And so it begins…

So 2020, well, well, well, the year of the pivot. I have long entertained the notion that there’d be a time when I could spend all my time sharing everything learned in more than three decades of working at Disney and Universal. I’d impart that knowledge to young designers, students, and people from other businesses who could use some of that magic to sprinkle it across their processes and products and make something special happen. I just didn’t know that day would be TODAY, RIGHT NOW! GO TO OFFICE DEPOT, YOU’RE STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS! HURRY! BUY YOURSELF SOME POST-ITS! I’m excited, because I have to be, that circumstances have presented me with the opportunity to jump into this scary-but-fraught-with-possibilities endeavor now. And terrified. Like asking someone to the Prom. What will you do if they say “yes”? Can you handle it? Are you going to do something stupid and awkward? Or will you fall in love, have babies, win the lottery, get divorced… but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. There’s an expression in Japanese, “chabudai-gaeshi” (チャブ台返し). It means “to flip over the table.” Sometimes when companies throw out their business plan, retrench and start over, they’ll talk about flipping over the “chabudai.” So here we go. The world has flipped all of our tables and they’re hurtling around and we’re not sure where they’re going to land. So I’m starting my own business. I just reread that sentence. Good lord. Yes, it’s true. Taxes. Accounting. Finally, my dad is right, I should have taken some business classes. Oh, and don’t think he’s not still saying it, at 93. But it’s happening, starting now. And you, dear reader, are all the luckier for it. I want to invite you to look over the services I’m offering elsewhere on this site and maybe there’s something I can do to help you be more clever about whatever it is you’re trying to be clever about.