Nothing is ever “strictly business”…

“Tom, don’t let anybody kid you. It’s all personal, every bit of business.” –Michael Corleone

I’ve been on a bit of a Godfather kick the last couple of weeks, as my research into a project I’m working on incorporates many themes of the novel/movie into it.

Until a week or so ago, I hadn’t read the novel; I had only seen the movies a few times. But I picked up the novel on Kindle, and of course there’s always more insight into the plot, the storyline in the book than in the movie.

Like when Michael Corleone is explaining is rationale for wanting to take care of the man who tried to kill his father, Don Corleone. The novel actually has Michael saying the above quote. Like he’s taking off the facade of doing this purely to sell a story to the public, to keep the family alive, as was the case with the movie script.

Everything is personal. Trying to say that a man’s business is “strictly business” is nonsense. If some event, circumstance, accusation, etc. affects your business – into which you have poured your heart and soul – it’s impossible to not take it personally. I mean, it’s scientifically impossible to extricate one’s self emotionally from one’s business, be it good or bad.

Take Steve Baker, recent Trumpet Dynamics podcast guest. He was given “advice” by his so-called friends to get a job at Amazon when the lockdowns shut down his business which operates 3 bands in the Raleigh/Durham area.

Steve found himself spending his days pleading with clients who’ve paid security deposits and want their money back that if he gives one deposit back, he’s bankrupt. He’s emotionally exhausted from all of this.

And the solution is to work for the big-tech behemoth that’s profiting massively from these hugely misguided lockdowns that shut him down?

Not exactly sound advice.

Steve said it was literally impossible for him to muster up the motivation to even pick up his trumpet and practice because of the stress he was enduring due to the lockdowns.

I’ve played next to Steve, and I can tell you he’s a really good player. For him to say that is quite a statement.

And he was quite open about saying that he took it personally when the governor of North Carolina shut down his business. Who am I to say he’s full of it? My livelihood wasn’t taken away at the stroke of a pen in a building in downtown Raleigh.

It’s not to say that virtual performances are a replacement for live shows, but I would say they did prove to be a useful add-on for any performance-based business such as musicians.

Everything is personal. A decision that is “strictly business” simply doesn’t exist. Because real people are behind the decisions a business makes.

My business didn’t get shutdown with the stroke of a governor’s pen, but I do run the risk of it getting shut down if I rely too heavily on Facebook and Twitter.

Businesses are getting wiped off the map because of ambiguous community standards and hyper-sensitive individuals who reserve the right to be offended at anything and everything that doesn’t comport with their own reality.

It’s why I send emails regularly, produce podcasts on platforms I control, and use those mediums with a high amount of caution.

I don’t have millions of Instagram followers, but this practice has served me well thus far, and it’s one I don’t intend to leave any time soon.

If you want to learn more about my world, and perhaps how you can build a world of your own sans Zuckerborg’s brainchildren, then check out my mobile app. It might give you some ideas of what’s possible.