Since starting Collective Bias over two years ago, I’ve been trying to maintain our annual summer family vacation, not easy at a start-up. I’m a firm believer that family and balance foster higher levels of productivity across our team and encourage all of our employees to do the same. I've learned that more hours do not increase results, focus and prioritization do.
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| Mary Catherine running on Jaquish Island trails |
This vacation was something more however. It made me think about building traditions and also about how simple things like hunting for Seaglass with Mary Catherine, are really what I’m working for anyway. I flew with Mary Catherine to my parents house in Atlanta and then returned to Arkansas to join Shannon to travel to Boston. We spent a great week in Boston (she’d never been) with no particular agenda (our favorite way to travel). We toured Boston by city hikes, a great way to get exercise and see things from a street level view. Each evening, we peppered the concierge at our hotel for restaurant recos. We stayed at the Hilton Boston Financial District thanks to many FF miles earned during my Collective Bias travel. I prefer staying at business hotels during my leisure travels due to the service level which was as usual, perfection!
That week-end, we met my Parents and Daughter in Portland, ME. and headed up for a week at Jaquish Island. I lived in Maine for 5 years and it’s still one of my favorite places on earth. Being able to share this with the Mary’s was great especially with no schedules, agendas or must-dos. I was really looking forward to spending some quality time with my family.
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| Bailey Island dock |
On Jaquish, 6 rocky beaches offered virtually unspoiled seaglass hunting grounds. We have a good friend in Arkansas that really loves seaglass and offered to find her some pieces (I was really uninformed about the Seaglass world but I got a quick education). Mary Catherine and I became great island explorers and hunters of Seaglass. I relished seeing my daughter’s fearlessness in climbing rocks and discovering the “real” ocean. Maine is not the beach we mostly think of. The rocky beaches on Jaquish are not only full of life and adventure, they can also be quite dangerous with extreme changes in tide. Respect is the order of the day and Mary Catherine was full of questions and wonder about this world that is quite different from our home in the Ozarks.
Each morning, Mary Catherine and I took the skiff over to the shore for a New York Times and various supplies. The first day, she just wanted to go slow, the waves of Mackerel Cove imposing on her, mid-week, she wanted to plane the boat and bounce of the waves to “go fast”. As I watched her laugh and the stunning Maine sunsets with her, I realized these moments are fleeting. I now carry a piece of seaglass we found in my pocket to remind me what is really important and to remember the priceless family traditions we are creating.
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| Hunting for Seaglass on Jaquish |
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