ACROSS the Board
By Patrick Adams
Asking favors t’s kind of funny how life leads certain types of people to other people. I’ve always been a “service” kind of person. It feels good to help others and be the type of person who others can count on. I realize to some this sounds odd, but it’s a compliment when someone asks me for help. To me, it means they trust me to deliver what’s needed and being capable of delivering it. Perhaps adding to the list of odd traits I seem to possess (yes, at one point in my life I thought I was “normal”), I am VERY uncomfortable asking for favors. I’m not sure where that comes from, but with almost everything in life I only ask for help as a truly last resort. As I’ve grown older, I’ve realized this along with realizing that this trait is actually a weakness in my personality. It makes my life harder than it needs to be and I suppose, there might actually be those around me who for some reason, would appreciate being able to help me. That brings me to the point of this. It’s “that” time of year again. Hunting season has fallen upon us and like every year, it comes at the worst, most inconvenient time. With our business, we are in the “home stretch” of what is a good year—certainly our busiest time on the calendar—and also slammed with planning for 2022, which celebrates our 100 years of service to this great industry! Combine that with two kids’ birthdays, a couple of holidays, and all the other silliness that goes along with the fourth quarter and taking a week away seems like more than a “favor.” While the state I live in is beautiful in parts, I can’t say it’s the most friendly hunting landscape, which means I have to travel. Like anyone who has hunted will tell you, hunting in its easiest form is not easy and the larger the game, the harder the hunt. It’s that time of year where I have to ask my entire team, my family and my friends for favors to allow me to take on this selfish challenge. I pack up the rig and RV and head about a thousand miles east to the mountains of Colorado in search of elk… and myself. My wife is left home alone to manage our “energetic” little kids. My team is left alone to handle the countless balls that our business seems to throw in the air on a daily basis. My friends chip in to support both parties while in most cases, I’m away a week or more with no cell service or internet and my wife simply waits for
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one daily ping from my SatCom. But, over the course of a roughly 12-hour drive, my stress and guilt of leaving fades away and the landscape and solitude reminds me of all that I’m so grateful for. Over the course of the week whether I see an animal or not, it restores my faith in all that is good in life and while it’s just a week, I again feel the excitement of using the next 51 weeks to repay everyone who gives me the favor of this week. Needless to say to you because I share it often, I am a lucky guy. I have a family and team and a few friends around me who everyday help to bring out the best in me. I’m lucky to be in service to them, and I’m lucky to be able to ask them for a favor once in a while. As I’ve hinted about in the past couple months, I need a favor from each of you. In this issue, you will notice a postcard that is something new that asks you for a simple favor—to send us your email address. I PROMISE… you will not begin receiving messages from Saudi princes offering their fortune! January begins a special event for our company—The Merchant Magazine turns 100 years old! It’s a long time to be in service to anything and even longer in the publishing business. We have a ton of exciting events and special treats planned for the industry and as you know, it’s getting harder (and more expensive) to count on USPS for that! So please, check out the postcard, do us a favor and I promise, you won’t regret it! I’m grateful to serve this industry and all of you with these publications. I hope your summer was amazing, both personally and professionally and that we all can look forward to closing out a good year.
Patrick S. Adams Publisher/President padams@526mediagroup.com
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n The Merchant Magazine n
November 2021
Building-Products.com
