THREE MILLS BAKERY

Founder

A. BAKER

Co-Founder

Two Before Ten Coffee Roasters

Founder / Director

I’ve built multiple businesses over the last 20 years, and the biggest lessons didn't come from scaling. They came from repairing.

Three Mills grew fast. Too fast. 0-140 people in the first 5 years.

We hit walls financially, operationally and culturally.

We were innovating at warp speed. Everything we implemented was soon outdated. It was chaos.

Instead of continuing to the point of failure, I started the hard work of fixing. 

Our crew fixed our margins, cleaned the legacy debt, reengineered products, rebuilt the team, redefined the story — and found clarity in the chaos.

Now, alongside leading Three Mills, I have a passion for helping other founders do the same.

What I talk about:
– Finding clarity when your story’s gone stale
– Maintaining company culture under pressure
– Fixing bloated businesses and broken margins
– Leading like a founder when everything feels heavy

What I (sometimes) offer:
– 1:1 advisory for brand-led businesses in the messy middle
– Practical systems for fixing without burning out
– Strategic intensives (in-person or virtual)

Where to read more:
Every Sunday, I drop one email about fixing businesses and the founder mindset. 
100% practical. No spam. And no, I'll never sell your details... Ever.

You might like reading it here - www.jarroddeaton.com.au

Otherwise, drop me a DM. 

I'd love to hear your story.

Jarrod Deaton

Last year, we took a bit of a risk and opened a new bakery outlet inside a Harris Farm supermarket

It's a bit of a new concept for us to be in this environment.

A full-scale artisan bakery inside the shop serving coffee, pie and pastries outside too was a stretch of the imagination.

We normally like stand-alone bakery stores tucked away in parts of the city where our wonderful clients are.

This one felt like a risk tbh.

It felt like we didn't have control over the customer experience or the types of people who interacted with our brand.

That can be problematic when there are competing values or customer perceptions don't align.

Thankfully only good things have happened since we open at Harris Farm in Majura Park.

It’s a great store.

The people are wonderful.

And our team is ripper.

Hope to see you out there.

three-mills-bakery

li_at

JSESSIONID

Talks about #brand, #business, #personalgrowth, #entrepreneurship, and #customerexperience

Founder & CEO, Three Mills Bakery | Building the next generation of food brands through craft, tech & culture | Writer of Fix Before You Scale

I baked these in my home oven on the weekend. 

They're a new version of our bake-at-home croissants.

Stored frozen. 

Ready to bake in one hour instead of doing them overnight.

You just gently egg-wash the top. 

And bake for 15 minutes. 

Pretty spectacular results in the home oven.

My house smelled so damn good.

No alternative text description for this image

Most founders only tell the story after they’ve won.

I’d rather share mine before the ending gets too shiny.

We were losing $40K cash a week and I thought selling more would fix it.

It didn’t.

If you’re in the messy middle, this one’s for you.

Swipe through these lessons would’ve saved me years.

The $40k per week reality check

I’ve had weeks recently where my calendar owned me.

Back-to-back meetings.
Lunch as an afterthought.
Late to the gym or not at all.
Zero time to actually think.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

If you’re in a leadership role and your week leaves no time for thinking, you’re not leading. You’re reacting.

So, here's my plan to get it back on tack:

Block 2 x 60-minute “no meeting, no calls” slots in the calendar weekly. 

Use them for one thing only: deep work on the 1–3 priorities that define your year.

Thinking is part of the job description.

If your schedule doesn’t reflect that, you’re playing an operational role with a leadership title.

Most people only focus on the wins. 
 
But in 2016 I lost everything. 
 
Financially wiped out when I walked away from a business partnership. 
 
But I wasn't done with business. 
 
Even though I interviewed at a few other places to work, each time it didn't feel right. 
 
It wasn't ego this time. 
 
Something in my bones told me to give business another go. 
 
