2016 was a learning experience for me. I went through two life-changing events that taught me a lot about myself and about business. I got a divorce and I closed my toy store. Although they weren’t the kind of things one typically wishes for, they were incredible experiences filled with lessons I will share in 2017.
This blog is back. You will be getting posts on a regular basis filled with thought-provoking ideas and simple things you can do to make your business better.
Although I cannot put all the lessons from 2016 into one blog, I can sum them up for you in one sentence.
“Life and business is all about the relationships.”
We’ll explore how to build better relationships for 2017.
-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com
PS My first goal will be to rebuild my relationship with you. Sorry for not blogging in 2016. With the store closed you are my main focus for 2017. Let me know your fears and obstacles and challenges. We’ll find ways to overcome them.
I an sorry to hear if your divorce Phil. Although you never mentioned it on TSOOGW, I was concerned there was trouble in river city. Having been through it myself, you are spot on that it is a life changing event. Rough ride tho.
So glad the blog is back! You know I’m a huge fan.
Happy New Year.
I was so sorry to hear that The Toy House had closed. It sounded like you had an impossible situation. I was afraid that the retail community had lost your very experienced and eloquent voice. I’m glad to hear that you are back with the blog, we’ve missed you! Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
Onward and upward! I will look forward to reading your blog in 2017. 🙂
Phil managed to lead one of Jackson’s only remaining family businesses for decades through thick and thin, and become one of (or was it “the”?) largest independent toy stores in the country. When I heard in Scottsdale that the illustrious Toy House was having to finally close, I knew that Phil had tried every trick to keep it going, and had timed it to send as many of his employees to safety and his business ending on top instead of in disaster, and that if Phil was closing the doors, there simply was no other way but to end on a high note.
Tracy Z. and I are high school friends with Phil (actually, I go back further, in LEAP class). We were there on that last day as he bid farewell and locked the doors to the Toy House, and we both know him to be a remarkable, creative thinker/doer. Though ending a Jackson landmark in the same year he must end another personal relationship, his marriage, I know he doesn’t come to this lightly, and there is no other way. Sometimes you have to say goodbye to the most dear things, things always treasured but things not meant to be carried into the new age, to set forth into new adventures.
I look forward to this blog, hearing of Phil’s new frontier ahead. He faces inevitable pangs of hurt, as nothing we love comes without heartache, but I know new discoveries and Phil’s reflections on them lie ahead.
Phil always has his old friends with him too. We’re here for you Phil, even if we’re far away. We have your back!
C