Interlude: In Search Of Adventure On The Road Less Traveled
I've launched my own communications consulting company to help people tell stories that matter, at a time when it's never been more important.
Throwing open the doors to a new enterprise is as exhilarating as it is terrifying. Will anyone walk through the digital front door? Should we hang a bell? Source: Tim Mossholder | Unsplash
Recently, I alluded to having made a major life decision. It was so big that, at the time, I couldn’t talk about it publicly.
Well, the time has arrived. I am proud to share that I have launched a communications consulting company, Silver Maple Strategies LLC.
It’s named after these big, amazing trees that tower over our little homestead here in Missouri. They grow quickly, live a great life and then become firewood to warm us in winter.
A great story closely mirrors the life of a tree in the sense that it:
Starts with the seed of a powerful idea.
Sets deep roots as the idea gains nourishment, tumbling around inside the mind of the storyteller and bouncing off the realities of the outside world.
Begins to grow and become visible to anyone who cares to look, and it continues to climb until it’s impossible to ignore.
Reaches maturity and stands as a testament to the commanding presence of words and those who speak them compellingly.
Ages and ends its natural cycle, leaving behind rings that remind us of how we felt when we first heard it—and a longing to hear it again
Those of you who read my writing on a regular basis might be saying, “Really, Nate? You can barely string two sentences together. Is this such a great idea?”
And you might be onto something. I read in a Michael Hyatt email recently that 4% of new businesses live to see their tenth birthday. That’s a sobering mortality rate.
But you know what? Failing to start a dreamed-of business is among people’s top regrets, according to author Daniel Pink, who studied the issue of would have-could-have-should-have extensively.
I count myself blessed to have spent an extraordinary decade at 146-year-old Farm Journal Inc., where I will continue to serve as vice president of Trust In Food™, the company’s climate-smart agriculture division. Every day, we’re helping organizations help farmers and ranchers—among the hardest working Americans I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing—succeed in their businesses. Their can-do example played a significant role in my decision. My fearless leader, Amy Skoczlas Cole, and my incredible colleagues have been amazing, gracious, encouraging and kind. It’s the kind of camaraderie a person would be hard pressed to stumble upon in a thousand lifetimes. I’ve had the good fortune of finding it and making it a part of my daily life. I can’t wait to see where we go next.
Above all, I’m indebted to my extraordinary wife, Julie, whose own career accomplishments, leadership and ability to balance a rewarding work life with a zany (yet rich!) home life made my decision to give a real go at a business possible. How she manages to keep smiling with four energetic children, one wacky dreamer companion (that’s me!) and a raft of animals is nothing short of remarkable.
And if all of this goes south, what then? Well, worst case scenario, I can make waffles and keep the floor vacuumed while incubating a batch of eggs before winter’s icy breath blankets the lawn. My mom and grandmas hardwired the homemaking genes straight into my DNA. So sue me.
This is probably the part where I’m supposed to make the shameless plug, really go for the jugular. (“If you need help, CALL NOW!”) But I won’t insult your decency, at least not yet. Instead, I’ll simply use this space to say thank you.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you for giving me confidence, over the past several months, to test the edges of my writing and try new things.
Thank you for pulling me out of a period of personal darkness and depression and helping me find joy again.
Thank you for your kind words, prayers and encouragement. Too often, we forget the big and small ways we make a difference in the lives of other. You’ve reminded me in countless ways.
Thank you for pointing me—already, before I’ve even gotten started—toward new opportunities to help people and organizations that have big dreams, big stories and a big need to tell the world. Those are the kinds of people and organizations I can’t wait to help.
Thank you for pushing me forward on an even bigger life goal, which is to become a published author and public speaker capable of helping 100x—nah, let’s go for broke and say 1000x—more people toward careers that bring them joy, make a difference and allow them to bring their whole selves to work, family most of all. You can’t split yourself down the middle, leave half of yourself sitting in the breakfast nook and expect the other part to make a meaningful impact at the office.
Bring. Your. Whole. Self.
Long story short: Silver Maple Strategies is a business that leads with kindness, curiosity and a sense of humor to deliver world-class communications consulting services for secular and faith-based organizations. And in the process, it will deliver on its top-secret mission of making sure the community it serves feels inspired, appreciated and empowered to bring their whole selves to work, guilt free.
Because your children can’t wait. Your spouse can’t wait. Your life can’t wait. Now is exactly the right time to use the power of language, story and relationship to mend what needs fixing and to heal what’s hurting, in our businesses and in our families. They don’t exist in silos. They’re part of a unified whole. The whole you, that is. And to be your best at work, your values must carry seamlessly over from home. To do otherwise would be to sow conflict and invite a heap of trouble. I can attest.
And that’s why, starting Monday, I will go to work with renewed enthusiasm and hype music in my brain.
As a preacher friend of mine likes to say, God is good not just some of the time, but all of the time. This week, I’ve seen it firsthand.
Let’s get after it, shall we?