Social Media Detox | Productivity without The Gram or The Book

Introduction: Business school was a lot of work. During b-school, I took a severe break from Facebook and Instagram, starting with the deletion of the Facebook Mobile application. Deleting the app turned into deactivating my account for a while. While others were earning stripes on Facebook Pages and Business, I was analyzing classic business cases of corporations such as Coca-Cola, The Ritz, and IBM to name a selective few.

As a cannabis entrepreneur, Instagram or Facebook is a subpar place for business owners to spend much time unless you are skilled (like Gretta van Riel) because these channels can be a bit distracting. Don’t get me wrong; if you are a business owner, you should certainly have a business page, but leave the posting, and such to the pros, I’m certainly not a pro. Still, skilled people want to operate my business pages, which means I won’t get caught up in the distractions of friends, families, ex-crushes, and those clout chasing! Inspired by my own decision to cut off Facebook and Instagram, I stepped away from them again, this time for 21-day+ detox. I deleted those apps from my phone, and now I’m here to share how the first two weeks went! To summarize my experience, here are three main takeaways from the detox. Following these three points are daily summarizes of my time spent away from The Gram and Facebook — mobile applications.

1. LinkedIn Post and Engagements went through the roof
2. I became more observant of my son interaction with tech
3. The urge to use became less as days progressed

Aug 26th | Day One: There is an extreme amount of road work and construction going on from Providence, RI to Worcester, MA and throughout the local streets. Within the last week, I caught a flat tire, a couple of days later, my wife also caught a flat tire, and on that same day, my business partner caught a flat. On the first morning of my Social Detox, I checked my phone at 7:50 AM, and Jessica was not happy. Jess and my sons left our house to head for daycare; it’s the first day of school. She is a Special Education Teacher and was not interested in being late. When Jessica and the boys left, I went to meditate in our yard, before checking my phone. I had a feeling Jessica would need something as she caught a flat tire, but everything worked out fine. During the time of coordinating the repair and juggling conference calls, I saw that my boy Hakeem Valles shared a video I posted. Being less distracted by Facebook, I have more social time to network with businesspeople and build value with one another. After Hakems shared my video, I received a few connection requests and direct messages regarding Cannabis opportunities. (Link to Post)

To end the day, Laury Lucien (my business partner) and I smoked a joint and changed her tire. In the streets of Worcester, we were embraced by a gentleman by the name of Albert, who gave us a hand removing the flat and securing the spare. Albert, incarcerated for 15-years, recently got out of jail a few months ago. We smoked Albert up for his help, and because Laury is a lawyer, we thought it would be a good idea to exchange contacts. Laury and I both believe in specific expungement initiatives. Although Albert been in the “system” for nearly 20-years, he has a good heart. So many “Gram-Worthy” moments. I’m happy to share these stories on LinkedIn because I will spend the time to reflect on daily events and appreciate them.

Aug 27th | Day Two: With five hours of sleep, I woke up at 7 AM to help my wife with the boys and prepare them for school and daycare. The cleaners were supposed to come, and I told Jessica, I’d be going back to sleep. WRONG! I had a few emails I wanted to send out, so I grabbed my two phones and laptop and did some work back in bed. After a few text messages and emails, I stepped outside to feel the air before getting dressed. I touched the earth in orbit and felt the Fall season. I also contacted a few million-dollar contracts for Major Bloom before leaving Worcester to head to Providence. After appreciating the wet grass on my crocs, I grab a waffle, snacks, water, and juice. Before I left the house, I sent up some prayers. I visited Major Bloom’s Worcester location to chat business with a local partner before heading down to Providence to spend the day into the evening at the office.

I still hold a position as a full-time sales manager until the end of September. I spent the day on Google hangout meetings and fielding recruiting calls. By the evening, I was writing emails and preparing for an in-person meeting with a few sales reps. While at the office, I’m watching notifications for comments, messages, and also interacting with posts that resonate with me. I don’t see a lot, if any, post on Linkedin, which involves thought leadership around the cannabis space. It is becoming clear that I need to continue posting about Major Bloom and our story. LinkedIn is the platform to build one of our content pillars.

