41 Days and Counting

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Another 16 hour day in the books.

At the end of each day, we try to figure-out whether it was a win or a loss.  Not that the record matters, but more W's over the course of time means that you're closer to the goal.

Today was definitely a W, but it wasn't without worrying that we were heading toward an loss.

The day began as a normal day, as my partner and I looked forward to a meeting with a sponsor that we hoped would say "yes" to being a part of the radio show and a late in the day meeting with our team at KLAC-AM to begin setting the road map to the August 11th show.

I was feeling great as I made a couple of freshly laid eggs from the hens that reside in the front yard of our friends Chip and Lois' house in Sherman Oaks.  Yes, I said front yard...not a farm!  Chip and Lois also have an incredible city garden in front of the house as well with corn, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, herbs and a grape vine.

There's something about LA that allows me to eat healthier than when I'm home in Chicago.  It concerns me that between constant meetings and work, I'm not always watching what I eat.  I'm sure I'm not the only entrepreneur gaining weight during THE process, but I have to be aware that I've gained about six pounds since the beginning of March and now weigh 189.  No way will that scale top 190...and I'm getting back to 180 soon!

Hopefully by writing this blog, I'll be constantly reminding myself about the importance of keeping healthy and eating right, which will go hand-in-hand with making me feel vibrant and be ready to fight-the-fight, each and every next day.

On a positive note, I did drink over 70 ounces of water today and will continue to do so from here on out.


Seriously though, stress and pressure affect everyone, not just entrepreneurs.  I try to get-in an 8,000-10,000 step walk with my girlfriend ever day.  Trish is awesome about making sure I get out of the condo, especially on days when I'm sitting inside working on the computer.

Yes, I'm not just trying to find investors and sponsors, I'm also trying to build our new website and trying to keep track of our 52 blogs, that I write...and oh, also try to keep-up with our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

OK, back to Day 41 and Counting.

My biggest growth area as an entrepreneur is in the area of not getting down mentally.

As I said, today started well, but around 8 A.M. I heard that our first meeting, which was with a perspective advertising sponsor, was being postponed.  The old Jeff would have hung his head and moaned-and-groaned for a bit...thus wasting time.  The new Jeff moves on to the other hundreds of things and can do and never looks back...most times...old habits die hard. :-)

Then as the saying goes, when one door closes another one opens.

I got an email from a business acquaintance who landed us a conference call tomorrow with a gentleman who has read our executive summary and wants to begin discussions about possibly investing in High School Sports Entertainment, which is our umbrella company for the brand of High School Football America and High School Football America - SoCal.

This is why you keep grinding!!  You just never know what's around the corner.

I also needed to put on my travel agent hat on to work-out details of our investor meetings in Philadelphia and New York City later this week and early next.  And, for good measure while we're there, we also need to squeeze-in family visits before moving to LA and a wedding on Saturday outside of Philly.

The travel itinerary...after leaving LA Thursday morning, we'll land in Chicago at 5 P.M., hop in a rental car and begin the drive east.  With airline tickets being a little high over the holidays, driving is a cost effective solution.  Cross-country drives clear my mind, especially on Route 80 in Pennsylvania where trees and mountains allow me to think of other things and be creative as Trish and I talk and dream the dream of High School Football America - SoCal opening the microphones on August 11th.

Speaking of the radio show, our day ended with our first face-to-face meeting with our account representatives that will be in-charge of connecting us within the station to make sure everything goes smoothly.  We've had numerous calls, but this was the first time to sit down and toast the deal with an adult beverage.

This meeting couldn't have gone any better, because the folks at KLAC 570 AM are extremely excited to make sure that we become an important part of their show line-up.  There's plenty of work to do over the next 41 days, but believe me, we walked away from that meeting knowing that all of the hard work was paying-off with a partner that had the same goals as we do.

And, looking back on those freshly laid fried eggs that I had earlier in the day, it's safe to say that I think the day was eggs-actly what we needed to move to Tuesday!

See you tomorrow for 40 Days and Counting.

Jeff