Jim Carrey’s Dad was an accountant because being an accountant was the “safer” job. When Carrey was 12 his Dad lost his “safe” job and that fucked everything.
I’ve only ever run businesses which were directly related to my hobbies. IE: Stuff I was obsessed about. For example; I created a bike forum as I was mad about cycling. When I got off the bike I had more than a few people ask why they were a part of the bike community I had created, why were they wearing the brand and hanging out on the forums when the guy who created and runs the business doesn’t even ride anymore?!
Hobbies come and go. I got sick of starting a new business every time I got into a new hobby. Each time I started a new business it would take off (as expected as I do generally give things 110%), but over time I’d move on to new hobbies and new businesses only to find myself feeling guilty for taking benefits from these communities that my heart wasn’t in anymore.
ZEN GARAGE is an umbrella business. It encompasses all of my hobbies. The concept is to simply push, post and promote whatever it is I am into at this very moment. I am ALWAYS crazy about something, so I figure that if I can post exactly what it is I’m into RIGHT NOW, through ZEN, then I would never ‘get over’ or ‘get bored’ of this brand AND I can stay true as fuck as I’d be genuinely promoting what I love (right now).
7 years of running ZEN in this way has been far from boring. We’ve had huge ups and huge downs. Is the brand future proof? I doubt it, but there’s definitely a sense of longevity due to being more true to what I love.