Jack
November 17, 2023
While I don’t remember how many times I caddied for Jack or what his scores were when I did, I do remember the first time I caddied for him. I was caddying for Jack and another member in a weekend tournament. Now, this wasn’t some big amateur tournament or even a club championship. It was just some friendly weekend get-together amongst the members. But the other member, let’s call him Ted, was playing like it was a major championship.
By the time we hit number #17 on the first day, Ted was ready to burst. Number 17 is a tough par 4 and he was about 50 yards short with his 2nd shot. As we approached his ball he was talking about getting up and down for a par. We discussed the pitch shot and where to land it so he could get within 10 feet of the hole. But instead of landing it where we discussed, Ted hits about 3 inches behind the ball and his ball rolls about a foot. And then Ted loses it!
“You’ve been standing too close to me all day,” he screams in my direction. “That’s why I duffed that shot! I wish you would just give me my club and walk away.
Before I could muster a response, Jack jumped in, “That’s such bullshit Ted!” And then Ted went after Jack who gave it right back to Ted. Things fizzled in about 30 seconds and we went on the finish the hole. As we’re walking up the 18th hole I start to thank Jack for sticking up for me and he cut me off and said there was no need to thank him. He said Ted was way out of line and that I was one of the best caddies he’d ever had. Don’t listen to a frustrated old hack like that! I was 15 and Jack was 45.
Certain people stood out during my summer caddying. Jack was certainly one of them. If you told me at the time that I’d spend 20 years as his business partner, I would have thought you were crazy. Now I think it’s crazy that it’s been 20 years because it’s gone so fast. We’ve had so much fun and helped so many people in the small business world through our coaching and our podcast.
Jack and I have always had a lot of things in common. Even though we went to rival high schools and I went to that “school up north” for college, we shared a tremendous love for small business and for helping and teaching people. We’ve gotten so many goosebumps over the years watching our clients grow and achieve more than they ever thought possible. Whether that entails “getting them out of the truck” capitalizing on “an offer they couldn’t refuse” or the countless moments in between, it’s been an honor to get to work so closely with so many amazing small business owners. And to do it with a business partner like Jack is something few people get to experience.
We would often joke that we see more of each other than we do of our wives. It wasn’t a complaint, just an observation. In addition to spending many of our weekdays together working with clients, we also traveled quite a bit. One of our first trips took us to Vermont via Montreal and then to New Jersey before returning to Cleveland. We’ve been to slaughterhouses and the Zappos headquarters and loads of places in between.
My favorites were our planning trips which usually happened when it was cold in Cleveland. We went to Las Vegas a few times which is where Jack introduced me to craps. “Best odds in the casino,” he told me. “Just stick to the 6’s and 8’s.” We enjoyed a handful of Spring Trainings with our beloved Tribe and even a trip to Arizona for a Browns game where Jack saw sides of me he hadn’t before.
During that Browns trip, we took a day trip to visit the southern rim of the Grand Canyon (and got in for free with Jack’s veteran card 😎). We spent 8 hours in our black Chevy Camaro round trip from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon. We had lunch at the hotel restaurant after walking around some of the trails and taking in the view. “Awesome” is the word Jack used to describe it and he was right! Upon returning to Phoenix we had dinner at the Olive Garden, one of Jack’s favorites.
That’s the kind of relationship Jack and I had. We never got sick of each other. We never ran out of things to talk about. From business to life to faith and family and of course sports. Nothing was off limits. We never had a fight or disagreement over all that time. That doesn’t mean we always agreed. It means we talked about things when we didn’t agree. Most importantly we listened to each other.
One of our biggest blessings is that we started a radio show in April 2016 which switched over to a podcast when COVID hit in March 2020. We recorded 390 episodes of our Dirty Secrets of Small Business (“DSSB”) podcast. We did a show every week for nearly 8 years. Most of the shows involve Jack and I discussing a small business situation one of our clients was dealing with recently. We also have dozens of interviews with our clients and other interesting small business owners who shared some wonderful lessons and funny stories.
The initial rationale for having a show was to give people a feel for what it was like to work with us. We figured if someone listened to a 1-hour show they’d get a good sense of how we think and interact. Either you’d like it or you wouldn’t. It would also give us the chance to reach and help more small business owners. Our goal since early on in MVP was to help 10,000+ small business owners worldwide. Upon reflection, DSSB also provides a legacy of MVP and our relationship.
I’ve listened to a few of our prior episodes recently and it is great to hear Jack’s voice. Especially his laugh. He truly loved what we did. Helping small business owners have more fun and success running their companies than they ever thought. And he got to do it until the end, just the way he wanted it.
I miss talking with my friend most of all. It’s been over a week since he passed and there isn’t a minute I haven’t thought about him. We have all been blessed to have Jack in our lives. That is especially true for me who got to spend nearly every day with Jack during his 4th quarter on this planet. Let’s continue to carry Jack’s influence and love for small business forward!
-Adam