With the support of my family, I accepted the terms to buy the used bakery equipment from my business partners and start again. 
 
I only had 2 weeks to pull it off if it was going to work... 
 
That's: 
 
- start a company 
- find bakery space 
- fit it out and open a cafe 
- handle legal, finance, banking, branding 
- move all the bakery equipment across town 
- and maintain the dozen or so wholesale clients we'd built up during that time. 
 
Crazy when I think about it today... 
 
I've always admired people who have started with nothing and built a life for themselves and here I was doing the same thing. 
 
It's incredible what you can do when your back is against the wall. 
 
But in saying that, none of it was a solo effort. 
 
Along the way, I've had incredible support from friends and family. 
 
Not to mention the wonderful team who've contributed to building each part of the vision. 
 
I rarely step back and admire it but I'm proud when I do. 
 
- 140 employees 
- Loads of wonderful clients 
- And some of the best sourdough and pastries around 
 
It's been a wild ride! 
 
Hugely grateful for every bit of it. 
 
My mates who lifted all the bakery equipment out of the basement and drove it across town. 
 
Those first few clients who walked in the door on day one. And every single one since. 
 
Our amazing team and all our families who back us. 
 
And a long list of wonderful suppliers, advisors and partners. 
 
Thank you all!

Most founders don’t fail because of their product.

They fail because they try to build everything alone.

This one’s for the founders grinding it out solo - thinking working harder is the answer.

It’s not.

Swipe through if you’ve ever felt like you’re carrying it all on your own.

Building solo feels noble. It’s actually reckless.

I never had an office at the start. 
 
I spent two decades hot-desking and working from cafe tables. 
 
But a couple of years ago I set one up above the bakery.
 
The result? 
 
My work output exponentially increased. 
 
Having a private space to focus on deep work for 3-4 hours daily has changed the game for me as an entrepreneur. 

- No distractions
- No juggling/multitasking
- No temptation to jump in and help.
 
I can only imagine the waste this must have created in huge corporate workplaces when the world switched to open-plan offices and hot-desking. 

For me, locking myself away for blocks of time has massively boosted my productivity. 

I highly recommend it.

The world didn't need another bread book.

So we wrote one that uses leftover bread!

You know all those bits you have left in the freezer or the tips of your artisan loaf that are too small to do anything with?

That's what we decided to focus on when we wrote ours.

We set out to make stale bread sexy.

So we got a bunch of talented chefs together who've worked the fine-dining scene all over the world and created dozens of recipes that you can recreate at home.

Whether you like cooking or not, we leaned into bespoke ceramics and incredible photography, and then really dialed up the quality of the printing. 

It's such a nice object to have on the coffee table.

We still have a few left from this batch if you're looking for Christmas presents!

Bread with No Added Nasties...

That's the game we're playing. 

And in this game, our villain is fluffy white supermarket bread. 

You know the super white, super soft, super flavourless bread that has an unusually long shelf life because of additives?

Yep, that's the stuff we're up against. 

Don't get me wrong, I ate that stuff most of my childhood. 

But back then I didn't have a choice. I was a kid in a country household who didn't know any better. 

But after I started to learn about the wonderful world of sourdough, everything changed. 

I started thinking about how much the world screwed up with bread making.

And in the tiniest way, we're going to do our bit to correct course by making things like this:

Our Quinoa and Walnut Sourdough. 

It pairs perfectly with cheese and wine. 

And it makes the most incredible base for a Chicken Sando. 

Bring on the good bread revolution!

--- 

Love to know what your favourite sourdough is. Drop me a comment.

I used to be afraid of sucking at things. 
 
Always practicing in private before revealing a skillset in public. 

But the problem is, when you keep it a secret, you miss out on rich feedback that can help you level up faster. 

Most people genuinely want to help you succeed.
 
The key is to switch to a student mindset, and not an expert.

Being prepared to suck at something first and make tiny rapid improvements using loads of feedback. 

