Travels, Tens & Titles

As you all may have read in the last sentence of week 9 … I have huge news.

You can jump right to the big news here.

Hah. Cmon. This isn’t my first rodeo.

But please buy a hat. Writing this newsletter ain’t cheap. I’ve got a few left.

Anyways, I’m FINALLY back in NYC. What a wild couple weeks. LA → San Diego → Chicago. Got to make a bunch of new friends and reconnect with a ton old friends. What more could you ask for?

Here are a few gut reactions to the trip…

1) I suck at traveling. Especially alone. For the loyal readers of Trust Fun, it’s no secret that I have pretty crippling (on occasion) anxiety / panic disorder. Sometimes, when you’re blessed with devilishly handsome good looks, amusingly ingenious wit, a heart of pure gold, and a set of eyebrows that would trigger bloodshed to the likes of Helen of Troy, you’re bound to be dealt a few tough hands too. And some things in life trigger those tougher hands for me… For example, when I was a kid, I was terrified of flying kites & seeing balloons float up to the sky. And now, I know that solo traveling is a trigger. Time to update the back of the baseball card…

2) I’m an east coast guy. The demo reading this is probably majority east coasters (rock on), but for the west coast readers… I’m sorry, but you ain’t got it like we do. The east coast just rules. Plain and simple. No explanation needed. Sure the weather & waves are nice over there, but goddamnit I love the concrete jungle. I love seasons. I love people who have personalities. Boom roasted. But in all seriousness, deceased now is my former self’s fantasy to live the LA fairytale, which I’m sure will make my mother very happy. I will miss those breakfast burritos tho. Not sure why we haven’t figured that out yet? And that Hailey Bieber Erewhon smoothie. No way that shit is actually healthy. I mean look at it.

3) And lastly, Chicago fucking rules. No further questions.

Welcome welcome welcome back to week 10 (DOUBLE MF DIGITS) of Trust Fun. Thanks for hanging out 10 whole weeks.

Fuck A Title

Well, the schtick is up. Sorta. Let me explain.

I started this newsletter, which I so affectionately call Trust Fun exactly 10 weeks ago. Promptly after I got laid off from my job at Barstool Sports. I had no plan, no leads, no idea what the hell I was going to or how I was going to make money. I had about 6 weeks of severance to work with.

Since then my life has changed quite a bit.

Trust Fun now has over 4,000 LOYAL subscribers.

I’ve re-fell in love with writing & the positive affect it has on my mental health.

I’ve learned the power of candor & being truly vulnerable.

I’ve spent time connecting & building an incredible network of friends, old & new. Big shout out to the internet.

I now know that entrepreneurship is the path I want to take.

And then… Ironically… I got a job.

Let’s get into it…

I started picking up consulting gigs & freelance work immediately after I lost my job in September. I’d also gotten some full-time job offers over that time span, but my gut found any & every excuse to say no to them. As I’ve mentioned in the past, professionally, I’m an extreme case of what is known as a “generalist,” AKA not specialized, AKA very average at a lot of things. This is somewhat of a tough sell & requires a specific type & size company. One where there was a TON to do & not enough time. Would require any employee to wear a zillion of hats. Move at an extremely fast pace. Violently execute tasks. Forgiveness not permission etc etc.

Long story short, one of those side gigs was at a company called Mugsy. A men’s clothing business based in Chicago. Crazy right? Me & men’s clothing?

Adam (Mugsy’s current CMO & former Barstool guy) LinkedIn DMed me. Love u LinkedIn ?? . We hopped on a Google meet & just hit it off. He had no idea how or what I could really help them with, let alone have any money or budget to hire me. But, I ended that call being like “Hmmm, that guy was really cool. Their business is really cool. Everything about that just felt cool.”

It was the first time I’d ever spoken to Adam, but a fly on the wall would’ve said we’d known each other for 5+ years.

I knew a decent amount about Mugsy at the time. The hero product was killer… Comfortable+stretchy jeans with an optimal fit. I owned 2 pairs. No lie, my favorite jeans I owned.

Quickly, I somehow convinced Adam I would be useful. I onboarded to 1 day a week, which then became 2 days. Simultaneously, I was trying to manage a few other side gigs, but it was hard. I didn’t really want to do any other work besides Mugsy.

I then met Leo & Scott (the founder+CEO & the COO) & realized that these Mugsy guys were not only building a very special business… But MUCH more importantly, they were 3 of the most genuine, kind & real people I’d probably ever met professionally. I didn’t just want to work there… I wanted to BE these guys. Spend as much time as possible with them.

So, that became the new goal.

Luckily, I think they saw something in me too. We chatted about what a full-time position would look like & began negotiating. Here’s what was important to me (ranked):

1) The people

2) The product

3) The comp

4) The scope of work

5) The timeline

…

1000) The job title

So, with all that being said, I am thrilled to announce that I am now a full-time, untitled member of the Mugsy team. I can’t thank EVERYONE enough over the past 10 weeks. I am ugly crying all over the keyboard of my new, company issued laptop ??.

This will not change anything about Trust Fun. If anything, it’s just gonna get better cuz now I will have actual REAL experiences every week to speak to instead of the hot garbage I’ve been talking about lately. Ya know, my feelings, my emotions & stuff.

I am still entreprenuer-ing, I am still trust fund-less, & I am still going to writing my goddamn heart out every. fucking. Monday.

We’re just getting started. Mugsy On.

PS. Mugsy products actually rule. Support me & gift a pair to yourself this holiday season.