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This is the second story from my dad, Tony Fiore. If you missed the first one, Family Storytelling Tradition With Papa Fiore , it became a fan favorite. Below, my dad shares a bit about growing up in Staten Island along with his days in college. Staten Island Roots I would like to give a bit of a prelude, to my second story by telling about my family life growing up (Staten Island Roots). I was born and raised in Staten Island, New York. The smallest of the five boroughs of New York City, Staten Island is most known for its scenic ferry ride with views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. Fiore Bros (you can see the name on the two pillars) circa 1950 maybe. If you have a relative from Staten Island that is older than 60, they will know of Fiore Brothers and the orange trucks. I was raised in a modest home in Mariners Harbor... known for its shipyards. My house on Van Pelt Avenue had more visitors than the local diner because my mom, Flo, always had something cooking that was homemade. My younger brother Ray was a great billiards player, and he and his friends headed to our basement where an old-fashioned pool table was located. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip:   "Sitting around the kitchen table, smelling the scents of home cooking and great conversations, can elevate the sensory experience." My dad, Louis, was known as Louie the Bookkeeper. He was one of five Louis Fiore’s, all with different nicknames to distinguish them from one another... Louie the Oilman, Louie the Salesman, Louie the Dispatcher and Louie the Bossman. All worked for Fiore Brothers Fuel Oil Company, a firm established in the 1920’s by my grandfather Anthony and his two brothers... Ferdinand and Michael. They also had a sister Rose who was not involved in the business. Rose's husband Frank drove an oil truck for Fiore Bros for 30 years. This was not an easy job as many of the roads in Staten Island are narrow, winding, and have lots of hills. Page 4 of 6 from my dad's handwritten story Fiore Brothers survived the Great Depression of the early 1930’s by becoming a barter company and eventually rose to be the largest fuel oil company on Staten Island with 12 large oil trucks, a few coal trucks and 40 employees, mostly family. Anyone who married into the Fiore family was guaranteed a job which was a testament to the family values of the company. My dad preferred to be called Louie the Accountant, but Bookkeeper stuck for his entire life. When Fiore Brothers customers received their oil deliveries, they usually preferred to pay the Fiore Brothers delivery man after the oil was pumped into their tank. Some preferred to pay at the company office in Elm Park. One of those people was a Mr. P. His son was a Big Man on Campus at the local Staten Island college called Wagner College. His son, Al, was captain of the football team and President of one of the larger fraternities—Alpha Sigma Phi. So one in the early summer of 1959 Mr. P came into Fiore Brothers to pay his bill and he and my dad started chatting. My dad told him that his son Tony had just graduated Port Richmond High School and was enrolled to go to Wagner College. "Great" said Mr. P, "I'll tell my son Al about him, and he will get him into his fraternity." Sounded good but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Fraternities and sororities have membership drives the beginning of each semester and then the members vote on who should get a bid to join. The President cannot dictate who becomes a member, so I am sure that when Al was told about me, he let his father know the procedure. However, Al's father never said another word about it, and I walked onto campus thinking I was a lock for Alpha Sigma Phi brotherhood. Alpha was one of 7 campus fraternities and what distinguished it from the rest was that 90% of its members were on the Wagner football team—I was a baseball player. The Wagner College Experience The other fraternities, Phi Sigma Kappa was for the brainy guys; Delta Nu was our Animal House, etc. So Al, with the pressure of his dad, tried to sell me to the Alpha brotherhood. It wasn't easy but he didn't want his dad to have to face my dad and say "I'm sorry your son doesn't have what it takes to be Alpha Sig." Al took on the challenge and somehow persuaded the Alpha brotherhood of 70 members to vote me in. I proudly accepted my membership and made some lifelong friends because of it. More about my friends in future writings. This was the winning fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, which is not the one my dad joined. Even Delta Nu, which was considered the Animal House of the college fraternities, came in second place with barely any practice. The biggest day of the year for fraternities and sororities is Songfest... a big singing event that is held every May and it packs the Field House and is a worthy fundraiser for various Staten Island charities. Winning is a big, prestigious deal and I couldn't believe how many practices would be held before the big, nighttime event with an orchestra and spotlights. Each participating fraternity was assigned a professor from the music department to coach and mentor us. The song we chose was "Carolina in the Morning" originally sung by Al Jolson. It was a catchy upbeat song, and our fraternity was confident we could win with it. So we are having our first practice and the music professor assigned to us, a stern bespeckled man in his late 50's Mr. Denby, summons me to talk privately with him. He says, "Mr. Fiore I know this means a lot to you to sing at Songfest, but your singing is throwing others off. I am requesting you get up on stage with the rest of the group but please only mouth the words." I protest to no avail, and I sheepishly get back to practice, and lip sync this fun song. Mr. Denby, after a few weeks of practices feels we are ready to go and that we have a chance of winning. The night of Songfest arrives. I didn't have the heart to tell my parents who were attending that I was banished from letting a sound come from my mouth, so I put on my tuxedo and stuck my carnation in my lapel and went off to the big event. The crowd is at capacity, and the orchestra starts playing the prelude and all of a sudden, they start singing: "Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning. No one could be sweeter than my sweetie when I meet her in the morning." I can't take it. All of a sudden, I start singing the words and I see looks of dismay from my brothers next to me on stage. I can't believe I defiantly disobeyed our conductor's request. Neither can my fraternity brothers who look like they lost a football game on a last second pass. We wind up finishing 3rd and I became the scapegoat. For years after that at every fraternity reunion someone greets me and brings it up. "I can't believe you would do that Fiore. It is so unlike you. We hardly knew you existed until that night." Oh well, I'm not going to let a bunch of sore losers ruin what could have been a great singing career. Till the next episode, Childhood Lessons and Family Storytelling: A Papa Fiore Memor y, which is now posted.