Aug 28th | Day Three: My business partner is fantastic. She is like my mom, sister, wife, friend, all in one! We had an 8 AM call, and it was great to hear from her at that time. She made me smile when she told me she hadn’t slept from the night before. We are both on a tight schedule with another call at 9 AM to discuss our Attleboro project. I’m spending the day around Worcester. I love to stay home and work, but on this day without Instagram, I’m spending money in the community. I got my hair done down the street from our Worcester location. After that, I went to a local eye doctor to order some new lenses. I also made an appointment for a Physical because I haven’t seen my primary care doctor in years.

Commuting around Worcester as a business owner, it feels good to be a part of the local economy. Later in the day, my wife and I took my oldest son to get a hair cut. Our barber loves his curly hair, and she (female Barber and business owner of MVP’s in Worcester) says Cam speaks well for a 3-year old. He has a rich vocabulary. After the barber, the family and I spent some quality time listening to music, playing with toys, and cooking dinner: no phones or iPads, just Kanye West and Frank Oceans playlist, and mushroom pasta. Cam loves his iPad, but I’ve noticed when mom and I aren’t in front of screens, he tends not to be. Let the detox continue!

Aug 29th | Day Four: Taking control of your life is taking control of your time. I am spending time developing financial skills. Before Major Bloom, I’ve had experience running a business, running with marijuana, working for other people, working with my friends, managing people, and selling. Major Bloom combines my lifetime work and skills, which guides me to use my intuition to make decisions. On the fourth day, I’ve started to realize that not spending 15, 30, 60 minutes a day on Instagram and Facebook, and I now use “downtime” effectively. My daily goals are clear and straightforward. With the sum of two multi-million investment deals on the table, I have to prioritize, think decisions through, but also make decisions promptly.

There are a few disciplines in school, and within my professional career that I’ve felt below average, and finance is one of them. Not only have I felt below average, but I’ve also actually failed numerous economics, statistics, finance, and accountant classes. No learning in a real-world setting, I read, ask questions, think of ideas, collaborate, and take action.

Aug 30th | Day Five: “It’s a nice sunny day,” my oldest son frequently says. He is heading to G-mamas (grandmother) for the weekend to enjoy a cousin’s birthday party. Of course, Dad is on more conference calls and creating. Although I’m not using Instagram and Facebook mobile, I’m still creating videos and writing for LinkedIn. I’m uploading videos on the Major Bloom Business Pages for both LinkedIn and Facebook.

After I dropped my oldest son off, it was time to prepare for a wedding in Cape Cod, MA. The last wedding my wife and I went to, just a few weeks ago in New Port, we met a few outstanding people. Nowadays, when I meet people, we connect on LinkedIn, we do not exchange business cards. I feel that Instagram is a bit superficial, and I want to hear more about your intellect, not how you impress your followers. As a professional, it feels right to connect with people on a professional network.

Aug 31th | Day Six: It’s the last day of the month, and it’s a long weekend. I finally get around to posting a video before heading to the wedding. We met up with some friends we haven’t seen in a couple of years and carpooled to the wedding. No location posted for me and no photos of the wedding. My wife and friends do an excellent job at that, taking flicks and posting to the gram. My wife often says, she scrolls on the gram to relax! My time relaxing is in meditation. However, it’s ok; I try to meditate enough for the two of us! In many ways, my wife and I are opposites in so many ways, but love brings us together. Very happy to have spent time with her and good friends!

Sept 1st | Day Seven: There are a few routes and highways which I’ve traveled many times, so these routes keep me present and grounded. Cape Cod routes are ones that keep me present. I reflect on the past and have faith in the future. The day after the wedding, my wife and I stayed at her mother’s house in Brewster, MA. My wife and I also were married in the Cape five years ago. It makes us feel old when friends haven’t been dating as long as our marriage. The road to a happy life is a happy family. The wife and the kids must receive much love. When you feel passionate about something, love is abundant. I feel and abundance of love for Major Bloom and my family.

