Rolodex of Soul
What a pandemic glove deal, a Malibu living room, and a man named Les taught me about distribution, trust, and legacy.
This Thursday, I’ll be heading to the Northeast, visiting friends, family, and various Partners, both present and prospective. It’s part relationship-building, part reconnection tour, and part soul-search.
The soul part surprised me.
Tonight, while I was on a Zoom call with an Australian partner, my good friend Les popped up on FaceTime. I texted him that I’d call him back. But Les isn’t the kind of guy you brush off for long.
We met during COVID.
The early phase, when the world was upside down, streets were deserted, and the PPE frenzy had gripped the planet. Everyone, everywhere, was trying to move product. N95 masks, gowns, sanitizer, but none of it compared to the mania around nitrile gloves. Schools, hospitals, police departments, nursing homes. Everyone needed them. But mostly?
People wanted to sell them.
I should’ve known the insanity had hit peak when someone called me offering a million single gloves. Not cases. Not boxes. Just gloves.
Back then, I was introduced to Les by a nursing home CEO who knew him well. At the time, Les was working with a major UK banking group, financing glove deals and securing production capacity. The CEO thought he might be a good fit to collaborate with us.
Les lived in Malibu, so I made the drive out. The city was silent. Meeting someone in person felt radical. When I finally met him, I couldn’t believe a word he said. Too many name drops. Too many outrageous stories: Sinatra, Elvis, international politicians, the Colombo family.. to name just a few.
But every one of them checked out.
Les is the real deal. And over the past few years, he’s become one of my dearest friends. He’s brilliant. Hilarious. Sophisticated. Cultured. Deep. He's taught me more than a few things:
That without distribution, "you got nothin'."
That merchandising is a form of storytelling.
That great relationships are cultivated, not acquired.
But above all, he reminded me how to trust again. Not just others. Myself.
See, I had spent years in environments where gaslighting was standard, where cognitive dissonance was a management strategy, and where business wasn't personal. It was transactional, adversarial. Not fun. Not kind.
Les changed that.
Tonight, our catch-up call went for over an hour. Tomorrow, we’re meeting to explore a novel healthcare venture he’s working on. But what matters most to me is this: I told Les I want to start recording his stories. Not just the facts. The sparkle in his eye when he laughs, the rhythm in his voice when he talks about Sinatra or the old days.
Because some people are living libraries. And we owe it to them, and to ourselves, to preserve their wisdom while we still can.
That’s the spirit behind the Platform Partner ESaaS.
Our MVP launches in October. It’s a new-age Rolodex of Soul: a way to capture the people, stories, experiences, and deals that shape your business and your legacy.
It ensures that the lifetime of memories, friendships, introductions, wisdom, and hard-won lessons aren’t just filed away, they’re activated. Searchable. Mapped. Sharable. Usable.
It supports individuals and organizations, both for-profit and nonprofit, to unlock what we call the 22 Flows of Fortune™, which we’ll be unpacking over the coming months.
And it all started during the glove madness. A period I once resented, now re-seen with gratitude. Because that storm gave me Les. And many others like him.
So as I pack my suitcase for this trip, I’m not just organizing logistics. I’m sorting memories. And realizing that the chaos of that season was the dark concealment of a great blessing. A blessing I couldn’t see then. But one I feel, deeply, now.
Good night, Les. I’ll see you in the morning.
Author's Note: If you're someone who sees relationships as assets and stories as infrastructure, Platform Partner may be a home for you. Let's talk.