This is the second edition to my job search post. The first one covered how to redefine yourself when your job title is gone and the second post will cover how to treat job searching like a sport (or like you are in sales). Intentional Interview Preparation Me just before the tour of the Amazon facility just north of Hartford, CT. Took the opportunity to learn something new while being out of work. A few minutes ago, I got a rejection letter for a company I had 4 interviews with. I saw it coming as they moved fast and I didn't hear from them for a few days following my fourth interview. It was a pretty cool start up but just not meant to be. Separately, I have a second interview with another company today. The lesson here is to try and have multiple opportunities in the funnel. However sometimes that doesn't always work so the next best thing is to focus on the process. If you are doing all of the little things right, the big things will fall into place. I am a firm believer in this approach, and for that, I am not worried about what is next. In fact, just the opposite. I am excited for what opportunities lie in front of me as I continue to explore new roles and new companies. As referenced in the first part, I initially shared these topics below on LinkedIn but after additional consideration, I thought they would be great to share here as well. It is not required to have a job to create a sensory based lifestyle but there are many aspects of being employed that help. This includes building friendships, sharing a sense of purpose, travel, etc. I hope you enjoy. Do you have a pre-interview routine? Hopefully you do. I am sharing my intentional interview preparation below but would love to learn more about what you are doing as well. This process starts when the interview is secured. Research phase 1) Review company website, learn about company messaging, products, positioning, etc. 2) Ask AI tool the following question> tell me what customers and employees say about this company. Ask follow up questions as needed. Be curious about other topics such as if it's a start up, how does their funding rounds compare to the average. I use the standard free ChatGPT for this but any AI tool will do. 3) Ask AI to provide a SWOT analysis on the company. I like to use Storm by Stamford University for this. I found it to be better than Chat, Claude, etc. However, the new Deep research by Gemini was really impressive. I tried to do it on my last interview but got stuck in the queue so I went back to Storm. 3) Review the job posting again making sure I understand the role as every job has a bunch of nuances including responsibilities and who it reports to. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip:   "Visualize yourself being in the role as you are preparing for the interview. Tell yourself I am going to great on this interview. Manifesting can be a great tool in your success." Prep phase 1) Start building out questions for my interview. Page 1 includes a set of questions about the company, the position, and a few about the interviewer itself such as why do you like working for the company or what changes do you anticipate in the next year for your role? In total I try to have 10-15 questions ready. I put stars next to the key questions as I have never got through all 15 in an interview, sometimes I only get one due to time so I make sure it is the most important. 2) Create a second page for interview notes. Make sure I title both pages so not to get the info lost or confused with another role. Day or two before the interview 1) Send an email confirming the meeting, showing I did some research, offer topics of interest and things I can talk about. I usually do this for interviews 2 and after. I always include my resume and cover letter in pdf for their reference. Day of the interview 1) Start with a cold rinse at the end of the shower (to get the blood flowing). Eat walnuts for a snack (for brain clarity). 2) If its an afternoon interview, make sure I eat a light lunch (so not to get the afternoon crash) 3) Set alarm for 30 minutes before and 5 minutes before. At 30 minutes, I do 150 jumping jacks on the rebounder (small trampoline) to get the blood flowing again. Wash face with cold water after (same reason as above). 4) Put on a dress shirt 5) Review some notes and questions again 6) Close my eyes, take a few deep breaths Interview time 1) Join 1 minute before the interview. I always like to be early (and never want to be late) but sometimes there might be technical problems and I want to catch them before the interviewer jumps on. After the interview 1) A few hours later, I send a follow up thank you note. Something simple but try to incorporate something about the interview. Good luck in your interviews. Let me know what your routine is. 11 things I recommend when searching for a job. Me at the Joshua Tree National Park on vacation last year. 1) Get your resume, LinkedIn, and a base cover letter fine-tuned. You can customize the resume and cover letter as needed but for me, I only do very slight adjustments. 2) Be specific on what type of job you are looking for. This will help you focus and as well, help others help you. 3) Be specific on the type of company (ie. big or start up, location, salary range- if they publish it, etc). This will help you focus as well. I have passed on potential opportunities as it wasn’t what I wanted to do and have also bypassed jobs to apply to based on location. I also want to work for a company that is not in the decline. For example, I passed on applying to a role at a company because they losing customers, going through layoffs, etc. 4) Network. Don’t ask people for a job but let them know you are looking, what you are looking for, and have a conversation. Ask them for advice (ie. what was one thing they did to help them land their last job). 5) Apply for jobs selectively. Don’t send out 1,000 resumes as the companies you are applying to are getting 1,000 candidates. Apply for jobs selectively and then network to get your name at the top of the list. This could be emailing the recruiter or hiring manager, connecting to people via LinkedIn, finding 1st level connections who are connected to people at the company, or your previous employer alumni or college alumni. 6) Be mentally strong. This can be a long process and frustrating when you don't get call backs or make any progress. People need to have a mental resilience as they go through this process. 7) Be disciplined in your job search hours. Get up at the same time you would have gotten up for work. Try to keep the same or similar routine. 8) Find a hobby. This will help your sanity. 9) When you do get an interview, do research on that company and build an interview preparation guide with at least 15 questions. Ask simple questions to ChatGPT like what do customers and employees say about this company, is the company growing, stable, etc. Asking AI for a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) about the company will help give greater insight on what questions to ask. 10) The day before your interview, send the person a note with your resume (and cover letter) and outline what you would like to talk about and what you are prepared to talk about. It helps guide the conversation and gives some structure as many interviewers go freeform when interviewing. 11) Take breaks/vacation just like you would if you were working. Please share any additional suggestions or advice! I actually like to interview. Yup, you read that right. One of the things I enjoy most about the interview process is learning about other companies. Being in sales for most of my career, I always spent time learning about the companies I was calling on. From a pure business perspective, you become a student of the company you are supporting. The same is true in the interview process. I have interviewed with a wide range of companies, mostly in the software space, but not exclusively. I learned about companies that sell help desk software, affiliate marketing software, retail advertising auctions, cloud storage, insurance underwriting software, security software, marketing services, healthcare third party administration, mortgage processing software, and most recently, supply chain transparency. Being out of work allowed me to learn so many new industries and topics I wouldn't have necessarily explored otherwise. My Advice to the Job Seeker Reframe the idea of searching for a job to an opportunity to learn something new. This will help drive an improved positive mental outlook, which will help in your search. There are no right answers, but I thought you may benefit from this post. If you are currently employed but know someone that is out of work, please share. Also, as mentioned in the beginning of this story, if you missed the first post, Career Transition Intentional Practice Method , it covered one of my favorite topics, do I search for a job or do I go out an play? Do these posts resonate and if so, what lessons learned, or advice can you share?

While I have been completely open on LinkedIn about me being out of work, I actually haven't posted about it on Rooted & Refined Living . Mainly, I didn't believe there was a fit as this site is about sensory based products, lifestyle tips, and intentional living, not the grit of the job search or career transition. Me and Franklin hard at work. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was value in me pulling out some of my LinkedIn posts and sharing them here. As I reread a few of the posts I shared on LinkedIn, I decided to group them together in 2 posts. The first section (below) will cover how you redefine yourself when your job title is gone and the second post will cover how to treat job searching like a sport or if you are a salesperson . You will notice I reference this website a few times below as these posts were originally published on LinkedIn. Do I search for a job or do I go out and play? That is the question for today (and most days) as I continue to have an internal struggle to come up with an answer. I am sure there is balance, and I have done some of it already. As you know, I have been active in the job search, but I have also taken some time for myself. The question that keeps coming up is what is the right balance? The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip:   "Job Searching can test your resolve. Balancing the search with a hobby can create the mental clarity needed between interviews." I was fortunate to get severance and a few months of subsidized medical coverage but come October (it is now February and I have 2 weeks left), the cost of medical, dental, and eye for a family of 5 in the US is $2,754 (now $3,106 in 2026) through Cobra and I am searching for additional options. I do have a nest egg to carry me through a bit, and my mortgage has been recently been paid off 😀 which pretty much gets replaced by the Cobra payment 🙁. We also somehow spend a lot of money whether it be on car repairs, car insurance, helping the kids with some expenses, going out, etc. (As I am proof reading this post now, I have a plumber working upstairs as we needed a new garbage disposal, along with a clogged pipe. These are more reasons needed to get a job as I anticipate the cost to be ~$600. Mary Beth does not work but can if we need to. You get the point, life is expensive and with no income, it sometimes can get unsettling. On the flip side, this is the first time in 30 years I have been out of work and recognize more than ever that time is precious. I have taken a planned vacation (to Kauai which prompted the start of this website) and a 2-day trip up to Maine doing some hiking with Michael. I have taken the time to do some yard work (probably not enough) as well as some exercise like a hot yoga class. I am also in the process of creating a blog website (check!) on product recommendations and separately started posting my job search videos on TikTok which freaked my kids out a bit when I came up on their feed (which I will include here on this site as well in the future). My routine hasn't changed much. I still get up at 6AM, exercise and start "work" around 8AM just like when I was employed. I also finish up most days around the same time around 6PM. I do all of the normal job search activities such as networking, applying to specific jobs and being targeted in my outreach, watching videos to learn job search techniques, more networking, etc. So back to a few questions. Could I take some time off? Yes Am I taking enough time off? Probably not Am I doing enough for the job search? Yes, but like being in any job, you can always do more Should I retire? Definitely not ready to do so and I think Mary Beth would kill me if I did without a real hobby to replace my time (good thing I have this website now)! Ultimately, I am sharing this as I presume others are, or have been, or will be in the same position. There are obviously no right answers, but I do know that I want to make sure I have a healthy mix between the two. Good luck in your search if you are in the same position. "I am practicing for retirement"😃 Not quite retired but this is a great view of Lake Tahoe on a trip with some friends. That is a great way to say I am out of work, but the more I have been thinking about it, the more I believe that what I am doing now is a practice run for when I retire. I don't have a specific time period on when I plan to retire but I know it is not now and not in the foreseeable future. For example, I didn't have a real hobby and now I created a lifestyle blogging website. But I am also doing other things including: - Created 40 videos on tips to get a job based on my current search process. - Held a class on how to get a job like a salesperson - Volunteering as a student advisor for an international business 400 level capstone course - Went white water rafting - Climbed a mountain - Went on vacation and toured a Cacao Farm (coolest thing ever) - Went on multiple hikes and bike rides - Started reading again (on audio) - Did a bit more gardening and yard work - Went to a Celtics pre-season game only to be surprised they were filling a Mark Wahlburg movie, "Weekend Warriors" during halftime. So cool to be "a part of a movie" so to speak. I am sure there are other things, but the point is, I am enjoying being out of work. It has given me time to recharge and take advantage of the time away. Because I know when I start working again, I won't have the freedom to just take the afternoon off whenever I feel like it. "Career Transition: What I have learned from being out of work" Some of these aren't necessary new learnings but great examples of human spirit like the first point on my list during your career transition. 1) People are inherently good. So far, 125 people have gone out of their way to help me with specific referrals, introductions, etc. I really appreciate every act of kindness people shared. 2) Society defines introductions when you meet people by "what do you do for work"? The question makes you think about how we define ourselves as our job shouldn't define us. At some point we will all retire and you will need to answer the question to yourself. 3) Being unemployed can test your resolve. If you don't know by now, I am an optimistic person. Even for me, while I have the utmost belief that my skills are valued in the marketplace, the unknown world of the impact of AI has given me doubt at times- even as I continue to learn as much as I can about it. My Advice to the Job Seeker Take a few weeks off after your time at your company ended. This will allow for the mental and physical reset to enable the creativity to flourish. Next, find a hobby to occupy your time as there are only so many roles you would be interested in applying for. The rest of your time needs to be filled with things you like to do outside of work. It will help keep your sanity. There are no right answers, but I thought you may benefit from this post. If you are currently employed but know someone that is out of work, please share. Do these posts resonate and if so, what lessons learned, or advice can you share?

