Growing up, my role models were all builders. My Pop-Pop built houses for a living and built a pond, tennis court, and many other things for fun. My Dad started building houses with Pop-Pop, and then built out his own real estate development company. My father-in-law built parks, ball fields, and rec centers throughout his town. My Uncle Joe’s commercial construction company builds Wawas, restaurants, banks, and more, while he personally builds classic cars and entertainment venues.
By looking up to these men, I was destined to become a builder myself. However, when I failed the “stool” project in my 7th grade shop class and struggled to put out a competitive car in the Pinewood Derby, I recognized that the vocation wasn’t in the cards for me. Despite all that I learned from my role models, handiwork and craftsmanship didn’t seem to transfer.
Fortunately, I had a different takeaway from observing their success over the years. In watching Pop Pop, Dad, Pop Bonder, and Uncle Joe do what they do best, I learned that the beauty wasn’t what they built or even how they built. The beauty was who they build with and who they build for.
This weekend, Uncle Joe hosted an over-the-top party to reveal his latest classic car restoration. While he’s already built and restored several classic cars on his own without any commemorative parties, this one was different. This party celebrated the Super Bowl Edition Classic Camaro named “The Philly Special” that he worked on with his nephews (the Schorn boys) and friends (the Cruse boys). More than that, the celebration honored the journey, the process, the lessons from the garage, the teamwork, the resilience through the setbacks, the visionary ideas that made it to the finished product, and the achievement of the crew he completed the project with over several years of hard work. This party was not to celebrate a car that he built, but rather to celebrate the guys that he built with. Seeing those young men absorbing every word, action, and moment from their heroic Uncle Joe yesterday reminded me of the lessons that I learned from the builders in my life while growing up.
Let’s be clear. I learned nothing about beams, joists, drywall, and motors. I couldn’t tell you the first thing about the architecture, carpentry, engineering, or mechanics. I’ll admit that I’m slightly embarrassed by my lack of ability with a drill or a hammer.
Instead, I learned the more important lessons of building from these guys. They taught me that you need a thoughtful plan and a solid foundation before building up. I learned where you need to be structured and where it’s encouraged to be creative. I learned the significance of maintaining a sustainable environment and a strong support system. I learned that you must finish what you’ve started. I learned to take pride in my work. Most of all, I learned the importance of enjoying the journey, celebrating the process, and recognizing who I’m building with and who I’m building for.
I think of these lessons as I build my career. I think of these as I build my financial advisory team. I think of these as I build my friendships. I think of these as we build our family.
As you read this, who are you currently building with? Who are you building for? What have you learned from it all?
After all, the beauty is not in what we build or how we build, but who we build with and who we build for. So with that, let’s keep building.
The Janiec Reflection 