That type of vulnerability has helped me so much in my career. 

Not to mention the accountability it's added to my life as an entrepreneur.

Apart from the occasional idiot who laughs at you from behind the screen, it's been all upside.

I'd encourage you to put yourself out there, openly try new things and be prepared to ask for help along the way.

If your company falls over when one person’s on holiday, you don’t have a team. You’ve built a shrine.


Too many businesses are built around a hero.


The rainmaker.

The genius founder.

The “only one who really knows how it all works.”


Looks impressive from the outside.

Feels powerful on the inside.


But it’s also weak, fragile, and one crisis away from breaking.


As entrepreneurs, you want to push through that phase as quickly as possible, making yourself redundant at every stage as you hand things over.


The ones that don't, say things like: I wish the team would “take ownership” or “demonstrate autonomy”...


Meanwhile they design systems where:


Decisions bottleneck through one inbox.

Information lives in one person’s head.

Clients only trust one name.


I don't claim to have the solution here in this Linkedin post, but I do know exactly what I'm trying to build.


And it isn't a shrine.


We need more antifragile businesses.

I often catch myself focusing on urgent tasks instead of the important ones. 
 
You know those easy things you tick off the list instead of the hard ones that really need to be done. 
 
I've become way better at catching myself these days but it took building a tiny system first. 
 
Here's what it looks like: 
 
1. I locked in time for doing the hard thing. 
 
If it required thinking time, I blocked out space on the calendar. 
 
If I had to make phone calls or write, I made time for that too. 
 
Give it the space and attention that it needs in your day/week by scheduling enough time. 
 
2. Accountability. 
 
I made sure I told someone that's what I was working on that week knowing that they would ask me how I went with it. 
 
Just the thought of them asking made me get it done more often. 
 
3. Mental capacity. 
 
Every time I found myself avoiding something was because I had way too many things on or big decisions to make. 
 
The mental load screwed everything up. 
 
So in those times, I paused on all other things to focus on building momentum on ONE thing. 
 
4. Incentive 
 
I use fear and rewards on myself all the time to drive action. 
 
I think of the bad result occurring if I continue to not act (the fear incentive). 
 
OR 
 
I dangle a reward for myself after doing something I've been putting off. 
 
Something as simple as - as soon as I finish the thing, I leave work and go for a run in the forest. 
 
Over time, this builds momentum for crushing things you've been avoiding. 
 
--- 
 
I don't think I'm unique here. 
 
Maybe others are facing the same challenge of avoiding important work. 
 
In that case, I hope this helps!

I'm an entrepreneur. It means I get distracted by lots of shiny things. But this helps me stay focused on the right things:

Some days I catch myself getting distracted by shiny new products, platforms, or ideas pulling me away from what's already working.

I have to keep remembering that it's not only about innovation and pioneering new frontiers with less competition. 

The best companies optimise relentlessly.

They follow the real 70/20/10 rule:

70% of effort into what’s already working. Your proven products, best customers, top-performing channels.

20% into adjacent plays. The small twists, repackaging, bundling, new segments.

10% into testing bold new things, The long shots, market-changing bets.

But what do most teams do (including me, at times)??

We try it backwards.

70% on distractions and shiny objects,

20% trying to fix what’s broken,

10% (if that) doubling down on the things that are already working.

Then we wonder why it feels like pushing a square boulder up a giant hill.

If your business feels stuck, it’s probably not your product. Or a lack of effort. It’s how you’re allocating your focus.

You rarely need more ideas.

You need more discipline around the ideas that already work, and you need to do some much more volume of them.

It’s not sexy.
It’s not exciting.
But if you do it, your business will grow and eventually, you can stay do whatever you want with your time while it runs.

Before we could use the 70/20/10 lens, we needed to identify a few things:

- What were the handful of processes that gave outsized results.
- What were the handful of profitable products we sold over and over.
- Who were a small group of like-minded clients who bought way more than others.

Knowing these helped us double down on what works. Then everything got easier.

I won’t lie: doubling down on the "boring" things isn’t always fun.

But having a business that finally works? 

That’s very fun.

---

You can read other articles like this on my website - I've been uploading 3 years worth of newsletter content there recently.

I was tied to my last business. 
 
Working 7 days a week and feeling like I couldn’t take a single moment off without returning to an absolute mess. 
 
I’d taken a break in the past and returned to chaos that took months to repair. 
 
The clean-up was so painful that it made me think twice about taking another holiday... 
 
But thinking like that is a slippery slope. 
 
That mentality makes you believe that it’s not your fault and that others let you down. 

In some cases maybe that's the case, but the reality is, blaming others is the easy path.
 
And that story you tell yourself about the business needing you to survive. 
 
It's a load of BS.

The solution for escaping your business is simple (not easy). 

Empowering good people with high standards to create good processes.
 
As well as telling yourself to snap out of that negative way of thinking...

Thankfully I snapped out of it quickly and began looking for ways to grow and unlock freedom. 

Have you ever felt this way? 

Love to know your thoughts on how you escaped working huge hours in your business.

Running a test bake in my home oven on our new bake at home croissant.

This one spent months in the freezer with things stacked on it. I wasn't sure how it would go. 

But, it was a freaken lovely result. 

Can't wait to share this product with the world!

Most businesses don’t get taken out by competition, they get taken out by denial. 

I learned that the hard way. 

From the outside we looked like we were winning... but the numbers told another story. 

Growth doesn’t fix broken foundations. 

It just makes the cracks louder.

If you’ve been avoiding a number, a conversation, or a cultural problem hoping it fixes itself, it won’t. 

The fire costs 10x more next year.

Swipe through the carousel to see the lessons I wish someone told me before I paid for them the expensive way.

The warning signs I ignored for too long

We grew top line 23% one year and had less cash at the end than when we started.

On paper, it looked like a win.

Revenue up.

Sites busier.

More customers served.

From the outside, everyone assumes growth = progress.

Inside the bank account, it was a different story.

Here’s what I’ve learned the hard way:

A lot of “growth” is just you working harder to stand still.

Here're three places the money quietly disappeared:

Discounts and “deals” that felt harmless
We said yes to little things that shaved a few percent here and there especially with legacy customers. On a big enough base, those “small” give-aways add up to serious cash.

Operational drag
More volume and more SKU complexity through a system that wasn’t ready. Add in overtime, wastage, rework, fire-fighting and as revenue went up, every extra dollar was more painful to earn.

Overhead creep
As soon as topline lifted, we felt justified adding headcount, tech, and “nice to have” projects and weren't as disciplined looking at costs. We chased instead of fixing. 

Growth didn’t fix broken economics. It multiplied them.

If your topline is climbing and you still feel broke, sanity check your numbers. 

Fix them before you scale.

Building this tiny habit has transformed my business: 
 
Every business has a daily rhythm. 
 
The things you do on autopilot. 
 
But most of the time they're designed to sustain what is there and not improve things. 
 
That was exactly what was happening with my business... 
 
We'd come in each day and do the: 
 
Same actions 
Same processes 
Same conversations 
 
Over and over. 
 
It's hard to see new things when you get in that habit. 
 
So you need to make a conscious effort to reprogram your daily rhythm. 
 
For example: 
 
Instead of walking straight in the door, pause for a moment and see the place like a customer would. 
 
Look around like they would. 
 
Stand where they would stand. 
 
Sit where they would sit. 
 
It's powerful stuff when you do things like this daily. 
 
You start to see improvements everywhere that make your business better instead of just walking in on autopilot. 
 
The key is to program the right things into your daily rhythm that sustain what's there as well as growing it.

It's tempting to relax a bit once your business is out of the start-up phase. 

And after years of working your face off to build something from scratch, who can blame you? 

But complacency can destroy things. 

If it's about getting your time back, delegate things instead. 

If it's about enjoying yourself, find someone who's hungry to grow your business for you.

Because even if you deserve a break.

Even if you don't have competitors chasing you. 

Things that are hard to build can be shattered easily. 

And the bottom line is, instead of taking your foot off the gas at the first sign of success.
 
It's best to use that time to double down on what's working and leap further ahead after years of grinding.

Unique 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲s are 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 today.

Everything else can be copied or purchased.

Even though we don't always nail it, we're pursuing excellence in this space. Constantly meeting about it, doing case studies on others and testing ways to level up our game.

Fundamentally, service needs to be part of your culture if you're striving for long term customer delight. 

If you get that bit right, it's nearly impossible for competitors to buy the trust and connection you've established.

But the problem is, most established companies are on autopilot.

They're so busy just keeping up with the volume of work these days that they've shifted their focus from delight, to delivery.

Nailing it doesn't mean transforming your business, it's about leaning into a few key moments in your customer journey. 

If you're an established business looking for ways to retain clients and build a stronger organisation, I talk about what we've done often in my weekly newsletter.

I share real strategies that are working right now to build culture, increase retention, and drive impact.

I'd love to see you there when you're ready.

Free Bird

Founder & CEO

Grayhawk Ventures

FNSH Hydration

Landmark Properties, Inc.

Managing Director

Haven Communities

Oxford Properties, LLC

Co-Founder and President

Williams Investment Group

Founder and CEO

Atlanta Committee for The Olympic Games

Marketing Manager

Entrepreneur. Founder. Investor. Operator. Founder|CEO Free Bird Beverage Founder|CEO Grayhawk Ventures Founder|CEO FNSH Hydration

Founder & Big Bird @ FREE BIRD 

Entrepreneur. Founder. Investor. Operator. Aquaman.

I sell water. You need water to stay alive. I will save your life.😎 

If you have cookies…I will eat them.

Also: Founder & CEO @ Grayhawk Ventures 

Jay Williams

When Oprah Winfrey has her people contact you about having a meeting in New York to discuss a partnership with Free Bird, you accept the invitation no matter what.

Oprah hasn’t done that yet, but I’m letting her know in advance that I’m available.

😎

Founder|Big Bird @ FREE BIRD 🆓🦅🇺🇸

I turned down $500,000 yesterday.

Let me repeat. I turned down $500,000 yesterday.

Am I crazy? Don’t answer that. 😎

Someone reached out and wanted to invest $500K in Free Bird, which is awesome. We are currently raising funds and, of course, $500K is a lot of money.

However, this person was not a fit. I simply wasn’t comfortable. I am building something special and, therefore, my partners really matter.

I don’t want to do business with “just anybody”. I want them to be aligned with our values and I won’t make compromises. Our Free Bird family is simply too important to me. 

To be clear, I was beyond grateful for the offer, and they were rather shocked by my response, but it needs to be right for us.

Not gonna lie, it hurt a little, but some things are more important than money.

Someone asked me recently if I would be willing to share the best piece of advice I’d ever been given.

I said…

No.

If I’m being honest, saying that “Only YOU can prevent forest fires” is an overwhelming amount of pressure. 

I mean, all I’ve got is a hose and like a bunch of solo cups.

Enough is enough!!!!

All freakin week…everyone’s so thankful!! So grateful!! So damn positive!! 

Way too much happiness!!

I’m sick of it!!

Sorry not sorry. 😎

I wanna know what you hate!!! Let’s get mean!!!

I’ll go first: 

I hate when I’m walking on a sidewalk and someone starts walking next to me at the exact same pace. I mean, I was here first. You either need to accelerate or slow down! I’m not interested in a synchronized walk routine! 

I also hate mushrooms!! Fight me.

Hate brings people together. Let’s join together with anger. It’s fun. 😎

Tell me something you hate!!!