If you are following along with my family stories, I recently shared about how I helped Matthew and Michael start small businesses while they were in high school in a 2-part series ( Part 1 and Part 2 ). Papa with Emma, Michael, and Matthew on a hike, October 2009. I share all this as a backdrop to my next topic, family storytelling, which is my dad, or as the kids call him, Papa. I have shared a few mentions of him in my stories, most recently, about our trip to California last week and the connection to us buying the most comfortable bed . During this visit, I was sharing with my dad some additional details about this website and his interest to learn more. On the plane ride home, I came up with the idea that he could be a guest writer on the site. My dad is a great storyteller, though it is sometimes hard to determine where the real story ends and the exaggeration begins. I also think that each time my dad tells a story, they have gotten a bit more exaggerated, always keeping us wondering how real or how imaginary his stories are. As I was pondering what angle I could have him share his stories, nestled in the Rooted & Refined Living lifestyle section, I initially thought his 60 and 70-year-old friendships that started in high school and college respectively could be a great starting point. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip:   "Don't worry about accuracy. Preserving family history through storytelling can be a great way to pass on memories and feelings of nostalgia to future generations." We bounced around a few ideas and within a few days, my dad shared his first story, and true to form, he wrote about an imaginary person that was born from real life events of his childhood. My kids heard these stories all the time and now they will be chronicled as a part of this website as my dad shares his stories growing up in Staten Island through his friendships today that have lasted 60 and 70 years. With no additional introduction, here is my dad's first story. There will be more to come. One last thing. My dad writes all of his stories on yellow legal pads and then takes pictures. I then use AI to convert it to text which is a huge time saver for both of us. Papa's handwritten notes. He also writes in all caps as you can see. I used Google Gemini to translate this photo to the text below. Papa's Introductory Story Hi, my name is Tony Fiore. I am Steve's Dad and I live in Orange County, California. Steve lives in a small town west of Boston. He recently came to visit me and enjoy some sunshine after enduring some very cold periods in the Northeast. His web site, Rooted & Refined Living, is doing very well and he asked if I would like to contribute some articles based on my life experiences. I agreed and this will be my first contribution. Steve and his wife Marybeth have 3 children... Matthew 23, a recent Bryant grad and currently employed in Human Resources. Michael, 21, a senior at Keene State College and Emma, 19, a sophomore at University of Connecticut. About 15 years ago, I was visiting Steve on a cold January day and the kids who were 6, 4 and 2 wanted me to tell them a story. So I made up a story about a young boy named Little Johnny. I introduce other characters who interacted with Little Johnny such as George, the school bully, and Mrs. McCarthy, his teacher. The stories became so popular with the kids that when I finished one they wanted another. I got a kick out of how much laughter they got out of these made up characters and stories. Little Johnny was always in trouble but somehow figured a way to come out on top at the end of the story. Then, on a cold wintery day as I was nearing the end of my visit, Marybeth said Matthew would like you to walk him to the school bus stop. I said sure and bundled myself up for the walk to the bus stop with little Matthew who was in first grade back then. When we got to the bus stop there were about 10 moms and dads and their sons and daughters waiting for the bus to arrive. I exchanged a few hellos and stood in line for the bus. At that moment Matthew in a clear, loud voice says "Papa (that was my grandfather name), my mom says 'All your friends are imaginary'." Everything went silent and I could see moms and dads yanking their kids hands and pulling them away from me. I'm thinking, OMG what must they be thinking? Should I try to explain that I have real friends? How the heck does a 6 year old know the word imaginary? When the heck is this bus coming? So I did nothing – just stood there looking guilty waiting what seemed like an eternity for the bus. Here is a visit to Lake Mead on our trip to Las Vegas. We flew out and my dad drove to meet us. Then, the bus came and as Matthew was boarding he said "Papa are you going to pick me up when I get out of school?". Before I could answer some woman with a scowl on her face says "I hope not". I'm sure those parents had a good chuckle at my expense. Anyway, that's my first contribution. I have a few others and maybe some of my imaginary friends will pop up. If you enjoyed Papa's first trip down memory lane, you can read his next story here: Discovering Staten Island Roots Through Family Storytelling Do you have a funny story that your parents or grandparents tell over Sunday dinners? If so, please share in the comments section below.

