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When I made a call to my dadthen in his sixtiesabout joining my startup, it wasn’t about securing funding or advice. I made the call to ask him to serve as a cofounder. After 13 years climbing the corporate ladder at American Express (Amex), I was ready to walk away from everything predictable. The irony wasn’t lost on either of us. To be clear, this decision didn’t happen overnight. The four years between leaving Amex and starting this new venture were a journey in themselves. I built a coaching business from scratch as a solopreneur, eventually matching my prior executive earnings by leveraging a novel peer-to-peer model. And in my experience coaching over 400 senior leaders, I saw a universal patterna deep need for connection and group support that traditional corporate structures couldn’t provide. That insight planted the seed that later grew into the business I wanted to build with my dad. In the process, I discovered five valuable lessons. Leaders can draw on these when they want to evaluate their relationship with success, make major pivots, and build something meaningful, whether with family or anyone else you trust. Use ‘the line’ to audit your life My dad had a simple visualization that changed how I thought about time. Draw a horizontal line representing your life: 20 years of education, 45 years of working, and, if you’re lucky, 13 to 15 years of retirement. Hed pose the question, “Why would you ever want to struggle through those 45 years hoping you’re healthy enough to have a good 13?” The math is soberingyou’ll spend more waking hours at work than with your family. Map your line and ask yourself. If you’re 35 with 30 working years left, are you optimizing these years for meaning, or just enduring them for some day? What percentage of your working hours energize versus drain you? If you continue your current path, who will you be at retirement? What would you regret not trying during these prime years? Recognize when success becomes a cage Corporate success is seductive because it’s measurable, whether thats by your title, salary, or bonus structure. But these metrics can trap you in a life that looks impressive from the outside while slowly killing you inside. My breaking point came while sitting in another quarterly planning meeting. I realized that I could predict exactly what the next five years would look like. The same conversations, bigger numbers, higher titles. The predictability that once felt like security now felt like suffocation. Success in a cage looks like this: you can predict your next three career moves with frightening accuracy. You’re optimizing for external validation rather than internal fulfillment. You find yourself saying “I should be grateful” instead of “Im grateful.” You’re waiting for the next promotion to feel satisfied. The escape framework is simple: Instead of asking, “What if this new path doesn’t work?” ask, “What if I don’t try?” The risk of regret often outweighs the risk of failure. Find your complementary partner (and your unbiased challenger) The most successful pivots happen with the right partnersomeone whose strengths complement your weaknesses and whose timeline balances your urgency. My dad brought perspective, where I brought hunger. He’d already proven everything he needed to prove professionally. At 42, I was still driven to build something meaningful. This combination allowed us to make decisions that balanced bold moves with sustainable growth. Look for someone who shares your values but brings a different experience. A person whose timeline complements yours but is currently at a different life stage can be an advantage. You want someone who can challenge your thinking without crushing your confidence, and who’s motivated by the mission rather than just potential rewards. Avoid partners who run from something rather than toward something, or those who need the venture to work for their financial survival. But even the best partnerships create a bubble. While my dad believed I could do anything, I realized I needed to step outside our relationship to gain the final conviction to act. His support was unconditional, but it wasn’t the push I needed. That came from an external coach who could ask the hard questions I was avoiding, like, What are you so afraid of? Sometimes, its not enough to rely on your inner circle. Redefine success metrics before you start You need new ways to measure progress when you leave traditional career paths. Financial metrics matter, but they can’t be your only scorecard. Working with family forced us to optimize for multiple dimensions simultaneouslybusiness growth, relationship health, personal fulfillment, and long-term sustainability. This broader definition of success made better decisions inevitable. Create your new success dashboard around impact, growth, relationships, and alignment. Ask yourself monthly: What energized me most? Where did I compromise my values for short-term gains? How has this journey changed how I think about my future? Are we solving real problems for real people? Are we becoming better versions of ourselves? Are our partnerships