress.
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I always wanted to start my own business. Not because I was an unhappy employee or a free spirit who couldn’t stand to work for The Man. I just like a good challenge. And everything I ever heard about entrepreneurship made it seem like it was the career equivalent to bull riding. Or free solo climbing. Or streaking at the Super Bowl. I knew it was dangerous. The likelihood of failure was very high. But if you are successful, there are few endeavors as rewarding.
On the set of a recent TV shoot with Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts. I tried to steal his necklace, and he tried to defend it. It was all very subtle.
Some Fun Entrepreneurial Facts
There are 31 million businesses in the United States
90% fail within the first 5 years
Only 4% ever make $1 million a year.
The average age of startup Founders is 42 yearsÂ
A first-time entrepreneur has an 18% chance of succeeding
70% of entrepreneurs were married when they started their first business
60% had at least one child
44% had two or more children
66% of start-up founders pay themselves less than $50,000
69% of American entrepreneurs start their business at home
80% of small businesses are non-employer businesses.Â
51% of small businesses make less than $100,000 in annual sales.Â
Riding The Bull
With these facts in hand, I launched The Weaponry, an advertising and idea agency, in 2016. I wholeheartedly believed that we would succeed. The statistics didn’t scare me. They motivated me to prove that I was one of the few, the proud, the elite non-failers. Although I am sure the failers also felt confident when they first started out. After all, you don’t jump out of an airplane unless you are highly confident your parachute will open. Unless maybe there were snakes on the plane.
A constant reminder in our offices to think.
Turning 5 Years Old
Today, I am thrilled and proud to say The Weaponry is 5 years old! We gave grown significantly each year. And despite the global pandemic, 2020 was our best year yet. Now 2021 is off to a strong start. We continue to add to our team. And we have added 2 new clients in the past 2 weeks.
From a trip to India in 2018 to work with our clients Fifth Third Bank and SLK Global Solutions. I didn’t get the White Shirt Memo.
Funner Entrepreneurial Facts
The Weaponry has offices in both Milwaukee and Columbus.
We have 24 clients
We have clients in all 4 US Time Zones.
We have clients in 3 countries: The United States, Canada and India.
We offer Health Insurance and Dental Insurance
We have a 401(k) plan with a 4% match
We have two red refrigerators
Both of our offices are in Suite #206 (Although the signs say Sweet #206. Because I thought that was funnier. Those are the kinds of dumb things you can do when you start your own business.)
This is where the magic happens.
What’s Next?
I feel as if we have only just begun, like Karen Carpenter. We have much more to accomplish. We expect us to grow and expand significantly. It is clear that we are having great success with happy clients who have hired The Weaponry 2 and 3 times as they have changed jobs. Which I think is the best compliment a client can give you.
Our 3 Pillars of Success.
Before we won our very first client (Global Rescue), I declared The Weaponry’s recipe for long-term success. And unlike that finger-licker Colonel Sanders, I am happy to share it with you.
Great Creative Idea
Excellent Customer Service
A Fun Experience for Everyone Involved.
Me and Dan Richards, CEO of our first client, Global Rescue. We were trying to look tough while wearing polos.
What’s Next?
If we continue to deliver on these 3 points we will enjoy perpetual success. And while I am very thankful to have made it to 5 years, I believe the job of leadership is to keep a business in business forever. To do that we will have to continue to listen, learn, adapt and improve. I am fully committed to it. Just like a streaker.
Key Takeaway
Entrepreneurship isn’t easy. In fact, it offers one of life’s greatest challenges. But if you want to try it, I highly encourage you. It is extremely rewarding in more ways than I have room to share in a concluding paragraph. To dramatically improve your chances of success start a business doing something you know well. Choose work you love to do. And you will have the intellectual equipment and the magnetic pull to get you to 5 years and beyond.
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Humans are full of potential. We are loaded with more energy and ability than you can possibly imagine. Unless maybe you are John Lennon.
Thomas Edison said, “If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.” It was that type of enlightened thinking that enabled Edison to invent both the modern light bulb and the ‘How many does it take to screw in a light bulb?’ jokes.
