Zephyr Hats: Retrospection 2014

Well, here are some of my thoughts. Most everyone who reads my blog knows me as a hat guru and enthusiast, or just a crazy kid with an obsession. I guess my writing this isn't just to prove to you that I am more than what you consider me, but to prove to myself that I am more than a hat addict.

I used to walk down my street every single morning in high school to catch the community bus so I could get to school. While walking down the street, I made a habit of saying in my head, "Here I am, in 2009..." and finish the phrase differently depending on what I had to do that day, or felt about a current event, or sometimes just a "crazy how times flies" after thinking how old I was. It's 2014 now, and I have had a few occasions that I get to walk down the same street and say the same words. I have noticed I do more retrospection than looking at current or future events. I finished the phrase a few times with "look at where God's taken me" or  "I wonder what God's doing with some of the things that have happened." These thoughts were usually in consideration of something work or family related.. so hopefully I can prove my point to you (and myself) by some of the family/work events that have happened.

My family is an odd bunch. I think we all say that at some point about our families, and I think it's true. We all can get really preoccupied with our own "something": with my oldest brother, Jason, it's bikes. Dom and Ninnah are both computer nerds, and my little sister Nat is Taekwondo crazy. Over the last year or so, there have been points of time where I really undervalued and forgot my family. I prioritized work, friends, and other things ahead of them. One situation after another eventually lead to arguing, fighting, avoiding each other, and I started to try to start "life" over by making my coworkers family... I adopted their ideologies and beliefs - which led to more problems. Let me tell you, that didn't work... and I am still a little frustrated that I spent so much time trying. In some sense, they are family, but never will it be like the relationship of my blood-related family. Thankfully, God used one of my coworkers to show me that the family aspect of work shouldn't replace the home. She probably doesn't know that God used many of our conversations to provoke thoughts and ideas to get me where I should have been and doing what I should have been doing. There may have been an eight month period of confusion, but God used it to get me where I am today.

I was about to say that if I had to give a personal example of the Gospel, it would be this. I can only say that because now I see the whole picture again. I was sinning, avoiding family, getting myself in trouble; God opened my eyes to see all my problems and shortcomings - this was painful and frustrating. But fortunately the Gospel doesn't end with me seeing all my mistakes. God forgave my mistakes by having Christ die for them (Christ's righteousness is mine now). I still have consequences of the things I've done, but God gives me a new heart and mind, the Holy Ghost, and the Bible to deal with them... I can start a fresh new segment of life. I am a work in progress. I have potential. I have opportunity and ability to do great things. I couldn't have done anything for this; God just did it.

I think home is also where you get some motivation. Not having my family really affected me. I can relate to LeBron James going back to Cleveland. "If I had to do it all over again, I’d obviously do things differently, but I’d still have left. Miami, for me, has been almost like college for other kids. These past four years helped raise me into who I am. Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It’s where I walked. It’s where I ran. It’s where I cried. It’s where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up. I sometimes feel like I’m their son. Their passion can be overwhelming. But it drives me. I want to give them hope when I can. I want to inspire them when I can. My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now."

Since I have been back to who I should been, where I should have been, I feel so different. I can be me again. I can think for myself. I feel like a contributor at home, work, and society. While hats are a part of my life, I've learned that there is way more to life than that.

For those of you who are wondering what my hat life has been like, let's just say it's been a quite a journey. As most of you know, I started working at Zephyr the summer of 2012; I have been able to help in different areas, from the warehouse to office, and have thoroughly enjoyed them. There have been challenges in each position I worked, and I am thankful for that. Work, and life for that matter, would never be the same without challenge. I started in the warehouse, where I learned first and foremost never to waste time. I can never express how thankful I am that I was taught diligence and focus from my warehouse managers. I got to help out in the sampling process after my first 4 or 5 months working there, organizing and shipping prototypes of new hat designs. Shortly after that (beginning of 2013), I was able to help with running national programs and ordering inventory. I really REALLY love looking at numbers and analyzing that data. We were blessed at the beginning of that summer with a new database called Everest, which started a domino effect of changes to increase efficiency. We are still making our way up the Everest of the headwear industry. I was able to work in customer service that summer as well, which taught me patience and always being cheerful. When our sales started to outgrow our manpower that fall, I started working closer with our IT department to try and iron out some wrinkles in our system and learn about how the system worked, helping in the licensed approvals and quality control. We ran such a big national prebooking that fall that we didn't catch up until May of 2014. We also launched a new product that was prebooked in May 2014, this product being license Mission belts. These will drop September 2014. Amid all of this, I was able to tag along and attend some tradeshows in different states. This gave me a small introduction into sales, but as of July 2014, I will start a transition into a full time sales coordination position. I can't wait to see what God has planned for Zephyr, my coworkers, and myself in the future. I'm excited to see more numbers in running reports, the opportunity to represent the company, and encourage and help my coworkers.


Outside of work, I have been playing soccer, working out, and going on adventures with friends. I live in Colorado, so camping and hiking are some of the obvious things that go along with the adventures. Some of the other highlights have been shooting guns, line dancing, watching movies, and painting. I have surprising become interested in politics (you may want to watch out for me now) and reading (crazy, right?).

Ultimately, I have to give all the credit to God for turning my life around.