The team is excited because our company just started a small project in Latin America with a big company in the US. It is a great feeling ! see news

I received a very nice note from a Mattel friend who left a couple years before me in a situation similar to mine--chasing the dream. He updated me on his life and, fortunately, he is doing great. He described how long it took him after leaving Mattel to slow down and start enjoying his family, living in the present and not glued to his Blackberry screen.

Right now, I'm very busy building the new business and I don't foresee any slowdown coming soon. On the contrary, I see more speed and craziness heading my way, as we get closer to launching the site and the company. To be honest, I love it. I love almost every minute I spend building this dream. It doesn't feel like a job at all. But my friend does have a point. I need to start thinking about how much quality time I spend with my kids and the things I may be missing. I'm definitely spending more time with them than before, but I know that I have room for improvement. 

After re-reading his e-mail, a rush of guilt prompted me to take my kids, one of their friends, and our dog Dorito to the beach strand to skateboard at 10:00 PM. On the way, I bought a jug of milk and cookies, grabbed some plastic cups, and sat on a bench on the pier to indulge. We shared a fantastic and magical mini night picnic. At some point towards the end, I couldn't resist and connected to my CrackBerry while we were dipping cookies. There was nothing critical that required my attention on that evil little screen, but unfortunately that instant was enough to interrupt the magic of that unique moment. My kids noticed my absence immediately and continued to have fun without me. The present became past, faster than the screen went to black. It was too late when I realized that a precious time had gone by, before I hit reply.

Just bought new shoes for my new job

I'm entering the fourth week of my entrepreneurial life, and I think that I'm finally getting the hang of it. Here are the top 5 myths about being an entrepreneur that I have encountered so far:

Myth #1: You work in pajamas all day.
True or False? FALSE
I ran out of clean pajamas by week one.


Myth #2: You get bored of being at home and not seeing people.
True or False? FALSE
I love being at home and my friends are one skype-call away.

Myth #3: You work harder but enjoy every minute of it.  
True or False? TRUE
I work insane hours building the website and I hate when I have to stop and     go to sleep.

Myth #4: You have a hard time balancing work and your personal life.
True or False? TRUE
There is no division between work and my personal life when the kitchen is       two steps away.

Myth #5: You have a better work/life balance than in the corporate world. 
True or False? DON'T KNOW
So far I don't see a difference. I push the scale to one side or the other         many times, every day.

I will let you know how things go as the weeks pass. I'm working hard with my team and we are getting closer to the launch day. Check out the key milestones before launching the mystery site...

I'm discovering that having this much flexibility and freedom can be both fun and dangerous. I'm used to having a very defined routine, a rat-race type of daily schedule for 15 years: wake up at 6:30 am, eat breakfast, kiss my wife, daughters and, now, Dorito. Drive to the office just in time for that first meeting at 8:30am, then have lunch at 12:00 (Tuesdays - quesadilla, Wednesday - Greek food, Fridays - pizza), followed by more meetings, answer 150 e-mails and drive back home at 6:30 PM for dinner. Now I find myself with this blank piece of paper that is my daily schedule where Mondays are not very different from Wednesdays (except that it's the day they sweep the street) and, like a kid in a candy store, I'm facing all these options and I don't know what to pick first.
Should I eat breakfast then exercise and then e-mail, or exercise first? Should I schedule my meetings from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm and not in the afternoon? Should I go to yoga, Pilates, spinning, or all of the above? Should I just work in my pajamas for 15 hours straight or go to bed early. I felt like a kid who has gone nuts in a candy store the other day, when I found myself at the movies with my neighbor (who else?) at 11:30 am watching a very bad movie "Push" (rent it in the best of cases). I felt this was a little unnecessary; maybe it was just a little bit of guilt, I don't know, maybe it was that I'm just learning how to manage this new freedom, to eat the candy and not have too much of it because it can make you sick. I think I need to create my own new routine to avoid freedom indigestion. 

For all of you, savvy freelancers or ex-freelancers, any recommendations on a daily routine?

After my on-"boarding" process for my new job yesterday, today was my first day at my new office, which is located at the intersection of my dining room and my kitchen. I showed up at 7:15 am, after a 30 second commute from my bedroom. I encountered some traffic in the stairway due to my daughters' getting ready for school, and our dog Dorito's desperate running to the front yard to take his morning pee. I turned on my computer and quickly scanned my emails from the day before. I noticed from the headers that I had received some hate mail since my previous blog post (loved it!). 

