Aerial View:

• Intro thoughts

• Mindful Minute: Advice to the younger generation.

• Conscious Consumer: Made In CeramiClad

• Quote of the day

• 3 key questions to reflect on

What’s up men, welcome back. First day of sunshine down here in FL in quite some time, and man it feels good. I’m particularly influenced by the weather, so today I rode the high of the energy and was on a war path. Ton of work crossed off the to-do list in the morning, crushed a mid-day workout, wrote today’s newsletter, had a few important team calls, and even managed to soak up about an hour of direct sun. Going to take the pup on a walk this evening and toss a NY strip on the grill.

All in all, an ideal day. For me, knowing the impact the weather has on my mood and energy, I needed to capitalize today. It really set the tone for the week ahead. Alright, jumping in, today we’re looking at a recent experience that enabled me to share my insights with some future entrepreneurs.

Mindful Minute - Advice to the younger generation.

Earlier this month, I was given an opportunity to do a guest talk to a group of about 50 business school students in the UCONN entrepreneurial program.

Little context here- I went to Indiana University freshman year in 2014/15 in an effort to get into the prestigious Kelley School of Business. Spoiler alert- I failed the accounting midterm in the 4th week of college, and was thus ineligible to apply to the business school. The night of the failed midterm was followed by a fifth of Jose Cuervo in the stairwell of my dorm crying to my mom on the phone that I was a failure and couldn’t do the one thing I even went to that university for.

Without the business school plan, I no longer wanted to be at school in the midwest. So I transferred to the University of Connecticut after freshman year and graduated in 2018 with a bachelors in communication and no real plan. I was NOT in the business school at UCONN. I slacked off, put in the bare minimum effort, played lacrosse, worked at the bar, partied in a fraternity, drank like a fish during study-abroad, and prioritized my social life over all else. You are now up to speed.

While I can’t go back in time and talk to that young emotional version of myself in the stairwell, I was grateful to be able to address the students at my alma mater a few weeks back and give them the advice that I wish someone would’ve given me at the time.

Here are the most important points that I emphasized during my talk to the students:

• If you have a vision, and believe in it with all of your being, no one else's opinion matters. There is one voice that matters, and it’s your own.

• The only way to fail is to quit. Stopping is the only guaranteed failure. Relentless pursuit will triumph.

• When obstacles inevitably present themselves, and they will, OFTEN, it’s crucial to remember that they are only obstacles, and obstacles can be worked through.

• Building a successful, quick-growth business is not difficult, but it is incredibly hard. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or brainiac, it takes someone who can show up and do the work, delay gratification, and make sacrifices- for an extended period of time. The longer your time horizon, the better your chances of winning.

• The most important work you can do is the work on yourself. If you’re not prioritizing yourself- health, mindset, fitness, relationships, etc., then your energy and productivity will bear the brunt of it, and you’ll be falling short of your true potential.

• The best opportunities in the business world right now lie around making people’s lives better- not JUST more convenient. For-purpose, mission driven brands have explosive growth potential if they solve a real problem that genuinely improve consumer’s lives. Gut health, non-toxic living, microplastic avoidance, holistic weight loss, nutritional literacy- just a few examples of where BIG opportunities lie. 

• You won’t know everything before you start. There are no perfect moments to begin. The ideal moment to begin is when you can confidently say that you believe in your idea. When you can say that, the only ideal moment to start is now.

• Discomfort is a prerequisite for success and growth. Learn to accept this and you’ll be lightyears ahead.

• In your early 20’s, try as much as humanly possible. Learn learn learn. You’ll never have the freedom to learn with no strings attached like this again.

• Age doesn’t matter. You can be 21, 40, or 65 and you can change your life. You just need to decide, and double down. Grit wins.

• Have fun. Find and do things that bring you joy. Not things that society tells you you should do. Now’s the time to experiment and find what you like, and what you don’t. Sometimes the process of elimination is the only way to get closer to finding out what it is you like.

• You’ll never know when something is the right opportunity or not. Sometimes all we get is a hunch. That’s enough to go on. Trust your gut- always.

Something interesting that I am able to reflect on now is that during my entire time at UCONN as a student, I didn’t feel like I belonged there. It was only when I returned as an alumni to share my entrepreneurial story that I felt at home on campus. I think this is because as a student, I didn’t really want to be there. So I walled up emotionally and never allowed myself to embrace the culture, tradition, and spirit of the school, as if I was too cool for it all. I’m a little bummed about this, but am grateful to have the awareness and ability to recognize and reflect on it now. 

When I returned to campus 6 years later, I was pumped to be there. I was excited and eager to share my story and make an impact on future founders and builders. I wanted to be there. It was a really cool feeling.

Side note- I never wore much UCONN gear until now. You bet your ass I’m sporting a UCONN hat as I write this. Finally officially proud to be a Husky. Took long enough.

Anyways, I hope that sharing a bit on my experience here can inspire some critical thinking and reflection on your end, and that you can learn from my takeaways.

Conscious Consumer

Quote of the week

The only true failure is quitting. Fail fast and fail forward is one of my favorite mantras that we’ve adopted into the NADS culture, and it is incredibly important that we view each mistake and “failure” as a lesson. We mustn’t beat ourselves up when we hit roadblocks. Instead, we need to step back, understand why it happened, and course correct. Always forward.

Rise and Reflect - 3 Questions to Inspire Impactful Action and Critical Reflection

1. Can I think of a time when I gave up at the first instance of adversity?

2. If failure was not possible, what would you go do right now? Failure is a mindset, nothing is impossible… (Go do it!)

3. What advice would you give your college self? Are you following that advice yourself? Why or why not?

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Thank you for being here.

Sails up, eyes open.

Until next time,
Dan Baird