Feldman's Faves: June 20, 2022

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

First of all, congrats to Stef and team for winning the Finals. Here is a fun fact – Stef is the seventh player in NBA history to have at least four NBA titles and two Most Valuable Player awards, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Tim Duncan. Fun to watch history in the making.

While I normally avoid sharing personal anecdotes I thought you might find this one interesting. On Thursday, me and my family were scheduled to fly to NYC at 2 pm for my brother in law’s wedding that was happening on Saturday. As we were arriving at the airport we received a notification that our flight was canceled so we went to the Air Canada desk and booked a flight for 6 o’clock (later that day). We checked our bags, went through customs (which was total chaos) and then sat down for lunch, relieved that we were en route to the fun times ahead of us. After lunch we started looking for our gate and then realized THERE WAS NO GATE FOR OUR FLIGHT because Air Canada booked us for 6 am THE NEXT DAY. With our bags checked an our flight scheduled for the next day we asked Air Canada if there was an issue and they told us not to worry, come tomorrow at 4 am (something the rest of my family was NOT happy about) and all would be good. So we arrived at 4 am the next day and upon arrival found out our flight was canceled once again but luckily we were immediately rescheduled for another flight at 4 pm….the NEXT DAY… (Thursday = Saturday, apparently). At that point we made the executive decision to get our bags (a whole other long and painful story), and drive to NYC. We made it just in time for the rehearsal dinner on Friday (after ten hours on the road) and had a lovely time at the wedding. BTW, our flight was once again cancelled and rebooked for Sunday. Long way of saying, I’m not quite sure the Air Canada and Pearson Airport are quite prepared for the post-Covid world of travel.

This week I am dealing with some pretty heavy and serious topics but ones that I think are important to address and discuss.

Unstoppable: Siggi B. Wilzig's Astonishing Journey from Auschwitz Survivor and Penniless Immigrant to Wall Street Legend By Joshua M. Greene –Siegbert Wilzig (changed to Siggi when he came to America) was a force of nature who not only survived Auschwitz and Mauthausen but also built a multi-billion dollar fortune after arriving as an immigrant with $200 go his name. Siggi’s experiences in the Nazi concentration camps were horrifying and sad and stayed with him for the rest of his life. His ability to find ways to survive (saying he was 18 instead of 16 so that he would be “put to work” instead of to death, constantly claiming expertise in “needed areas of work” that he actually didn’t have and figuring out how to obtain the necessities of life demonstrated that he was a truly remarkable human being (and by his account very lucky, since he never knew if his “moves” would help him or lead to punishment or even worse, death). After being rescued at liberation (weighing only 80 pounds) he started to get his strength back, assisted the US army (while still in Germany) to hunt down former Nazis. Eventually, Siggi decided to move to America, which he did in 1947 determined to make a life for himself. After working in every possible job he could find (shoveling snow, door to door salesman, factory work, etc.), he realized he had a knack for business and he eventually became a Wall Street Legend as one of the youngest CEOs of both an oil company and a bank. He business dealings were legendary and he made a multi-billion dollar fortune. But he never forgot his origins and as a result, he also was a leader in Holocaust education with a major focus on remembrance in an effort to ensure history of this kind would never be repeated – one his many achievements in this area was being a key architect of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC that has become of the world’s most preeminent repositories of survivor’s’ stories and education. As the years go on, the world continues to lose its last remaining survivors, which is why stories like Siggi’s are so important. I strongly recommend you read this bool. Here is a good review from Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/54396808-unstoppable

HIBT Lab! Burn Rate: Andy Dunn – Andy Dunn is famous for selling his company Bonobos to Walmart for over $300 million. Lesser known are his struggles with mental illness throughout his life. In the PODCAST, Dunn discusses the importance of normalizing disclosure of mental health issues and creating a regime in one’s own life to ensure good mental hygiene, which means different things to different people. Dunn has written a book and is on a speaking tour where he is telling his very interesting story. Here is an excerpt from the PODCAST itself: “From the outside, it seemed like Andy Dunn was living the dream. His menswear company, Bonobos, was acquired by Walmart for $310 million in 2017 — the same year he married the love of his life, Manuela. Of course, Andy’s entrepreneurial journey wasn’t without its challenges. Under the surface were much darker struggles that he largely kept hidden… This week on How I Built This Lab, Andy returns to the show to talk to Guy about his new book, Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind. In this radically honest memoir, Andy finally opens up about the struggle with bipolar disorder that nearly cost him everything.” https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?i=1000563958752

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation.

And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon