We’re in a celebratory mood at Class VI. After all, we’re commemorating 20 years as a business in 2025.
That’s two decades of empowering the entrepreneurial spirit: helping business owners achieve deal payouts they’d only dreamed of, allowing them to move comfortably into their next phase, take care of their employees, and give generously to favored causes.
We’ll be marking this milestone in several ways throughout the year. To kick things off, we’re revisiting one of our favorite undertakings: The Wisdom Project, a collection of lessons gathered from across the Class VI family.
Enjoy these bits of wisdom—20 items for 20 years. We hope you find them as profound as we do.
1) Jim Kane, Retailer Web Services: There are many more things that will frighten us than will crush us—99 out of 100 things you worry about will simply never come to pass, but many bright and sunny days of your life will be ruined by worry. Try not to waste too much time on it, even though this is difficult to do.
2) Will Hamill, Uinta Brewing: Sometimes, or ideally all the time, you are exposed to wisdom from people who are willing to stop and explain their lessons to you. This can be hard to receive because of where you are in your life. Possibly you’re too busy to stop and listen, or you’re not interested. But if you can slow down and take note of these lessons, then you’ll be rewarded later even if they don’t seem pertinent to your life at the time.
3) Alek Orloff, Alpine Waste & Recycling: Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Asking for help or asking a “dumb” question isn’t the result of weakness, but intelligence. Being clear on what’s expected, what’s been said, or how to do something properly is important. Your spoken question will be the same one stuck unspoken in the minds of those around you, but they weren’t brave enough to ask.
4) Jennie and Scott Gilbert, Retailer Web Services: Show up for the people you love. Wake up earlier than you want to so you can drive them to the airport. Do the dishes even if it’s their turn. Cheer them on even when you don’t feel particularly celebratory. Give a gift for no reason at all. Try to genuinely accept their compliments, affection, and apologies. Plan a surprise. RSVP to their events. Take their call no matter what. Say yes as much as possible. Show up. It matters.
5) Dalyce Tinoco, Class VI: You’ll never have it all figured out. Through many phases of life, you’ll likely feel somewhat inadequate and unprepared, and not quite “have it all together.” Just know everyone else is in the same boat. Embrace the journey of learning and growing and finding your way as you go.
6) Kelly Green, Birko: Be quick to listen and slow to speak. Understand the pain points of others and work hard (hustle) to find a solution to reduce their pain points.
7) Scott Garmon, Garmon Corporation/NaturVet: Define success by your own measures. Success is reaching the goal you set out to accomplish. Do not ever define your success by someone else’s measures.
8) Madonna Messina: Acknowledge those who bring you stability. Your parents, your mentors, your (Class VI) advisors, your friends, your family, et al. Internal peace is invaluable.
9) Michael McAllister, The CE Shop: Be both ambitious and humble. The world needs ambitious people but we have far too many egomaniacs. Do ambitious things for the good of others.
10) Dev Pathik, Sports Facilities Companies: Be as great at home as you are with clients. Your focus, your time, and your energy are as important at home as they are in the office. Being intentional and present at home takes effort, self-coaching, and energy.
11) Dave Roberts, Majestic Metals: Do something nice and try not to get caught.
12) David Tolson, Class VI: Pursue experiences that enrich your soul. It will make you a better person.
13) Teresa Vidger, Temporary Housing Directory: The biggest disappointments in my life turned out to be turning points to make changes that led to my success. Sometimes when we get comfortable, and are happy with status quo, we stay stagnant and aren’t living our full potential.
14) Chuck Younger (Chris’s dad): Win humbly and lose graciously.
15) Mike Yuen, SPO Partners: You can only control how you respond to situations. You can’t control how other people behave or how life happens, but you can control how you respond—did you learn something that will improve how you deal with that type of situation in the future; did you find the silver lining in a bad situation; did you do the best you can even if the outcome wasn’t what you wanted?
16) Matt Blackburn, Class VI: Every day you will likely have the opportunity to express a sincere thank you to someone who helped, benefited, or assisted you. Take the time to let them know how much you appreciate them.
17) Kiffie Hester, Beacon Communications: Listen with not only your ears, but your eyes and your posture.
18) Eric Gutknecht, Charcutnuvo: Solve problems blamelessly. Blaming others for mistakes and underperformance gets you nowhere. It just causes hardship and resentment. Focus on the solution and what we can do differently in order to avoid future mistakes.
19) Ryan McGrotty, Rep Fitness: Work/life balance is possible even as an entrepreneur. Despite what the Shark Tank experts will tell you, no one is forcing you to work 80-hour weeks to succeed. When you run a business, there is always more work to be done. Develop a good on/off switch and you’ll stress about it less. Some people work to live, others live to work. It’s your choice.
20) Chris Younger, Class VI: It’s a matter of perspective. Things are never as bad as they seem, or as good as they seem, and all through life you will have a series of ups and downs. If you can keep from getting too low or too high, you will be able to think more clearly, make better decisions, and generally be happier and more at peace.