Blake Mycoskie from Tom's Shoes

Stumbled on this interview with Blake Mycoskie of Tom's Shoes in Inc. Magazine last night. Some fascinating bits from it.

First, the stats: He's 33, lives on a boat outside of Marine del Ray, and has a 10-person management team run his company, while he's on the road most of the time. Each time you buy a pair of their shoes, they donate another pair to people in the third-world countries, who need shoes.

"I usually get up at 8:30, have a Cliff Bar for breakfast, and spend a few hours thinking and writing before going in to the office. Almost every morning I write in my journal. I've been keeping one for a long time--I've filled more than 50 books. I write about what's going on in my personal and spiritual life or what's going on at work. It helps me keep things in perspective, especially when things get crazy or I get stressed or we have obstacles."

That's pretty cool, if you ask me. Journaling each morning about his personal and spiritual life. I wonder how many Fortune 500 CEOs do that on most mornings?

I've just picked up journaling again, after reading that. I've done it extensively in periods, but have always fallen out of the habit again. It is very helpful.

Do you keep a journal?

Have you incorporated giving into your business?

Another quote:

I've read a lot of business biographies. I dropped out of college when I was a sophomore, so those were my education in business. I've probably read 40 to 50 of them--on Michael Eisner, David Geffen, Howard Schultz. Ted Turner's autobiography is really interesting, and so is Sam Walton's. I read that one very early in my career.

The great thing about biographies is the subjects have already been successful, so they're not insecure about their failures. Howard Schultz doesn't mind talking about all the dumb things he did when he started Starbucks. Reading about those mistakes taught me a lot.

Another famous entrepreneur who tends to steer away from traditional business books and instead focus primarily on biographies, is Jason Fried of 37signals. Seems smart to learn directly from people who've dunnit. Ted Turner bio ordered.