This is part two to help anyone looking to start their own business, or specifically, looking to help their kids start one of their own. If you missed the first post , it will help with context to read this next section. As a disclaimer, these Start a Side Hustle posts were accurate at the time of publish, about 5 years ago. The costs and fees from sites like eBay are now meant to be directional and educational, not factually accurate today. Michael at one of his early Farmers Markets. Chapter 5) Understanding Product Costs to Start your Side Hustle Assigning costs to a product is critical but can be challenging at times. For example, how do you assign the cost of flour to your first batch of cupcakes when you only use a portion of the package? In the last chapter we discussed the marketplace place costs and to make sure you fully understand every cent you are being charged by the marketplace companies like eBay and Etsy. In this chapter we will review your product costs. Depending on what you choose to sell, your product costs can vary greatly. For example, if you are just starting out and want to see if this is something you even want to do, you may opt to sell one of your personal items such as the clothes from your closet or some old toys or miscellaneous items lying around the house. On the other hand, you may need to buy the raw materials to assemble your product such as making cupcakes or handmade items like soap. Understanding the product cost is so important so you don't lose money every time you make a sale. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip:   "Tell a story with the product or service you are selling. It's not just a widget, but how can it help the person and how does it make them feel when they use it." To keep things simple, I will use an example of making cupcakes with the ingredients of flour, sugar, and eggs. I know you need more ingredients to make cupcakes but for this example we are going to use just three. We are also going to make 5 batches of 12 cupcakes or 60 total cupcakes. To make 60 cupcakes we are going to need 2 pounds of flour, 2 pounds of sugar, and 6 eggs (I am making this up as I go and recognize that this is not how you make cupcakes). So off to the store we go to buy our ingredients and the costs are listed in the below chart. Cost Item Size Cost per Purchase Calculation for your reference Flour $5.00 5 Pound Bag $1.00 per pound $5.00 / 5 pounds = $1.00 per pound Sugar $3.00 10 Pound Bag $.30 per pound $3.00 / 10 pounds = $.30 Pound Eggs $3.00 12 Eggs per Carton $.25 per Egg $3.00 / 12 Eggs = $.25 per Egg Total $11.00   As we leave the store, the total costs were $11.00. Now we are going to figure out how much it is going to cost for our first 5 batches of cupcakes. Item Cost per purchase Amount Needed to make 60 Cupcakes Total Cost to make 60 Cupcakes Calculation for your reference Flour $1.00 per pound 2 Pounds $2.00 $1.00 x 2 Pounds = $2.00 Sugar $.30 per pound 2 Pounds $.60 $.30 x 2 Pounds = $.60 Eggs $.25 per Egg 6 Eggs $1.50 $.25 x 6 Eggs = $1.50 Total $3.10 As we have now purchased all our items and made all the calculations, it will cost $3.10 to make 60 cupcakes or just $.05 per cupcake. So, as we look to set our price for the cupcakes, we can sell each cupcake for $.25 and make a profit of $.20 per cupcake. When Matthew first started out selling his LEGO Storm Trooper minifigures, we didn't capture all the costs correctly. For his first 7 transactions, we initially thought he was making a good profit but soon realized we missed a cost of one of the components of his sale. This resulted in a profit of $.16 on $300 in sales. When we realized the error, he updated his selling price to make sure he was making money on each sale. It was much easier with selling Michael's photography and understanding the costs of each printed photo. We went to a local photography store and printed out the photos and had each of them mated. The cost was about $12 per photo, and he sold them for $35 at the craft fairs, making a profit of $23 per photo.  Chapter 6) Keeping Your Costs to a Minimum Underestimating startup costs is the single biggest reason small businesses fail. Get creative on spending money as you get started. Shipping costs can be expensive but there are ways to mitigate the costs. Family and friends will help if you ask. You will be surprised as to the lengths people will go to help others. When it's time to start a business, you may be in the position where you can be one of the lucky ones where your only cost is your time and all of the materials or service-related costs are all free. Most of us are not in that position and even if you are on the opposite end of that situation where money is no object, managing costs should always be a focus. You may have heard small businesses burn through cash at a very fast rate, and more specifically, faster than you can bring in sales. Typically, the problem all entrepreneurs and small business owners underestimate is how fast their product will fly off the shelves and they will be a huge success. The reality is selling anything is hard and often harder that you may think. As a result, figuring out how you can save money from the moment you think of your idea, the better you will be. Matthew has impressed me from the moment he started in that he was always looking to not spend money when he was selling his LEGO mini figures on eBay. I would watch him be relentless in only using as little shipping tape as he needed (even when it was my shipping tape and he wasn't paying for it). As he would pack the envelopes, he would reuse small clear bags he got from LEGO sets he bought for his personal use. If I was in his position at his age, I probably would have raided my parents Ziplock bag section and used those bags not thinking about the costs.  Matthew recreated the Millennium Falcon from spare LEGO bricks. As Matthew started to sell larger sets, he needed to use shipping boxes. If you look to buy boxes at the store, a single box can run $1.00-$5.00 per box depending on the size. Those are costs he didn't want to spend and would leverage the shipping boxes we would get from Amazon or Target. At a point where this becomes a full time business, he may then need to buy boxes that show his brand or at the very least not someone else's. Until then, these are free boxes our family collects on a regular basis from all of our personal online ordering. Conversely, if you happen to be one of the few who doesn't order online, as we were running low at one point, I reached out on Facebook to one of the local town groups and asked for boxes. The offers came pouring in and we made arrangements to pick them up. We also asked family members and had to ultimately tell them to stop as we were getting too many too quickly and we did not have a place to store them. We also got help from friends, specifically with Michael's photography business. Since he was selling at craft fairs, one of our college friends offered to make him shirts and a table cloth with his logo on it. She also noticed he loves wearing hats and he now has touch of nature logo hats as well. The offer was generous and unexpected and really appreciated by our entire family. Matthew also got shirts made for one of his LEGO events he participated in last year. It's fun to see their brand on merchandise. Again, do not underestimate your costs and try to find ways to mitigate or reduce your costs every step of the way.  Chapter 7) Choosing the Right Company Name Pick a name that relates to your product or service. You want to make sure the customer can easily identify what you are selling. Names can be changed over time. The original name of Yahoo was Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web. Picking a name for your company can be really easy or insanely difficult. For those of you who are old enough to remember the Yellow Pages, company names that started with the letter A were often picked first when someone was looking up the need for a service like a plumber. Many people would just pick the first name they saw and as a result "AA Affordable Plumbing" was coming to your house to fix your leaky sink. There are lots of different opinions on picking a company name. Some will say you should create a brand new name such as what Google did while others suggest picking a name that has symbolic meaning such as Nike. Other scenarios including how Starbucks got their name was from a character in the book Moby Dick.  Most likely you don't have the marketing dollars to build your brand so make it relevant to what you are selling or personal to you to make it more meaningful. For Matthew, he picked his name, Summerfield's Toys, after his favorite stuffed animal, Summerfield. With Michael, his business was selling nature photography and we tossed around a few names before picking touch of nature photography by michael fiore. He wanted all lowercase for the way it was printed on any documents. In the case of my family's former business, Fiore Brothers, the simplest idea is to just name it after you. There are two other things to consider, uniqueness and is it available across all social platforms. For uniqueness, find out if the name is already taken. For example, picking the name Tony's Pizza, will be one of hundreds around the country and difficult to differentiate your pizza from someone else named Tony. The other recommendation is to google your proposed name on all of the major search engines as well as the major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You want to make sure nobody has your name already. Matthew's first logo, he initially changed it to Summerfield's Bricks to align more to selling LEGO sets and bricks. Chapter 8) Creating a Logo Match a logo that fits your brand, product or service. It is also important to have it fit your personality. Consider the future possibilities of your business growing. You do not want to be limited by your logo. Leverage free sites or friends to help with logo creation. You might not be creative but someone you know might be. Picking the right logo for your company can be daunting. Do you want it to be just words or a picture or something abstract or all of the above?. As well, do you want it to match your company name or limit it to just the one product or service you are selling?. There are lots of decisions to think about and hopefully this post will help offer some ideas to simplify the confusion. The first question you need to answer is to design the logo around your company name or the product. My preference is the company name as over time you may have more than one product or service. You also want it to fit your personality as well as your brand's personality. For example, if you are a very artistic person who is selling flowers, you may want lots of bright colors in your logo. When Matthew was deciding on a logo, he asked a friend in his class and she was nice enough to give him a few options. After just a few minor adjustments, his logo was ready to go. For Michael, he initially did not have one but as he started participating in more craft fairs, his sister Emma made him a big poster board with his name on it with a big tree. Over time, we combined a few free photos we saw on the internet and came up with the tree and camera logo. Michael's logo for touch of nature. He later created his own logo for his next business venture. Chapter 9) Getting Started with Social Media Pick one or two social media sites to get started. Start where you may have lots of personal connections. Using social media can be very beneficial but takes some work. Set the pages as a business that is linked to your personal account. Just like everything in life, getting your social media site up and running and growing takes work, a lot of work. This post will cover some of the challenges we experienced in getting subscribers and followers and hope you have better success than we did. To give you an idea of how challenging it may be to grow your followers, here is a quick story. A few years back I taught a college level class on information systems and analytics at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI. The students' assignment was to work in groups of 4, pick something on campus to take pictures of, post on Instagram and grow their subscribers and user engagement (likes and comments). Many of the students thought this was an easy assignment as they had many personal Instagram followers. As they picked their theme, which included pictures of scenic campus pictures, sports, and even campus food, they quickly found it wasn't easy to grow followers. In the 6 weeks we ran the assignment, they got up to about 250 followers at the high end. One of the more popular sites was the pictures of the campus food, but while they got to an early and wide lead over the other groups, they struggled to grow once they hit 200. The reason I created the assignment in the first place was based on the experience Matthew and Michael had with their sites. They both have Facebook and Instagram sites but topped out at about 175 subscribers on Instagram and 50 or so on Facebook. It was hard to gain users organically by just posting. After you get some friends and family to subscribe, getting actual followers is a lot of work and something I myself am not skilled at, nor are my kids if you will believe that. For a while I was posting pictures every day for both of them. Posting pictures for Michael was easy as I was pulling from his collection. However, after I went through the really good photos, it was hard to pick through the rest to post. After a while he lost some interest in taking photos and I got frustrated with the lack of subscriber growth. With Matthew, he took a few pictures that I used, and I took the rest from his personal collection. Same thing happened with Matthew's Instagram and Facebook pages where we couldn't get the subscribers to grow. My assumption is content is king and our pictures along with the hashtags just didn't connect with the audience to get the algorithm to work in their favor.  After all these experiences, they still post every once in awhile but not often. My advice to those who are starting a business is to keep trying, especially if you are dependent on social media to grow your following. Try different strategies like a few hashtags or lots of hashtags, but most of all, make sure the content (ie pictures) look great.  I hope these two posts gave you inspiration to start your own side hustle or help your child get started in their own business. Let me know if you have any questions and how it's going.

