The best part of the summer of '2022?
The end!
We've written a ton about the optimism of summer that the extra help brings us. We had plenty of orders, extra help and a ton of energy.
What else did we have?
95 degrees and 90%+ humidity for an unbelievably long stretch. For physically demanding work with a major segment of our business (engraving) that is SENSITIVE to humidity, that's a brutal combination. Long story short, if PAVERART and the Summer was a cage match, we came out bruised & bloody. But we left the cage on our own 2 feet and ready to fight another day, or season.
In sum, the PAVERART core values came through.
Grit.
Grind.
Hustle.
Repeat.
Our work is not easy, and an extra dose of challenges makes it even harder. That's the GRIND part. The Grit part? Never giving up. Bruises are part of the journey. Move on. Rub some dirt on it.
I get frustrated fairly easy in business shooting for progress and summer tipped the scales. But having a few weeks of separation from it I'm pretty inspired by the team managing through it.
What worked in the summer?
We kept going. We produced PAVERART designs across all markets, corporate paver logos, school paver logos & mascots, memorial designs, and of course, a bunch of compass rose designs for backyard patios and driveways. And we completed our first major PORCELAIN project, a segment of the world of hardscaping that is absolutely going to grow, and we'll be there for that. And we launched a Podcast, why not?
Check out some summer designs and the blurb on our podcast below, along with the "Dog Days of Summer" episode #14.
Bring on fall!!!
What else?
The Hustle or Bust Podcast, powered by PAVERART. We taped about 20 episodes and published 13. This has been a fun project where Mike & I get together and talk about all things Entrepreneurship, Small Business and growth. Dominic Olivito, at the seasoned age of 15 and his third summer at PAVERART produces the episodes, clips and all the things needed to make something come to life. Quite frankly, the technical aspects are waaaaay beyond our skillset!
Our goal for the podcast is fairly modest. If we can help people capture one important idea, crack a smile or laugh on the treadmill, it will be worth it. We are commited to 52 episodes and we'll take stock at that point. We would LOVE and APPRECIATE any feedback you can share!
Below is a trailer of the Podcast, and episode #14 which talked through in PAINFUL detail the dog days of Summer. We went pretty deep on our summer challenges and room for optimism.