Halftime Report

It’s been half a year since I last posted. A lot has happened in that time. I think it’s time to reflect a bit because things are shifting around me in a rather peculiar way, and I’m certain that I need to stop and reflect for a second to really understand what’s happening right now.

I’m going to use this post as an anchor and I will write lots of smaller posts, post dated, to give myself some room to research. I’ll also update this report as I rifle through my Social Media and find cool stuff I did that I can’t remember right now.

The first thing I remember about this year is that when the Ring of Five brought in the new year, we all talked about resolutions and I remember saying that I wasn’t going to get too specific, but I was going to focus on becoming more healthy this year, primarily through exercise.

Running

At the beginning of the year, Rachel said she wanted to run a half-marathon. I agreed. We trained and completed the Country Music Half-Marathon. Still can’t quite believe that, considering how much I thought I was only a sprinter and couldn’t run long distance. So far this year, I’ve run 247.7 miles (that I’ve tracked) for over 45 hours. I don’t know what my old record was, but I’ve certainly surpassed it, and I definitely don’t think I run enough today. This is good.

Travel

2010 marked the year that travel would be part of my professional obligation. It has pros and cons, as you can imagine. But I’ve come to terms with it and believe that while it is a sacrifice, I am incredibly fortunate to be able to do it, especially because of the opportunity that it enables me to have.

This year, I’ve been spending a lot of time outside of Nashville in cities like Boston, San Francisco, New York, LA and San Jose. I’ve also spent time in many other cities this year like Las Vegas, Memphis, Austin, Birmingham, Wichita, Burnsville and Washington, DC. No international travel though. I gotta work on that.

27 Trips in all, and over 50K miles travelled. I could have never imagined that I would be on the road this much when all this started.

Family

This has been a good year. My parents have been healthy. My kids have been (relatively) happy and healthy. Everyone has gotten some travel in so far. And we’ve also had more good times than bad times together. And we have great renters in our properties. Life has been good this year to my family so far.

Love

I don’t know why Love is always so difficult, but having a mate as fantastic as I do certainly makes it all worth it. In a couple of weeks we will have been a couple for three years. I don’t know how we did that, but I am so grateful that we did. This year we ran a half marathon, made amazing brunches, got through two VERY important weddings, saw Snoop Dogg and Childish Gamibino, toured Graceland, rocked SXSW for 12 hours, ate well, laughed a lot, cried a little, but we were not cruel to each other. At least not intentionally. Not bad, lady. Not bad.

We also lived our own lives and celebrated each other’s little wins. Thank you for that and everything else.

Moontoast

This has been an incredible year for the Toast. We have launched campaigns with superstars from Lady Antebellum to Rick Ross and with brands from Gillette to Febreze. Stephen King, Fortune 500 (literally, the list), Chamillionaire, Rascal Flatts and so many more. And we have so much opportunity lined up for the rest of the year, it’s nuts.

We were recognized as a Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer, and as of now, we are the only one in Tennessee and one of three in the Southeastern United States.

The team has gotten incredibly tight. Lots of adversity, definitely learning lessons along the way. But all in all, very resilient and determined. I’m proud to be a member of this team. I’m lucky that this is the team I play on everyday.

I had the best speaking opportunity ever at Murmuration this year. Thanks to ISM for that.

And we really are just getting started. This is an exciting time.

Jumpstart Foundry

There are some great entrepreneurs in the Foundry this year. Crafty, determined and really smart. I’m very excited for this year’s Investor Day in August. This year has been exceptionally fun because I found a team that I really believe I was meant to mentor. The Wax team is blowing my mind with what they are doing. I know they are going to do great things.

Ring Of 5

My boys. Still great friends, still watching out for each other. I’m so incredibly lucky to have been invited to barbecue four years ago with Nick Holland, Jackson Miller, Jason Moore and David Corts.

People

I met so many awesome people this year. Literally hundreds of new people in my life. Sometimes, with all the travel, I feel a little lonely. I think living out of a suitcase will do that to you. But when I think about the network of people that I have met and can reach out to, I have to be one of the most blessed people on Earth. People are power. People are awesome and inspiring and unique and striking. I’m so much richer because of all the people I’m able to meet and spend time getting to know.

Passing

All in all, this has been a good year of passing. Every year brings some passing. My aunt Bernice passed away at a beautiful old age. My friend Karsten passed away. Both of those transitions were celebrated more than mourned. Grace.

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I’m looking forward to the 2nd half.

- Mood follows action.