This post is for anyone looking to start their own business, or specifically, looking to help their kids start one of their own. Michael standing at the top of some rocks after a hike in Acadia National Park A few years ago, I started my first blog site, Bringing Hobbes To Life. It was a play on words from my favorite comic strip growing up, Calvin and Hobbes, and the word hobbies, which both my boys, Matthew and Michael, created businesses from. I documented the process we went through to start a side hustle. While the website is no longer active, I printed out each of the blogs before I shut it down and had saved them in a filing cabinet. With the help of AI, I scanned them into a file and then had pulled the text out. I made a few grammatical updates, but these two posts (Part 1 and Part 2) are all in their original form. As a disclaimer, these posts were accurate at the time of publish, about 5 years ago. The costs and fees from sites like eBay are now meant to be directional and educational, not factually accurate today. About Almost 30 years ago when I was I high school, I had my first interest in starting my own business but could never figure out what I wanted to sell. As high school passed, and then college and work and family, the idea of a business just never materialized. Then a few years ago, my oldest son Matthew wanted to make extra money (at the time he was 14) and started selling LEGO mini figures on eBay. Then my middle son Michael started selling his photography at local craft fairs when he turned 14.  Both were very successful and as of this initial post, have sold over $36,000 with a net profit of over $12,000. In both cases, I shared as much knowledge as I could to help them be successful, all of which I will share in the following post chapters. (Update- Total sales were $60,000+). The posts will share my lessons learned, both the good and the bad of how to start and grow your side hustle. What this is not going to be is a site to start your own business to go public but how to leverage your passion, sell something profitably, and just have fun. The name of my blog, Bringing Hobbes to Life, has a dual purpose. The phrase is both the idea of taking your hobby and doing something with it and it is in honor of one of my favorite comic strips as a kid, Calvin and Hobbes, where 6-year-old Calvin has many real-life adventures with his stuffed animal tiger, Hobbes. My hope is you find the site helpful. Chapter 1) Finding Your Passion- Start a Side Hustle Your passion is something you probably like doing already. For example, do you like to cook, organize, build, fix, write, create, draw, shop, design, or have a specific style that is unique? Picking a side hustle can be a product you create (baking cupcakes) or buying and reselling (clothes) or a service you offer (resume writing). Engage the advice of family and friends. The people closest to you may have ideas for you to get started, and they may even be willing to help out! Matthew getting his first shipment of LEGO sets to break apart and resell. As early as I can remember, my dad was sharing tips with me on business related items such as learning about income statements, making decisions and strategic planning. I took those lessons and have enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) a career in sales and now sales management helping others succeed. I will focus my posts based on what I learned helping my two boys start their own businesses. They started from scratch and built profitable and successful businesses for them to earn money. Now it can be your turn. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip:   "Follow the lead of your child." About My Family I have been happily married to my wife Mary Beth for 21 years and have three kids. Our oldest Matthew has three passions in life- Star Wars, Marvel and LEGO. Our middle son, Michael, took an early interest in nature photography and also loves WWII history. Emma doesn't have an interest in starting her own business (yet) but loves interior design. Passion Matthew started selling post cards on eBay after getting a few lessons from his Uncle Mike who gave him a box of post cards to get started. Matthew spent hours on my eBay account posting one card after the next selling them for $.50 to $1.00. After getting a few sales Mike moved him up to selling books and he also made a few sales doing that. As he was selling both post cards and books, This is what Matthew's LEGO area typically looks like. Matthew started to list and sell some of his LEGO mini figures. It turns out they sold pretty quick, but he also quickly ran out of mini figures of his own he wanted to sell.  One day we were driving to a Salvation Army store looking for used books for him to sell, and as we were leaving the store he complained about how much trouble it was selling books, with issues around having to box them up and go to the post office (which became my job) as they sometimes didn't fit in the mailbox. He sat in the car and said "I just want to sell LEGO mini figures. You don't need to worry about them breaking in the mail and I can leave them for the mail carrier to pick up in our mailbox at our house". So from that point forward he started selling LEGO and ultimately creating his own blog site, Summerfields Toys (which is no longer active). Michael had a different business trajectory. He always had a creative eye for taking photos, usually at the point of view of very low to the ground and would go around taking pictures with my camera (and his own). At the age of 11, He got a small point and shoot camera and joined the photography club in middle school. He would also take some pictures during family vacations.  Mary Beth and I picked out a few of his pictures and made coasters out of them for our family room table and a friend of Mary Beth's commented on the photos and how unique they were. She suggested we go and sell at this large local craft fair called stART of the Street in Worcester, MA. So we took some time to pick out about 30 photos, went to a local store, Westboro Art and Frame, and they helped us narrow down to about 10 pictures we printed for sale. We did some research on selling photography at craft fairs and 3 years ago, he sold his first pictures to non-family members validating to him that his eye for taking pictures was a talent to develop. Michael's photos are on display at Slice of Heaven cafe in Jamestown, RI As for me, I always wanted to start my own business growing up but could never find the right product to sell. As it turns out, helping our boys start their own business helped me satisfy that itch, and had the great benefit of spending great time with them. I also am leveraging the editing skills of my dad so this has become a full circle family side hustle. Chapter 2) Start Small with Little to No Monetary Investment Test your idea by starting small. Can you sell or create something from the contents in your home? Big ideas can start small. Even if your plans are grand, think how you can sell a few items to start and see how it goes. Borrow from your parents (if you are a kid looking to start out). Parents, make sure you pay your kids the profit right away to keep their interest. After Matthew decided that he wanted to sell LEGO mini figures, we sat down and tried to figure out what to sell. He shared with me that the mini figures can sell, specifically the Star Wars Storm Troopers, which people need to build an army of them. Unfortunately, when you buy a set, it may only come with 2 or 3 storm troopers and to build an army, one would have to buy lots of sets and get other parts they weren't interested in as much. As a result, we bought 5 sets of LEGO 75165, Imperial Trooper Battle Pack. It came with two stormtroopers and two Imperial Death Troopers. He opened all 5 sets and sold the troopers initially in lots of 5, meaning a person would have to buy 3 sets to get 5 troopers. His offer wasn't unique to those who sold LEGO as we would periodically see similar offers on eBay but his was the cheapest. His goal was not to maximize profit but just to make some money and have fun doing it. As the mini figures sold, we started buying more and offering larger lot sizes of 10 and 20. We had a great formula for success until the product was discontinued and he had to look at other ways to sell LEGO. Matthew's initial investment was less than $100 and based on what was selling he was making about 30% profit. Michael getting read for his first craft fair the night before Michael's photography start up costs were a bit more financially expensive. It was recommended that for his initial craft fair, which attracts 30,000-50,000 people he should get two of each picture, with matting and 3 of the photos we framed as 11x14. As we learned pictures are a challenge to sell as the buyer has to have an idea of where they are going to hang it and of course the buyer has to like the photo before buying it. The are now hanging in our house as after 2 years we couldn't sell those at the price worth making any money. We spent about $400 initially to fund his pictures and he sold about $700 worth his first showing, some from family and friends but many from strangers which helped validate that he had a talent that was just starting to materialize. In both cases, we made sure we captured all the costs, including all eBay and PayPal fees for Matthew and the craft fair fees and PayPal fees for Michael. After all costs were documented on a spreadsheet, we paid the boys the profit on each product they sold, not waiting until they sold enough to break even. This was a big motivator for both kids to continue to sell as they were seeing immediate satisfaction. Depending on what you want to sell, your initial investment may vary.  