Why Great and Small?

The answer to that question is pretty simple. I’m a veterinarian with a blog. What else am I going to call it?

But, then again, maybe the answer isn’t so simple. I am a veterinarian, and I did grow up on the stories of James Herriot. All I ever wanted to be was a simple country vet, healing animals and their humans, and I was fortunate enough to do that for a number of years.

Somehow, though, life intervened, and I became a small business owner. I always wanted to do that as well; it was one of the great appeals of veterinary medicine that you could still own your own practice with all of the independence and self-determination that went along with it.

But my small business wasn’t a veterinary practice, it was an ad network: Lake Quincy Media. My partner (both in life and business), Steve Smith, and I worked for a decade to grow it from a handful of Publisher sites to the largest network of sites focused specifically on Microsoft .NET and related technologies. Then, last year, it (and Steve) became part of The Code Project, and now I run NimblePros, a consulting firm dedicated to bringing agile and lean practices to software development. Definitely not what I was “supposed” to be doing….

And yet, I feel that I am doing EXACTLY what I am supposed to be doing. I am running a small business, in a small community, working with a great team to deliver great results. Small things, but having a great impact on our customers. Part of a small community, yet involved in a much greater world beyond.

And some days, I still get to be a veterinarian. That’s pretty great too.