Another full month! Some big events, quality family time, and exciting business developments. Let me share the highlights.
New Business Development
I spent a lot of time in December playing with a new business idea. It is related to personal websites on WordPress hosted on your own domain name, just like this blog that you’re reading now.
I have made about 25 sites for friends so far. Most were completed in December in an incredible sprint that probably pushed my team too hard. It was fast and intense. We learned a lot.
One big lesson learned was about running our own servers. Special thank you to Patrick Gallagher from GridPane who was super patient with all my VPS questions. While much less expensive to run, I think I will abandon the idea of running my own web servers due to the technical knowledge required.
I’m going to hire another person on my team to help me continue to grow and play with this new business idea. It feels very fun to be working on something productive beyond my own content creation.
Friend Hangouts
A few nice memories along with some photos:
- Fun game night with celebrity chef Joshua Weissman and his wife Kate. I loved playing with their two cats, especially their new kitten.
- Dinner with Sam Corcos and his wife and their baby. They recently moved to Austin! Sam is great at board games and strategy games.
- Lunch with Monica Lim and Cathryn Lavery for an afternoon of brainstorming.
- Brunch with Dorie Clark and her wife, followed by giving Dorie her first ride in a Waymo automated taxi.
- Fun tailgate hosted by my friend Joe Levin with amazing food.
- Inspiring meeting with Anil Gupta, founder of Multidots, a WordPress/CMS agency with 100+ employees. I hope to share his story soon.
Gift Guides & Content
I spent a lot of time writing gift guides that the internet really liked, as told to me by two of my best girlfriends:
- Lauren’s Luxury Home Gift Guide
- Lauren’s Luxury Gift Guide for Men
- Danielle’s Ultimate Last-Minute Gift Guide
Favorite Photos & Memes
Photos I want to capture:
- My nephew and me with my parents at church
- A beautiful suitcase I need to track down the manufacturer for
- Backstage at Main Street Millionaire launch
- Christmas celebration in Denver
- Aspen skiing and meals
- Family moments with sister’s baby
- Workspace scenes at Kollective
Book Launch for Codie Sanchez
I helped my friend Codie Sanchez as the Master of Ceremonies with her big book launch for “Main Street Millionaire.”
She held the event in a church in North Austin, which worked perfectly. It had a great audiovisual setup and a real connection to the American heartland audience.
350 people attended in person with thousands more watching the livestream. One of my favorite moments was backstage in the green room, hyping everybody up before the event.
During the main program, I had to balance keeping high energy levels while managing the Q&A. Codie wanted to answer everyone’s questions, and I tried to keep things moving while adding humor.
It was more complex than some of my previous MC work because we had to coordinate with the livestream and had specific timing requirements for the musicians. But I love doing these events because I get to be on stage, I help my friends, and I always learn a lot.
Family Time in Denver
I spent time with my parents at their house in Denver for Christmas. Plus seeing my sister and her husband and their baby boy Grayson, who is 1 year old old.
One of the highlights was going to the go-kart track with my father on a very cold day.
I signed my father up for a VIP concierge medicine doctor program from Longevity Health. My friend Rohun runs the company. It was an intense 2-day program to put him through tons of tests and then review results with personal attention from doctors, trainers, nutritionists, etc. I should probably do this for myself too!
Aspen, Colorado
After Christmas I went to Aspen, Colorado to spend New Year’s Eve with my girlfriend Lauren and her family. I enjoyed getting to know her two brothers better.
My Favorite Aspen Experiences:
- Skiing at Snowmass. So much fun. I should ski every year.
- Walking downtown through the snow, trying on new clothes, and enjoying the winter wonderland atmosphere. It felt like I was in a snow globe. Childlike wonder.
- Incredible enchiladas at Las Montañas, a Mexican restaurant downtown that’s owned by MML Hospitality, a restaurant company from Austin.
- Sitting in an all-metal hot tub, looking out at the mountains as the snow came down around us- breathtaking and magical.
Conclusion
A few other things that I didn’t mention above, but seem significant or noteworthy:
- Happy to say I found a house – hoping to have another announcement about that in January or February!
- Cold weather meant no Barton Springs pool time – missing my daily swims and fish visits
- Took one Japanese lesson and started making flash cards for upcoming Japan trip
- Tried a group fitness class called “Sweat for 40” that I really enjoyed
- Dog sat for Codie Sanchez one night – love her dog!
- Received the brand new Teforia smart infuser from Adagio
The end for now. See you next month!
Want to read more? See my November 2024 Life Recap or check out more of my monthly recaps.
