Funny how your mind can run with things once it gets going with a bit of coffee and banana bread from Blackbird Café after a long weekend. Sitting here on the couch, going through notes, schedules and some writing, I think about how great it is that this kind of place exists. A place where I am imminently comfortable. Not because of one thing but because of any number of things.
The food is handmade, hearty and delicious, the coffee is rich, the staff is warm and makes you feel at home, the music is cool. It’s always bustling; I see many friends there most every time I walk in. They really support the true local vibe; the owners work their tail off, there is always great art, the chairs are comfortable, and I can do anything from tune out and drink in the back, to listen to a variety of strong, local opinions debate stuff in the middle, to people watch and wait for my stuff to go at the window along the street.
Karin Mick, one of my long term Lifers who knows I like authentic people, first introduced me to Blackbird back when we launched ValpoLife and Laura Groth first connected me to Mary to work with on marketing a couple Christmas’ ago. They always talked about the vibe of the place and nailed it right there.
Laura is the energetic, driven daughter of Jon Groth, who heads up the Career Center here in Valpo and happens to be my favorite guy in Valpo and is equally a big fan of Blackbird and supporting good things in the region. I met Jon when I was working with Judy Commers who runs the Entrepreneurship program at the Career Center. Judy mentored Kristel Messer Tippins in high school and introduced her to me, and she was one of my first employees even before launching ValpoLife. Kristel introduced us to Brett Fuller, who came to work for us on his break from Purdue, and then was crazy enough to come back full time a couple of years ago and basically runs things here for us.
Brett and I got a note yesterday from Bob Phelps at the Career Center about a video that Sarah Jackett had done for Pines Village, that was the kind of thing we love to promote. Sarah is also an outstanding employee of ours, finding time in her action-packed schedule to help us cover as many events as we can, similar to the students like David, Tyler, Jon, Brandon, Mark, Austin and others we have employed have done over the past 3 years.
Connecting with high school students like those great kids and Brandon Vickrey and Collin Czilli of Portage High School has been inspiring to me while giving them a great chance to learn on the fly in a fast paced online business. They are learning so much through programs that Mike Berta has implemented in his many years of service to Portage Schools, leaving a legacy to be proud of that we just published an article about entitled, “Mike Berta: A Portage Life in the Spotlight.”
I was introduced to Mike Berta by Ric Frataccia and Jon Groth as another one of the “Good Guys” in the area that would jump on board the Life train as soon as they heard about it. I first met Ric through the Breakfast Club at Premiere Grill on Saturday mornings, which is fodder for at least a couple other stories to come.
So what does this long, winding, grammatical butchering of series of connections illustrate?
- When you meet good people, they will introduce you to more good people.
- Everything starts with a good breakfast!