Dear Gordy,
It’s been a few years since my last letter to you. So much has changed, and yet so much has stayed the same.
Since I last wrote you when I turned 25, I have had some big life events. I proposed to Amanda, and we are getting married this fall. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world every single day.
We did get that dog - her name is Daisy and she is she is the most lovable french bull dog in the world. I can’t imagine a world without her snoring away on the couch now.
Since I last wrote you I had two totally different jobs. I left that job at Unilever to work as a recruiter in New York City, chasing my interest for finance and using those sales skills to help people land jobs at the biggest banks and private equity firms in the world. I worked at an agency for two years as a recruiter, and found out I was pretty good at closing a deal.
I’m still making content, writing blogs, and making videos now too. Just the topic is a little different than it was before. Shortly after I wrote that last letter I started getting back into baseball cards - like when we were kids. I had a little more money than I did when we were 8 and 9 years old so I was able to buy some of the good stuff like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.
I started documenting my revival of collecting and telling the stories of baseball’s history, and some people started to listen. One video lead to the next, and before you knew it I had a following online. As I write this to you, there are over 14,000 people that follow me on TikTok.
As my audience grew and my passion grew deeper, I began to apply some of my skills in content and sales towards my card hobby and it turned into a business of its own.
In January of this year I decided to walk away from my corporate job and pursue my content and entrepreneurship full time. It has been some of the most exciting and fulfilling work I have ever experienced, and I am so thankful I took the leap of faith.
There are few important lessons I wanted to share with you from these last few years. I hope I learn from them and continue to improve from them as my future self reads this one day.
1.) It’s okay to not have it figured out yet. Keep trying stuff.
Over the last few years I have tried my hand at a lot of different things for work. I worked at big companies and small companies. I worked in different industries. I had good bosses and bad bosses.
The one thing that continues to shine through is that you learn from doing. And doing a lot of different things allows you to see what you like and don’t like. It also allows you to see what you are good at. So stay curious, and if something seems interesting to you - go do it. You only live once.
2.) It’s okay to not be okay sometimes. Life can be hard. Rely on your people.
Since I last wrote to you when I was 25, I have gone through debilitating stretches of depression and anxiety. I had to take time away from work twice - because of how severely unhappy I was.
I have come to learn that anxiety is an emotion that almost everyone experiences in their day-to-day life. It comes and goes like any other emotion. How you choose to think about what you are anxious about will determine its hold over you.
I have also learned that I feel emotions bigly. I am a very emotional person, which means my highs are high and my lows can be really low. Reminding myself of that and being kind to myself over the fact that this is how I was born has helped make me reconcile with these difficult feelings.
I learned these things from finding a therapist, who helped me get through some of the hardest times of my adult life so far. Even with things going really well right now, I still see her once a month and plan to do so for the rest of my life god willing.
3.) Relationships are the most important thing in your life.
Earlier this year I read “The Good Life” about the longest running clinical study at Harvard about what makes people happy. The key takeaway from the book was the #1 most important factor in determining whether or not you will live a long and happy life is the quality of your relationships.
Since I read that book I take time every day to be grateful for all of the people in my life. I am so blessed to have Amanda, my family, and all of the friends I have had for most of my life.
As for some of the other fun stuff going on in life - I will fill you in on that too:
Amanda and I still love to travel
A few years ago we went to Spain for Nicole’s wedding and travelled across Europe to Italy and France. (I am certain we will be going back - it was the best trip we have ever taken.) In October we are going to St. Lucia for our honeymoon, and I can’t wait to see all the places and adventures we will go on together.
I picked up running this year
I ran my first marathon in April in Jersey City and the whole squad came out to watch. I ran it in 4 hours 22 minutes, which I was extremely proud of. It was without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever done in my life - both physically and mentally. I plan on running more marathons in the future.
I joined a Tuesday night golf league with Anthony
I’m recording my handicap for the first time ever this summer. (I’m dealing with a terrible slice right now I hope you get that fixed for future us). I’m the most into golf now since I started playing. I’m around a 12 handicap, and am excited to see how low I can get it.
We are entering the wedding era of our life
The last few years we have been to a dozen weddings for some of our best friends. I got to be a groomsmen for the fist time in Kyle & Bess’ and Austin and Paris’s wedding. This summer is Jack and Katy’s wedding and this fall we have Sisko and Kelsey’s right after our own. Maxx and Ali get married next year and you’ll be up there with some of your best friends next to Maxx too.
The housing market has been insane - so has the economy and technology
Amanda and I put offers in on 5 or 6 houses but continuously got crushed by offers way over asking in all cash. I think it turned out to be one of the biggest blessings of our life though. We love living in our condo in Morristown still, close to town and all of our friends. I am also coming around to the concept that owning a home is not even the best financial move at this point. Interest rates have been sitting around 7%- they doubled in just a year after they sat below 3% from the pandemic. Saving that money and investing it in the market has made sense for us, and if the time comes when it makes more sense for us to buy a house, I am sure we will. I actually am hopeful that the next time you read this we will own an investment property before our own home.
The primary discussion around the market now is centered around A.I - there is concern (like every new technology) that Ai. will replace everyone’s job. I am eager to see how it changes things for the better - I predict that we will all be interacting with our own form of A.i on the daily in the future. Sort of like our own personal robot that helps us with our jobs, or our daily schedule etc.
The biggest concern I have right now around technology is whether or not TikTok will still be around in the future. There is a bill that has just been passed that states TikTok must sell to a U.S. entity in the next year or else it will be banned. My community for Bonkers Cards has been built on TikTok, and that is where my LIVE shows are every week. Losing that platform is the biggest risk to my business as it stands right now, so I am hopeful these issues will get resolved.
*
Last weekend we got to go down the shore to LBI with a bunch of our friends to celebrate an early birthday and get some beach time in.
I had been looking forward to this first trip down the shore all year, partly because I was looking forward to doing a 10 mile run with Austin. I love these longer runs especially with a friend like him because you get time to reflect and talk about everything that is going on in life.
On our run we talked about how much we are enjoying where things are right now in life. We have so much to be thankful for. From our health, relationships, our families, our friends, having the opportunities we have been given. Life has been incredibly kind. (After saying this and recognizing it, Austin Paris and I all knocked on wood on a telephone pole just to not jinx anything).
As I finish writing this letter and reflecting on everything going on in life, that theme consistently holds true.
I hope you continue to keep trying and finding your way. I hope you keep getting up when you get knocked down. I hope you find time every day to appreciate what you’ve got and don’t take a second of it for granted.
I guess I will see you in the mirror -
Gordy
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