Below is a short (short being relative, because it's kind of long but short in comparison to the book (details) I could actually write about it) explanation of the project/me/my motivations/my goals which I think is necessary if I'm ever going to get people to hear the conclusions and the solutions.  I figure that it'll take some time and then picking up where I left off below will be worthwhile.
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It was my 9 months of near solitude when my kids were with their dad (exactly ½ of the time) and I wasn’t working post sale of my last business that led to me finally realizing that the thoughts I had since childhood, crazy as they were, were true.  During that time, I also came up with ideas that would allow me to make it reality.  But, it wasn’t until I had to teach the kids how to write their master plan without telling them what to do that I finally figured out HOW exactly to do ANYTHING I wanted the way my parents had always said I could.  And it wasn’t until it was all over, and I had time to reflect that I finally realized I now also have the confidence to act on all that I learned.  

I know it sounds nuts, but since I was a little kid in Germany, I always had the feeling that I was different and that I was going to do something BIG.  Big in a make a difference kind of a way not in a be rich or famous or powerful kind of a way, if that makes sense.  Moving all over/going to boarding school only exacerbated the feeling that I was different, but it didn’t diminish the feeling that I was meant to do something more than the average person.  Unfortunately, over time, I felt less and less sure of how exactly I was going to do that…and before the sale of the last business was even complete, I found myself being forced to finally figure it out. 

Post sale, more than a few people said to me, “You can do ANYTHING you want.” And I know they saw that as nothing but good, and while I agree that the benefits of the position I was in far outweighed the costs, it was not all good…not surprising, since NOTHING is ALL good or ALL bad.  The problem for me was that I added, “and you better make it good!” in my head. I spent countless hours trying to figure out what job I could do that not only met all my needs but also accomplished all of my goals.  The list of requirements for the job I was trying to find back then was pretty short...I had to make more money to ensure that my family/extended family had a financial safety net.  The job had to play to my strengths and likes/interests and it had to be something I’d want to do every day.  So I went through the diner menu sized list of existing jobs/careers and found that if I was going to accomplish all those things, I’d have to create my own job/business.

Thankfully, Opie & Anthony, The New York Post, bad news and a journal not only got me the answer to what I could do that would meet all my needs but also led to me finally learning all the things that everyone should know when it comes time to live your own life and to follow your own dreams.  I was embarrassed and in some ways, ashamed, that it took me so long to fully learn & understand the fundamentals, but more than anything, I was grateful for finally having figured it out.  It was the solutions I wrote to counter the ridiculous stuff I’d read about in the newspaper or on the internet in the spring of 2008 that I drew from to come up with project in the fall of 2009 when I found myself with 2 homes and in need of help.

2 days before I bought Harristown (September ’09), I was trying to get some help with my $250,000 (my money) give-away/contest idea which is the faster/shorter route to making a difference on a large scale.  The contest is designed to teach (R=U, among other things) and to offer solutions and to do it in a fun way that requires a brain vs. luck or cash up front.  I wonder how many of the people who were there actually heard anything after I said I wanted to give away $250,000 to prove a few points/offer up some solutions.  I’m betting at least half, upon hearing something that admittedly is way out of the norm, were unable to objectively evaluate the idea.   

So instead of more solitary confinement and writing for months to pull off the contest, I decided to put it off for a while and take the slower route to accomplishing the same ultimate goals and went out house hunting.  2 days, 2 homes, a lack of confidence in my creative abilities later, and the project was born.  The reason it works the way it does (or in some cases, the way it’s supposed to work and will work the next time) is because all of my plans to achieve my goals are developed using the principle of giving to get.  I believe that if you are willing to give up something, typically money/profits, and make sure there’s something in it for the person you’re asking for help beyond a paycheck then everyone wins.  I further believe that it’s by giving up something up front that you get back it back in spades down the line and that you make more money in the end by giving some of it away along the way.  I believe it worked at B-Loc based on the increase in sales, the bottom line, employee retention and productivity.  We took care of our employees (financially & otherwise) which helped the business/the owners, and I helped myself/everyone further by giving up 30% of my share of the profits to my partners. I can’t prove it, but I’m convinced that in the end I made a lot more than if I’d held on to all of it along the way. 

Initially, all I really wanted to do was hire a few creative kids for help with the interior design and furnishings and figured, among other things, I could show them that you can make a living being creative and to do it in a way that gave them incentive to do it well/economically by allowing them to take a share of the net profits from the sale of the goods they created. But then I thought why not expand the project so that kids who might be interested in different areas of the business can also participate and that led to having board members in the areas of sales, marketing, finance, construction, interior design with additional jobs related to web design and photography/videography.  I figured if nothing else, everyone would have a better sense of what those things actually mean in terms of what you do day to day…something I didn’t really know when I was a teenager and supposed to be deciding what I wanted to be when I grew up. 

A few kids turned into 2 teams of kids who would hire other kids and instead of the kids only being in charge of the interior design (post-construction) and furnishings, they were in charge of all of it.  I had no doubt that they could make all the decisions and do a great job provided I could keep from imposing  my ideas and plans which I knew wouldn’t be a problem and assuming I could find a way to teach them HOW to go about accomplishing their goals.  I only believed I could but I had no way to prove it in advance. And that’s basically what I told the brave souls who applied/signed up for the project at the beginning.  I tried to make it all clearer by comparing it to all of us going up a new face of Mt. Everest that nobody had ever explored or climbed before.  And I kept going with the Everest analogy when I was trying to explain the importance of things like speaking up and the benefits of differing opinions. 

I know the kids were overwhelmed when we first started, in large part because they couldn’t truly believe that an adult would hand over responsibility to them no matter how many times I said it.  In retrospect, they were also overwhelmed because I gave them way too much to do – especially for the first time trying to prove that it doesn’t matter what you know if someone can teach you how.  But, too much to do aside, I tried to make sure they understood that fundamentally it boiled down to how creative they could be about getting what they want and that in the end, it all boils down to common sense. 

The kids all took a leap of faith when we first started, and I will be forever grateful for that.  Via the project, I set out to test some theories and to gain the knowledge I needed to perfect my plans, and I assumed a whole host of cost/benefits that would come from putting a group of teenagers in charge.  I underestimated both by A LOT!  What I’d really like to know is what all the costs and benefits were to the kids and if their perception of the project and life as a teen is in synch with my perceptions.  Initially, my focus was on finding out what they knew/skills they have so I could develop the exact lesson plans that I’ll use the next time. But, in the process of getting to know them personally as we worked together, I learned a lot more from them than that. I learned a lot about what it’s like to be a teenager in 2010 and realized, we’re short-changing our kids and leaving them unprepared in many ways, especially if they are to achieve what most parents say they want for their kids which is for them to be happy.