Wednesday December 21st, 2011 - Schaumburg, IL Life really is about who a person knows, and one can never know too many people with whom positive win/win relationships can be developed over time. I’ve always been about that, and still am. I’ve got a larger list of contacts than most, but I’m still looking to grow. Tonight I attended a session of the Chicago Entrepreneur’s Meetup Group, an entity my cousin Perry Plotkin suggested I explore. Perry is one of the few in my family orchard of misfit trees to have decided like me not to follow the freak show route to failure most of the rest of our relatives have chosen to take for generations. We’re the real life Munsters. Perry is a very sharp guy and eager to break the chain, as was I and still am. He’s in his early 30s, and doing all he can to distance himself from our family tradition of becoming civil service workers and drifting off into obscurity without ever chasing any big dreams. Sure it may be ‘safe’, but it’s surely not living. It’s existing, and Perry and I agree we’re not going to accept that kind of life like so many others in our family lineage did. Most of them are dead now, and we’re the only ones who remember how unhappy they all were. That unhappiness trickled down into their children, and many of them chose to keep the tradition going. It’s difficult to fight a vibe that spreads so deeply through so many. I have to believe it’s a lot like a sports team. Once losing becomes tradition, the script is written. On the other hand, winning is a tradition too. I’m sure there are families that outdo each other in success and achievements, and there has to be a breed out there where love is the driving force. With our dented clan of dented cans, love has always been painfully absent. That’s just how it is, and Perry and I both know we’re not the only ones who have had a less than supportive upbringing. We also know we’re able to overcome it by making solid and positive choices over and over again until we’ve gotten ourselves out of that ugly rut. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s the right choice. It’s nice to have others like Perry who get it. I enjoyed the program very much, and although it was a small meeting everyone had the similar mindset of wanting to become entrepreneurs to better not only their lives but lives of those around them. I sensed a healthy vibe in that room, and I’m glad I made the effort to attend. These are the kind of people I want in my life, even if they’re not entertainers. I’ve chosen to spend most of my life around entertainment, whether it’s been comedy or radio or professional wrestling. There’s a whole other world out there of people who have never been the center of attention, and look at me with admiration for rolling the dice and taking the chance to do what I really wanted to do with my life. That IS an entrepreneur. I guess I never really looked at myself in that way before. I’ve been doing that my entire life, but instead of opening restaurants or selling pants - I’ve been the product all along. It shouldn’t have taken me this long to figure it out, but I did tonight. I am an entrepreneur.
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