Can Chicago entrepreneurs unplug on vacation?

By Meg Graham , Ally Marotti and Amina Elahi
Contact Reporters Blue Sky Innovation

When you’re starting your own company, going off the grid can have bigger consequences than the possibility of missing a few Instagrams.

Entrepreneurs say they think hard about if — and how — they unplug when they’re on vacation. Some catapult themselves to far-flung, connectivity-free locations so they can get a few days of R&R, while others say their idea of a good vacation is one where they can dig into some work.

Blue Sky talked to Chicago entrepreneurs about their decision to click off their phones on vacation — even if it’s just for part of the time. 

Craighton Berman ?, creative director of Manual, said he ditched his phone on his family’s recent trip out West. Unplugging wasn’t too hard in places like Utah's Arches National Park, where the Internet doesn’t quite permeate everywhere.

"I brought my regular digital camera — I’ve got a rangefinder digital camera — and left my phone in the car. It just helps you being in the moment, I think. With cellphone cameras being so good, I think people use that as your de facto tool to take photos, but it also distracts you from your vacation.

"I don’t think you can fully unplug, especially working for myself. The reality was I had a client project that was still going, so I had to negotiate that."

Dima Elissa ?, founder and CEO of medical 3D-printing company Vismed-3D, only unplugs when it’s out of pure necessity — when she’s abroad and can’t connect. The founder travels frequently to speak on panels and attend meetings.

"My philosophy is that time kills all deals. The more plugged in I am, the more I have opportunity to take advantage of deals.

"When you’re starting a business, you need every market advantage to be on top of knowledge and information, and be able to communicate and talk about relevant trends, news and ideas. If you’re not on top of it, you aren’t in the know. You’ve gotta be in the game."

Amy Francetic ?, senior vice president of new ventures and corporate affairs at Invenergy, actually convinced her 11- and 13-year-old kids to ditch their devices on this summer’s trip.

"We just did a vacation with our kids and another family, and we went to Michigan to an inland lake. We all made an agreement, even the kids, that once we got there, the phones and devices went away. It was so refreshing. It was so awesome. But then everybody was excited to get their phones back on the ride home.

"It’s not great coverage a lot of the places we go anyway, so it’s not like it’s hard to let go of it, but I’m a big believer in unplugging when we’re gone. I take so few vacations that I really treasure that time, and I try to be focused and present." 

Rick Lane ?, CEO of trading software provider Trading Technologies, grabs work on vacations when he can: during his 22-month-old twins’ naptime. He just got back from a family trip to the Jersey Shore.

"I do the same thing I do when I’m not on vacation, which is set aside a period of time that’s a dark time. I just don’t open my phone, don’t open my laptop. On vacation, it just tends to be larger chunks of time. With my 22-month-old twins, I have a very fixed nap schedule that works out well for me, because I can align my email time and work time around the nap schedule.

"I actually did come back pretty refreshed."

Stacy Ratner ?, founder of Open Books, unplugs on family canoe trips on the East Coast. She’s embarking on one in August.

"When possible, take vacations where you have no choice. I go on a canoe and camping trip: no wireless connectivity. Which makes it very easy to unplug, because you can’t plug. That’s the extreme way to do it.

"There’s always the panic of not knowing. The worst is when you pick up the phone and think it’s going to be really bad. In almost all cases, the world is obviously still spinning, all my projects are still up and running. It’s a nice reminder that you’re not indispensable. You can afford to do this, and you should do this." 

Shawn Riegsecker ?, founder and CEO of Centro, took a recent trip to Bulgaria and has another solo trip planned to the desert in Utah in September.

"I think one thing people have to understand about founders and entrepreneurs is that we love working. And in a weird sort of way, we get energy from working. It’s not necessarily an energy-sapping thing to us.

"I refer to myself as a lizard: I love to just grab a book and lay out on a rock and spend all day reading and thinking. But it’s also a time I spend really on the big, meaty stuff that’s going on at the company. Vacation gets me out of the day-to-day tactical execution, and I can spend a lot more time really cultivating strategy.

"I actually derive energy, and in a weird sort of way, relaxation, from being able to spend time on bigger concepts and thinking about things."

Ellen Rudnick ?, senior adviser on entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, admits she’s terrible at unplugging. On trips, she waits until everyone goes to bed to respond to emails.

"I get so stressed out thinking about all the stuff that will be waiting for me when I get back that any relaxation that I have during my vacation will be wiped out in a day after getting back.

"I’m a night person. So my husband goes to bed, I have this quiet time, and I respond to emails in that concentrated period of time, and I feel great. It’s like, I don’t have to worry about this for another 12 hours."

Sheila Talton ?, CEO of data analytics consulting firm Gray Matter Analytics, checks in with work at a set time each day when she’s away, especially when she’s abroad with limited connectivity. It’s a way to set boundaries for employees and for herself.

"That’s a way for my team, if they absolutely need to talk to me about something, here’s the window that they can do it, and I’m available."

Mark Achler ?, managing director at MATH Venture Partners, and his wife have gone to five weddings this summer — including ones in Israel and Mexico City — so he’s tried his best to stay off the grid. But he knows there’s a penalty to pay if you unplug all the way.

"To be honest, I never really quite unplug. The volume of email and communication — if you totally unplug, when you come back, there’s a moment of truth there."

Ravin Gandhi ?, venture capitalist at Glenborn Partners and CEO of GMM Nonstick Coatings, usually checks in with his global workforce at a set time each day of vacation. A complete inability to connect to the internet, as on his honeymoon spent on safari in Botswana, is the only thing that can stop him from checking in.

"For the first two days, you kind of go through withdrawal, where you kind of wish you were in touch. But by the third and fourth day, it's amazing,” Gandhi said. "It's because, subconsciously, you really do de-stress, and I probably should do that more often."

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