Planning Retreat
This was our second year doing an offsite retreat, and we plan to make it an annual tradition. My brother (business partner), sister-in-law (handles customer service), wife (helps with various part of the business), and 5-month-old all traveled to a beautiful cabin in the mountains of West Virginia. Although I love working in my home office, there’s something about being in a secluded location away from the day-to-day distractions that proves really helpful for getting in a different mindset. We spent the whole time looking at the big picture of Ugmonk, the current state of Ugmonk, and where we want to head next. Our goal was to take a big step back and make sure we’re seeing the forest through the trees. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day work, looking at each individual “tree” without checking our compass to see if we are still pointed in the correct direction. There are times where we might even want to recalibrate and change our destination altogether. Stepping back is the only way to do that. Setting aside specific time to take a step back and evaluate everything from a macro level is vital to long-term success. On last year’s retreat, we came up with the vision for Ugmonk 2.0. It’s exciting to see that vision realized and executed just one year later! This year, we left with some exciting ideas that could take Ugmonk to a whole other level, including a product I’ve been working on for the past three years (Sign up here to get updates on this). I’ll be sharing more in the future to give you more insight on what’s next.










Family Retreat
After the planning retreat, I took a different type of getaway. My wife, my 5-month-old, and I headed up to the Catskills in upstate NY to unplug and enjoy some down time together. As much as I love my business, my family is my top priority. We rented a cozy house in the woods (more photos on my Instagram) and enjoyed the perfect fall weather, hiking in the mountains and hanging around the fireplace all week. It felt great to be fully present, not worrying about work and appreciating the simple pleasures of life. (I did bring my laptop in case of emergency, but thankfully, I never even took it out of my bag.) This trip was just what we needed. Life with a kid is certainly much different and challenging at times, but we’re enjoying these new adventures as a family of three.







