Friends, Food Trucks, and Family

The previous week I spent most of my time connecting with old friends and family. My main objective was understanding what is the best way to approach a few new opportunities that have been presented to me.

Nice hotel, Good Vegan Food, and Even Better Friends

My week started flying off to Boston where I would arrive at my favorite hotel the Colonnade and have lunch with fellow misfit Nelson DeWitt who was nice enough to pick me up at the hotel and take us to the the Red Lentil where the vegan food was awesome.

Later on in the day I was able to catch up with my good friend Rob Hatch and finally meet the awesome Ron Hood from Owner Inc. for dinner. Both Ron and Rob are two awesome fathers who I consider my parenting mentors. Rob’s background working with children has always been helpful to understand Daniela’s growth. Ron Hood is a super creative dad, most of the experiences he creates around his daughter will make a you and me get emotional.

That same evening my good friend Lois picked me up at the hotel and drove us to the Microsoft N.E.R.D. center where my friend Chris Brogan was going to talk a bit about mastering the digital channel and what would happen on Tuesday at his event. It was great getting to see and spend time with Lois. It makes me see how similar we are when it comes to certain personality traits.

 

I also had the opportunity to meet the great Dave Cutler in person after many years of tweeting and exchanging ideas online.

Mastering the Digital Channel

Tuesday came along and I was able to spend the full day along some very brilliant people who were asking Chris Brogan and Rob Hatch questions on how the online business eco systems work.

One of the highlights of my visit to Boston was getting the privilege to meet Tina Lynch who I met online while working on a project with Chris and Rob for a business partner in England.

During the second half of the event I was able to have my brother Javier who is working on a new project listen to Chris and Rob which gave him a fresh perspective on how he sees business. After a long but very productive two days in Boston we drove down to Connecticut where Javier and I got to plan out our next few days and chat about the value we got from going to Chris and Rob’s event.

Visiting Nicko & the Uncle Gussy’s Team

We took the Metro north from Bridgeport to Grand Central as I would do every day while working at KPMG’s New York Office.

Once we arrived I was puzzled a bit by how after 8 years I did not quite remember the quickest route to 345 park avenue. After some walking on the very cold streets of New York City we got to Uncle Gussy’s food truck where Nicko was waiting for us to take pictures and do some work inside the food truck.

Seeing the culture of how a food truck operates behind the scenes help me gain even more respect for the great job Nicko and his team do every day. Being able to find a blend of getting the best quality food out in a timely manner while keeping food costs down is truly a performance.

To my amazement people were standing in freezing temperatures to get their favorite Greek Food from Uncle Gussy’s Food Truck. Confirming Nicko’s has the right formula by keeping his customers happy and coming for more even in harsh weather.

My Ex-KPMG and KPMG Family

I also had the opportunity to meet up with Amit and Ajay. Both of them worked with me at KPMG and left to other opportunities. I also was able to see some friends like Synthia and Abid who are still working at the firm. Walking into the office made me realize how much things have changed since I left about 8 years ago.

It was an very interesting two days working in New York City that ended in a meeting where Nicko was nice enough to get us in front of his friend who is a successful entrepreneur.

We hopped back on the Metro North back to Bridgeport while discussing ideas and ways to work on Javier’s new venture.

It was a week filled with lots of research, meeting new friends, getting to hug old friends, and analyzing the best approach of the new opportunities we are going after.

I will be writing up a bit more on our new family venture in my newsletter which I share on Sunday’s (when I have something of value to share). If you want to find out more feel free to sign up.

PS: Special thanks to Nicko, Chris, and Rob for making this trip possible in many ways.