I know, I have not blogged in a while. I am sorry, and I do plan to make it up to you. I have a great excuse, though. You see, I was busy looking for just the right job. I decided that I would stop taking new clients way back on January first 2012. I updated my bio and résumé really nicely, and went to work seeking work. What I found was astonishing!

In order that you may excuse my absence and in hopes that you will find your way back here for more sensible marketing advice (you subscribe to my blog, right?) - I want to share what I’ve been up to. This is how I shared it on Facebook, so rather than totally re-write it … here it is:

The time has finally come when I can make the announcement I have waited anxiously to share.

As my friends know, I made a decision in early 2012 to change my career path. I had simply stopped feeling the love in my work, and I was ready for a monumental change. The change I had expected was to work as a Chief Marketing Officer or Senior Vice President of marketing for a corporation other than my own. That would be a big change, but it was very exciting to me, and felt like a breath of fresh air. The biggest obstacle would be to find a company I could respect and feel good about.

My path was changing for a few years - but 2012 was monumental. As a marketing professional since the late 1980’s, I realized a huge shift since 2009 the likes of which I had not seen in the preceding decades. It was as if clients were almost intentionally sabotaging their own companies and stopped taking even the most prudent and well-researched advice. They all seemed to gain confidence in their own “gut feelings” (mostly fear-induced) while putting solid market research and planning to waste.

Many companies became increasingly confident that Facebook and Twitter would save their businesses, and that purpose-centered strategy and planning was mythical - like hunting leprechauns from the back of a unicorn.

The business shortsightedness I have witnessed, from large companies and small companies alike, made my work feel unbearable. It became harder all the time to refrain from choking people when I could provide solid mathematics to show why they would soon be out of business without changing their ways. It started to feel like the whole world had gone mad - and it really kind of did.

After a lot of searching for a company that could give me a special feeling where I could use my talents and enjoy my work, I finally found one in an unexpected place.

You see, I have been a chief executive of a leading technology company for many years, and a marketing consultant for many more. Mostly, people do not really even understand the work I have done - but I have done it well, and with great pride and integrity.

It was very rewarding, but change is inevitable.

Today is the day when I begin my “do-over” and begin to enjoy my career again.

A short time ago, earlier today, I wrote a check that sets me on a new career path. that check was to open a new location for Mad Eliza’s Cakes and Confections (Mad Eliza’s on Facebook). This is an established company we created in 2009 and managed by my wife, Peggy. The company has earned a great reputation, and amazing base of customers that have truly filled our hearts.

We have talked about expansion for years, but we knew that my market value was significantly high enough to make it worth having Peggy commute from New York, San Francisco, Seattle - or wherever we ended up - to Topeka, in order to complete existing customer orders and then shut the doors on Mad Eliza’s.

Then, after a recent wedding consultation, we both reflected on how much joy it brings us to serve our customers. That is when we decided my search was over. We already owned the company that would become my new full-time passion.

This has been a very thoroughly planned endeavor and one which has been a very emotional and exciting one for our family.

We expect construction of our new facility to begin in late September and we have planned for a November first opening date.

We are excited to announce our new Wanamaker Road location coming soon. We hope that you will come and see us and continue to share the joy we have come to love about our customers.

Very soon, you will not have to order so long in advance, and we will be there to serve you when you find yourself in need of a cupcake, a slice of cheesecake, a cookie, cinnamon roll, or a cup of coffee.