This summer, while my daughter and other kids went to summer camp, I spent a weekend at what you might call an adult summer camp … at Sara Blakely and Jesse Itzler’s house.

No, it wasn’t all running around throwing water balloons in our Spanx (Sara is the founder of Spanx). The idea was “Live Life for a Living,” and it was a chance for the grown-ups, so use to worrying about our kids’ development and happiness, to take time out to network, learn and escape from our everyday lives to the idyllic setting of Candlewood Lake in Connecticut.

The “campers” were a diverse group of 50 business professionals from all over the world –from authors to zoologists. There were daily seminars on a variety of topics from entrepreneurship and mental toughness to time management and happiness; relaxation and rejuvenation activities, including morning yoga, hikes, massages and cold plunges; plus waterskiing, cliff jumping, boating and some late night entertainment by Def Jef and Arrested Development.

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Here]s an article I wrote for American Consequences magazine – I think it’s interesting to see the difference between retail investors and institutional.

https://americanconsequences.com/blue-apron-a-two-sided-tale-on-wall-street/

As a child I was always asked what I wanted to be when I grew up – I always had an answer, but never a reason why. So when my daughter told me she wanted to work for the ASPCA someday I decided to take her there and see if she really wanted to…

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And the dying art of wining & dining on Wall Street – here’s the link to a new magazine American Consequences – Read Article

After graduation, I made millions of dollars climbing to the top of Mount Wall Street. It took years, but I did it. Then I lost it all falling face first off the side of the mountain.

Eventually, I walked away from the business and reinvented myself. But in order to fall from great heights, you first need to know how to get there. At the beginning of my career, it was all the jobs I didn’t get that ended up changing my life.

I moved to New York City in a U-Haul with a giant lobster and “America’s Moving Adventure – Maine” written on the side of it, wearing L.L. Bean boots and a flannel shirt. Shortly thereafter, I got a job on Wall Street.

As a B student with a journalism degree and a 970 SAT score, I was an unlikely candidate for Wall Street success. Hell, I was an unlikely candidate for Wall Street mediocrity. But I did know how to do one thing: How to plant, water and watch seeds grow.

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“What’s the point of having f— you money if you never say f— you?” – Bobby Axelrod (Damien Lewis) in the Showtime series “Billions”

F— you money is a common expression on Wall Street. You work hard to earn that obscene paycheck so f—you, I’m going to spend hard, too. Bobby Axelrod’s No. 2 at Axe Capital, “Wags” is famous for one-liners about indulgence like “Yo, b—es! Saddle up. Body shots and sushi at the strip joint, on me.”

Real-life hedgies like Wags know f—you money is offensive and they don’t care. Spend it if you got it.

“Why not?” a portfolio manager responded when asked why he spends so extravagantly. “It’s simple math, I make a lot so I spend a lot. If the AmEx bill comes in under $20k, I wonder what I did wrong that month.”

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