As you work to become all that you can be, like the United States Army, you will encounter bumps and resistance along your journey. It is important to recognize the full value they provide. Because humans are like matchsticks. #RobThomas We are meant to be set on fire. It is the bumps and the friction we encounter that create the sparks and the heat that ignite us. It is the adversity and struggle that strengthen us and bring out our best. Like Budweiser in 1984.
Key Takeaway
Embrace the struggle. Value the resistance. Don’t avoid it. Go through it. It helps reveal all that you are capable of.
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***If you think 3 asterisks are too many, you are probably right.
We’ve all seen pre-game introductions before sporting events to get the teams and the fans excited for competition. They typically involve some combination of lights, video, music, smoke machines, pyrotechnics, pom-poms, well-caffeinated announcers, and a deer. (Actually, the deer may only be a Milwaukee Bucks thing.)
However, hype routines should not be limited to sporting events. Because each day of your life is a game. Every day is a challenge to see how much you can accomplish. The more you can do to hit the day prepared to perform the more you are likely to achieve. #LetsDoThisThang
If there is one thing I am good at it is hyping myself up. In the morning as I drive to work I inspire myself with either an audiobook related to success or self-improvement, a podcast on the same topic, or music that gets me ready to perform. Sometimes it’s a cocktail of 2 or 3 of those elements. I would also be willing to bet there is more singing and clapping in my car than in the average Honda.
Once I get to the office, (or bust into my home office like I own the place) I launch my computer and crank up more hype music as I create my success list for the day. At the header of my list, I include a collection of my personal goals and personal success mantras. By the time my list is complete, I have worked up the needed attitude, energy, and inspiration to make the most of my day. I am like my own Michael Buffer. And I am now ready to rumblllle. #DingDingDing
Key Takeaway
Hype routines are not just for NBA players, boxers, and concertgoers. Pump up your own jam every morning with a routine that gets you excited and inspired to perform at your best. Remember, every day of your life is a game. Prepare your mind to make the most of it.
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If you are growing and developing at a rapid rate, you are likely to outgrow your peers. That means outperforming and outranking friends and co-workers who are your age. It means that the professional group you belong to will someday feel less stimulating and helpful. It’s what happened to Doogie Howser in daycare.
As you learn, grow, and advance you will need new peers to support, inspire and push you. Seek out those who are already at the next level. Or 2 levels up. Put the power of positive peer pressure to work for you.
Jim Rohn once said, ‘You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.’ (Actually, I bet he said that a whole bunch of times because it’s a really good line.)
Attitudes and expectations are contagious. Surrounding yourself with ambitious and accelerating humans is like sharing a lollipop with someone who has Chicken Pox. (Or huffing with someone who has COVID-19.) You are likely to catch what they have. Which makes you more likely to do the things they do. Like UB40 said.
Key Takeaway
Pay close attention to your peer group. Seek out the best people to spend your time with. Find others who have been where you are going. Or people who are on their way now. You’ll travel farther and faster together.
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I woke up in the middle of a crazy thunderstorm at 5 am. I say the middle of the storm because I was on the 24th floor of the JW Marriott downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. The storm was literally all around us. It was a pretty wild wake-up call for me and my family of 5. The lightning flashes and cracks of thunder were biblical. I was starting to think God or Al Roker was sending me a personal message to get in my ark.
Pack It Up. Pack it In.
We had already planned to begin our trek home to Milwaukee, Wisconsin yesterday. But the storm, which was still ragin’ like a cajun a couple of hours later meant that there was no reason for one last stroll through the French Quarter. Because not even Tom Benson’s Boogie umbrella would have done us any good in NOLA yesterday.
My boys and a few plates of kiddie-cocaine
On The Road Again
At 8:30 am our Ford Expedition was fully loaded and we were pulling out of the hotel. The weather was wild and added to the mystery of just how far we would be able to travel in one day. The navigation system told us the full drive, without stops, would be 1032 miles straight north. The adventure was on.
The Crawfish-Cheese Run Route.
Kentwouldn’t
Our first stop was in Kentwood, Louisiana for a bathroom break and fuel. It took me 3 fuel pumps at 2 different gas stations to find any gasoline. There are plenty of great places to stop for a bathroom and fuel. Kentwood is not on that list. #DoNotRecommend
Mississippi: The 4 I’d State.
