We have worked diligently and got ourselves positioned where we believe we need to be. We moved clear across the country believing that this unknown, sight unseen, place called Wilmington was the right place to build our company and better serve our future customers. Relocation is expensive and has a built-in way of slowing you down a bit, but we are past that now.
All our hard work so far has been to get us to the starting line. We have had successes and setbacks, including COVID, which decimated our industry for much of 2020 and early 2021. Yet we continue pushing forward. We have set some lofty goals for this year and are working toward realizing those every day.
How would I describe this moment? When I was a teen, we used to goof off and swim in the canals around Miami (south of Miami at that time). Rope swings and of course the rickety, home-made tree jump. This feels like that tree jump. All our work was to get up that tree and now we are sitting twenty feet up on that rickety 2x4 nailed into the tree that we are using as a perch. The water is dark, the canal at best ten feet deep. It is going to be fun, but that water has a lot of unknowns. Maybe a bull shark (less than 600 yards from the ocean), or a hidden branch, or some glass at the bottom?
Just like back then, we are not jumping because we must, but because we want to, and that is the key. We are not creating this company out of duty, or for someone else, but for ourselves and our stakeholders. We know we can serve our industry better than anyone or any other solution.
With any action there are a lot of dangers that could be unpleasant. When you are standing twenty feet above a canal getting ready to jump, you notice things. Like how rickety and uncomfortable the 2x4 that you are standing on really is. How the wind is swaying that tree and the water is looking like a much better place to land than the canal bank. Little things.
And just like back then, you cannot over think the jump. We have taken that deep breathe to steady ourselves. We are pushing off that leg and are about to experience some gravity! All we have to do is try to not flail on the way down and make unmanly noises (lol), stick the landing, and enjoy the moment. Here we go.