My wife and I made breakfast for the girls like every morning, but this time I didn't feel the need to rush. I walked the girls to school, something I hadn't done in ages, and for the first time ever I was able to volunteer with the valet parking--helping kids safely exit their cars. Then, my wife and I walked back from school while enjoying the simple pleasure of a leisurely conversation. I returned just in time for two conference calls, through this beautiful technology called Skype, with my partner and the web development team in Colombia and Mexico. By 11:30 am, I was done with my calls, so I took some time to chat with friends in Mexico and the US and to look at the traffic statistics of my blog, using another free tool from heaven called Google Analytics. I was satisfied to see a big jump for yesterday's page views and unique visitors. The report says that to date the site has received 350 visitors, miniscule numbers for the web universe but huge for me.  

I went outside to shoot some baskets in the driveway (I need a lot of practice) and was amazed to see how bright the sun is before noon. I went over to visit my neighbor, who is also a stay-at-home entrepreneur and soon-to-be my partner in everything fun (he scouted the location for yesterday's snowy photo shoot). After that, I drove to Mattel to return some papers. The commute to my former workplace, "The Tower as we call it, was definitely more relaxed than ever before. I was wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and blue sunglasses (I'm still sensitive to daylight after 12 years inside drywall partitions). I bumped into some friends who I kissed and hugged the Latin way, delivered my papers in the lobby, and left without any strong emotions. 

In the afternoon, I jumped back and forth from my office to the yard to play with my daughter or to chat with my wife. We grilled burgers for dinner, discussed politics with my mom, and put the girls to bed after reading four pages of Harry Potter, which is taking us forever to finish.  Here I am, again, in front of the computer at 10:30 pm. So far, 15 hours of blended activities between work, family, errands, and fun have passed and I think I like this new job...a lot!

                                                    Thinking of you!

At 3:00 PM, I grabbed my last items from the office, surrender to HR my office key, badge and painfully my blackberry (see exhibit A) and walk into the parking lot, got into my car and looked for the perfect song to exit the building (couldn’t find it!) went to the gym on daylight ! and around 6:00 PM I arrived home, where a surprise party organized by my wife and daughters with many of my best friends was waiting for me to celebrate my first day of my new life.

 

Fifty-something votes were cast, and I think we have some clear winners. To be honest, I was surprised. I assumed that the daughters/family options were going to be safe, wholesome choices that appealed to many, but only 25% picked those options (we live in a cynical world!). The "8 Hour Matrix Movie Marathon with Neighbor" received only 4 votes, one from my neighbor (of course), who has this awesome TV--but that's for another blog entry. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the purely self-indulgent activities were the winners: 26% went to "Go to the beach and do nothing" while 32% went to "Go snowboard and send you all a photo." making this the absolute winner.

I know this wasn't an easy task--many of you had your fingers on the "I hate you" option for a while before voting for any of the others. Only 5 people gave in to their bitter emotions and expressed their true feelings, an action which I applaud and promise to justify by sending a nice photo on February 3rd around 11:30 am to all of you, either from the top of the mountain or from my beach chair...just a few miles from your cozy gray cubicles.

Thank you all for taking the time!

It's a tough world out there, and I need your guidance. Please vote (link below) or give me suggestions:
Poll is closed now

Today, January 20th, 2009, was a great day in history, and I was fortunate to witness the magic with one hundred of my colleagues in a presentation theater at our headquarters at Mattel. We were clapping and cheering like we were all right there in Washington. I felt we were united and connected by our feelings of overwhelming happiness, hope, and pride for this country and its new leader. We were celebrating for him and for ourselves.

I have never been motivated by politics, but this election was different. I don't view what is happening as a political event, but rather I see this moment in history as a massive social movement toward change and the reinvention of this country and the world. I felt that Obama's speech was speaking personally to each of us; it was a call to every one of us to reach our maximum potential, as a country and as individuals, and not to settle for less. I'm proud to be here, to be an American, and to be a Mexican. I'm ready to take on President Obama's challenge--and the risks and rewards that come along when you follow your dreams. I'm ready for change.