Blog

April is among my favorite months - so much change in the air.  Our days are longer, the song of birds is in the air, the weather is totally unpredictable - and oh, yeah - we’re still living in Covid Nation.  I don’t have to tell you that life is different today than it was at the beginning of March, and I think we all wonder what it’s going to be like this time next month, or in the fall.  I found myself thinking about the passage of time as I entered into this months’ blog writing session - of the inevitability of the seasons, the rising and setting of the sun.  A clockmaker may measure this passage, a photographer may capture a bit of its beauty, writers and historians might take note of major moments, but the world keeps spinning round and round.  

I would submit that there are two camps, largely speaking, as to how people see the role of government in the world.  There are those who see the inequalities of the...

I spent some time earlier this month researching Saint Patrick, who we all know banished all of the snakes from Ireland, had a shamrock farm, and invented green beer.  BUT IT’S NOT TRUE!! He likely did none of these things, but the life he lived was amazing, and I’m going to share a little bit of that history. And then I’m going to write about viruses and fear, and indecision.  After that I intend to tie in some economics, and at the end I’ll give you a charge, an encouragement if you will - and then you’ll go about your day. Sound good? 

Saint Patrick first came to Ireland as a captive slave, kidnapped by pirates at the age of 16.  He was the son of a decurion and a deacon in England, or perhaps Scotland or Wales (he’s famous so they fight over him - and it was a long time ago - 432ish AD).  His father was thus holding both a powerful local government role and a powerful role within the church hierarchy. Patrick,...

Driving past a First Watch restaurant the other day, I was prompted to place a call to Rayno Seaser, founder (along with his wife Patty) of The Egg & I restaurants - which had recently rebranded to become First Watch locations.  First Watch had acquired The Egg & I back in 2015, but only recently changed names for most Colorado locations. We had a great chat, catching up on recent travels and holiday activities, and agreeing we must breakfast together soon.  

After our conversation, I was reminded of something he’d told me more than a decade before, when he was on the bank’s Advisory Board and I was his banker on some projects.  He’d told me that recessions were helpful during his journey, because they forced you to trim the fat to remain profitable. When things were good, he went on to explain, the business gets fat and happy - and even though sales are better than ever, profits sometimes tend to slip as costs creep...

Can’t stay away from the obvious pun in the title, but the turning of the calendar to a new decade only happens once every few years!  It seems the years go by faster and faster the older I (we) get. The 80’s lasted forever! - or maybe it only felt that way because of the big hair and funny outfits.  At the end of the 80’s though, they represented over 70% of my living years, and 90% of my years being slightly aware of what was going on - if that’s even true today. So, that passage of time - a decade - that seemed so long in my youth, went so fast this time around, in part because it represents so much less of my total experience.   

But then I take a think-back.  Writing is thinking, they say, and now I’ve got me thinking about where I was in January of 2010.  If memory serves, I was the Acting President of Capital West National Bank at this time, which is a fancy way of saying you’ve got the same salary as when you...

Oh, Christmas - what a wonderful and tragic holiday you have become!  Full of lights and song, and seasonal food & drink specials, and time with family and dear friends - and stuff!  In America, we have multiple sub-holidays to our Christmas season - Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and Green Monday too!  The UPS and Fedex and Amazon trucks are clogging up the highways and ‘hoods of our nation en mass in December! Our focus on consumerism at Christmas would have Jesus rolling over in his grave - if he hadn’t rolled away the stone!   

What he would approve of, however, is the focus on others during this season.  We buy gifts and make fruit cakes and knit scarves for the people we love and appreciate in our lives.  We sponsor a needy family through a local non-profit, or buy gifts for kids through the Rotary club. Colorado Gives Day is smack dab in the middle of it.  It’s a season of gratitude and...

We had our 12th annual Fakesgiving party earlier this month, our silly name for what appears to have become a movement of friendsgiving parties sweeping the nation in recent years.  That’s right - 12th annual friendsgiving party - what you got!?  

Anyway - yours truly cooks up a pair of turkeys (16 pounders this year) along with stuffing and garlic mashers, Jill Bear makes sweet potato casserole and pumpkin cheesecake, and then a couple dozen friendlies bring their favorite side and a bottle of wine or 6-pack to share in our little bungalow.  This year, Fakesgiving was warmer than normal, and many spilled out onto the patio for dinner and later a fire pit session. We had about a dozen side dishes this year, and maybe five desserts - and of course I tried everything. A few things were really good, so I had seconds on those - quite a few things, if I’m honest.  

Striving to eat at least a bite or two of each offering is something I’m...

From the Founder - Be Not Afraid (On Fear)

Halloween season is upon us, and I thought it might be fun to draw some parallels to the world I know best - small business.  The first thing I think about when I think of Halloween is the costumes - it’s how we’re hooked in the early years! Kids put on costumes and adults give us candy - easy peezy.  In costume, I’ve been Batman, ET, and even Michael Jackson! (Just to derail any future thoughts of political pursuits now, there is a picture of a ~10 year old Curt with a for-real perm, one white glove and blackface somewhere in my mom’s photo albums!)  The ability to change who we are is also very prevalent in the world of small business.  Often the change from corporate stooge to entrepreneur is a traumatic one requiring many pivots and changes, and then once you’re off the launch pad you’re wearing ALL the costumes! - CEO, Sales, CFO, COO, CMO, HR, Cleaning, Maintenance...

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Curt discusses the Bear family’s new kittens, FOMO, and the importance of focus and perspective in this month’s blog.

The weekend after Labor Day saw a pair of new additions to the Bear clan!  Pictured are Barley and Bootsie - a pair of kittens we adopted through the Fort Collins Cat Rescue.  They are the sweetest little pair, brother and sister, and they’re getting along great with our dog Tucker.  

Sadly, Tucker was a source of our cat woes in recent years.  Our long-haired tortoiseshell cat Hazel disappeared last summer.  She was convinced that Tucker wanted to kill and eat her from the first day we got him 3 years ago (though he exhibited no such desires), and after escaping our home several times only to be found weeks later she finally escaped for good.  Months later, we put our 18-year old cat Tiger to rest, and with a cat-allergic exchange student moving in soon and a busy summer planned we became a cat-free...

I discovered a few years ago that I have a special provenance.  I’ve always known that I was born to Donald and Valorie Bear in the early morning hours of August 20th, in the year 1974 at Jamestown Hospital in North Dakota.  I was just shy of 6 pounds, and was delivered by the same doctor that delivered my mom and my dad and two of my three siblings. Already sounds pretty special, but not so much in rural ND - Dr. Lucy delivered nearly all the babies around there for 50 years!  No, the special provenance I’m referencing was discovered only in 2016 when I learned that 1974 is the year of the Tiger in the Chinese Calendar. So...my August 20th birthday makes me a Leo, and because my family name is Bear, I am...wait for it...Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My!  

It’s true.  I am lions and tigers and bears, oh my.  What could this say about me? What could this signify for my future?!   

I Googled the Leo...

When I think about July, I think about Independence Day. That wonderful day filled with grilled burgers and outdoor play and ice cream and fireworks! My adopted community of Fort Collins is a bit nanny-state on the fireworks, but puts on a good show at City Park only a few blocks from our home. And when I think about Independence Day, I think about the Founding Fathers - as do many I suppose.