Friday, March 28, 2014

The Diary of Our Own Jimmy Bracken: Not unlike the Oakland A's.

NABC has sent two brewers to Schlafly Brewery, a brewer to Huber Winery & Distillery, a salesperson to New Holland Brewing, one chef to Holy Grale, and a second to The Place Downstairs.

We may be on the verge of conclusive evidence attesting to the proposition that in big league sports terms, NABC is a small market team.

Since 1987, when the pizzeria was founded, several hundred people have worked for NABC in one capacity or another -- some for a little while, and others for a very long time. Many, and perhaps most, have gone on to bigger and better things. One's a chef in Louisville. One's a successful real estate professional in Texas. One's doing nicely on the Left Coast. Lots of them own their own businesses. It's impossible to keep track of them all, but it's always a pleasure to bump into successful alumni.

A business is not a person, but the life of a business resembles that of the individual. There are fast and slow times, fat and lean years, and good and bad periods. It's fun for a while, and then profoundly non-fun actions become necessary. People come and go, in life and business. It's all a jumble, and a blur.

Through it all, when it seems the hardest, it's useful to remember that we've been useful. A perfect record is impossible, and yet I'm satisfied that over the years, it's been a good relationship between management and team.

The challenge never changes: Keep it rolling. Some day, even I might decide what I'd like to do when I grow up.

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