For example, if you are making cupcakes, it may only cost you a few dollars for ingredients. If you are creating a blog site like this one, the costs can range from $50-$500 depending on the option you choose to set up the site. My recommendation is to start as cheap as possible to keep costs as low as you can. Regardless of what you choose to start, make sure you document your costs by item such as cost of flour and to get as granular as possible such as a bag of flour will make 10 dozen cupcakes. Then, take the cost and divide by 10 and that's how much the cost of flour is for you to make 1 dozen cupcakes. This will help greatly in the future to make sure you are selling at a profit. Chapter 3) Setting Up An Online Marketplace Pick the marketplace that fits your product. Selling art and handmade items sell best on Etsy while eBay is great for selling just about anything else. For more advanced users Amazon and Walmart offer marketplaces for general items. Specialty items such as LEGO also sell really well on sites like BrickLink and Brickset. Check to see if there is a specialty marketplace for your product. Pick one marketplace to start and learn as much as you can about it. Each site has its own unique features, benefits, and rules. Understand the costs to sell. Is there a listing fee, how much is the site taking per sale/transaction, etc? Online marketplaces are great as they connect the seller (you) with millions of potential customers. Sites like eBay have close to 200 million registered users on its site with 10's of millions active every day. Michael at his second craft fair in Worcester, MA, stART at the Station (help at the Union Train Station) The key is how do you get started. This section will not review the sign up details but things we experienced as we were starting out on eBay and Etsy. Details matter and making sure each section of your product is filled out is critical. The algorithms (just a fancy word for how the software makes decisions) are based on many factors one of which is did you complete the entire product section with things like color, shipping dimensions, and pictures- don't forget pictures. The better the picture the better your selling experience will be. If you can include more than one picture, it will help your chances of getting higher in the search and give the prospective buyer a better understanding of what you are selling.  The other major thing we have learned, especially pertaining to eBay (but I am sure for the other sites as well) is that engagement matters. It is not the type of platform where you set it up once and just watch the orders come flowing in. You have to be on it constantly, and in my opinion at least once a day in some form to have the algorithm see you are engaged (most social media platforms work in a similar way also). First, I will cover what did not work for us, mainly using the experience of my son Michael in setting up and maintaining his online Etsy store. Michael is the true definition of an artist who only wants to take pictures and has no interest in any other side of the business. The business part is what I enjoy and with my help, I set him up on Etsy. Etsy charges $.20 per listing per quarter or $.80 per year. In all, not that much if you are selling a bunch of items.  The nice thing about Etsy and eBay is you can increase your quantity and still only pay the one listing fee. With handmade or art based items, descriptions are key as the user has to search on a key word that describes your item. For Michael, his business was called touch of nature photography and he had photos and a few we turned into notecards. I played around with the search engine optimization (SEO) words on the Etsy site, but he wasn't getting very many hits. Except one day he got his first and only sale online and it turned out to be a great one.  The sale itself was only $10 for a digital print of a dam in our hometown. However, the person who bought it worked for the Massachusetts State House Library, and it was featured in 2019 in their summer display about Waterways of Massachusetts in the State House in Boston. It will also be archived in the State House library forever. It was a pretty cool and unexpected result from just a $10 sale. However, with that being his only sale, and trying multiple approaches to get his product sold, we opted to pull the listing after a year and focus solely on craft fairs which have turned out to be very successful for him. Michael's photos on display at the Massachusetts State House Library in 2019 Conversely, Matthew has had a tremendous amount of success selling on eBay and the LEGO specific site of BrickLink. Selling LEGO, or any defined product, is a bit easier as there is already a set name and number that people search. Plus there are ways eBay makes it easier to list similar products which copies over all of the relevant data. Another key factor for success is listing the product on eBay as they recommend.  For example, if eBay states the product is best sold at $7.50, if you sell for more than that, it may not sell as well because eBay will put it further down in the search listing. Conversely if you offer it for a lower price, you may get a better chance at selling but may also lose out on potential revenue. My recommendation is to always use what eBay states, at least in the beginning so you can build up your site and customer credibility until you gain the knowledge of what works and what does not. The last thing you absolutely need to understand is the platform fees. eBay recently moved to Managed Payments which ultimately cuts out their partnership with PayPal. In doing so, it costs 12.5% plus $.30 per transaction. The 12.5% is on most products but each selling category (ie toys may be different than books) is different. You may also get charged a listing fee of $.30. I have not seen it recently but when Matthew first started he had to pay listing fees.  As an example, if you sell something for $10.00, it will cost you $1.25 (which is 12.5% of $10.00) plus $.30 for a total of $1.55 just to get started. However, if you sell something for $1.00, it will cost you $.125 plus $.30 for a total of $.425 just to get started plus you have to factor in the cost of the item and if there are any shipping costs and listing fees. This is just a quick overview as I wanted to give you something to think about as you start to plan your selling strategy.  Chapter 4) Understanding Marketplace Costs Understanding selling costs from the marketplaces like eBay and Etsy can be confusing but it is possible to figure out. This blog post will help. We are going to cover just one tip because it is so important to understand and get right. If you miscalculate, you could be losing money on every sale and not know it. My goal is to prevent you from getting into that situation. In this example, I will explain the selling structure of eBay and their new Managed Payments program. The costs that will be outlined are for most products, but you will need to check the actual costs for each item category you are selling.  For example, selling books and toys are in two different categories and as such, the selling costs are different. In most categories including toys which is where Matthew's LEGO sets fall under, the cost of the category is 12.5% plus $.30 per transaction. So if you sell a product for $10.00 it will cost you $1.25 ($10.00 x .125) right? Not quite . eBay charges 12.5% on the total of the sale of the product, the shipping that the buyer paid and the tax that was collected, which varies by state (some states do not charge tax). At the time of this article being written eBay collects tax from 44 states in the US. For us to get the complete picture of how much your sale will cost, let us use the following example costs. For simplicity, we are going to say you are selling something you already own and as a result, the cost of the product is zero. You list and sell the product on eBay for $10.00 and you charge $2.76 for shipping. The buyer also lives in a state where they charge tax of 6% or $.60 ($10.00 x $.06). The total costs can be summarized as follows: Item Cost Product sale $10.00 Shipping cost $2.76 Sales tax $.60 Total cost $13.36 Based on this chart the buyer will pay eBay $13.36. One nice thing about eBay, and I assume all of these marketplace sites, is they collect the tax and pay the government tax on your behalf. This saves the seller a lot of time not having to process and pay sales tax. However, while they take care of the sales tax, they still put it in the calculation when they charge you for the sale of your product. Adding one more column to the chart above, the costs eBay will charge you in their Managed Payments program is as follows: Item eBay fee at 12.5% Cost Product sale $1.25 Buyer's shipping cost $.345 Sales tax $.075 Total cost $1.67 Transaction fee $.30 eBay's fee $1.97 In this specific example, the eBay fee is $1.97 ($13.36 x .125 plus $.30) on a product sale of $10.00 or 19.7% of the product sale. The 19.7% is much different from the 12.5% you might have been expecting and why it's so important to understand the marketplace costs so you don't lose money on the sale. When Matthew first started selling on eBay, we really did not pay attention to the costs. We knew there was a listing fee at the time of $.30 per item when he was selling the post cards but that was about it. Since he was under 18 at the time, the account was in my name and I let him list and sell.  All was going great up until I got a monthly invoice from eBay. It came as a shock to me that I owed eBay $42 and it was automatically deducted from my PayPal account at the time. I quickly started to learn about the costs eBay (and PayPal at the time) charges on each sale and built a spreadsheet to track our progress. I also helped him by building out a second tab that he could input some sample data to identify how much profit he was making on each sale. To continue how to start your own side hustle, or help a child get started, please read chapters 5-9 at Start a Side Hustle: The Family Business Method- Part 2 .

