I Promise Not To Be Enron

People often ask me, “So, what’s it like running a multi-million dollar corporation?” Okay, no they don’t. In truth, over the course of doing the strip and running JBiRD iNK, I am often asked many questions, with “Where do you get your ideas?” and “How long have you been doing this?” among the most common. But Kim and I have recently been faced with the prospect of trying to imagine what an answer to the first question might look like, particularly in regards to our life together. After all, I am planning on sticking with her as long as she’ll have me. Apparently, we’ve come to a crossroads. Again. On one hand, we could continue to keep growing Kim & Jason slowly, without much risk, hoping for some big corporate giant like Hallmark to see our stuff and rain down showers of generous contracts and promises of an hour segment on QVC. We’ve been at this two years, and so far we’ve found many of the decision makers at Hallmark to be a bit snotty, to say the least. The other option is to decide if we really want to stick our necks out and grow the business, and continue down the path of development that may very well lead to real employees with 401Ks and meetings with boards of directors. This route, of course, involves real commitment, both financially and emotionally. When I think of what my schedule could look like in five or ten years from now, I get scared to death and enthusiastically excited all at once. I feel like I have so much to learn in the business arena, and I’m way out of my league. But when Kim and I talk about being our own bosses, business trips to places we’ve never been, and being able to dictate what the company is involved in and how it can positively impact the lives of lots of people, we feel a real pull in that direction. I started all of this years ago after having Kim & Jason rejected by the newspaper syndicates. I decided then that I could either pack up the wagon or do what I could to make Kim & Jason a success without the help of the big business type know-it-alls. Once again, it appears that the choice is the same, only the stakes are higher. So, with a darn good banker and lawyer and accountant in tow, and a very generous investment from family, we’ve decided to take this opportunity to navigate this vessel into uncharted waters, hopefully doing some really great things along the way. God has blessed this mission richly. We expect a great Christmas season and a great 2003. But we know we have a lot to learn. We know that the state of the economy is not to our advantage. We are aware that our lives will never be, shall we say, normal. And we couldn’t be more excited about it.