This the 20th issue of Drunk Business Advice. 👏

And it’s been 20 years since a catastrophic event taught me the most transformative lesson of my entire career (f*ck I feel old).

Reflecting back, this lesson ignited the mindset that eventually led to the creation of the most badass entrepreneurship club on the planet.

Membership is by personal invitation only, but for the first time ever, we’re inviting Drunk Business Advice readers to apply — only through September 16th. 

And if today’s story doesn’t make you want to immediately prioritize your business friendships above all else, then I’ve failed in writing it.

✍️ What was your most transformative career experience? Join the conversation on LinkedIn.

An ice rink in Florida

In 1997, my parents partnered with a real estate developer to build the first ever Olympic-sized ice rink in… 

Florida. ☀️

(Know for it’s sun, sand — and storms 🌀).

The rink was built about 10 miles inland, with sturdy-as-f*ck construction, so even though hurricanes were always a risk, severe damage was unlikely. 🤞

And for the first seven years, we powered through every hurricane season relatively unscathed. 💪 

As a young teenager during that period, I dove into the business, and it was absolutely the best job I could’ve hoped for. 

While my classmates were flipping burgers at McDonalds, or bagging groceries at Publix, I got to hang out at the rink all day. 🤙

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all fun and games.

There is nothing more vile than a mountain of sweaty rental skates emitting a thick cloud of adolescent hormones at the end of a Saturday night teen skate. 🤢

(There ain’t enough Lysol in the world…)

But looking back, the most uniquely amazing thing about my teenage job was the fact that I had dinner with my bosses every night.

For better or for worse, my parents never stopped talking about the business.

And the most common topic was — people. 🤝

For instance:

👉 How could they better develop their employees?

My parents didn’t hire managers or ice technicians — they trained them. They always promoted from within. This created a culture of continuous learning and loyalty.

👉 How could they strengthen their relationships with their partners?

Ice rinks live and die by how quickly their mechanical service providers respond to calls, and how meticulous their lawyers and accountants are. These folks needed to become part of our family.

👉 How could they better connect with the industry?

Who could they learn from? Who could they teach? They knew how important it was for industry professionals to share experiences, and were founding members of a trade association which did exactly that.

Looking back, I realize just how brilliant these relationship strategies were, and why they were crucially important.

The worst hurricane season — in history 🤦 

2004 saw the most catastrophic hurricane season in Florida’s history. 

Four devastating storms swallowed Florida in quick succession, causing billions of dollars in damage, and cutting off power to much of the state for weeks.

At the time, my family was mourning the loss of my grandfather, who had passed away a month earlier. 😔 

A self-taught engineer, he enjoyed a remarkable career building tanks and airplane engines before retiring to Florida in the late 80s.

Grandpa’s keen engineering eye and ability to fix anything was vital to the early operational success of the rink.

Now we were facing our biggest challenge ever — without him. 😔

Hurricane Frances, the second major storm of the season, left us without power for days.

👉️ And does anyone wanna guess what happens to an ice rink in Florida without power?

Bueller? 🤔

Not only did the ice melt into a giant puddle of mud, the power outage caused a chain reaction of seemingly insurmountable mechanical and structural issues.

And if that wasn’t devastating enough, two more hurricanes pummeled us while we were figuring this shit out, causing additional damage and power outages.

While the business had some cash reserves, all of our insurance claims were denied, it didn’t look like we would be able to recover.

We were out of business. 😭

Then Grandpa sent some angels 🪽

Nothing demonstrates the power of prioritizing relationships more than the story I’m about to share with you.

First to the scene, long before power was even restored at their own homes and businesses, were Brian Marlett, our HVAC contractor, and Randy Davis, a prolific inventor and rink volunteer.

Soon after, Dave Wescott, a rink construction specialist who my dad had developed a magnetic friendship with at industry conferences, jumped on his motorcycle and drove three hours on damaged roads to help assess the situation.

