TimesofE Weekly Newsletter: Military-brat memories, Doge Disco, a challenge to St. Louis, and toxic productivity
A note from our editor, Elizabeth MacBride:
I’m a military brat, the daughter of a career Air Force officer. Our family moved 11 times before I was 17. Some of the most wonderful memories of my childhood are of those nights before a move, when my room was packed and the boxes stacked three or four high, and I Iay in my canopy bed, wondering what my next bedroom would look like.
Change is one of the loves of my life.
But last month, I found myself feeling burned out in a way I never have before. The profound changes required of us by the pandemic, my daughter’s graduation, the busy-ness of writing and marketing a book — all of them added up, in an environment that is still pandemic-strange. I felt like I was swimming in gel.
Then, a lucky strike: I went to talk to the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce about The New Builders. The day I arrived, I went on a long walk, 7 miles by my iPhone’s count, and one of the places I stopped was a map company, founded in 1875. Naturally, I went in, and discovered a business story of resilience. The owner, Patrick Carroll, told me how he saved the historic family map business when the early 2000s rolled around, and new apps made paper maps obsolete for navigation.
Technology was killing the company; but then, he saw how it could save it. The powerful scanning and printing equipment that was invented around the same time allowed him to digitize and re-print Gallup’s archives of historic maps on canvas.
“The timing was exactly right,” he said.
I thumbed through the maps idly, and found one that was the perfect belated Father’s Day gift for my dad: An early 20th century map of airplane routes, orange lines criss-crossing from New York to Chicago to LA.
If you’re a traveler, all roads lead to home.
Happy Fourth of July everybody!
Times of Entrepreneurship Stories of the Week
Are Hospitals Such A Great Idea After All?
Funding for telehealth innovation is exploding, but what does the big picture look like? The pandemic pushed us back toward health care at home. Baby Boomers may embrace the trend.
How A Hospital Skeptic Sees The Future of Health Care
Times of E’s Skyler Rossi sat down with Johns Hopkins’ Bruce Leff, who argues the future of health care lies at home.
Startup From Ohio State Develops Team-Management Tool To Emphasize Stories
Hult Prize winner Helm aims to manage culture-driven teams.
THE HUB: Google Launches Second Fund For Black Founders, A Climate Coup, and $1 Million Boost for Birmingham
Selected entrepreneurs will receive $100,000 from Google’s new $5 million fund. Plus: Engine №1, a small hedge fund, launches an exchange traded fund that will track the sustainability performance of the 500 largest companies in the U.S. And a new program will provide scholarships for business students at University of Alabama at Birmingham.
You may have missed: Commentary: A Lack Of Diversity Among Clinical-Trial Regulators Puts Women’s Lives At Risk Slow-tracking solutions that can save women’s lives has tragic consequences around the world. Dr. Mary Gunn, COO of Health Decisions and a YPO member, sheds light.
You may have missed: Commentary: Employee Ownership Is An Untapped Weapon Against Income Inequality It will be up to the states to make it easier for businesses to create owner-employees. Kerry Siggins, CEO of StoneAge, and a member of YPO, offers insight.
Living the Dream
Best practices: Community bank Midwest Bank Centre has committed $200 million to economic development projects for the next five years. Now Chief Executive Orv Kimbrough is challenging St. Louis to transform the region’s economy as the pandemic wanes. Meanwhile, the tech startup GeniHub plans to reward small farmers for sustainable practices.
Buzzworthy: Supplement your beach reading with another guilty pleasure: The Million Doge Disco, an augmented reality game that lets players go after “interactive, non-fungible tokens” and Dogecoin. It launches July 3.
Giveaway: The first reader to respond to this email will win a free, signed copy of the updated paperback edition of The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business by Elaine Pofeldt. Make great money, work the way you like, have the life you want.
Rathskeller
The 4.5 hour workweek : A productivity hack
Here’s an idea to beat burnout: Ditch “toxic productivity,” like this tech CEO.
Made in the U.S.A.
Motivate yourself to do those guilt-inducing home improvement projects. Treat yourself to a pair of Channellock’s Made in the U.S.A. SpeedGrip pliers. They start at $21.95. The company, based in Meadsville, Pa., has been in business 135 years.
Wanderlust : a restaurant or activity from our Top Ecosystems list
Next time you visit Salt Lake City, check out Log Haven, where Chef Dave Jones serves up a menu that includes appetizers like Korean fried cauliflower and entrees including Tuna Tatake with wood-eared mushrooms, Grilled Elk New York Strip and Stir-fried Seasonal Vegetables and Pulled Oats.
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