The Comeback Kid! Again!

I'm not sure how I keep ending up here. Just when I think that this business is on it's last breath or that the industry has dried up once and for all the phone starts ringing off the hook and we're back at it again! This business has managed to survive the recession despite me. I'm not sure how, but I've decided to stop analyzing it and just go about my business as though there were no recession. No sense focusing on the negative. My New Year's resolution this year will be to refocus my efforts into my marketing and be thankful that there is still a business to market.

Coming out of retirement!

This rollercoaster ride called g3 Studios is now on the way up again! Sort of. On one hand my phone has been ringing which has allowed me to quit an insanely crappy job I was forced to take to make ends meet during a particularly slow time. On the other hand I line up a few jobs which seem great, and one of them turns out to be a complete nutjob that I have to contest the second half of my payment with. Just in time for Christmas! What a complete loser!

Anyway, enough negativity about someone who doesn't deserve the energy! My other clients are dream clients and the job is worth over 5 times what the hassle job was. Good thing it wasn't the other way around! They were actually previous clients whose house had sadly burned down and they are now rebuilding and asked me to participate. They have a lot of imagination and their stuff always turns out amazing so I will post pics as I go!

I'm trying to find the joy in the day to day activities because I know that a phone can stop ringing at any moment, but I am frustrated that the whole world seems to think they should be able to take advantage of people because the economy is bad. I'm having a hard time believing that's what the Holiday Season is all about!

Anyway, I'm also using this time to meet with new distributors and get reaquinted with new products because many companies went out of business in the last few months. I'm going to start posting some thoughts and results from my R&D sessions just to add a different dimension to the blog! First up, Proceed's line of Full Bodied Glaze. I just recieved a few gallons and can't wait to try it out!

Putting things into Perspective!

What started out as needing a break turned into needing some perspective. My entire life had become overwhelmed, inundated and overtaken by my business. The problem was that on many levels it was actually getting too big and I felt the pressure to let it keep growing which was turning into ridiculous time lines, bid wars, over bloated projects, and ego driven decision making.

I took a deep breath and a short hiatus and really examined what it was I enjoyed about this business and which aspects were important to me. Once I answered these questions truthfully things started to sort themselves out.

On top of all of this, I recently saw a news story in which a very good client of mine suddenly lost their home to a fire! The house was valued at 1.6 Million dollars and declared a total loss! The fire was beyond control within 15 minutes! 15 minutes. A blink of the eye. It takes me longer to update this blog.

Despite the value of the house and all of the belongings, I know that the most important thing in the world to them besides the safety of the family is their two dogs, which got out safely. So in their mind they didn't really lose much in the grand scheme.

How many people really hold those kind of true values and would so easily see how lucky they really were in the face of such tragedy and heartbreak?

It's clients like that, people like that who really inspire me to see how lucky I am everyday.

Some Days are Harder than others!

Man I'm wiped out! The School II is almost done and it's about drained my will to live in a lot of ways! This job is tough sometimes because of the deeply personal nature of what I do it gets easy to get drug into the drama and politics of a bad work site. Everybody blames everybody for things gone wrong. Deadlines come and go. Promises made are often promises broken. The worst part is that it sometimes forces me into working in uncomfortable situations in ways I'd rather not. Safety issues, time lines, and quality are too often put to the test.

With that said the good news is that the end is near and I am free to move on! The one thing I do enjoy about this job is that if something is bad it will come to an end once the project is over. Most people are just stuck with a toxic work environment until they find a new job which isn't always easy.

The best news is that it turned out to be a beautiful project in the end. In a couple of days I will have a lot of pics posted of the completed project for everyone to see.

It's been awhile!

I'm trying to keep up with this but I also want to make sure I'm keeping it new and fresh and not just rehashing the same ole' same ole'.

Today I wanted to discuss the need to connect with peers in your industry. I hate nothing more than petty competition. For me it's important to try and get to know who others are in my industry. You never know when you may need an extra hand or good advice. It's also nice to know you're not alone out there!

I am really starting to know the value of networking and not just in obvious ways. The more people you can connect with on a daily business the better off we can all be.

I once read that if you want to meet certain types of people and have a certain type of social circle you need to be the person you want to meet. In other words, do the things you would admire in others and you'll attract the same kind of people.

That's why I try to give of my time and knowledge. That's why I'm nice to my dogs. That's why I coach my son's little league team. Everyone says it's the little things that make all the difference. I hope they're right!

Coming Together!

I haven't posted for awhile because I've been extremely busy. I feel like everything is starting to finally come together. All of the long hours and hard work are starting to pay off, even if only in small ways. I've been trying to reach out to others in the form of friendly networking and expand our name and brand to the business community as a whole.

I've met with the local small business group in Excelsior and they are very friendly which is encouraging. I will be helping to set up a street festival this weekend and meet a few more of the members. I'm trying to subscribe to the philosophy of giving first asking second. It's a bit karmic but I think that's the way of the universe. You can't always expect to get when you haven't given of yourself.

I'll be posting some work in progress pics soon of The School II in Chanhassen. It's a sister restaurant to The School of the Wise in Victoria that we did last year. While it will be similar to the first restaurant in style, it will definitely be unique unto itself.

Staying positive!

I sure am glad that it's not Monday anymore! I swear that Monday's are jinxed with strange voodoo. It's so hard to stay focused and enthusiastic sometimes and when you add the burden of a Monday to that, the results can be disastrous if you're not careful. OK, so maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic but you know what I mean.

I guess the name of the game is to just try and stay positive. Even when you don't want to be. I think now more than ever it's important. It's easy to be positive when things are going well, it's when things get tighter that this philosophy is harder to maintain. Go g3 Go! Yeah team g3!

I'll have to keep working on that!

Gipson