These guys jumped into action for one singular reason — they loved my parents. ❤️

The expert diagnostic work these three remarkable humans performed during the critical early hours of the crisis were essential to crafting a plan to get the system back up and running.

But there was still the issue of money. 💰

Even the most well-executed plan would keep us down for a month during our busiest season, and would require buckets of cash to pay for equipment and repairs.

This is the part of the story where my mom really shines. ✨

Back in those days, mom visited the local bank almost every day to deposit the cash takings from the business. And being an ultra-sweet, ultra-southern, ultra-talkative saint of woman, she developed a warm friendship with the bank manager, Mona Stevenson.

In light of our situation, Mona offered to pause the collection of principal payments on the rink’s mortgage — for an entire year.

Some quick math gave us hope. 🤞

With help from these angels, we decided to go for it. 💪 

More angels…

We got to work. The entire rink surface had to be rebuilt from scratch.

It was a huge, time consuming, and physically demanding job.

But then something amazing happened—

Dozens of volunteers just… showed up. 

❤️ Some were customers. 

❤️ Some were loyal employees. 

❤️ One was the manager of another ice rink, who traveled all the way from Daytona just to lend a hand. 🙏

❤️ All of them were people with whom my family had developed enduring friendships.

Because of this huge crew of enthusiastic volunteers, we were able to reopen within a month.

And the experience provided us with some hilariously bizarre memories, like:

👉 My little brother climbing into the flooded header trench to make a repair using spray foam — that is still holding to this day. 🤯

👉 Tony getting frustrated with his prosthetic leg while painting lines, and chucking it off saying, “the faster we get this done, the sooner we can play hockey again”. 😆🏒

One more angel. A Jewish one. ✡️

We had four different insurance policies that were in place for the sole purpose of saving the business in the event of a crisis like this.

• Wind damage insurance

• Boiler insurance

• Property damage insurance

• Business interruption insurance

And not a single one of these insurance companies wanted to give us a dime. 🖕

In the early years of running the rink, my dad had met attorney Charles Steinberg. They sparked an instant friendship, reminiscing on the days they had both spent in the discos of Miami.

Charles took it personally when the insurance companies decided to screw over my hardworking parents, and helped us sue them. ✊

It was a process that would require patience, and take several years.

And in the middle of it, Charles suffered a heart attack. 😲 

My parents were stunned when they rushed to the hospital — only to find Charles sitting up in bed with a computer on his lap, surrounded by file boxes, still feverishly working on our case. 

Thanks to Charles’s extraordinary diligence — we won. 🍾

The insurance companies ended up paying out 5x more than they would have if they had simply paid our original claims.

That extra money gave my parents the capital they needed to buy out their real estate development partner, and take over full ownership of the business that they truly bled for. ❤️ 

This story could have been dramatically different

Ten years ago, my parents deservedly retired, with help from yet another formidable friend, Francis Stewart — an avid hockey player who had provided accounting services to the business for years.

They’re able to enjoy financial security, travel whenever they want, dabble in fun hobby businesses, and most importantly, be resolutely present for their grandkids.

They’re healthier at 70 than they were at 50. Every day, my dad plays tennis, and my mom rides her bike 20 miles. 💪

They sacrificed a ton, and worked their asses off, but—

👉 None of this would be possible without the people I’ve mentioned in this story, and countless others who supported them throughout their entrepreneurial journey.

So the next time you’re “too busy” to:

• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Do a favor for a friend…

• ☎️ Pick up the phone and call an old colleague…

• 🤝 Or open yourself up to meeting new people…

…remember that all the brains, talent, and hard work in the world can’t replace the value of friends who care about your goals as much as you do.

Prioritize. That. Shit. ✌️

Cheers! 🍻

-Kristin :-)

P.S. — If you’re ready to surround yourself with talented entrepreneurs who would do anything for their friends, come join us.

P.P.S. — Don’t forget to hop over to LinkedIn and tell me about your most transformative career experience.

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