10 years ago today, I married the love of my life and my best friend, Shelton. It was an exciting time. It was also pretty overwhelming. We embarked on our new life together. My days of living single in SF were over. I was ready for whatever came our way. We had big plans and aspirations. We went full speed ahead.
The world was a different place in 2006. George W. Bush was halfway thru his second term. Ben Bernanke became Fed Chairman. The US housing market showed signs of cracks, but it was still 2 years away from the Financial crisis. “You” (all of the users on the worldwide web ushering in the Information Age) were named Time Magazine’s Person of the year. Shelley and I went to Greece for our honeymoon. Athens and the Greek islands were a hotbed of tourism and attraction then. Today, Athens is a hot mess. The Euro currency was trading around $1.30 in 2006 and the European economy was a growth engine to the world. Today, the Euro currency is down to $1.12 and heading to parity according to our work with more economic challenges ahead. Boy how things have changed.
Shelley and I are raising our young family to the best of our ability, balancing our professional careers with our personal obligations and joys. For us, it’s always family first. Our 3 little girls, Sammy, Nikki and Brooke certainly keep things interesting and always busy. Being surrounded by girls does come with some additional drama I must say. I’m learning patience every day. I love my girls. For those that are wondering, I made sure the dog was a boy.
I joined the firm that Jude built just 4 years prior to my wedding and became partner within 2 years. I so admired the business she started and felt that great things could come when we collaborated together. I pitched Jude on a growth plan that she liked and supported, but made it clear that I would have to do the “heavy lifting”. I was up for the challenge. We made significant investments in people and systems to enhance our services and support the growth. We are proud of the team we have put together. We not only survived the financial crisis; we are thriving. I firmly believe, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. There will always be some sort of adversity in our lives. How you deal with it really makes or breaks the end result. In these challenging times, we learn something new everyday.
We look at every single one of you, our clients, as part of our Bedell Frazier family. We do what we do for you. Our team works tenaciously on your behalf every day. And we make sure we have something substantial to tell you every Friday. Writing this weekly piece is one of my favorite things to do. But it only matters if you find value in it. Our goal is to inform, educate and perhaps occasionally entertain. We’re in the business of life and we’re in it together. Family first.
Have a nice weekend. We’ll be back, dark and early, on Monday.
Mike
