You’ve all heard of A Pirate Looks At Forty (at least the parrotheads have)

This thread is titled A Business Owner Looks at 5 Years While Approaching Forty (And In The Midst Of A Global Pandemic)

Today marks the 5th year since Garrett and I opened @9MileLegacy in the equivalent of a broom closet at Saskatoon Ideas Inc.

5 years! The benchmark when you have “made it”

For years we had homebrewed together - inheriting my great uncle’s wine gear in around 2006 - all the while pursuing traditional careers.

We started brewing in our garages and kitchens like many have started in this industry. Much to the chagrin of our spouses...

I was trained as a lawyer at @UsaskLaw & had a number of trad’l jobs - working for two of SK’s great firms & serving a stint as a Crown Prosecutor midway through. Even tried academia.

Really, I tried every aspect of legal practice before deciding it wasn’t for me!

That career occurred in my mid-20s and, as I thrashed about leaving jobs and relationships, I started to unpack who I actually was and what I wanted to contribute. I think as many of us do in our 20s.

Those years feel like a lifetime ago, like a different person lived them.

At the same time, Garrett managed a soils testing laboratory with @GolderAssociate. He’s always been a workhouse and religious about details and quality.

It’s been wonderful to see him grow into a fine commercial brewer, though I must say not surprising given his makeup.

I get asked questions often about what it is like to start a business

• Why did you want to brew beer?

• What were you most afraid of?

• Did you hate your former career?

• Did you see a bunch of commercial opportunity?

The answers are almost always complex and I think change a bit with perspective.

I know our common bond was a love for fine beer (I recall talking with my parents during grad school saying that the only thing I was passionate about was beer - they must have been concerned!).

That bond was the catalyst to “doing something different”.

I think Garrett simply wanted to make beer for a living (glad he’s the brewer!).

For me, beer was a window into where I saw myself going - leading an organization through good & bad times & moving a group of people.

When we left our comfortable careers, there were more than a few eyebrows raised.

I had worked hard to establish myself as a good young lawyer and, I think, was on my way to stability and security.

Garrett was a reliable leader at Golder and similarly set up for years.

I don’t think we hated our former careers (I mean who doesn’t have their down moments) but this is where I see our answers to the questions above converging.

Our decision to start 9ML came at a time of crossroads.

Stay the course or take a chance?

We didn’t hate our jobs but we wanted change.

Our greatest fear in starting 9ML had nothing to do with starting it.

It had everything to do with becoming old men who never took a chance

It’s through that lens that I look back on 5 years

We started as 2 guys on a glorified homebrew kit

We now have 14 people standing shoulder to shoulder with us & walking bravely through a global pandemic

We are able to provide them with the financial security we originally had

We’ve got to the point where 9ML provides us with opportunities but it doesn’t belong to us anymore.

It belongs to the staff members and stakeholders who have helped build it.

It belongs to the community who are now creating their own stories around 9ML

It now represents something very different than two guys that like to make beer together in their garage.

I’m very proud of that.

Where I think our story has relevance today:

This is a time of uncertainty (every email I get seems to start that way...)

But it has always been a time of uncertainty!

When we started 9ML we had no clue if it would work. We had no clue if these 5 years were even possible.

None of us knows how much time we have or when the window might close.

All #COVID19 has done is forced that truth into a place where it can’t be easily ignored.

But that truth has always existed. It is the human condition.

I can’t say whether anyone should chase something like this, but I can say that I would have deeply regretted missing the past 5 years if I had made the safe decision and stayed where I was.

The joy of chasing a vision & seeing it grow is beyond what I could have expected

If what you are doing right now isn’t working or you feel “stuck” (I did a number of times), be open to change.

Unpack what it is that drives you

Know thyself

And then take a chance...

Thanks to everyone for supporting what we do and believing in us since April 15, 2015.