Category: Blog

  • How I became a homeless activist

    How I became a homeless activist

    My son, who is currently 16, asked me why I no longer run a marketing firm with a bunch of employees. At our peak we had about 16 employees and, as Wikipedia reports accurately, we were generating about $1.5 million in sales. (please keep in mind that top line revenue has nothing to do with…

  • How Addiction Has Shaped My Life

    How Addiction Has Shaped My Life

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    Simply put: If you judge addicts you either A) don’t understand the first thing about addiction or B) you’re lying to yourself. Have you ever found yourself binge eating an entire family size bag of Doritos because you’re stressed? That’s addiction. You lost control of yourself. Have you ever spent an entire sunny Saturday binge…

  • Is Doing Good Things Insane?

    Is Doing Good Things Insane?

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    The thing about it is: I don’t feel like a “good” human at all. I also don’t feel like a bad human. I’m just a human. But I do like to learn about other humans doing good things. It kind of helps me keep my game up. Like, “Don’t get cocky Sage. You really are…

  • We Are Emma Gonzalez

    We Are Emma Gonzalez

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    I hope you’ve had the chance to watch the speech Emma Gonzalez gave as a survivor of the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Speeches like this transcend human constraints like age.  Don’t we wonder how such a young person to be so articulate, clear and inspirational? They also transcend politics and dividing ideologies. Politicians and…

  • Dementia Overseer

    Dementia Overseer

    “Congratulations! You are the proud new overseer of a healthy, old, mentally decaying parent.” Dementia is everything backwards. But it’s not just backwards. It’s sideways. Inside out. Reverse. Forward. Stop. Go. It blurs dreams, this world, other worlds, decades ago, today. Dementia is a fucked up cut form of LSD that you’d ask your drug…

  • A Call For Podcast Guests for Sage and Friends

    A Call For Podcast Guests for Sage and Friends

    I’ve been committed to creating a podcast.  I am at a place in my life where I feel more like an artist than  a business person.  It’s actually a message I’m trying to instill in other business people.  Coke gets it. I want you to get it too.  When you are passionate and in love…

  • Sage Lewis – Chosen to Chair Project RISE Auxiliary Committee

    Sage Lewis – Chosen to Chair Project RISE Auxiliary Committee

    I’m not the kind of person other people typically entrust to important jobs. “Loose canon” is a common phrase I’ve heard to describe me. But for some reason, Debra Manteghi, the Program Manager of Project RISE, the only group in Akron solely dedicated to homeless children, has appointed me to the position of Chair for their Auxiliary…

  • Homeless Kids Can’t Get Housing Help if they go to college

    Homeless Kids Can’t Get Housing Help if they go to college

    So let me break this down for you: Let’s say you are a homeless kid. Good news! There are programs to help you get a place to live.  Let’s say you are a homeless kid that wants to go to college. No more housing help for you! The IRS says you are no longer eligible…

  • Ohio Auctioneers Sample Contract in Word and Google Doc Format

    Ohio Auctioneers Sample Contract in Word and Google Doc Format

    The Ohio Department of Agriculture Auction Program offers an example contract for auctioneers here: http://www.agri.ohio.gov/public_docs/auctioneer/Auct_Sample%20auction%20contract.pdf The problem with it is that it has a big “SAMPLE” watermark all over it. And it is also in PDF format. So you can’t edit it easily. We’ve reworked that contract and put it in Microsoft Word. That way…

  • My Friend Is Doing A LinkedIn Event In Cleveland

    My Friend Is Doing A LinkedIn Event In Cleveland

    My friend, Harry Lader, Ph.D., is doing a LinkedIn event on using LinkedIn more effectively. He’s a super smart guy and really nice too. His day job is that he’s a trainer for Excel. But he has applied that Excel knowledge to using LinkedIn. The extra cool thing about the event is that it’s a…

  • Why I Want You To Go Camping

    Why I Want You To Go Camping

    We started camping as a family when Indy, our kid, was 2.  It rained.  The tent leaked.  The fire wouldn’t start.  And you know… We had a 2 year old.  This seems to be a very common story. Many people seem to have rough first camping experiences.  Our saving grace was we went with a…

  • It’s official: I’M AN AUCTIONEER!!!

    It’s official: I’M AN AUCTIONEER!!!

    80 hours of classes in Kentucky. Finding a sponsor, which is incredibly difficult. Or maybe I was meant to be with Chuck Kreiner and we just had to find each other. He is amazing! Get a background check. Get a $25,000 bond. Notarize all paperwork. Send paperwork not earlier than 4 weeks before the next…

  • Learn About Adoption Meetup

    Learn About Adoption Meetup

    I friend of mine, Jackie Smigel, runs a non-profit adoption agency. She has just announced a meeting she is having in Kent Ohio on Wednesday, April 27 from 10:30am-11:30am. here: Fred Fuller ParkOld Jail497 Middlebury Rd; Kent OH 44240. This meetup is for anyone who has ever had a question about adoption. When I think of…

  • Why I Don’t Speak In Person Much Any More

    Why I Don’t Speak In Person Much Any More

    I used to speak anywhere and everywhere.  I once did an SEO speech at a Golden Corral Buffet.  My van broke down on the highway on the way to a speech. Both to and from the speech, actually.  I’ve driven in more white out blizzards than I can count rushing to get to a speech. …

  • Ep. 3 Picking a Product. Making an Entrepreneur 

    Ep. 3 Picking a Product. Making an Entrepreneur 

    I think people get really hung up on what product or service to sell in a business. I know I do. I’m always trying to come up with something totally new and innovative. The big problem with this approach is that no one has any idea what it is you’re trying to sell. You end…

  • Homeless GoFundMe Accounting

    Homeless GoFundMe Accounting

    I have another campaign coming up so I wanted to get my finances together. (I’ll tell you more about it soon.) But I wanted to post where we are with our money. In a nutshell: The Shoes for Homeless Kids program has raised $1310. We’ve spent $1068.82. We have $241.18 available. The Socks for Homeless…

  • Ep. 2 The Other Side. Making an Entrepreneur 

    Ep. 2 The Other Side. Making an Entrepreneur 

    I’m a little unsure about this post.  The world is filled with pie in the sky visions of what “taking control of your future” looks like as an entrepreneur.  Fancy trips. Working 4 hours a week. Fancy cars. Big houses.  That end result, if it happens, is the product of all the things I talked…

  • Ep 1. Why I like abusing myself. Making an Entrepreneur

    Ep 1. Why I like abusing myself. Making an Entrepreneur

    When we first started SageRock I told everybody how great owning your own company was. “You should start your own company,” I’d say like some kid who just discovered gummy worms. I don’t say that any more. In fact, while I don’t tell people not to start their own company, I rarely encourage them if…

  • Making an Entreprenuer – Intro

    Making an Entreprenuer – Intro

    Sure. I stole that title from “Making a Murderer.” There’s a reason for my plagiarism. But that’s a story for another time. This is my written documentary of (hopefully) making a successful company. My plan is to outline how it’s going, how much money I’m making, how much money I’m spending and what I come…

  • Here’s the biggest thing you can do for homeless kids right now…

    Here’s the biggest thing you can do for homeless kids right now…

    How much money do you think the national government spends on helping homeless kids? Before you guess, let me give you some budgets the government does spend money on: Printing Costs ($930,000,000) Maintaining Vacant Buildings ($175,000,000) 118 Medical Clinics that never existed ($35,000,000) European Legislators ($2,600,000) I get it. America is a big place. It’s…