BYOB: Dusty roads
Trying to fund a startup business is a lot like having leprosy. No one wants to be around you, and most are, at least, a...
BYOB: The hardest part of leadership is loneliness
As part of my engineering business, I sometimes have to travel to some pretty remote places. I have been on a work boat in the...
BYOB: Are you willing to lose it all?
In August of 2005, Leslie and I lost everything. We lost our customers, our house, and everything we owned that wasn’t in a suitcase. We...
BYOB: Are you from Texas?
I love history. I grew up in the piney woods of Mississippi near the Free State of Jones. As some of you may know, the...
BYOB: Nos don’t count. You only need one yes.
In early 2003, Leslie came to me and said that she wanted to explore other ways of using her engineering degree. She had been working...
BYOB: Don’t ‘fake it till you make it’
When we started Lazy Magnolia there were very few packaging breweries in the South, and none in Mississippi. Opportunities for learning the business and the...
BYOB: Good leaders are great followers
To be a good leader, you have to first understand what it takes to be a great follower. Not just a good follower, but a...
BYOB: Who is in charge around here?
When I am asked to mentor entrepreneurs, I often hear the phrase: “I want to be my own boss.” Those words make me shudder. The...
BYOB: Brewing Your Own Business
This is a series of articles about the realities of being your own boss. Hopefully, this column serves as 50% inspiration, 50% how-to, and in...