Crippled CEO Blog #181: The colors and textures of language influence the painting of our perspectives. There’s a word in Scottish — “hurkle-durkle” — that means the act of lounging in bed long after it’s time to rise. It’s an amazing word for something we’ve all done before. But imagine if you had a single word for that in English. Would you feel less guilty about enjoying those extra moments of comfort? Now, English has its own treasure: “serendipity,” the art of finding something good without looking for it. No direct translation in other languages, yet it’s a universal concept, isn’t it? T ..read more

Crippled CEO Blog #179: If you are a long time follower of this here blog, you might remember that Michael McGahee and I keep a running list of the silly corporate jargon we hear as we go about our jobs of saving lives. It is a goal of mine to keep my company from ever becoming the sort of place where this kind of lingo is common. I previously wrote a memo using all of the words from our list, but since then, that list has grown tremendously. So, I thought it was time to update that memo while s ..read more

Crippled CEO Blog #178: I have heard people say that they would rather die than live like me — that if something ever happened and they couldn’t take care of themselves anymore, if they needed help using the bathroom, if they needed someone to wipe them, if they needed help showering — that they would either kill themselves or hope that someone would put them out of their misery. People have even said this right in front of me, probably with no idea that they were actually talking about me.  And I get it. Trust me. It’s not easy. And while I do believe my life is incredible SO strongly th ..read more

Crippled CEO Blog #176: It down on me the other day that life has a lot in common with video games.  And not the obvious tropes like leveling up or being able to restart and try again — though those are accurate, as well.  Lots of games these days are large, open world affairs.  It’s not always clear which way you should be going.  But you know you’re in the right direction with you start encountering new obstacles that you’ve never seen before — new challenges that initially seem impossible, but you eventually overcome. This is true in real life, as well. If you aren’t run ..read more

As a self-proclaimed “Crippled CEO,” I’ve faced my fair share of obstacles in the business world. But the biggest challenge I’ve faced is convincing myself that I’m actually qualified to be a CEO, despite my physical limitations. At first, I was plagued by doubts and insecurities. I’d wonder, “What if they find out I can’t reach the top shelf without a step stool?” Or, “What if my employees realize I can’t walk and chew gum at the same time?” But then, I realized that my disability actually gave me an advantage in certain situations. For example, I can park in the handicapped spot right next t ..read more

Crippled CEO Blog #174: Yesterday was my dad‘s birthday — the seventh one that has passed since he passed away.  Life Saver Pool Fence is the company that he founded with my mom, Ruth. And it is the business that I took over running at 21 years old in 2003. These days, I don’t know why a person as smart and prudent as he was would let a 21 year old run the company that was his family’s sole income, but he did. And as crazy as that sounds to me now, coming up on my 41st birthday, given how much we have grown over the last two decades, maybe he’s even smarter than I’m giving him credit for ..read more

Crippled CEO Blog #172: Everyone hates being ignored. It’s so traumatic that the dating version of being ignored is called “ghosting“. It sounds like something out of a horror movie.  I have long said that upset customers are rarely truly pissed off by the mistake you made. People are generally pretty forgiving of mistakes. No, they become truly pissed off when they feel ignored, which often happens after a mistake, because we don’t know what to do to fix it, or because the whole situation makes us feel yucky so we don’t engage with it. That’s when the real anger kicks in. The screwup is ..read more

Crippled CEO Blog #171: I’m fantastic!  That is my typical reply when someone asks me how I’m doing. I use it because that is the most positive word I can come up with. Sometimes, to mix it up, I replace “fantastic“ with terrific, tremendous, incredible, or amazing. But 85% of the time, I’m fantastic.  And why do I tell people that I’m fantastic? Because I am.  And I am because I get to choose. Some days are rougher than others, and there are times when I’m not feeling 100%, either physically or emotionally, but I do still tend to tell people that I am fantastic, because that ha ..read more

Crippled CEO Blog #170: So much has been written on how important it is to have the right people in your company. All a business is, really, is a collection of people. That’s it. So, it follows that getting the people right is practically the only thing that truly matters. And while I have seen this repeated ad nauseam, I don’t see a lot of people saying what those right (or wrong) people look like – what attributes they possess. So, I wanted to talk about one of those attributes, and in particular one that I think isn’t just overlooked, but the very concept itself isn’t known, making it impos ..read more

Crippled CEO Blog #169: You may not realize it, but both your eyes have a natural blind spot, or scotoma. Everyone has them. They’re normal and you probably don’t notice them. Your retina, which is a thin layer of neural tissue at the back of your eye, is made up of tiny, light-detecting cells called photoreceptors. When light lands on your retina, it sends electrical bursts through your optic nerve to your brain. Your brain turns the signals into a picture. The spot where your optic nerve connects to your retina has no light-sensitive cells, so you can’t see anything there. That’s your b ..read more