My 5 Hardest Lessons of 2021

“Don’t look at failure as something you need to distance yourself from. Try to embrace it instead. Wrap your hands around it and examine it. Believe that you can use it to rebuild your idea and take it to an even higher level than you’d originally conceived.” — Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson

“that boy went from a philosopher fro to an activist fade” — Ahman

1. That Whole Jones School Thing

• Original Idea: You can see the evidence right here. I brought this up like a year before that video dropped and NOBODY really even reacted but I was looking at it all that time. The original idea was that we didn’t need to have another church in Aliquippa. The whole thing really started with me just sitting around talking to friends listing off things that would be better than having that be a giant church. Then I was doing something completely unrelated in Pittsburgh when I learned about Conservatorships and immediately said to myself “ah shit”. As a church kid, it did take me a while to bring myself to actually do it. But my late twenties have been filled with me figuring out ways to get out of my own head and take action on my thoughts. So basically, in my mind there would be some kind of town hall or rally where we would all speak about what we thought made sense. Fresh out of a web developer bootcamp, I developed and deployed my first ever website which highlighted this whole thing from my perspective. it also allowed people to chime in and say what they felt would be the best use for the space. Using this website (70+ entries btw), the plan was to all sit down and come up with a great idea that would ignite industry and revive Aliquippa as an economically strong city. Even if we didn’t go with my idea (I wanted workforce development, specifically alternative energy jobs like solar power technicians), we would have all taken the time to talk through what makes sense and what doesn’t.
• The Lesson: Small town politics is a very dirty game…and even when you play by the rules (or use the law), you still need political power (which is different from individuals or community) in order to get the thing done. In the end, I had to settle the petition for a couple of reasons: some were afraid to speak their mind, the general difficulty of holding attention (including my own) in this internet age, some people don’t like to read, so on and so forth. Personally, I ran out of steam. I wasn’t really prepared to stay on their necks like I should have and I was afraid of going for the building alone. Or rather, without any political power in hand.
• The New Idea: I have no plans on doing anything there. That is their space and I can leave it at that. From the conservatorship, we created the nonprofit that my partner and I run today. So the goal is still to bring workforce development and technology into the community in engaging ways, but I think this go around will piss less people off. Some people asked why not just go after something that was truly vacant and while I do still think Jones School deserves better than whatever was happening there, I took their advice. You can catch us every Saturday on the other side of the hill doing the real work.

I did NOT realize that I had to take all these signs down myself. Took me like two months to get around to cutting down that banner.

2. Running for City Council

• Original Idea: Running for city council seemed like a good way to get involved in the community work in a meaningful way. I think that originally I looked at it as a way to represent younger voices in the governing of the city as well as a chance to introduce some new ideas into the space.
• The Lesson: Politics is a nasty game. Beyond that, it is very demanding. The immediate lesson was understanding what exactly it means to be a part of a political party. As an independent, it was kind of wild to see groups of Democrats being called over to the poll station that I was working, but the game is the game. If you have friends, why not use it. Here I was thinking that you could get far just by meaning well.
• The New Idea: No more politics. I don’t want any parts of that ish. I don’t really think it would give me the leverage I had originally hoped it would. Or maybe it does. But either way, I don’t have the personality necessary for a career in politics. And if I were to ever run, it would have to be for something that at least pays a salary. Ultimately, I would much rather be the person behind the scenes wielding money and power than the face of any kind of “movement” or whatever.

3. Growing Plants with My NFT Desktop System

• Original Idea: Learn how to grow with this baby hydroponic system. Then become a farmer. Seemed simple enough.
• The Lesson: It was not very simple. I tried more than four times to grow lettuce on this machine and each time failed, resulting in me having to eventually clean out the machine. Angling and really knowing how much light the seedlings needed was a task. Also knowing when to transition the seedlings into the system was also definitely a pain point that I kept missing.
• The New Idea: Specifically with this machine, I think having grow lights is the missing key here. Using grow lights for consistency as well as having them in a specific area (I had moved them a bit in my apartment) should yield much better results. Now that we have a house, my new grow room will crush lettuce coupled with all the herbs and plants that will be grown seasonally outside, my crop yield will be impressive.