2025 Sensory Product of the Year I started exploring Italian Olive Oils from a struggle to find a good balsamic vinegar. The short version is I spoke with Louie from Extra Virgin Olio by Madge & Louie , a United States based importer of Italian Olive Oils and Vinegars. "I am beyond excited to share this TESORO Olive Oil review and announce that it was named Rooted & Refined Living's 2025 Sensory Experience 2025 Product of the Year". Olive tree from the FEUDO DISISA estate. Through that conversation, he turned me on to a world of Italian Olive Oils that made everything taste better. The full story can be read at Italian Olive Oil Review: The Peppery Difference . During the last few years, I tried many fantastic Italian Olive Oils from Madge and Louie's. The one that stood above the rest was TESORO. The Sicilian based FEDUO DISISA, which also has a line of award-winning wines , has something really special with TESORO and offers an unparalleled sensory experience. The first thing that you come in contact with is the sleek and elegant look of the black bottle with the gold lettering, giving it a premium feel. The taste is a smooth, complex flavor, with hints of artichoke, and a peppery finish. TESORO also has a great pairing versatility with pastas, caprese, meats and fish. The Rooted & Refined Living Standard:   "Unlike traditional review sites, my selection process for Product of the Year involves personal use of multiple Italian olive oils for 5 years of daily use. My family and I personally use TESORO on pastas, meats, caprese and my favorite, bread dipping. This award is a view into what we use at the Fiore dinner table." TESORO embodies what we strive for at Rooted & Refined Living. In a world increasingly shaped by technology and AI, people are craving more sensory based experiences. Also, for those in the US, I highly recommend reaching out to Louie to change the way you experience olive oils and if you are ever in Sicily, visit FEUDO DISISA for some olive oil and wine tasting. In fact, Louie, and his wife Tina may also offer Olive Oil tours in Italy and you may just get to stop by FEUDO DISISA! As a point of reflection, I have been writing about products that elevate your sensory experience for the last 6 months. To date, I have published 10 stories , based on all products I personally use and love. All of these products are amazing in their own right. As I was deciding on the Product of the Year, TESORO stood out based on how it helped elevate our cooking experience across so many dishes including pastas, caprese, steaks and fish, just to name a few. Buon appetito! Congrats again to FEUDO DISISA! ---------------------------- Selection Process Transparency: FEUDO DISISA and Extra Virgin Olio by Madge & Louie did not have any input in this decision, nor was I compensated for this award selection. As shared on previous posts, some of the links are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

Photo by Sid Saxena "Disclaimer: This article shares personal experiences and is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice and should not replace professional medical consultation." I am not an avid reader. I wish I was but never truly enjoyed reading (until I found a few purpose and longevity books that I will share below). I do recall going to visit bookstores and the library on many occasions where I would walk in and wish I could absorb all of the great information by osmosis. When I was growing up, my schools didn't require a lot of reading either. I remember reading The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and Catch-22 by Joseph Heller but that was about it. In fact, most of my time was spent reading the daily comic strips in the newspaper with my favorite being Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. If you don't know about Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin is a 6-year-old boy and Hobbes is his stuffed tiger but comes to life in his imagination and they do great things together as well as get in a bit of trouble. I miss that strip and now pick up a daily dose on Facebook. You can also pick up the books as individual or the complete collection on Amazon. Balancing my love for Calvin and Hobbes, I have fallen in love with two books that I would recommend to anyone. More importantly, these two book recommendations are rooted in everything we do within this lifestyle website. The first book focuses on your purpose and the second focuses on your longevity, and honestly both go hand in hand. Purpose and Longevity Books The first of the intentional living books is Start with Why by Simon Sinek. Simon gained popularity around the world from his TED Talk on the same topic. The book helps you understand why your why is so important. Basically, it's your purpose in life. Simon created a company around it called the Optimism Company. The company's why is " We are here to inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that, together, each of us can change our world for the better ." This video catapulted Simon Sinek to a household name. Even if you watched it before, it's a great reminder to help center yourself and your purpose in life. To give you a personal example, I like to help others. Very early in my career, I started mentoring colleagues and still do so today. I also spent a few years as an Adjunct Professor which I loved and hope to be able to do it again in the future. As well, I was a TEDx speaker on a topic of personal productivity, wrote a blog series on it, and even created a Udemy course about it. I post an article each year around college graduation on advice from others in the business world, both experienced and recent graduates. These last few items are pinned to my LinkedIn profile if you would like to know more. So regardless of what action I am taking, if I can relate it back to helping people, such as this starting this website, it aligns to my why. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip:   "Think back to your favorite book as a child. Take a trip to your local library and find a quiet place to read it. Settle into the emotions of how it makes you feel. Enjoy the elevated sensory experience." The second book is The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner. The book chronicles 9 regions around the world that have a significantly higher than average life expectancy. Dan, originally highlighted the regions with a blue marker on a map, hence the name, visited each region and interviewed many of the individuals who were well into their 90's, 100's and beyond. Dan Buettner's approach is no special diets, no fad exercise routines...just simple movement, eat beans , and socialize. There were a few key themes that emerged from his book including movement (walking, gardening, exercise) and eating a plant-based diet , with a strong focus on beans based on their combination of supplying protein, fiber, and other key nutrients at a very low cost. Two of the other key factors was having purpose (such as volunteering, helping others, i.e.- finding your why) and connection, such as having good friends. Driven from much of what I read in the Blue Zones, I have a mindset to live to at least 100. Hiking in Stowe, Vermont I turned 50 last year, and people look at me funny when I tell them I’m at least five years away from my midpoint. Yup, my plan is to live to at least 110. Living to 100 makes you a Centenarian. Living to 110 makes you a Supercentenarian. That’s my plan. It’s really a mindset more than anything else. I eat right and try to do all of the things that will keep me healthy, but I don't go overboard. I do eat cookies and drink wine occasionally, but for the most part, I live a healthy lifestyle. By subscribing to the concepts in the Blue Zones, I started putting beans into my daily smoothies, walk frequently and try to get a much movement as possible, connect with friends and family, focus on meditation and other stress related activities like walking without my phone, and offering help to people, such as publishing this website to have people get closer to sensory experiences they had when they were kids. As well, if you read many of my other stories in each of the sections, you can follow along to the activities and mindset I follow. It didn't happen overnight, but it does make a difference in how I approach life. Regardless of your age, enjoy life! As you have read through this entire post, you can only see there are just 2 book recommendations (outside of Calvin and Hobbes). What books have helped you level up your lifestyle? Cover photo by Sid Saxena For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

