I know what that drive is. I'm saying yes to it with my eyes open, because I want this one specifically.

Consulting means you present and then you hand it off. I've spent years building things I watched drift after I left, and I'd rather be in the room when the call gets made.

This is also the one category I'd take a seat in over running my own thing. That's not a line, it's the reason I'm here.

Then you're getting the version of me that already made the expensive mistakes somewhere else.

I'm not looking to be managed up a ladder. I want the work, the team, and this IP.

Shut up, listen, and learn as much as I can as fast as I can. Hit the ground running and stay out of the way of people who already know what they're doing.

Where I can make something go smoother, I help. That's it for month one.

If the bottleneck is throughput, I take it off someone's plate immediately. I'm still in the file.

I'll love your product like it's mine. We'll butt heads over it.

I'd rather have that conversation before it ships than explain it after. And once the call is made I execute it and stop relitigating.

The archive, and getting the product off souvenir-grade.

Parks apparel sells because someone is standing there. The bigger business is the piece someone wears on a Tuesday, nowhere near a park. Same licensor, same calendar, different design problem.

I don't chase a trend that's already peaked. By the time a graphic is everywhere, the calendar has already beaten you to it.

I'd rather be early and occasionally wrong than late and safe.