What I'm Up To
​Volume 104

Hey friends,
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Here’s what I’ve been up to since Vol. 103…
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1. February Happenings
​I ended January with a broken filling. I started February getting a new crown. You know how bad things happen in threes? Wendy left for Colorado to teach that same day and texted me: “Not to get into a misfortune bragging contest, but I ran over my luggage on the way out today.” 🤣
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Thankfully, our unlucky streak seems to have ended. We enjoyed a fun night with friends at the annual CASA benefit, Casablanca. They raised over $2.6M to make sure every child who has experienced neglect or abuse has a court advocate. It’s a great organization and we’re happy to contribute. We’re not big Valentine’s Day people - still, we booked two dinners back-to-back. Wendy got us a table at Hestia on the 12th and I scored a friend’s reservation for Uchi the following night. 🍣

This was my 26th KW Family Reunion, our annual conference. We hosted over 12,000 agents for four days in Atlanta. Day one is a side event called CEO Summit. We brought in Will Guidara, Jenny Wood, Valerie Burton, and Neil Patel. All were sensational. I’m in mastermind groups with Will and Jenny, so it was great to introduce them. Valerie was new to me, but I loved her talk on resilience and recorded a podcast with her afterward. Neil walked us through SEO and AI discovery optimization. We hosted it at the Tabernacle, a converted downtown church. It was the perfect kickoff.
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My event was less hectic than in years past. I was on and off stage but only had three presentations. I got to enjoy many of the speakers and recorded a handful of podcasts as well. My unlikely highlight was getting stuck in an elevator on the 71st floor of the Westin after dinner with Wendy and three of her best friends. The elevator descended one floor and lurched to a stop. Everyone was tipsy–hitting buttons, taking selfies and cracking jokes. I called security. Wendy declared, “I’m strong. I’ll pry the doors open.” Security was clearly watching and we heard an ominous, “No, you will not!” Cue lots of laughter. Eventually, they reset the elevator and we made it to the ground floor.
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If you’re gonna get stuck in an elevator, get stuck with fun people.

On the tail end of the event, I caught a plane to Dubuque, Iowa for a keynote with Cottingham & Butler. They flew me the last leg on a private plane and drove me to my hotel. Hotel Julien is an old building — Abe Lincoln reportedly spent the night there, and Al Capone kept a second-floor suite with a safe for when things got too hot in Chicago. They also served the best bacon I’ve ever had. Makes sense. I believe there are more pigs in Iowa than people.

I took off the last few days of the month to recover. Gus needed to get his car inspected, so we had lunch together and voted. He has a beard now! My son has a beard. It will take a while for that to sink in. An old friend from New York, Marilynne Hebert was in town for an event. We met her for wine downtown. She was an early mentor to Wendy, a former stringer for the NY Times. She actually took our wedding photos.
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Finally, we met Dennis at the ranch to wrap up the season. We all did chores while he fixed two broken vehicles. I love having handy friends!
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​2. What I’m Reading
​I started a long novel set in Japan and managed to finish three books. Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman may be my favorite book of the year. Burkeman writes as well as anyone and leans more self-help than business. Like Anne-Laure Le Cunff, he rejects the ruthless, relentless efficiency trends everyone chases like the latest diet trends. He’s all about mindful productivity and fulfillment.
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I listened to Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. It’s a deeply informed critique of the progressive movement from progressives. They dissect our broken systems and point to a better path for our government. I found it both hopeful and informative. As someone who has worked in real estate since 2000, the chapter on housing was both brilliant and accurate. Hopefully, future policy makers will pay attention.

In my professional life, I’ve had to deal with a few people who are likely on the narcissism spectrum. A friend shared their highlights on Instagram from The Covert Passive-Aggressive Narcissist by Debbie Mirza, and I bought it immediately. The book is primarily written for spouses of narcissists. Still, I found it enlightening. My favorite chapter was on all the ways people like this manipulate – gaslighting, projection, confusion, triangulation, etc. It’s not Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power, but it was still helpful to see and name the patterns.
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​3. What I’m Watching
​Wendy and I watched two more Best Picture nominees: Hamnet and Sinners (HBO). Shakespeare and vampires. They couldn’t be more different. Both are worth a few hours of your time.
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With The Immortal Man coming out in March, we watched Peaky Blinders (Netflix) Season 3. I’m pretty sure it’s my favorite season. Insane Russians, a heist, a murder, and lots of Alfie Solomons.
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Just for fun, I watched The Bee Keeper. Jason Statham is no De Niro. But it’s sure fun to watch him front-kick a bad guy across the room.
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That’s it for this month. Please reply back and let me know what you’re up to!

Be well, do good deeds, and eat tacos!
Jay

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