Today I was assigned Makeup Salesman

Today for Lunch I had a $15.71 Poke Bowl. I haven’t included add-on’s to a Poke Bowl order in quite some time, but the Paoli, Pennsylvania prices for Poke gave me the mental freedom to spend the extra $ on Avocado. 150% worth the perfectly ripe avocado.

Since waking up and eating some leftover squash seeds, Squash, Quinoa, and Frozen Peas, I hadn’t had a bite to eat except a singular bite of Malvern Pizza given to the workers of the breastcancer.org charity event in Malvern, PA (I was hired to be videographer). By the way, I asked a fellow there about his thoughts on Philly Pizza and he said the expected — nothing like New York. Look I’m a huge fan of NY Pizza, but to be honest, 6.2/10 Philly Pizza when fresh and crispy isn’t that bad.

The Male Makeup Salesman

For some more context on this Pennslyvania day, I was hired to do video for a makeup company sponsoring this breast cancer event. To some guests that translated to me being the guy to ask about that makeup.

I had to tell every single Breast Cancer survivor that asked about that makeup straight to their face that I know nothing about makeup and nothing about that product.

Thankfully, and I mean very very thankfully, a volunteer came over to help and while she said she had no idea what she was talking about, she sounded like Einstein compared to the severely uneducated me in the Makeup department. And on top of that, she created a perfect scene for the B-roll I saught to capture.

Travel Decisions

The event was technically 10am-2pm. I planned to arrive at 9am but the earliest Amtrak from NYC got into PA at 9:30 so I arrived at 9:50 which was still totally fine — so much so that I had some downtime between 10:15-10:45am to work on separate edits. That 30 minute period of time is the best — killing two birds with one stone.

But then 12:45pm hits, and the speaking engagement starts. The speakers mark the end of the time at which I can capture interviews or additional product photos. My responsibilities were pretty much done. [I filmed some great conversations and truly enjoyed hearing some of the stories shared by women there. I sensed a very positive feeling in that room which is quite nice.]

However, I was hired to shoot from 10am-2pm. I had a tough decision to make. And it’s not what you’d expect.

I bolted out of there 12:46pm no problem. That’s not the decision at play. I did the work I needed to do.

But the red flag is where the saucy decision lies. I had a dilemma. The station was 12 minutes away from the filming location, and I had ample time to make that 1:22pm train. I was soooo tempted to switch my ticket to take it. I hate having to wait out the extra hour.

However, there was a big issue at play: travel was reimbursed for this project. Sure this is amazing that I didn’t have to pay for the round trip Amtrak tickets and ubers.

But why is this a problem? I have to send travel receipts. I cannot risk the receipt showing 1:22pm train for the event that ends at 2pm.

It was one of those moments where I was kicking myself but unreluctantly decided to wait out the extra hour in the Poke Bowl Place and take the 2:29pm train. No regrets.

Flipped Charts

Check out these two charts

How do I think about these flipped charts?

Well I want you to know you’re a super loyal fanbase. There are times where it still feels like I’m writing to ghosts but overall, I want you to know I’m very thankful for you guys.

Some may think the Newsletter trend is alarming.

I disagree. It just goes to show who the loyal readers are. Look as you can see in the past 2.5 years my life goes in seasons. The current season is most similar to the starting point in Europe.

Blog daily sharing my unique perspective on this planet. I understand this may not resonate with every reader, but I also feel that if there’s someone out there who had a bad day and read a feel good story about an old dough-making machine, I did something good, and the send was worth it.

On the flip side (literally and figuratively), the YouTube view chart is interesting. This video is on pace to be my most viewed YouTube video since Joe’s Stone Crab back in early 2024 (Not including shorts — just referring to longs). I’m excited because these charts help me push forward and plow through the mountain of work it takes to make these beasts.

I know 619+ views is low in many people’s eyes. But understand YouTube views are different than IG/TikTok/Shorts views. It means 619+ people clicked the video. That’s cool.

Living Out of the Inbox

I want to preface to not take this following section to personally. This blog is not meant to be a productivity newsletter, but an alarming trend popped up this morning in my feed and I wanted to address it.

As if I were talking to my mother right now (which yes I am but also all of you), this section is out of love. Alright read along…

Last night, I sent you all an email at 10:14pm. 8 hours and 29 minutes later at 6:43 AM I checked the open rate of the email and was astonished.

56.25%

I am thankful to have an open rate at that level. Shows how loyal you guys are, and I thank you for that.

But in all honesty, there is a scarier element to this number. It means most of you reading this check and open emails either right before bed or first thing in the morning. That to me is troubling. We shouldn’t be owned by our Inbox, especially at those hours. I know some of you are thinking: “is he telling us not to read his emails?”

No, not exactly.

But look I write this blog to offer people my perspective, and I will share that here.

I’m semi-addicted to checking my email. Most of us are. It’s why I keep the GMAIL app off my phone… otherwise I’d literally check it every 10 minutes. It’s interesting that when I look back at my days, I come to realize most checks are not as necessary as I make them out to be in the moment.

An author named Tim Ferris first drilled this into my head last year and I haven’t looked back.

If you really were to think about your goals/purpose and prioritize your life to achieve those goals, where does the 10:30pm or 6:00am email check fit into that equation? Does it further your progress towards your goals?

Watch this video for more, and for even more, check out the 4 Hour Workweek. It was really helpful for me, and for the chance that one of you out there feels this way but hasn’t exactly identified this trait, I’d recommend the book.

Thanks for the read!

-Jack