*I’ll add a bonus hate in the comments.

I have so much to be thankful for…

I’m thankful for my family, my friends, my health, my LinkedIn community, my amazing Free Bird team and I’m thankful to be having the best professional year of my life because of Free Bird  

Happy Thanksgiving. 
Gobble Gobble!!

Saturday morning coffee and thoughts:

Why don’t teenage boys wear jeans anymore? 

Does anyone actually like matcha or do they just say that? Have you tasted it? I saw a taste description: Earthy, grassy with a hint of bitterness. So it tastes like shit? Sounds about right.

Hot tubs are underrated.

Does anyone actually give a damn about a celebrity political statement? I don’t.

I’m obsessed with the group called The Favors. Great voices, great songs. Such a talented twosome. I highly recommend.

My social team wants me to have a founders presence on TikTok. I have done a little, but I’m struggling with what to do on there. It’s not as intuitive for me as LinkedIn. Any suggestions?

Velcro is pretty amazing. I don’t understand it, but I find it interesting.

What’s going to happen with the proposed ban on THC/hemp beverages? Will it happen or will something be worked out? A lot at stake.

My wife keeps filling up our cookie jar with Oreos despite me asking her to stop. She knows I have a problem. I think she might be trying to kill me. Murder by Oreo. If something happens to me…..😎

Free Bird has had a great week. My team is killing it. I’m so grateful.

Cheers y’all 
🆓🦅

STOP LYING!!!

You know who you are.

Yep, I’m talking to you too.

We all know.

We all hear it…

“We sold out seventeen times…”

“Shark Tank told us we were actually too successful to be on their show…”

“Every person who has taken my course on how to generate sales from emails is now a billionaire…”

“I woke up this morning with 300 connection requests…”

“We can’t keep up with demand and Jeff Bezos called me last night and told me to slow down because they can’t handle all of our orders…”

“I’m unfollowing hundreds of people every day because I can’t handle all the engagement…”

“I only joined LinkedIn a few months ago and I already have 25,000 followers…”

“I would never take Ozympic!!! I lost 75 pounds last week because I stopped eating Wheat Thins…”

“My mom still takes the crusts off my PB&J’s…” (wait that one’s true😎)

My point is this. 

A little well intended embellishment won’t hurt anyone. Most people really don’t care and will play along.

However, is it necessary to succumb to ridiculous over exaggerated claims to try to stand out? No. Those will always come back to haunt you.

Just stay consistent. Just be authentic. Just tell your story. Just be true to who you are and what is happening; good, bad or indifferent.

Just be you.

Are you THAT person?

Be honest.

Are you someone who has learned from your past or are you that person just making excuses because of it?

I used to be the one making excuses, but not anymore.

Most of us are somewhere on this journey.

Which one are you?

Btw, no shame if you’re still figuring it out. Sometimes it takes a while. That said, a good start is to stop blaming yesterday for everything happening today.

Just a little tip from someone who’s been there.

Me: Someone called me an influencer today on LinkedIn.
Wife: Ok.
Me: Ok?? Don’t you think that’s cool?
Wife: I guess.
Me: What?
Wife: Who exactly are you influencing?
Me: People.
Wife: What people?
Me: I don’t know, just people.
Wife: What’s your influence?
Me: What do you mean?
Wife: How are you influencing people?
Me: I don’t know, maybe I’m inspiring people.
Wife: To do what? Stop following you? LOL!!
Me: Wow, that’s so uncalled for.
Wife: I know. Oops.
Me: I definitely influenced you to marry me.
Wife: With this conversation, you are definitely influencing me to get a divorce.
Me: What a terrible thing to say.
Wife: Oops, I did it again. 😎
Me: OMG.
Wife: This is fun. Got any more influences for me today?
Me: I’ll pass.
Wife: Good talk.

Thank you Yahoo Finance for making me sound like I might actually know what I’m doing. 😉

Free Bird most certainly appreciates the coverage.