Love is necessary for difficult conversations. As a co-founder of Major Bloom, I’ve contributed a significant amount of my funds to start the business. The time sacrificed away from the gram and Facebook has helped me become productive. Shifting time to productive activities is like investing money into a profitable endeavor. As Major Bloom nears the first round of funding, the managing partners need to discuss organizational structure further and expectations as we acquire cash. I appreciate all the work and perspective infused through the partners and our resources. I’m confident in our success because my faith is in the universe and good energy. We support each other, and I think that’s how the world needs to function. Always help others.

Sept 2nd | Day Eight: Nearly 30 years after American slavery became abolished, Labor Day became a federal holiday. As a sales manager having both hourly and salaried employees reporting to me, I also worked and supporting reps in the field this labor day. I’ve been providing home services for over 15-years. I’ve interacted with thousands of customers at their residents, and on this day, I took a lunch meeting with my oldest son. It was a great day because I have the pleasure of watching him grow, much like my business.

While managing a successful sales team, I helped get one of my sales reps promoted so that he is now a successor. When he and I interviewed, he explained to me why he had aspirations of becoming a manager, and I told him I’d help. Together, we’ve hired over 20 retail and field sales reps, and as a new manager, he is leading the leaders and closing $2M in business in the month of August. We are working on Labor Day, talking shop over Mexican food. I’m proud to have had a successful sales team, but I’m more pleased to help others reach their goals.

Sept 3rd | Day Nine: Student loans are not fun. I make a decent living, so Uncle Sam is asking for more money. The man who financed my MBA is also asking for his money. The man is always emailing me to notify me I learned $1,800 worth of material per month. The man who paid for my education has a hot-line! So I called on this day and told his friends, “I prefer to defer” while investing in my business. His friend asked for a pay statement without my sales commission, and I said no problem! My commission is paid once a month and makes a significant difference to the agency tracking my school loans.

The government has loan forgiveness programs for state and federal employees. I believe the government should also have loan forgiveness for minority entrepreneurship. I have visions of paying off my student loans in large chunks with the money I make from my marijuana company, Major Bloom. Don’t get me wrong; I deserve the man coming down on me, I’m just not phased. My MBA experience while purchasing a house, getting married, having a child, and working full-time has helped me become the entrepreneur I am today. All Instagram and Facebook worth events, yet I take more pride in paying off student loans with drug money!

Sept 4th | Day Ten: Salary, Commission and Bonus money has been my income since ’14. Once I finished business school, I become aware of goals in life I needed to obtain:

1. Start a Business
2. Volunteer More
3. Teach Business

As a Volunteer on the Properties Committee for Central MA YMCA, my work is not Instagram worthy. Time away from Facebook & Instagram mobile has helped refocus my efforts as our meetings start to pick up after being off for the summer. Right down the street from the Central branch, YMCA is Clark University. I will be guest lecturing there this Fall and Teaching a class in the Spring! I’m incredibly excited to continue to contribute to the local Worcester community.

Sept 5th | Day Eleven: It’s ironic to engage in this 21-day detox and meet someone who notices me from Facebook. My Primary Care Doctor’s Phlebotomist used the same Photographer my wife and I went to for family photos. My wife is Italian, and the Phlebotomist remembers me because our mixed kids have “nice skin,” as people say often. She also likes my tattoos and the fact that my veins pop out like a body-builder. My kids and tatts are Instagram material, but I feel they bring no value to anyone, so why post? I’m not looking for likes or attention. I’m in search of meaningful relationships and freedom.

After the doctor’s office, I moved across town to get my oil changed, which is a perfect time to take a 30-min sales conference call. Right next door is a Honey Dew Donuts. On this beautiful sunny day, I took my call outside and purchased coffee for the Mechanic that was working on my car. I couldn’t help but notice the reality that Police Officers enjoy their coffee and Donuts. During that brief time, a few officers drove thru. Less of reality, later that day, was a therapy session. What I mean by “less of reality” is the fact that in our (black & other people of color) community, we often don’t see a therapist. I know Michael Jordan and Kanye West have referenced their therapist, but I can honestly say therapists in communities of color are rare, and I’d like to see that change.

