How to best prepare your high schooler for life out of the nest can be a terrifying thought.   Take it from me – the father of a 3-year-old who hasn’t quite approached that stage yet but experiences a 10% rise in blood pressure just as I write this sentence.   Sure, there’s research and logical thought on best practices, but how can you know if that’s what actually works – in the real world?   Well, we are incredibly fortunate to have 2!! people here today that literally work with 14-20-year-olds as they prepare for and enter life after high-school.   These two – collectively – have 3 degrees and double-digit years of experience helping kids just like ours make this transition successfully. There may not necessarily be one “right way” to prepare your teenager, but there are some great general concepts and the two below have graciously offered […]

I recently found out that I’m a “snowflake millennial,” so now I’m jumping on the bandwagon – all aboard!!   Stereotype (definition) – a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or the idea of a particular type of person or thing.   Can they be based in truth…? Sure.   Should you believe every stereotype you hear…? Not so fast.   (Photo courtesy of MKulp Photography)   The stereotype I’m most interested in today is this: Millennials are lazy, job-hopping snowflakes that seek only instant gratification.    Let’s not stop there. I’ve even read that more seasoned generations tend to believe that millennials are unprepared and incapable of taking the reins to lead our world forward. For the record – I think this opinion is short-sighted and not well investigated… So let’s take care of the latter.   Why am I interested in this stereotype? Well, I found out last year that […]

Big news this week!   Below I will introduce a new guest blogger to MikedUp Blog, and depending on how this article is received, maybe we’ll be able to coerce him into writing a little more often. I’d love your thoughts in the comments below! For now, I’ll kick it off, then let the ‘new guy’ take his swing. Thanks for reading!     I was talking with my dad (Pops) on the phone the other day after a particularly long day at my first job.    After the call – next would be parenting/husbanding followed by some work on the business, and if I were so efficient, maybe some blogging. But I had a few minutes on the commute and wanted to catch up. The conversation was casual for a bit while we covered the basics: sports, business, work, retired life, etc…  When we got to the family talk though, things […]

 In my defense, Tony chose to use a sailboat as his house. A 40-foot former America’s Cup racing sailboat, at that – valued at a cool $210,000. And then he chose to invite me and a great buddy out on it. Not sure what the worst of those decisions was but on this past summer day, I turned his house upside down… Literally.     I wrote last week about the best and worst jobs I’ve had over the years, and what I learned from some of the stand-outs (there were more than a dozen!!). In writing about my time working as a restauranteur (host) at the Hard Rock Cafe in Maui, an amazing story came to mind… That story is below and, no – I don’t think I’m exaggerating on ‘amazing’ for this one. You be the judge:     Best summer ever…? It’s up there.    Best summer […]

I love a good story, especially when I see one play out in front of my very own eyes. This is one such story…   We started Clara in gymnastics about 2 months ago and my 2.75 year-old daughter absolutely loves this stuff. Mom and I are on board as well because not only is it fun for the family, but Clara can also build strength, confidence, and relationships. And the cherry on top: there are about a dozen other families also present that have toddlers; each of whom can go rogue at a moments notice.   Clara’s age group has a ‘parent participation’ class where either mom or I will stretch alongside our little amig(a)s and walk with them as the navigate the week’s obstacle course. The week in question, Monica was assisting while I took the opportunity to watch and knock out some business matters. Win-win.   There […]