4. Work Hard, You Sometimes Won’t

• Original Idea: Work Hard Pittsburgh was a cooperatively owned business incubator and tech based ecosystem. I spent two years in this ecosystem. For me, it started as a way to get somewhat consistent gig work as a videographer and learn ways to upgrade my skills. Since then, it became a source of legitimacy for my business endeavors as a solopreneur. The space was the first place I was able to employ my notary role, I helped a number of my colleagues purchase homes as a realtor, and even made an attempt at web developing. Work Hard very much aimed to be greater than the sum of its solopreneur parts, but unfortunately did not last long enough to defeat the Power Rangers style kaiju monster (which ironically is actually the same…nvm).
• The Lesson: I think Founder and my mentor Josh Lucas did a great job of summing up and saying goodbye to the ecosystem. Ultimately, things are trendy and hot and then they are not. Coworking and cooperatively owned businesses had their time to shine and I think that — because pandemic or because natural cycle or both — they are no longer what we wanted them to be. Coworking as I see it playing out today is more about commercial subleasing. Collective action and shared equity is still very much a goal, but it seems it cannot be at the forefront of the model. Another lesson I learned was that you really have to be mindful of who comes into an organization. Some people are poisonous, really just self-destructive. They will always have more energy to tear down and get in their own way than to do the work that would move them forward. I’ve noticed it with friends (next slide) and I notice it in this ecosystem. Much of it relied on being able to access those who characteristically look at each situation as “how much can I take from this system for my own personal gain”. I don’t think that this is inherently bad but when you have a group, having a good portion of the people tuned this way just means the organization is going to be slowly feeding on itself. Which doesn’t help when the external forces come knocking like they do for all businesses.
• The New Idea: Centralizing my business development services by focusing on what I can do to help those mostly in Aliquippa, but sometimes surrounding areas. In February I will be hosting my first free one-on-one consultation sessions. I like to be involved in things so honestly I will probably end up getting attached to whatever projects they have going on. I think that helping people find commercial space will be something like a niche for me moving forward. My hope is that this will lead me into development of commercial spaces as well.

5. Choose One: No Friends or Old Friends

• Original Idea: Admittedly, I am a workaholic. However, every so often I run out of things to work on or I want to take a break. In those times I notice just how lonely this journey has become for me. This year I was confronted with the realization that being home doesn’t mean that I can have the same old friends or that I can kick it with them in the same way. Part of me expected to turn 80 and be somewhere on Plan 11 Extension smoking with my friends laughing about life. Definitely a romantic way to look at growing old, but not very realistic.
• The Lesson: The reality is that some friends are not going to grow up at all. Some are going to grow differently than you have. Neither of them are necessarily wrong, I suppose, but it’s important for you to recognize not only where you are and are headed, but the same for those around you. Truthfully it is wrong if people aren’t growing. And you aren’t responsible for making sure others grow. Especially if we are talking about people you’ve known all your life. If it is in your best interest to confront your personal issues and find growth, I think it is fair to ask that of your friends as well. We have to avoid just letting people off with “you know that’s how they are” and honestly look at why they are that way and whether or not their unwillingness to grow could adversely affect you and your goals. For me, I learned that it very much can. This was the first year I spent not speaking to a childhood friend who I thought I would be hanging out with for the rest of my life. And maybe we can get back to a better space but for now, I had to learn the lesson that I cannot afford to make exceptions when it comes to my growth and success. Letting go sometimes is just the best move to make.
• The New Idea: I don’t really have much of a new idea here outside of looking for more productive friends that are compatible with who I am now and not just friends because they grew up by me or because we have some shared trauma. That’s not healthy. I think part of this process was learning about who I am in the right now and what interests me. Hopefully I will find friends who share an interest in some of the hobbies I’m picking up (archery, hiking, hunting, board games, etc.).

As a Bonus for making it this far, here are 5 goals I plan to achieve in the upcoming year. I have no idea why I went with the number 5, but sometimes I just get really fixated on what I deem symmetrical.

• 5 homebuyers in Aliquippa (and from Aliquippa)
• 5% commission pledge to a nonprofit
• 5 Hikes (5+ miles)
• $500 student payouts for CS for Quips!
• 5 fast food trips total. Heavy on the no fast food.