Soon we rolled into Mississippi, like Tina Turner, or CCR. The state was lovely and green. Jackson was bigger than I imagined. I wondered where Deion ‘Prime Time’ Sanders lives. (Probably on some prime real estate.) I thought about Kid Rock screaming, ‘I feel like Jackson, Mississippi!’ But I couldn’t get a feel for what that would feel like. So we kept rolling.
Memphizzle
We skirted around Memphis and saw downtown as we crossed the Mississippi for the first time. The Bass Pro Shop Pyramid dominates the Memphis skyline. It’s like Tennessee’s version of the Statue of Liberty. (Give me your crankbait, your plastic worms, your red and white bobbers…)
The Middle Passage
We grabbed lunch in West Memphis, Arkansas and my wife Dawn took over driving duties so I could grab a quick nap. I tried not to giggle when the girl working at Arby’s kept referring to the gyro (sandwich) as if it was part of a gyroscope. Dawn drove us through Northeast Arkansas, the Missouri Bootheel, and across the Mississippi again into Cairo, Illinois. Which meant we had made it halfway home.
Yes, You Kankakee!
We stopped for another quick bathroom break just north of Cairo, and I started driving again at 4 pm. We had a whole lot of Illinois in front of us. But we were on a roll. And we rolled all the way to Kankakee, where we grabbed Culver’s for dinner at 9 pm. (I thought it would be fun to open a pancake restaurant there called Kankakee Panckees.)
Chi-Town
We hit Chicago late enough that there were no issues. But as always, I saw lots of billboards for hair replacement. So if I ever have that problem, I’ll call Brian Urlacher.
Wisconsinin’
Once we crossed into Wisconsin someone hit the fog machine and visibility dropped to near nothing. We had 60 more miles to home. And it appeared the drive would end the way it started, with weather spicing things up.
Home With My homies.
At exactly 11:30 pm we pulled into our driveway at home in Mequon. We made it 1040 miles in 15 hours. We did the whole drive in one day. I had driven 1000 miles in a day several times. (And I would walk 500 miles.) But this was the farthest and fastest of my major road days.
The Po-Po
After avoiding the police for 15 hours, just before midnight, as I was cleaning out the car in my driveway, a police officer walked up my driveway and introduced himself.
I assumed he was there to congratulate me and my family on completing our cannonball run. Instead, he told me he had received a report of shots fired at about the time we got home. He asked if I had heard anything. I resisted the temptation to tell him that I thought I heard some Jello shots and maybe a Jagermeister or two in my neighbor Paul and Jane’s house. (He then told me if there really were shots fired you would usually have several calls. So he assumed it was nothing.)
Key Takeaway
Take on significant challenges. Do hard things. Set goals. Push yourself. See what is really possible. It’s fun to take on challenges with a great partner or your entire family. Extra obstacles like storms, fog, and police just add to the adventure. And they help turn miles into memories. Which is what life is all about.
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I am in New Orleans right now. I love this city. There is nothing else like it. Not even Old Orleans. The combination of architecture, music, history, food, geography, climate, and culture makes New Orleans both a truly unique city and a distinct brand.
Every time I am in NOLA I see the saying Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler. I’m not sure if it is the official or unofficial motto of the city. But it means Lazy The Bones Temporarily 12-inch Wooden Stick. No. Wait. That is what I told my kids it means.
The real translation of this French phrase (for those who have never dated anyone from New Orleans, France, Quebec, or Haiti) is Let The Good Times Roll.
I love this phrase. It is a great motto for a night out, a vacation, a celebration, or a life well-lived. It represents such a fun-loving, positive attitude that the saying and the mindset it creates helps manifest more good times. Like Jimmie Walker, which is dyn-o-mite!
Me and my muffuletta at Napoleon House, right before the guy in the tank top asked me to dance.
We as a planet now have a variety pack of COVID-19 vaccines to get the corona-cooties under control. So let’s all do our part. And put this pandemic behind us. Let’s get back to full business and full employment. Let’s all enjoy the prosperity available in the 21st century. Let’s enjoy our time together, our sense of freedom, and all the social pleasures we now realize we too often taken for granted. Let’s put down our little digital devices and enjoy being with other humans. Let’s eat, drink, play, create, explore and experience the best life has to offer. And like they say in New Orleans, Louisiana, let’s let the good times roll!
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Adam Albrecht Blog 