I Still Can't Believe My Mom Died (July 2018 Update)

She was only 67. That seems so young nowadays. Thankfully, I had just seen her and we had a genuinely good time together. That hasn’t often been the case for the past few decades. One of my biggest challenges in adulthood was trying to build a healthy relationship with my mom. This past year we both were working on building a new foundation together with the help of a mediator. We had tried other strategies in the past, but this one seemed to be working. I’m glad it did. Ever since I got the call that she died on April 2nd from a massive stroke in her bed, I’ve been comforted by the fact that we were in a good place.

My life’s other greatest challenge has been my weight. I attended a medically supervised weight loss program when I was 9, and with very little exceptions, I’ve gained or lost weight every year since. I’m committed to getting to a healthy weight and staying there once and for all. To that end, I’ve lost 30 pounds so far this year. What amazes me most is that I still have a way to go. I’m at that point where my clothes are too big, but I don’t want to buy new ones because I expect they’d be too big in a few months, too. 

I’ve enjoyed writing about my life and sharing it with you. It’s brought me more joy than I anticipated. I’ve learned through my EO experience that we all have our ups and downs, no matter what it looks like on Facebook. My hope is that I play some small part in you becoming the best version of yourself.   

Reading adVentures

I enjoyed reading the life story of very successful entrepreneurs Sam Zell and Ken Langone (Am I Being Too Subtle? and I Love Capitalism!). What resonates most with me are all the missteps they write about. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and had a lot of failures – but I know they are just learning opportunities on my path to success.

I read the stories of power, greed and corruption in Black Edge about hedge funder Stevie A. Cohen and Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man's Fight for Justice by Bill Browder (which read like a movie script, it was really entertaining).

Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain’s Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal and The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence fit into this same theme except they were written by an author and professor respectively.

Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk is worth a read if you have kids that talk about becoming gamers or youtubers, or if you have thought about how to apply content marketing to your business. I happen to believe Gary V is one of the best influencers out there today and his prominence will be “Oprah-like” in the next decade.

I also read some really practical, actionable titles in Capital Raising, Exactly What to Say (which I read 3 times), Dotcom Secrets by Russel Brunson, Measure What Matters by VC pioneer John Doerr and Culture by Design by David Freidman.  I hired David’s company to help me further define my culture, which I’m branding as “The Noah Way” (more on that soon).

A really unique and interesting book by a former Navy SEAL is When Violence Is the Answer: Learning How to Do What It Takes When Your Life Is at Stake. 

I also read Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life, in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies; Wait, What?by the Dean of Harvard Graduate School of Education and Think Bigger: And 39 Other Winning Strategies from Successful Entrepreneurs by the founder of TIGER 21, a group designed to help those with over $10 million to invest. It was less interesting than I would have thought coming from such a great organization.  

Business adVentures

My EO Forum Retreat was in the Florida Keys this year. I flew there directly from my mom’s funeral and it was the right environment for me to mourn. I did a very powerful and meaningful exercise where I walked through my relationship with my mom from as early as I could remember until I buried her. One of the great reasons to participate in EO is the amazing power of Forum and the trust that exists between it’s members to share without boundaries.

I have two new roles in EO this fiscal year (which started July 1). Locally, I am responsible for our Forum Link program, which fosters intimacy and connection between our 24 Forums. I am also the Global Finance Chair for our brand new MyEO Deal Exchange. We have over 13,000 members around the world and it has been fun and exciting to be on calls with representatives from 20+ countries at a time talking about deals in our local markets. I expect this role to support me in growing my own deal flow and deal expertise.

I had a few speaking gigs this quarter. I spoke on “Mastering Your Time” at The Strategic Forum retreat at the famous Don Cesar hotel. Amanda joined me for the weekend and it was a great mix of fun, relaxation, learning and networking. I talked about KPIs and Dashboards to our local EO Accelerators and I gave my short-talk “What if YOU Won the Lottery?” to the Seven Bridges Executive Network. At CapitalCon in NYC, I spoke on “Using Video When Raising Capital” to a packed audience.

I was in NYC in part because I hosted an investor dinner for the Freedom Internet Fund at The Yale Club. We also hosted an investor lunch in NJ the same day. My brother and our COO Ron flew in from Puerto Rico and my partner Ace Chapman came up from Atlanta. We answered investor questions, gave more details about our strategy, and celebrated that within our first year of operations we have been able to distribute returns of 15%. I really enjoyed spending time with my investors, many of whom are family or have become like family to me. 

On the real estate side, we had our first asset sale – generating a 70% return net of fees in just two years. It’s an exciting milestone. We have been acquiring properties since 2014 and this kicks off the beginning of the process of liquidating some assets. (We’re still buying – so if you have a deal, send it my way!)

If you like real estate, you should take a look at my client’s $17.5 million spec home for sale in East Hampton (20 Hook Pond Lane). It is off the charts! I went to visit Abstract Builders and see all the projects they have in their pipeline. The quality of their work is simply amazing.

We opened a new office in the Philippines for Cadsourcing in Downtown Cebu. We now have capacity for 100 drafters, and with the addition of 15 new hires we anticipate in August, we will already be at 75 team members overseas. 

We also have to move iluma Agency to a new location to accommodate our growth. If you have an inside track on a 5,000 square foot office space in the Miami Lakes area, please share it.

I participated in a “Salon Meeting” in Delray to discuss Estate Planning with a dozen very successful local entrepreneurs. Most were 65-75 years old, but the conversation was engaging and relevant. I plan to publish the estate plan that Amanda and I have created so we can open-source feedback and improve our own plan.

I also shot a 30-second commercial for YouTube because they had a cool promotion where they make the spot if you agree to spend $350 on advertising. I’m writing a new book:  Outsmart the IRS: A 3rd Generation CPA Shares 8 Family Secrets – and I’ll use YouTube to promote it. (If you want a preview copy, just let me know and I’ll put you on my list.)

Family and Fun adVentures

Business is fun for me, but I’m also a car guy. I went to the Barrett Jackson auto auction to walk around and wonder what my dream garage would be filled with. We ended up getting a new hybrid minivan (not at the show) and a new fun car for myself.  My old fun car is for sale on consignment – contact me directly if you’re interested.

My cousin Ed hosted Eden, Jared and me overnight on his sailboat. It was a beautiful trip and one I hope we can do again next year.

In 1998, Amanda and I did a homestay in Munich through Servas. We stayed friends with our hosts, Andreas and Connie, throughout the years. They now live in Silicon Valley and we missed them when we were in San Francisco last year, but thankfully they came to visit us in May. It was too quick a visit, so hopefully we can do it again soon.

For Memorial Day weekend, we stayed at Reunion Resort with Eden’s “Mommy and Me” friends. It was our first trip staying in one home with multiple families and it was really, really fun. The kids enjoyed each other, and the adults had a chance to socialize.

The kids had some highlights, too. Eden was super excited to get her 5-year trophy at this year’s dance recital and Jared completed 5th grade and is off to middle school. 

My whole family traveled up to NJ to celebrate Father’s Day with family and spend time with friends. The trip was motivated by Jared’s plan to watch the World Cup with his grandpa. We left him at his grandparents while Amanda, Eden and I popped around, including a few days in NYC sightseeing. We flew home without Jared so we can spend July 4th at an EO event at Ocean Reefwith a few dozen other families, and I’ll fly back to NJ to pick him up pretty soon.

What About You?

I enjoy getting your replies, so hit me up for some way I could be helpful to you or just to let me know you’ve read to the end.