When I tell the people in my day to day life what I used to do for work, I usually get this quite predictable confused face. That face is followed by “...what was that like?” For anyone that knows me, I tend to be quite vague and evasive with my personal life.
Until I moved to the beautiful town of Greenport in August of 2017, I had spent the
previous seven years traveling around the states and the globe as the spokesperson for a growing spirit brand. Most recently, achievements and accolades within the role lead me to take my successes in the states and bring them to growing this brand in underdeveloped markets around the world. There were many months where I would spend the majority of my days only hearing myself speak English as a primary language and not eating westernized food the whole time. Many dinners and cocktails I attended where I didn’t hear English – and I was the guest of honor. Getting paid to drink and party is every young kids dream of course – but like they all say, every good party comes to an end.
As I landed in Greenport at the tale end of the summer season – you watch the
summer weekends digress and the busy vacationers turn into the sleepy locals in
the offseason of maybe 2000 residents. 2000...I think last time I was at Bangkok
Airport, there was 2000 people just at check in! It’s tough to walk around this town and not see everyone who you just saw last night when you went out for a drink. When you used to be the guest of honor at multiple dinners and guest bartending shifts and people would take your picture in foreign countries just because you had tattoos and fair skin – here any local fisherman will step on you if you are in his way to the men’s room. It’s humbling to look back and see how a bio and some press puts you pedestal of invincibility. You forget what real life is like. Real life is here in Greenport. It is a hard working fishing village in a obscure part of the Long Island. It gets New England radio channels with Boston sports fans. It’s closer to Logan Airport than JFK. We get different weather than NYC and it has an undeniable charm that once you spend enough time here – you become part of it. Just as much as I looked forward to the the business class flights around the world, the expense accounts, and the signed cocktail menus – I marvel in coming back out here.
Moving slow in new surroundings makes you reflect on what pushed you to perform in the past and hopefully the present.
Ego is a funny type of fuel for performance that is tough to describe, but it will
definitely make you get out of the way of the local fisherman.