imagine the scene. high school chemistry class in a small town. the teacher had already retired but was so good the school didn’t want to lose him, so they contracted him back for another year. i’m not sure if all those years of chemistry experiments had gone to his head but our experiments that year were crazy. we blew things up, we stunk up the halls just before they flooded with students, we made taffy from chemicals and when we’d ask him “won’t you get in trouble for this?” he always responded “what can they do, fire me?”

i’m new to running my own business but when i look back on that year in chemistry class the word that keeps coming to mind is free. free to forge the way, no matter what it looks like. free to succeed. but more important, free to fail and get up and keep trying.

so i welcome you to forge. this is my chemistry lab. the place where i gather as many elements together and experiment freely in order to invent and shape the culture of dwell management. it’s also a place where you can come to dialogue about how to influence your own business world, wherever and however that may happen for you. let’s work together to forge our own path and give business a much needed new image.

i’m one of the lucky ones. you see, while there is great pressure and weight for those of us who are responsible for making our own ship float, there is also freedom. after all, what can they do, fire me?