Questions of the Week 

How do you define winning?

Where are you being your best and how do you know that you are giving it your all?

If the most focused person you know where making key decisions right now, what would they do different?

In what ways specifically are you creating a focused environment?

Disruption or a Distraction? Cont: DOMINATE Instead

While it’s important to pay attention to disruptors and avoiding distractions at the same time, the best way to avoid them both is by staying ahead and dominating being the best. Whatever you do… Be the best at it. Was there ever a time when you were number one? Where were you the best at something? Creator of The Win-Make-Give Podcast, entrepreneur, multiple-business owner, and my friend Ben Kinney once taught me that when hiring people, one of the questions to ask is “What have you been #1 at?” When you are dominate at something and being the best, you get to let other people around you figure out how to catch up. 

Winning means you’re willing to go longer, work harder and give more than anyone else.

– Vince Lombardi 

"I never lose. I either win or I learn.”

– Nelson Mandela 

Do Your Best to Be Your Best

I don’t care if you are a janitor, be the best janitor in the world. It doesn’t matter if you tile floors, make cuts and tile angles that would make Michelangelo jealous. Whatever my kids choose to do for a living, I trust they will read this one day and make the decision to be the best version of themselves, doing their best and being the best at what they do. At this moment, Bodhi (5) is somewhere between being a construction worker and a pilot because he wants to visit Jupiter someday (his favorite planet). So when he’s being his best, doing his best, maybe he will build a new craft capable of making the trip. Colton (5) is somewhere between cowboy and police officer so I’m thinking US Marshall’s office might one day be in great hands. My daughter (2) is just happy being a Princess in whatever Disney feature film she’s decided to star. Whatever you are doing, why not be the best at it? In the world of Kentucky Bourbon, Johannes Jacob Boehm was the best and has continued that Legacy through eight generations.  

In 1740, the Beam family, originally pronounced from German descent, ‘Boehm’ first arrived in the United States. Somewhere between 1755-1760 Johannes Jacob Boehm was born. Let’s remember a kind of famous thing happened in history during that period commonly referred to as the Revolutionary War, so birth records aren’t exactly a click of Google away. Roughly 50 years later, Jacob Beam, and his wife, Mary, crossed over into the Kentucky region of Virginia pushing west looking to make a new life for themselves. Kentucky didn’t become a State for another three years.  

Being from Oklahoma and understanding its history, another state the government heavily incentivized people to move towards by basically giving it away in 1889, I can appreciate what caused the Beam family to originally move in search of new opportunities. Unfortunately, my great ancestors who made the trek to Oklahoma claimed land in the middle of nowhere and didn’t have near the success of the Beam Family. Jacob and Mary found about 100 acres in central Kentucky, near Hardin Creek, in what’s now Washington County. Jacob Beam started as a farmer growing corn and raising livestock. It was common in that era for farmers to turn extra corn into whiskey. Making whiskey was cheap and easy to transport downstream so using the extra corn to make alcohol made logical sense and eventually it became their primary focus. Even in the early days, competition was high as many German, Scotch and Irish settlers were already making rye whiskey with recipes they brought over from their home countries.In 1795, Jacob helped put Kentucky on the map when he sold his first barrel of Old Jake Beam Sour Mash. Beam INC. still uses that as one of its recipes to this day in its distillery and keeps it under lock and key. 

By the early 1800s, Kentucky was overly saturated with competition and home to more than 2000 distillers. Over time, Beam’s whiskey became popularized and spread quickly through word of mouth. In 1820 Jacob handed over the reins of the distillery to his son David Beam (2ndGeneration). (More of the Beam family and History will follow in future Blog Posts).   

“IF SOMETHING AIN’T RIGHT,
BURN IT.” - Fred Noe

When a business stops growing, it usually starts dying. Anyone remember Circuit City, Montgomery Ward, Sears, Polaroid, Minolta, or Blockbuster? If this trend is discovered early, businesses can shift, innovate, and alter its trajectory. As trains and steamboats became more mainstream means of transportation, distillers could now ship outside their local areas to increase sales. Expansion can create its own issue, and in this case, the supply and demand caused barrel shortage. Necessity is the mother of all invention! Since there weren’t enough barrels to keep up with distribution, distillers began putting their bourbon in used fish and vinegar barrels. Whiskey may be strong, yet vinegar and fish aren’t exactly the flavoring most people would ask to be included in their whiskey flights. The innovators of that time soon found that when they burned the insides of the barrels, the reaction of burning removed the unpleasant smell and allowed whiskey to be stored. This is how distillers originally began using charred-oak barrels. Some of the best invention throughout history have happened by accident. In the case of whiskey, it turns out the longer the bourbon soaked in the barrels, the better the flavor. By 1819 on average it took about 25 days for a steamship to make its 600-mile journey from Louisville, Kentucky to New Orleans, Louisiana. During the almost month-long journey down the Mississippi River a magical chemical reaction occurred. The whiskey transformed by pulling the caramelized sugars created by charring of the oak barrels, thus accidentally creating the now familiar golden color of bourbon and a whole new flavor. Whiskey is actually a clear liquid similar to water in its original distilled form. As this new color and flavor became increasingly popular, people wanted to know where this ‘new whiskey’ was coming from. Kentucky bourbon was born! 

1st Rule of Turning Business into Legacy

Focus & Discipline – Keep your eyes on the prize. In order to become your best at something it’s crucial to be disciplined enough to finish what you start. Even more important is the discipline to avoid counterproductivity. For example, having an affinity to eat the most chocolate cake human possible in a year, while working towards completing the Kona Iron-man isn’t the best combination. Next, avoiding distraction in order to stay disruptive requires focus. When you combine focus an intensity on any one thing for long enough, inevitability you’ll reach momentum! 

Clearly, choosing to be your best and doing your best has some amazing unintended and positive consequences.   How do you turn a business into a Legacy that spans over 225 years and 8 Generations? If you enjoy what you are reading, please share with your friends and database.