Twenty-One Years

Twenty-one years ago, I could’ve never imagined the life I’m living today. Probably because I was just born, but it really could be for any number of reasons.

Living Life Launched

I’ve been living “on my own” for the last year, and it’s definitely been an adventure to remember. I put “on my own” in quotes, because when your family lives in one of the most amazing places in the country and Southwest says you can fly round-trip to Denver and back for $85, you visit quite a bit.

At the end of summer 2021, I had decided to pursue the entrepreneurial dream and start working rather than flying off to college, I flew down to Texas at the beginning of October. After bouncing around between Oklahoma to work on business deals, Minnesota to see friends/serve at Castaway again, and Colorado to catch the end of snowboarding season, I made the decision to move to Austin at the end of April, where I’ve been living since, thanks to my good friends the Deweys for helping me with a place to stay for a bit. I love Austin – It’s the city I know the best, and having grown up here, it always feels like home. It’s also a great place to make business connections and get work done. In June, I put together a video edit of my life from October 2021 to May 2022 – check it out below!

Growing My Business

I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of really great clients for my digital marketing company over the last year, and it’s been a joy for me to be able to grow my skills and portfolio. I’ve focused primarily on Google Ads campaigns, YouTube Marketing, and Video Production, and have recently expanded to building out websites for clients as well.

A lot of my clients have come and gone over the last year, so the motivation to continue to expand my client list is always present. I’ve helped businesses in both Colorado and Texas with their digital marketing efforts, and it’s been really amazing getting to work with people in so many different industries. Check out (most) all the companies I’ve done work for through my business in the last year and a half below!

Aside from utilizing my skills to help clients through my business, I’ve been continuing to learn and grow my skillset. I’m improving my copywriting and cold email through Neville Medhora’s Copywriting Course, which I hope to use in the future in professional communication. I’ve been using UpWork as a side-gig platform, where I’m learning more advanced graphic design by taking on unique projects. It’s been a great way for me to improve my graphic design skills, as well as earn an extra couple hundred bucks a month. I recently edited this thumbnail for a fitness channel on YouTube, and over the first weeks, it’s performing about twice as well as their other recent videos.

I’ve been reading and listening to some really great books recently – I typically dislike audiobooks, but when I’m driving 3+ hours from Austin to Dallas, or from Dallas to OKC, it does help pass the time in a great way. My absolute favorite has to be Robert Ringer’s “Winning Through Intimidation” – It’s such an amazing story of a man’s hard work grinding to make it in the real estate world as an agent, learning how to position himself in deals, identifying ways that clients will try and screw him before they do, and coming out on top.

Staying in Shape

Staying in shape out of high school is tough, especially when I’m working at a computer most of the day. I’ve really had to be intentional about scheduling workouts and getting exercise 6 days a week. After gaining 10+ pounds the first couple weeks I was in Texas, I started an exercise streak with the Streaks app (I got to day 248 before missing one due to travel), and quickly burned it all off the next time I was in Colorado playing tennis, running, going to the gym, and snowboarding in the winter.

I’ve really enjoyed playing tennis competitively (tournaments, scheduled matches, etc), and it’s been a great way for me to satisfy my competitive needs and exercise at the same time. I tried to keep up running, but with leg problems, Texas summer, and lots of travel, that was hard for me to maintain. Snowboarding is obviously the number 1 choice for winter exercise, but with 70% less time on snow this year, it wasn’t a consistent sport. While I’ve been down in Austin, pickleball has been another big “sport” that I play regularly with friends – It’s not anywhere near tennis in an athletic or fun sense, but it’s still fun to hit around and even play some tournaments.

In the last year, I’ve competed in five USTA tennis tournaments, (two singles wins, one doubles win, plus a singles consolation win and a doubles runner-up), four UTR tennis tournaments (one singles win), the Keystone Tennis Center tournament (finalist), three pickleball tournaments, and four snowboarding competitions. I love competing in any sport I can be competitive in, and that’s one of the primary reasons I’m able to push myself to exercise on a consistent daily basis.

What’s Next?

I feel like this next year is full of potential for me, and I have absolutely no idea what to expect. Will I get to invest in new businesses? Will my own business find success? Will I find myself actually using my 45+ college credit hours I earned in high school? It feels like there’s so many paths to take, and there’s no clear-cut one for me yet. But that’s okay, because even though I can now buy all the alcohol and small guns I could ever want, I still have many years to go before I’ll call myself “old”.

Anyways, even with all the uncertainty regarding the future, I do have a couple big things coming up for me in the next 3 months. I’m moving into a house on November 1st in South Austin with my good friend James, and I’m really stoked about that. In December, I not only get to see Isaac, but snowboard with him again, and I can’t wait. It’s been 533 days since our last lap through the park together – way too long! For now, though, I’m going to enjoy today, and tomorrow, and hopefully the next day, and maybe even the day after that.

-Gabe