Friday, April 13, 2012

16 Ways to Master Your Derby-Life Balance
 build lifestyle into your brand

Moving right along, I think entrepreneurs have plenty to say that applies to derby not only because playing this sport takes a certain amount of time and dedication but also because straight up running this business takes a certain amount of time and dedication. They say that derby is like having an extra part-time job; but it isn't, it's like having two extra part-time jobs.

2. Build Lifestyle into Your Brand

“These days so many people are focused on getting funding, explosive growth and spending 80 hours a week on their business. While that’s all great stuff, it can lead to burn out and unhappiness really quickly. Make lifestyle the most important factor in business from the beginning, and then grow with that principle in mind—less stress, more happiness.” -Sean Ogle, Location 180, LLC

You might be thinking, oh yeah, lifestyle is totally built into derby, isn't that what being a derby girl is? With the socks and stuff? I'm sorry to pick on socks, I love socks as much as the next girl. Or you know, winning the afterparty. Which also takes a certain amount of time and dedication and is sort of part of the business, so like a third extra part-time job. Let's make a distinction between this lifestyle and, you know, life.

Make life the most important factor in derby from the beginning, and then grow with that principle in mind—less stress, more happiness.

Boy, that is a pretty debatable statement. Between the sport and the business and the lifestyle, is there anything left for life? The sport and the business and the lifestyle, that isn't my life? Isn't derby my life? What is this "life" you speak of, you mean like my job? Doing the laundry, stuff like that? I mean yeah, I do mean stuff like that. That's what life means in "work-life balance," not the grand scheme of life. Nevermind the silly conundrum that work isn't the opposite or even the complement of life. All this is saying is, there's this thing that you want to do and there's all these other things that you have to do. And there are only so many hours in a day.

Here's how you make it work: with everything that you have to do on the one hand and with only so many hours in a day on the other hand, you put whatever you can fit from the one hand into the other hand. It's not all going to fit. I do the best job that I can with the league practice schedule; it takes about twenty hours every three months and then it is what it is, warts and all, until this time next year I will try to remove the warts. I'm okay with it being a work in progress. I'm okay with being a work in progress. Sometimes somebody asks me, Isn't there some way to merge my team calendar with the league calendar and the marketing calendar and show me just my events? And I say everything's possible, a robot that makes you scrambled eggs is possible. Right now we are serving eggs scrambled by me, though. Every year I get a little bit better at scrambling eggs. Every year I scramble just as many eggs as I can handle. So actually, I still see scrambling eggs as pleasant and fun. Make the most you can with what fits. Make that the most important factor from the beginning, and grow with that in mind.