<p>Hello, I wanted to address that I am a few days later than I'd like to be with this post. I recorded this episode as episode 9, but when I started uploading the podcasts I ended up combining episode 6 and 7 into episode 6 pt.1 and 6 pt. 2. That is why this is 'Learning to be a Food Entrepreneur Episode 8' and not episode 9 .&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>In This Episode</strong></p> <p>There were a ton of updates in this episode that I briefly go over. First and foremost I updated my sound equipment! If you think the pop filter and mic stand helped the quality of the podcast please let me know! <br> <br> Besides the equipment update there were 7 things I wanted to talk about:</p> <ul> <li>My first (failed) experiment making Kombucha</li> <li>My experience volunteering at New Roots in Louisville Kentucky. I volunteered at 1 event, went to 1 meeting, and volunteered 1 other time.</li> <li>I started taking photos around Louisville. I now have a ton of photos on my hard drive and am always looking to grow my image portfolio.&nbsp;</li> <li>I met with someone to talk cryptocurrency &amp; blockchain at a coffee shop.</li> <li>I traveled to Mansfield Missouri to visit a Food company startup called The Local Food Center.</li> <li>Lastly, I talk about how I started adding to a book list I created which was inspired by a podcast called 'The Investors Podcast':</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- Check List Manifesto <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- Death and Life of Great American Cities<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- Good to Great</p> <p><strong>In Hindsight</strong></p> <p>Listening to this podcast before uploading it, I am filled with so many feelings. Going into it, I didn't truly understand how transformative 2018 would be on my life. There are a few things here that stuck out to me, and you can find them below.&nbsp;</p> <p>My food manufacturing/cooking/formulating experiments have all but stopped. Now (1/1/2020), my experiments focus more on learning efficient ways to grow produce in a limited area and thinking of ways to apply technology to augment that process.<br> <br> I thought volunteering at New Roots was a valuable experience. I haven't been over there or reached out to them since the end of 2017, but even now I hear their name come up from time to time. &nbsp;I still volunteer some of my time, I will expand on this in later episodes but I think there is so much value in getting involved in your local community. Whether its volunteering, or going to events or whatever you can do - I think its worth it. So much so that <a href="https://thriveglobal.com/stories/why-you-should-get-involved-in-your-local-community/">I wrote an article about it</a> on Thrive Global.&nbsp;</p> <p>My book list is a dynamic list that I started putting together at the end of 2017, so if you have any recommendations please let me know.</p> <p>Going to Missouri was the beginning of a series of events that would provide me with a lot of insight on what it means to be an Entrepreneur. I ended up moving to Missouri in 2018 were I was the General Manager and Food Scientist at The Local Food Center. During 2018 I was exposed to the pros and cons of taking an alternative Entrepreneurial path. I learned a lot about myself, what kind of business owner I'd like to be in the future, and got a glimpse of what it actually takes to operate a food manufacturing business. Entrepreneurship is hard work, it should be no surprise to find out Entrepreneurship is not actually how its portrayed in the media. Season 2 will be about 2018.</p> <p>That's it for 2017, in this case I will call it the 'Season 1 Finale'. I want to remind you all listening, that this is one big experiment to see if these podcasts bring any value to you, so let me know how I can make it better!</p>