1 hour, 25 minute listen
Portsmouth, NH & Chattanooga, TN
After almost fifty years of making a huge positive difference in the lives of Bigelow clients (and in our Firm itself), Richard Kimball is transitioning to a new chapter where he’ll spend more time on coaching and mentoring young entrepreneurs, and less on day to day Bigelow business.
In this hour-long podcast interview, Dick Kimball and Pete Worrell talk about the changes in the private transaction market over that time, some learnings and unlearnings along the way, and some of their very personal fun and funny experiences together.
Listen to the interview here:
What I am Reading / Listening to
Little Fires Everywhere (2017)
by Celeste Ng
"Little Fires Everywhere" miniseries (2020)
Produced by Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington
I really loved the best-selling fiction novel Little Fires Everywhere when I read it about three years ago. It’s a complex and moving story with many major plots and minor subplots that set up questions of culture and morality in the context of families living in Shaker Heights, OH (portrayed as uber Hometown USA). It struck me as a supremely well-designed novel that benefited by Ng’s creativity, yes—but even more, by her writing craftsmanship. It felt like she studied John McPhee’s book Draft Number 4 and got a solid A.
You know how it is when you see a movie (in this case, a series) based on a book that you really like? I was interested, but kept my expectations low. Holy Crap did Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington give me a whack in the side of the head. The two of them literally created the miniseries, and they play two of the leading roles. To me, the book was written from the point of view of the daughters: Izzy, Pearl, and Lexie. The series really comes from the point of view of the mothers: Mia and Elena. And unlike many screen adaptations this miniseries takes great liberties with the story—and incredibly—I think massively improves on it.
Brené Brown dedicated two of her podcast sessions, UNLOCKING US, to the book and miniseries: one is an interview with Celeste Ng, and the following one with Witherspoon and Washington. I thought they were both great. You can find them here.
Entrepreneur Owner-Manager Quote
"I mentioned being an advisor, a mentor, yes, a leader, but not so much a manager. And that's an important distinction."
-George B. Mock, III, President, CEO and Chairman, Nye Lubricants, Inc
Energy Creation
Contributed by Stephen R. McGee
The Perfect Trail Run?
In prior contributions to Positive Enterprise Value, I have contributed pieces on the energy creation I get from trail running, whether it is my early morning “regular” run with my friends in town or the more adventurous 100+ mile trail relay. This time, I thought I’d share some reflections on what I feel like is approaching the perfect trail run equipment set-up, to maximize the positive experience.
Let’s start with the headphones. I was actually first introduced to bone-conduction headphones at the aforementioned trail relay. Unlike traditional headphones that use speakers to transmit sound, with bone conduction technology, transducers send mini vibrations through the cheekbones and deliver sound directly to the inner ear, bypassing the eardrum. This leaves your ears open to experience your surrounding environment. Not a bad idea when you are running on the trails with the coyotes and fisher cats watching on! I opted for the Aftershokz Titanium model and I love them. They pair with your phone easily and are super lightweight. While you can definitely hear the sounds around you it’s not so easy to hear someone talking to you. Side-note: this can make for an irate spouse when you are wearing these headphones while doing yardwork!
I don’t usually run with my phone, but now that I have found a great pair of headphones, I need something to listen to, and that means carrying my phone. Past experiences with armbands and fanny-packs have always been disappointing, until I found the SPIbelt. I went for the original model which is super small. At first look you think “there is no way my phone will fit in that!”. However, the stretchy material allows your phone to easily fit inside and once in, the belt fits snugly around your waist holding the phone in the small of your back (at least that’s my preference). There is literally no bouncing as you run, and I can honestly say you don’t even feel like you are wearing anything around your waist.
OK, I’ve got the headphones and I’ve got the belt – what am I going to listen to? At this point you’d probably think me hipper if I listed off some awesome running playlist that I have uploaded to Spotify. But I’m too geeky for that. I listen to The Economist! Many moons ago I used to subscribe to the printed version of The Economist, but I found the weekly publication so dense that I would never have time to get through it all. As the editions piled up, it actually became energy draining and felt like failure! I recently re-subscribed to the publication when I found out it had an audio edition of the weekly tome. Every week I get to kick back and listen to people read The Economist to me! It’s awesome. Not so interested in elections in Peru—hit “next.” Since I typically only run for an hour at a time, sometimes that is barely enough to get through a single section of the edition. But now that I’m running 4-5 times a week I can get through a good chunk of the paper while on my runs. The rest I save for weekend yardwork, as long as Julie isn’t trying to talk to me!
So that’s my ideal gear set-up. Aftershokz Titanium headphones, the Original SPIbelt and the audio version of The Economist. And obviously don’t forget the miles and miles of spectacular trails in Boxford, MA! Nirvana—and that’s not on the playlist.
