Lobster, Cigars, Bourbon, and James Taylor Music Are All Overrated
What my first year owning a business taught me about choosing what matters, and ditching what I never really liked.
Let’s start with a confession,
I live on Cape Cod.
I work in tourism.
And I think lobster is kinda… meh.
I’ve tried to like it. I’ve buttered it. I’ve cooked them for every family member and friend who’s come to the Cape. But deep down, every time I crack one open, I feel like I’m participating in a ritual I honestly never liked. (Don't get me started on the smell and the mess).
Same goes for cigars, bourbon, and all James Taylor music. We don’t really like it, it’s just sentimental because our parents played it.
For years, I assumed this was a me problem. That adulthood, and especially leadership, meant learning to like the “right” things. Or at least pretending convincingly enough.
Turns out, there were a lot of things I was doing in my career that I didn’t really enjoy.
The Things We’re Supposed to Like or Tolerate
I sat back and recognized the top 5 work things that I disliked and learned ways to not let them affect me during my day.
Conferences we’re “supposed” to love (Same ballroom. Same lanyard. Same conversation, different city.)
Insecurity disguised as authority (The loudest voice in the room is often the least confident one.)
Being told “that’s just how it’s done” (The fastest way to kill a good idea.)
The colleague who creates stress for sport (Everything is a fire. Nothing is actually on fire.)
Performative enthusiasm (Pretending to be excited about things I don’t really believe in)
I used to go along with it. I’d nod. I’d participate... I ate the lobster while “Copperline” played in the background. (Sorry… I know you can’t get that song out of your head now. Join me in pain.)
And for a long time, I mistook that quiet resistance for me just being different. I figured one day after 30 years in the industry it would all click. One day I’d wake up craving cigars and anxiety riddled texts after hours. That day never came.
Owning a Business Has a Funny Way of Clearing Things Up
Starting Kingfisher changed something fundamental for me. When you own the business, there’s nowhere to hide. No inherited playbook. No one else’s expectations to blame. You’re forced to confront a very uncomfortable question:
Why am I doing this if I don’t actually like it?
Not the hard stuff. Not the challenging stuff. But the stuff that drains you for no real reason.
In my first year owning a business, I realized how much of my professional life had been built around things I tolerated, not things I believed in or enjoyed.
Letting go of those things didn’t make the work easier. It made it clearer, and a hell of a lot more fun.
This Turns Out to Be True for Organizations, Too
What surprised me most is how often we see this with the organizations we work with.
Destinations running strategies they don’t believe in anymore.
Teams executing plans that once worked but now feel forced.
Organizations doing things because ‘that’s how it’s always been done,’ not because it still makes sense.
They’re not broken. They’re just stuck liking things they’ve outgrown.
I now wake up every day enthused to work with destinations and organizations that truly move forward, that play bigger, and are willing to say ‘that used to fit, this doesn’t anymore’... Let’s work on what actually matters.
Year One: Less Noise, More Truth By Saying ‘No’ More Often.
My first year owning Kingfisher wasn’t about proving our team could do everything. It was about having the confidence to do fewer things, better. To work with people we enjoy and respect, while creating strategies we believe in.
And to finally admit that disliking something doesn’t mean you’re wrong, it just means you’re alert and paying attention.
One Last Confession
As I’m writing this, another realization hit me. You know what? Paris is overrated too. I’ve been there many times. I understand the appeal. I get why people love it. I just don’t.
And honestly?
That might be the most freeing business lesson of all.
You don’t have to like what everyone else likes. You don’t have to build your career, or your company, around things that never fit you. And sometimes growth isn’t about adding more sophistication, it’s about quietly saying, ‘I’m good without that.’
Time for me to have a Sunday Roast, with an IPA in London, while Led Zeppelin plays in the background.
Cheers to Year 1.
