Hope all is going well. With the holidays fast approaching, we figured it would be good to get out one more blog before everyone gets some much-needed time off. I wanted to start this week’s blog by thanking the many people who commented either on social media or reached out directly to me after reading our Week 12 blog. I am always humbled and appreciative when people take the time to read this blog. It’s just my thoughts (nothing I consider important in the big scheme of things) and that people take time out of their day to read it is what keeps me inspired to keep posting. We even received an email from our local state representative Jack Lewis and a member of his staff (Brandon Eliason) who, after reading the blog, are checking in with different state agencies to see if there are any programs that we could qualify for. It is appreciated that they are taking the time to look into it. We have a lot of people who want to see us succeed and there is nothing that motivates me more.
Now you may be wondering about the title of this week’s blog. For those of us that are older and are arcade game fans, the name Glass Joe may be familiar to you. For those of you not familiar with Glass Joe, there was a popular video game released in 1984 called Punch Out in which you would fight against boxers with different levels of ability. The least experienced of these boxers was Glass Joe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc8tCE1bPSE). The game would tell what you should be doing to defeat each boxer, from delivering a body blow to an uppercut. Glass Joe was typically the poor guy who almost everyone beat, but there were times where Glass Joe would surprise you and fight back hard. Each time you’d play the game, Glass Joe was always there to fight hard, likely suffering a lot more losses than victories. That didn’t stop him though. Now I know he’s a video game character, but there is some truth to fantasy.
As you know probably could guess from the last couple of blogs, the business can be frustrating at times. Most small business owners likely feel the same way. Likely not for the same reasons, but typically there are similarities in the areas that affect all of us. There is always a need to make sure that you are planning for all possibilities that the business could face, from raising capital and running the best set of experiments to finding customers and working to build our partner base. It can be easy to get overwhelmed when several of these areas are not working as planned. Sometimes those body blows can take a toll on you. It would be easy to throw in the towel. I think about the video game and how Glass Joe keeps moving forward even in the face of the odds against him. There is no giving up the fight, even when things could look hopeless. I then realized that Glass Joe is inspiring.
While there are times where you could sit back and feel bad for yourself when things don’t go the way you planned, giving up is not the Glass Joe way. Over the past few months, we have had more obstacles than we’ve had in a long time. We can get comfortable in complacency, but true challenges come from the uneasy times. The goal is to keep getting back up even if you are knocked down. Even when you take a few bumps and bruises or get completely pummeled like Glass Joe, that cannot deter you because if you keep trying, you will land some punches. If you put everything together, you will get some small victories which could lead to some bigger wins. Unlike Glass Joe, we have a great group of people in our corner, from our team and investors to friends of the company and even strangers. It is hard not to be inspired when you have many people routing for us. The upcoming year will bring new challenges and opportunities. Once we recharge our batteries over the holiday break, we will come out swinging in 2024.
We hope you and your family have a great holiday season!
Matt
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