"Disclaimer: This personal story is for informational purposes and is not medical advice." Just a picture to give you a little sense of calm. Last night, I watched the movie Woman of the Hour . It's a story of a serial killer based on true events. I watched it because Mary Beth was on the phone. She avoids intense movies since they make her anxious. Surprisingly, the film affected me too. That anxious feeling is the same reason why I am stopping the news and to regain my sense of calm. Normally, I can handle this genre without a hitch. To make matters worse, we then turned on the news to catch up on the day’s political events. While the news wasn’t horrific, the combination of the movie and the news left me feeling unsettled. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip:   "News is like clutter and removing it will feel like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders." As we do every night, we wrapped up our bedtime TV routine with an episode of Friends . Sometimes we only watch halfway, but other nights we enjoy the full episode. This routine helps Mary Beth (more than me) calm her mind. Last night, it helped me too. My Relationship with News Last night’s experience was unusual for me. I realized I hardly watch the news anymore. It's been about ten years since I made a conscious effort to cut back. I used to tune in every night, and my social media feeds were filled with news stories. You probably know how social media algorithms work, they feed you what you engage with. The more you watch something, the more it appears. Your brain operates similarly, but that’s a topic for another time. Now, if a major event occurs, I usually hear about it from Mary Beth or our kids, not through social media or TV. I’ve even set my social media feeds to exclude news entirely. Here’s how successful I was in eliminating news from my social media: I received ZERO notifications when Queen Elizabeth passed away a few years ago. The only way I found out was through my family. I also only got one notification about the winner of the last presidential election. Today, political news seeps into business and entertainment posts. As a result, I’ve had to unsubscribe from various outlets to reduce the negativity that news brings. Video of the stream behind my house after a few nice days melting 2 feet of snow. This is to help provide you with a sense of calm. Best is to just listen to the water falling. If you close your eyes, you may be able to hear multiple spots where the water is falling. Stopping the News For me, news, whether political or local, is often 95% bad or anxiety-inducing. I strive daily to eliminate these sources from my life. For instance, I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, hoping to read about business news. However, 90% of their front-page articles have political headlines. Earlier this year, I unsubscribed from several other business publications for the same reason. I re-signed up for WSJ because there were articles I genuinely wanted to read. Instead of consuming news that seems to consume me, I focus on what uplifts me. Some might say I live in a bubble. But I prefer to eliminate negativity that comes from watching, listening to, or reading the news. By choosing to eliminate negativity, I create space for positive thoughts. The Neuroscience of Filtering Information Lately, I’ve been diving into neuroscience. One fascinating topic is how our brains filter what we want to see, much like social media algorithms. Did you know your brain processes 11 billion (yes, with a B) bits of information every second? Yet, you only consciously process about 40 bits per second. Think about that. It’s such a small number that my phone calculator struggled to display it. When I divided 40 by 11 billion, I got .0000000036. That’s an incredibly tiny fraction of what our brains process. Consider when you’re driving. You focus on the road and maybe the car in front of you. But what about the hundreds of trees whizzing by or the clouds overhead? Your brain filters them out. By choosing what we allow into our minds, we can create more space to elevate our sensory experiences. One specific meditative practice that I engage in on a daily basis is having a hot cup of loose leaf tea . Embracing Positivity So, why not filter out the news and opt for a good comedy instead? You might feel better as a result. I know I do. 😊 Cover photo by Cole Keister and post photo by Nadine Marfurt.

"Disclaimer: This article shares personal experiences and is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice and should not replace professional medical consultation." Photo by Mikey Frost I have always been a breakfast eater. I remember when I was a kid, my mom would always make me breakfast. Sometimes it was eggs, other times it was pancakes or waffles. Some days, I would make myself breakfast cereal with milk. My Blue Zone smoothie journey has been nothing short of evolutionary. The thing that I loved the most was reading the back of the cereal box. That is what we did before the days of scrolling on a cell phone. As I became an adult, I continued to eat breakfast but during the work week, I would usually have breakfast cereal augmented by eggs on the weekend. About 7 or 8 years ago, I noticed that I wasn't feeling great after breakfast (even after switching to the healthier, organic cereals. I don't know if it was the milk sensitivity or the lack of real nutrition that was derived from the cereal, even though it was fortified with vitamins. After consulting with some friends, my wife and I embarked on making smoothies. We purchased an organic protein powder with Mary Beth choosing the chocolate flavor and me picking the veggie flavor. Researching the ingredients, it had everything we could ask for including 20 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber (21% of your daily allowance) and up to 50% of the daily allowance needed across over 15 vitamin categories. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip:   "Smoothies can provide a complete meal experience. Periodically assess how your daily smoothie is making you feel and make adjustments as needed. Treat the process as an ongoing experiment in sensory health. Assess how you feel two hours post-consumption, both physically and cognitively. Make adjustments as needed." Mary Beth's smoothies were fairly basic with the protein powder, a banana, ice, one or two other supplements and she was good to go. Mine was much more involved adding frozen fruit, bananas, ginger, and a few other items. Over time, my smoothie kept getting more involved. I should mention now that I pre-make the smoothies on Sunday for the 5 workdays, usually still having eggs or an Acia bowl on the weekends. In general, I felt great and so much better than I did when I was having cereal and milk. I even talked about it in my TEDx Talk, How Drinking Olive Oil and Curiosity Changed My Life . However, a few months ago, Mary Beth started to pull back on her smoothies referencing that she was starting to feel bloated from them, and for me, it wasn't having the same effect that it had when I started. Something was off and I couldn't put my finger on it. Then I read a post by Azadeh Gharehgozlou about protein bars and the reason why people are experiencing the same symptoms as Mary Beth. It was the way some of the proteins were processed. As a result, I decided to do something which seemed a bit radical but honestly, not that strange once I started digging into it a bit more. I replaced my protein powder with a combination of 1 can of Black Beans and 1 can of Garbanzo Beans (also known as Chickpeas). I think I almost gave my mom a heart attack reading this as I can't tell you how many times she tried to get me to eat beans as a kid. Now I am putting them in my smoothies and consuming them daily. The reality is that the black and garbanzo beans don't have a taste, and their texture gets mixed in with everything else. I do want to share that I do eat both on a regular basis anyway, but this is a deliberate way to consume both daily. I also wrote in another post, The Books That Transformed My Purpose and Longevity , where the author, Dan Buettner shared that one of the best foods that people consume in the Blue Zones regions are beans and they are consumed on a daily basis due to their inexpensive cost combined with their high protein and fiber content. For those of you who are wondering, here is what I put into my smoothies. I use an older version of the Ninja Professional and we also have this Ninja blender version for more daily use. My Blue Zone Smoothie Ingredient List: Frozen Wild Maine Blueberries Frozen Organic Strawberries Frozen Pineapples Frozen Spinach 2 Bananas 1 can of Black Beans 1 can of Garbanzo Beans 3 Tablespoons of Local Honey 2 Tablespoons of Pure Maple Syrup 3 cubes of fresh cut Ginger 1 Fresh Turmeric Root (or 1 tablespoon of the Turmeric Spice ) 1/4 cup of Steel Cut Oats (I pre-grind them so I am not chewing my smoothie) Ground Pepper 1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon of Cayanne Pepper 5 scoops of Bran 2 scoops of Peanut Butter Powder 2 scoops of Cacao Powder Daily, I add a trio blend of Chia, Hemp, and Flax Seed Mix (because it will expand and harden if premade) I think I got it all. I know this combination of foods is not for everyone (including my family), but it works for me. Plus, I know I am getting a well-balanced breakfast each day. I would love to hear about your breakfast / smoothie experiences in the comments below. For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.