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I find it hard to believe we're a quarter century into the new millennia. For me, 2025 marks 30 years of being out of high school...30 YEARS. If someone would have shown me a crystal ball and said, "Stephen, this is what you'll be doing in 30 years. This is what you will have won. This is what you have learned. This is what you will have endured." I wouldn't/couldn't have believed them.
I find it hard to believe we're a quarter century into the new millennia. For me, 2025 marks 30 years of being out of high school...30 YEARS. If someone would have shown me a crystal ball and said, "Stephen, this is what you'll be doing in 30 years. This is what you will have won. This is what you have learned. This is what you will have endured." I wouldn't/couldn't have believed them. There is no way. Not me. I didn't know what a triathlon was 30 years ago. I had no inkling to do anything else other than "Teach and Beach." That's right, my #1 goal was to teach during the school year, and spend my summers on the North Wildwood Beach Patrol. The good life.
When you're a kid, 5-year increments mark massive development and change. Birth, Pre-School, Elementary School, Middle School, High School, then college, military, or entering the workforce for others. The years 5 through 25 years old are dynamic and incomparable. Then, somewhere along the line you settle in, you get comfortable. You select a job or career, which can change every few years, but you unconsciously develop a routine of normalcy. Not much changes other than where your weekly dollars come from.
Sometimes, I envy that.
Here's my last 30 years separated into 5 year increments of dynamic shifts
1995-1999: College. Completely obsessed with being a college student/athlete. For the fist time ever, I take school/routine very seriously. My entire identity was wrapped around this concept. Solely focused on getting my teaching degree so I can work the NWBP every summer.
2000-2004: Become middle school teacher in Philadelphia Public Schools. Earn a master's degree. Discovered triathlon. Light bulbs begin to flicker in my head. Get married, leave teaching and the beach patrol to work for my family and begin a life down the shore. Produce my first race (Tri the Wildwoods).
2005-2009: Obsessed with competing/training triathlon, mountain bike racing, anything endurance. Start a family. The Phillies win the world series. My son is born.
Working the family business by day, waiting tables for my in-laws at night. Still producing TRI WW annually...dabbling with others (North Wildwood Biathlon and Doo Wop Duathlon).
2010-2014: My daughter is born. I'm becoming discontented working in the family business. I start the Atlantic City International Triathlon and Escape The Cape. I leave the family business with zero plan other than, "I've got to take my shot." I launch Challenge Family in Atlantic City with Rob Vigorito.
2015-2019: Challenge is a financial disaster. I managed to negotiate out of my deal and sign a licensee contact with Ironman to produce 70.3 Atlantic City taking 100% of the financial risk. DelMoSports takes off. Each race continues to experience dramatic growth producing over 10 events per year. We win awards. By the end of 2019, Ironman purchases 70.3 Atlantic City (per their contractual right)
2020-2024: The world changes. Everything changes. We make a bold move and go all in with timing, equipment, and consulting. But, things are different now, athletes are slow to come back, we eliminate some events. I can see the seismic shift coming and go even deeper into equipment rentals and servicing. By the end of 2024, we've completely transformed the business and are working with the biggest names in our industry: Ironman, Red Bull, New York Road Runners, Broad Street, Phila Marathon, Cherry Blossom, DC/Philly Bike Rides, American Cancer Society, Children's National Hospital, an J.P. Morgan Chase to name a few.
Did you notice something? Did you notice how different each 5-year period was from the last? What did I learn from each 5 year period?
Without a doubt, trust my gut and go for it. Teaching, family business, starting my own business, and ultimately transforming that business have all led to tremendous growth and fulfillment.
Each phase required me to grow as a person. The person who I was in 2001 would not have been able to handle the adversity of 2015. I had to evolve into that version in order to make it through. The same can be said with who I was in 2015 and who I am today. Each phase of my life, of YOUR LIFE, will require the latest and greatest version of you.
It doesn't get easier. Nope. Just because I have been doing this for over two decades doesn't mean it's getting any easier. What it means is I have developed the capacity to endure. I know times are going to be good, really good, and there will be times that are challenging, but those moments are not eternal for they can change on a whim and we must showcase the wisdom to know.
I'm fully aware Thanksgiving is a few weeks away and this is by no means a letter about resolutions or resolve. My purpose is to help you think back and look at all you have overcome in the past 5, 10, or 15 years and recognize how much better you have become. Set your mental anchor is those moments. Remember them when times get tough. Push forward. Trust your gut and know it's not going to get easier...but you will get better.
