A Message from the CEO - June 2025

I’ve been talking about the subject of regrets as of late.  My thought is that if you have no regrets, then you're not taking enough chances and you're not getting the most from life.  I’ll use myself as an example.  Last fall, my wonderful guitar tipped over at a gig - it was windy as heck - and its head fell off.* Well, I thought it was dead and I’d just have to figure something else out.  Do I regret taking it to that very windy gig and not securing it better?  Sure, but if the “head” of my guitar didn’t crack and fall off, I wouldn’t have my new guitar (which I love), and I wouldn’t have found the lutherie**, and I wouldn’t have appreciated as much the fact that bad stuff can happen in windy conditions.  I took a risk; I suffered the consequences and am better for it. (The wonderful old headless guitar was fixed and is back to its old self). 

I tell people one of my biggest regrets was not doing my Eagle Scout project (I did do one, they just said nope, do another).  My rock band was playing a lot and my priorities at the age of 14/15 were elsewhere.  I had huge regrets later and told people about those regrets.  A bunch of dads with sons in the same position reached out to me and I wrote letters to the sons.  “As a CEO, one of the things on a resume that most impresses me is someone who has risen to the rank of Eagle Scout.  It shows dedication and fortitude.  I had this opportunity, and I regret to this day not fulfilling that mission.”  I’m pretty sure most of those guys followed through and achieved their Eagle.

When we have opportunities to learn from our regrets and mistakes and we take advantage of that opportunity, we help to improve the world.  Being open and aware of our own personal issues and being proactive allows us to be better humans. 

Have some regrets but learn and improve and do better next time.  And apply grace whenever possible.