The Journey Continues…

Here is my Journey in the Footwear Industry and the lessons I learned along the way #252

In blog #251 I talked about the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. In this blog I want to talk about how the Journey continues.

After almost 19 years I am no longer a Zappos employee. I had many great adventures and experiences and with great people. If you have been following me for awhile you would know how important people are in any business. This was the formula for my success. Shhh…tell everyone, it works! I got to travel to many different corners of the Earth. I learned that people from all over have the same wants, emotions, desires, ambitions and I always had great interactions with people all over the world. Why? Because if you treat people with respect and show kindness it comes back to you. Trust me this works too.

I am going to miss my team and the daily interactions with Kathy, Dee, Scott and Paun but I still chat with them even today so it’s okay. We built a great business and friendships over the years and that will always be special to me. There are way too many other people to mention but hopefully I can thank you over a nice BBQ. Steak Night is alive and well and always on Friday nights.

Zappos started with an idea that Nick Swinmurn had back in 1998 and he made it come to life in 1999. Goes to show you what you can do if you set your mind to it. He had the good fortune to partner up with Tony Hsieh. Tony was brilliant. I still remember that interview like it was yesterday. I walked away thinking “Damn he’s smart, I need to take my leap of faith on this one. And I’m glad I did. Fred finally got me to take my leap. So many great memories.

A job does not define who I am though. One of my favorite quotes that Tony used to say from Maya Angelou was “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. I can only hope that my legacy is that I made people feel happy, content, satisfied, valued, appreciated, and loved. That makes me feel happy knowing I tried my best. This goes for all people I worked with and the Vendor community as well.

On a more personal note, I got a call in October of 2020 from my daughter and son in law. She…