I'm a toolmaker.I'm grateful because I can create software solutions for my customers and team members. It's creative, challenging work, and I love it. It isn't easy work. Mistakes and failures happen. Constantly. Get used to it. Expect it. Prepare for it. Respond quickly. It's difficult to get clients to explain what they need and what they want. (These are not the same!) Especially under the pressure of short delivery timeframes. Commitment to customer satisfaction is paramount, but you'll never launch if you wait for perfection. Better is being flexible and responding quickly to needed improvements and fixes. Taking your lumps and saying “Yes, we missed the mark on that one, but we learned how to make it better and we’re correcting our mistake and we'll make it right for you.”Software development is hard. Software development is messy. Failing quickly is vital. We define a problem as we understand it now. We prototype and put it out for harsh, Darwinian criticism. It comes up short and our knuckles and egos are bruised and bloody. Then we shake it off and try again. Bravery and resilience are requisites to success in life.I have a diverse business background: publishing, information technology, credit card services, marketing, software design and implementation. I've done startups, reengineering, mergers and acquisitions, IT management, electronic control products, and aircraft maintenance. And I'm a former Guinness World Record holder. ("Largest gathering of people dressed as Rosie the Riveter," August 2016.)I've learned that people are the only true asset a company has. It's a simple and ruthless truth: your company is only as good as its leaders and team members.I’ve long believed business is the reflection of our great culture, as nuanced as our population and the challenges we face. And business is hard. I have the greatest respect for those individuals who take the big risk of starting and running their own business. They are heroes.