This is my first Substack post, and it reminds me of the time I wrote my first Blogger post sometime back in 2004. It started as a curiosity and grew into a bit of an obsession. We’ll see if I have that same enthusiasm nearly 20 years later.
I’m Carolyn Rodz, faithful optimist, often at the expense of my husband and kids who secretly light up when I snap and shout expletives once a year. As I write this, I’m sitting in an airport lounge, nursing my kneecap after I fell, spread eagle, while walking off the airplane jetway. In addition to running a multi-million dollar business, I am also a klutz.
About a year and a half ago, my family moved to Galicia, Spain, in search of ocean views and temperate weather and lush green hills. Thankfully, we found it here. Mostly, when I tell people we moved, they look at me like I’m crazy. Then they Google where Galicia is. For context, it’s in the northwest corner of the country, just over the northern border of Portugal.
Nothing in my life really goes as planned. I didn’t think at age 44 I’d be running a tech company. Or planting vineyards in Galicia. Or counseling heads of state on the state of small business. Or spending my weekends sailing on the ocean. But it all happened because I got rejected from my college of choice, nudged out of a corporate job, and ran my first business into the ground. Life is funny that way.