getting stronger under stress? Do our daily actions reflect our stated values? Use family dynamics as business advantages Building something with family isn’t just about personal relationshipsit creates unique business advantages that can become competitive moats. The trust advantage means that difficult conversations happen faster when you know the relationship will survive disagreements. My dad and I were able to debate strategy intensely because we weren’t worried about political fallout. The authenticity advantage emerges when you build something around authentic leadership while practicing it, and customers can sense the difference. The long-term advantage also shows up because family businesses naturally think in longer time horizons, which leads to more sustainable decisions. If you’re not working with family, look for partners where you can be completely honest about fears, mistakes, and uncertainties. Your goal should be to create a judgment-free zone where you can address problems before they become crises. Give yourself the permission to redefine everything The most significant insight I gained from building something with my dad wasn’t about business. It was about permission. At 42, I was still subconsciously seeking approval to pursue what I wanted rather than what I was supposed to like. Initially, I thought that permission had to come from someone I trusted (like my dad). Having someone I respected so deeply ready to join me was a powerful validator. But as I learned when I left the corporate world, the only validation that you need comes from yourself. Your path forward starts with auditing your life. How many productive years do you have left, and how do you want to spend them? Dont be afraid to design metrics that measure progress toward a life that matters, and permit yourself to ask: What would you try if you knew you couldn’t fail? The hardest part about leaving corporate success isn’t the financial risk. Its admitting that everything you’ve been working toward might not be what you want. But once you make that admission, everything becomes possible. Remember, the question isn’t whether you can succeed in someone else’s system. It’s whether you dare to build something that reflects your personal vision of success.
Category:
E-Commerce
It is red. It looks like Pac-Man. And it is pretty enough to sit on your kitchen counter. What is it? After brooms, toothbrushes, and toolboxes, it’s time for kitchen sponges to get a design upgrade. The Mitts sponge was specifically designed for fragile stemware. It fits into your hands like an oven mitt and works a bit like a beak (or, indeed, Pac-Man). An incision in the middle of the sponge lets you wrap it around the rim, while two finger slots help you control the opening of that incision. “So, you have the dexterity you would get from bare hands, but protected by the sponge,” says Daniele Orellana, who cofounded Mitts with her husband, Lee Kojanis. [Photo: Mitts] The duo estimates that over the past few years, they have broken at least 10 glasses while washing them. (Kojanis holds a WSET Level 3 wine certification, so fine wine, along with fine stemware, is a constant in the household). And when the two dental professionals first sat down to brainstorm ideas for a better sponge, Orellana had just broken another two handblown glasses, worth about $80 each. “Frustration was brewing,” says Kojanis with a laugh. At the time, the market seemed split in two categories: high-function and low-aesthetic sponges you wouldn’t want to keep on the side of your sink; or sponges that look good but don’t work well. Many in the latter camp were too abrasive and too bulky to swirl around fine stemware. “We wanted a hybrid that had aesthetic appeal,” says Kojanis. Orellana and Kojanis, who self-funded the entire project, envisioned Mitts as a multifunctional sponge that was designed for wine glasses but could do an equally good job at washing a knife, or brushing kitchen shears. They developed the concept over the course of one weekend, then worked with New York agency Creative Engineering to develop some prototypes. [Photo: Mitts] By far, the hardest part turned out to be the base the sponge sits on. “I was a big pusher for the base,” says Orellana, who knew the sponge would need a container to drain into, and also aspired to use it as a sculptural little vessel for her jewelry. After experimenting with various formats or different shapes, sizes, and materialsincluding two versions with one and two prongs to prop the spongethey landed on a rounded base that looks a bit like a pebble made of resin. The sponge is meant to stand on it vertically, which helps it drain, while a shallow recess hugs it in place. For now, Mitts is available in red and yellow (a nod to the main wine varietals) though the team is hoping to introduce more shades in the future. The pipeline could also include narrower Mitts for champagne flutes, and a microfiber drying cloth with a Mitts twist. But for now, the pair is focused on their first product. “We love our jobs too much,” says Kojanis. “This has been great side hustle, and we would love to perfect the product we have on the market.”