Cheers y’all.
🆓🦅

We are grateful for the recent spotlight in Yahoo Finance featuring why our founder, Jay Williams , left real estate to build Free Bird. Free Bird was never just about water. It was built on Jay’s belief that everyday people deserve something real, rooted in community, authenticity, and pride in the places and people that shape you.

We’re honored to see Jay’s story recognized, but this moment belongs to everyone who has helped shape Free Bird, from the team behind the scenes to the people cracking open cans across the country. Here’s to building something that matters. 

Drink Freely.

https://lnkd.in/gzpPYCYx

Open article: Why Jay Williams Left Real Estate to Create America's Best New Beverage Brand by finance.yahoo.com

Why Jay Williams Left Real Estate to Create America's Best New Beverage Brand

Unique opportunity:

For a limited window of time, I’m bringing on new investors for Free Bird. 

I don’t typically utilize this platform for potential investors, however, I thought it might be worth mentioning.

In full transparency, because we are so far ahead of our initial goals, we have a unique problem to solve. Simply put, we are way ahead of schedule and we need additional resources to accelerate responsibly.

We are well positioned and the iron is hot, as they say. I’ve never experienced this kind of momentum and it’s awesome. Although we need to remain methodical and tactical in our approach, we would be foolish not to take advantage of this wind at our back.

To date, we have had great success in fundraising and we’ve been fortunate to bring on a unique group of investors who are, not only interested in investing, but also have been helpful and aligned with our objectives. The goal is to keep the group small and keep the positive energy flowing.

As it relates to what we have ahead, our retail footprint is growing and our overall trajectory is significantly ahead of schedule. We have a lot to announce soon related to our retail expansion, including some exciting big names. 

Our retail store count should triple over the next 4-6 months. Considering we didn’t get into our first store until about six months ago, the fact that we will be at or near 1,500 stores during the second quarter of 2026 is pretty extraordinary. 

In addition, our sales online, most specifically Amazon, are excellent. We expect that this growth will continue. Of course, we have all kinds of other cool stuff going on and opportunities to grow in different ways. Needless to say, it’s an exciting time.

The investment we are speaking of is primarily intended to fund our retail expansion and the associated increased production and support.

If interested, please let me know. Serious inquiries only please.

Thank you.

Why are you doing this???

Seriously!!!

Shouldn’t you be sitting on a beach somewhere?

Haven’t you earned the right to slow down?

Maybe…

But no way!! That’s not for me.

Slow down and do what exactly? I mean, I may not be young anymore, but I’m not about to kick the bucket either.

I’m not quite ready for bingo and dinner at 4:00.

I’m still out here conquering the world!!

I’m all for anyone who wants to retire early and chill. You do you.

As for me, I’m just getting started. I’ll gladly sit on a beach someday and chill. However, only when that’s the only thing left I can do.

Until then, I’m all gas no brakes baby!!!

Life’s too short!

I want to live it!

Free Bird energizes me everyday!

Feeling good. 

Ready to go.

Free as a bird 😉

LinkedIn we need to talk.

You know I think you’re super cool and all, but…

I think we might need to slow things down.

Because, I mean…..like how many times are you gonna ask me if I like you??

I mean, it’s like every day. Over and over.

You know I like you. I wouldn’t spend all this time with you if I didn’t. I even went to Home Goods with you last weekend.

I’m not trying to start a fight and you’re important to me, but it feels kind of desperate on your part if I’m being honest.

Please know that I’m not telling you how to feel, but you’ve really got to chill.

What’s really going on?

Are you peepin my other socials? You think I spend too much time on Insta? You stalking me on TikTok?

Am I not allowed to have friends?

I just don’t like feeling smothered. 

I mean, it’s been over a year. You’re with me all the time. 

You’ve met my parents. 

We bought a crockpot together.

You’ve got a toothbrush at my house.

