What made you want to do the work you do? Please share the full story.
I do a lot of journaling. A lot of day-dreaming. I love focusing on problem-solving. I keep avid notes and have an incredible memory for recalling details about games that I read about once. I am detail oriented. I love history. And I love collecting. I love discovering, and restoring items. I love protecting and preserving bits of the past and keeping their stories alive. I have always collected ticket stubs to every game I have ever been to. During the pandemic, I began collecting Super Bowl tickets. Once I completed that, I worked on World Series tickets, All-star game tickets, NBA Finals tickets, and no-hitter tickets. I was hooked.
I loved collecting tickets and bringing to life the stories these old stubs were connected to. Seeing that people were throwing old these old stubs every day broke my heart. So I started a service where customers could get cash for their old ticket stub collections, and keep them out of the trash and preserved for all time. My service was the first ever vintage ticket stub buying service and we’ve been operating longer than any other service. We are inspired by good service, which I learned as a Tennant during my time (15 years) working for Starbucks back in the early 2000’s), when the coffee shop experience was reshaping the community meeting space in America. I loved giving people friendly, efficient service that was reliable and ran like a well-oiled machine.
Now, I am inspired by the stories I hear from customers. They tell me about their memories, their loved ones, their favorite game, their favorite concert, and I love hearing how grateful they are to find my service and someone who will cherish their stubs and give them a meaningful next chapter.
Tell us 3 surprisingly easy and 3 surprisingly difficult things about your business.
3 surprisingly easy things about my work
(1) Doing business with us! We’ve made it pretty easy to become a customer and get paid well for your old stubs! It’s a pretty well-oiled machine at this point
(2) Keeping 300,000+ ticket stubs organized.
(3) Learning each and every day. I’m always excited to learn new things so it comes very easy to me.
3 surprisingly difficult things about my work are
(1) Working from home when my kids are out of school for the summer LOL.
(2) Researching old ticket stubs accurately.
(3) keeping my office clean.
What are the 3 things you like best about your work and why?
3 Best parts of my job are
(1) meeting cool new people every day
(2) Learning history of things I love, like sports and music.
(3) Getting to work from home!
What are your greatest 3 skills and how have they helped you succeed?
My three greatest skills are positivity and energy, goal-setting, and time management.
I’m naturally a very positive, high-energy person. I tend to believe there’s a solution to almost every problem, and when something doesn’t work, I don’t spend much time dwelling on it. I learn from it, adjust, and keep moving. That mindset has been incredibly important as an entrepreneur.
Second, I’m a big believer in setting clear goals. I like knowing exactly what I’m trying to accomplish and then breaking a big goal down into smaller steps.
Third is time management. Time is our most valuable and limited resource, and I’m very intentional about how I use mine. I try to eliminate distractions, prioritize the things that will have the greatest impact, and protect time for the people and things that matter most to me.
Tell us about a time you were dead wrong about something.
I have been wrong plenty of times and will continue to have many failures. But I really tend to use failures as an inevitable ingredient to success. So is it really failure if it’s on the road to success? Overcoming failure is tough though. Cause failure feels defeating its easy to wallow in it. But persistence is key. You must keep going at whatever you’re doing. My failures simply teach me what does not work. Which, in turn, allows me to further refine my understanding of what DOES work.
How do you get yourself out of a funk? Please share the details.
Meditation. Deep breathing and quieting my mind. If my mind is too active, or I’m in a funk, I find myself in nature. I explore a quiet forest, climb a remote mountain pass, or camp next to a quiet stream. And if all else fails, I bang away on my drum set 😉
What is a habit you try to stick to and how has it helped you?
I spend very little time on social media (other than for work), and I never really watch TV and stream shows. I am laser-focused on the 2-3 things that are most important for me each week and I stay hyper focused on those and cut out all the noise.
How do you celebrate your victories?
As for celebrating victories, my wife and I usually turn them into an excuse to plan something special with our kids. They’re still young-ish, and I’m very conscious of how precious, and fleeting, these years are. Success is wonderful, but ultimately I want that success to buy us more time and experiences together. So whenever we can, that’s where we invest it.
Who is your favorite motivational speaker and why?
Oh definitely Coaching for Leaders with Dave Stachowiak. I’ve been listening for years, and I love that it focuses on the human side of leadership rather than simply managing tasks or chasing results. It’s helped shape how I think about coaching, communication, feedback, and developing people.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve taken from it is that great leadership isn’t about having all the answers it’s about creating an environment where other people can become better. That philosophy has followed me throughout my career and into entrepreneurship.
What advice would you give to your younger self and why?
Persistence pays off over everything. Nothing is easy. So it’s whoever persists who wins. But in order to persist through difficulties, you must be connected to a great cause. Something that makes you work hard in the face of adversity. Cause adversity is waiting for you no matter the road in life you choose. So you must be persistent, and the only way you can do that is by making your work something that feeds your heart and soul. The only thing I wish I would have done, was to believe in myself sooner. To believe in my vision and get started on that sooner.
Who has been your biggest mentor in life (personal or professional) and how have they helped you?
Alan Watts. His work has had a tremendous influence on how I think about life. More than anything, he reminds me how fleeting, and incredibly beautiful, our time here really is, and how important it is to actually be present for it.
It’s easy, especially as an entrepreneur, to constantly live in the future: the next goal, the next milestone, the next problem to solve. Watts has helped remind me that life isn’t something we’re racing through. iIt’s happening right now. Some of the most meaningful moments are the ordinary ones, and I try very hard not to miss them.
Just for fun, what is your favorite food?
I’m a simple Illinois boy. Give me some sweet corn, baked beans, and a good burger or brat and I’m a happy man.