Category:
E-Commerce
Philadelphia recently rolled out bus-mounted AI cameras that capture people driving personal vehicles in dedicated bus lanes. Innovations like this are necessities because so many people suffer from Car Brain. Cities have long grappled with an infuriating dilemma: illegally parked cars that choke bus lanes, inflate commutes, and discourage potential riders away from public transit. Recent studies show that lane obstructions increase bus delays 20% to 30% during peak hours. But now cameras mounted directly on buses provide real-time solutions by using sophisticated computer vision and machine learning, instantly identifying offenders and automating ticketing. It bypasses the heavy costs (and limited reliability) of human enforcement. How it works Unlike typical cameras, the bus-mounted AI systems dynamically adjust to shifting environmentslight changes, weather conditions, and unpredictable circumstances that we so often encounter in urban environments. Besides the obvious benefit of keeping bus lanes clear, the technology generates data to optimize bus routes, traffic signal timing, and overall network efficiency, strengthening the backbone of a multimodal transportation system that integrates buses, bikes, pedestrians, and private vehicles. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"","headline":"Urbanism Speakeasy","description":"Join Andy Boenau as he explores ideas that the infrastructure status quo would rather keep quiet. To learn more, visit urbanismspeakeasy.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.urbanismspeakeasy.com\/","colorTheme":"green","redirectUrl":""}} Philadelphias Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) launched their Automated Bus Camera Enforcement Initiative in April 2025. Deployed on more than 150 buses and trolleys, the system started issuing $100 fines after a 30-day grace period. And the results were immediate: fewer lane blockages and more on-time buses. On the West Coast, LA Metro deployed a similar technology in early 2025, issuing nearly 10,000 citations in the first few months. This effort boosted bus speeds by as much as 36% and also reduced collisions by 34%. (Thats a great reminder that keeping bus lanes clear benefits all road users, not just people riding the bus.) Faster travel times Beyond Philadelphia and Los Angeles, cities nationwide adopting automated enforcement report 10% to 30% reductions in bus travel times. Chicagos and New Yorks early pilots show rush-hour speed gains of up to 25%. Faster buses attract more riders and reduce the number of car trips. The AI systems also provide real-time insights into traffic patterns, violation hot spots, and infrastructure bottlenecks. New Yorks Metropolitan Transportation Authority used camera data to adjust signal timings, cutting bus delays by an additional 5% in key corridors. In Philadelphia, SEPTA is experimenting with dynamic routing, where buses adjust paths based on real-time congestion data. Scalability is another strength. Washington, D.C., and San Francisco plan to launch AI bus lane programs by late 2025, with ambitions to share data regionally. This could lead to coordinated networks where transportation systems work in sync across city boundaries. The challenges Challenges exist, of course. People are right to be concerned about license plate data being collected and high fines issued for parking in bus lanes. In response, cities have limited data retention to 30 days, made non-offender information anonymous, and run marketing campaigns about the automated enforcement. But theres one way concerned citizens can avoid getting their license plate scanned and a ticket mailed to their housedont park in the bus lane. Automated bus lane enforcement (similar to speed cameras and red-light running cameras) will be a cornerstone of robust multimodal transportation. Reliable, on-time service encourages more people to use public transit instead of private automobiles. Remember, a well-run bus system is an express sidewalka piece of infrastructure that dramatically expands the number of destinations within walking distance. The moment we stop treating the bus as a social program and start treating it like an express sidewalk, we unlock a public good that meets people where they are and moves them forward. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"","headline":"Urbanism Speakeasy","description":"Join Andy Boenau as he explores ideas that the infrastructure status quo would rather keep quiet. To learn more, visit urbanismspeakeasy.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.urbanismspeakeasy.com\/","colorTheme":"green","redirectUrl":""}}
Category:
E-Commerce
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