As the summer sights, smells, and trends in business make themselves known - I would be remissed to mention the effects that mother nature have on personal emotions. For those of you who know me (in real life) emotion is not my strong suit. There is not enough space in cyber land to dedicate to this topic, so I shall try my hardest to stay “on brand”.
This weekend I had the opportunity to stay at a friend of mine’s summer haven of loveliness in Montauk, NY. I call it summer haven of loveliness - because the view, the surroundings, the people I met were truly inspiring. Located just 117 miles away from the hustle and bustle of New York City, I felt like I was on another planet - and no, there were no drugs involved.
Firstly, let me give credit where credit is due, it was not my house. It was www.bryanthatcher.com and www.lmichaels.com summer home. Many of you might know or have seen Bryan around the web 2.0 scene as CEO of www.empressr.com. He is a busy guy, but also a very centered guy with a very grounded sense of priorities. He invited me to their home in Montauk, NY - “because you need to slow down and relax”. That is exactly what we did.
I took the train to Montauk (actually a different town closer to New York City) - but Bryan picked me up, and we went to some other party, then we after that party, we went to the house. I arrived, and there was a bed made, sheets on the bed, and just the most inviting setup on a guest bed. For those of you who know Laura, you wouldn’t expect anything else - the attention to detail was impressive. But it didn’t stop there, I woke up, not to the sounds of an alarm clock, or the wake up call from the faceless, nameless person that is just doing their job in a hotel, but the sound of waves. WAVES woke me up. That is how close we were to the beach.
I spent a great deal of time on the beach over the course of the weekend, and each time, I was amazed at how much power was in something so beautiful. I tried to surf (operative word there is tried). I tried to boogie board (operative word there is also tried). There is something so accepting of beach community. The people there were so helpful (after they stopped laughing at how badly I was tossed by the waves).
I think every entrepreneur needs to have an experience that can serve as a source of inspiration. Experience something that is powerful, natural, and friendly. For me, this experience at Montauk will serve as one of those photo albums in my mind I reference when I’m going through a particularly tough time, or when need to summons my creative juices, I can think about the waves, the ocean, and the hospitality of Montauk, NY.
The challenge I have for entrepreneurs who have “made it”. Are you a source of inspiration for someone else?
Edit 7/17/2008,12:12pm EST: It has been brought to my attention that the facts in this article are not entirely true. I did also spend some time on the porch of Steve and Regan Michaels of www.fusebox.com. Their hospitality on the porch was second to none. No one makes a lemonade quite like Steve. In fact, in the spirit of total honesty, he is looking straight down the barrell of taking on the likes of Snapple with his lemonade mix, stay tuned for Steve’s Lemonade A’ Rama ‘09. 
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