Isn’t that enough?

I don’t know, something feels off.

Maybe I need some space.

Maybe we need to take a break.

It’s not you, it’s me.

I’m sorry.

I’ll pray for you.

I hope you will get the help you need.

Wife: I just love Thanksgiving.
Me: Why?
Wife: I’m thankful.
Me: Nice to meet you thankful, I’m Jay.
Wife: Seriously?
Me: What?
Wife: I know what I’m not thankful for.
Me: That your parents named you thankful?
Wife: Ugh…
Me:😎
Wife: You’re such a turkey.
Me: Thank you thankful.
Wife: 
Me: You look nice today…..thankful
Wife:
Me:🤷
Wife:
Me: Ok I’ll stop now.

Sunday morning thoughts:

I’m never drinking again.

I’m never eating again.

I’m lying about both of those, but I feel like an overstuffed and over served turkey. Looking forward to a week of detox and reset.

I love college football. 

Although a bit cliche, I like a week of reflection and gratitude. It’s good for the soul.

I had never watched Dancing With the Stars, but I watched a little bit last week. Although I don’t know much about these people, I came away thinking that Alix Earle and Robert Erwin were good dancers and nice people, despite all the haters saying otherwise.

I ate more dessert over the last four days than the previous four months. 

What has happened to network television? I mean, these shows they have on now are so bad. I miss the good old days of well written sitcoms and quality shows.

I’ve come to the conclusion that 88% of life’s decisions revolve around food.

Ironically, I’ve been severely under hydrated this week. Anyone know a good water guy?😉

Nothing beats having good friends and a happy family.

Free Bird is on sale at a hefty discount on Amazon for Black Friday/Cyber Monday. The most we’ve ever discounted. 
Getcha some!!

Cheers y’all.

Say what you mean…

and mean what you say.

I just solved 68% of your problems.

You’re welcome.

“From Thanksgiving til the end of the year, nobody gets anything done”…

Bullshit.

Hearing this drives me crazy. We will all hear it 100 times over the next few weeks.

Yes, I get it, the holidays, parties, family things, personal stuff, shopping, etc.

However, we aren’t sitting around doing nothing. I can assure you. 

We aren’t using that excuse to coast until 2026. Nope.

Btw, this isn’t some kind of hard driving, overdone workaholic mantra. It’s just common sense.

I have things that need to get done. Plain and simple.

I don’t plan on overdosing on eggnog and pound cake and laying there in a self induced sugar coma for the next 30 days until New Year’s (although that sounds kind of nice 😎).

We can get shit done and we can have fun too. Both can coexist.

Happy holidays.

Woke today feeling happy. Feeling lucky.

That feeling is great, but also a reminder that many people woke up today feeling the opposite. 

Keep them in mind.

Better yet, do something!

I’m going to go out of my way to try to make a difference for someone today. I don’t know what that is or for whom and it may be a small difference, but I am going to make the effort.

Perhaps others reading this might be inspired to try to do the same. If so, just think of the collective difference we can make.

What’s that smell?

Is it you?

You stink.

Haha, sorry.🤭

That smell is the roses.

Let me explain…

“What you are doing is special. Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses along the way”

That’s an exact quote from a meeting I had yesterday afternoon.

It was a very nice thing to hear, but more importantly, a great reminder.

A great reminder to stop, drop and roll. Wait, no…..wrong one. 😎

A great reminder to stop. Breathe. Look around. Take it all in. Appreciate what you have and what you’re doing. No matter how big or small, if it’s meaningful to you, it matters.

We all get so busy that we sometimes forget to slow down and appreciate everything right in front of us.

Life’s too short. Don’t let it pass you by and miss out on the good stuff happening all around you.

Smell the roses.

taplio

The Battle

Jarrod Deaton

Jay Williams

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taplio

The Battle

Jarrod Deaton

Jay Williams

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jarrod Deaton's LinkedIn Performance

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