Therapist sessions or life coaches are not only there in the time of a crisis but also to help celebrate and strategize on life. Here is a list of mobile apps that help you manage your mental health.

Sept 6th | Day Twelve: Contracts are tricky when you have little to no experience vetting the service. I’ve done construction work, and I’ve sold contracts. Up until last year, I’ve never built out a retail store, yet I don’t let my inexperience slow me down! At this point, creating a team of supportive folks who are not trying to screw me over is the goal not only for construction but for any other services involving my business.

This day started with a design call and ended with a design networking event. The design call was for construction, and the design networking event was for my business’s digital presence. Moreover, it’s between these two worlds physical and digital; I love and strive for both exploration and exploitation. I don’t know it all, but I know enough to make the right decisions to set my company apart from any other business in the space. My goal isn’t to obtain “likes,” but I want to get the job done in a unique enough way, which creates value for customers and our local community.

Sept 7th | Day Thirteen: The mix of corporate, office and fieldwork is beyond fascinating to me because the world has an abundance of multi-meaning thoughts, words, and actions. All things existing (in the physical world) were once ideas, and we all have the option to perceive the concept as negative or positive, good or bad. Office work is work achieved in an office. Fieldwork is the compensation of products or services outside of your companies corporate office. Additionally, you have the work from home type, and the branch or regional work, which is work executes outside your headquarters.

My fieldwork started at age 14, supporting a family cleaning service. The discipline I encountered gave me the freedom to do what most teenagers wouldn’t get away with at the time or even today. From cleaning houses in home town to working with restaurant owners in cities across the state, and I did so with marijuana on me the majority of the time. My experience shaking and moving from homes to businesses prepared me for field sales work in solar. As a solar sales leader in the field, I spent time shadowing other sales reps to help coach and build their business. I continue to dedicate efforts to this type of work for nearly 20-years, and I’m just getting started, why? Because in my teen’s running with weed, legalization wasn’t even a thought. Moreover, early in my career as a field sales leader, marijuana is as kosher as a happy hour.

Do you see where I’m going with this? — Expressing this perspective does no justice on Instagram. Never convicted of a marijuana crime, and I’m so thankful because it could have limited my valuable corporate sales experience. In fact, in college (before the gram), my apartment got searched by authorities on a few different occasions while there was marijuana present, and I walked away with no offenses. So now that I’m an entrepreneur building a legal business, you can understand why I’m passionate about the local community. My work in the field has prepared me to contribute to the legal market.

Sept 8th | Day Fourteen: In a perfect world, we all pursue our passion and purpose in our lives. You would read, learn, and gain experience because you love what you do. As you acquire knowledge towards your target, you now have to find a way to monetize your expertise and share knowledge. It’s all very awkward, which is where I thrive, uncomfortable settings, and situations. According to a 2017 Gallup Poll, only 15% of people enjoy their job. That number is extraordinarily low and somewhat disturbing. Even when I had small paying jobs or when I was in a toxic office job, I remained pleasant because tough times will not last forever. You have to be in the mindset that if you set out to achieve a goal and you have faith, anything that gets in your way, and aids your progression is a blessing.

It’s Sunday, and I barely go to church, although my father is on his way to becoming a Bishop. Sunday will always have a “holy feel,” acting as a day for reflection. Like a preacher who prepares his sermon for service or like a professor, creating lectures for her class, I’m committed to creating thought leadership content in the marijuana space.

Conclusion: In June 2018, Instagram reached one billion monthly active users, up from 800 million in September 2017. There is no question; the mobile application has tremendous value for businesses because there are a ridiculous amount of users. News can be distracting with gimmicks and superficial images. I can’t help but think that the foundation of a business is insecure when built on one social media platform. It’s inevitable; social media platforms burn faster than most companies. The owner of the pizza shop started a myspace account and moved over to Facebook. He upgraded to the Facebook business and integrated it with Instagram. What’s next? I genuinely believe that LinkedIn is a great platform to be productive, authentic, and professional. Beyond social media, spend time to find your purpose, and everything else will fall in line.