Hope all is going well. It has been a while since I have felt the need to start out the blog by acknowledging the events going on in the world. First, it is the continued ruthless aggression of a neighboring tyrant invading a sovereign nation that is Ukraine, resulting in the killing of innocent civilians and patriots trying to keep their homeland. This month, we have the brutal murder and capture of innocent people due to a terrorist attack in Israel. I call this a terrorist attack because there are many good Palestinian people and these murders do not represent them and we should not forget that. Many of these were young people going to enjoy a day of music and fun. As a parent, I cannot even fathom hearing that my son or daughter would not be coming home due senseless violence. Sometimes we can complain about the monotony of life. You can take it for granted, until something happens in your life and then you wish that you had that monotony back. I am sure these families are wishing they had this monotony now. Our family’s thoughts and prayers are with the families of all of these innocent victims.
There are times in my life where I can feel bad for myself. I tell Tina, every once in a while, that I’m having a little pity party for one. I’ve even noticed this in some of my blogs where I think that people must think I’m always angry and/or depressed at how things are going. We are all entitled to have those feelings. Mine usually stem from the grind of the business, from seeing how many biotech companies are closing (3 times more this year than past years), knowing people that could help the company but feel no sense of urgency, or watching some technologies advance that you know aren’t going anywhere get ahead. While we are surviving like so many other businesses, it would be nice to be thriving a little. When the pity party gets to this point, I try to step outside myself and really look around. No matter what happens in my world related to the business, nothing is more important than the family, friends and people around you. These sad times reinforce this. There is always someone worse that could use your help. You need to get out of your own way to appreciate what you have in life. These events make you want to hug someone a little longer, listen a little more carefully and appreciate what you have, even the not so great of times.
The title of this week’s blog fits into what is transpiring in the world. As our children have grown to adults, Tina and I began taking day trips on the weekend. It is something that we both enjoy. We try to incorporate a nice walk and dinner. The reason I am telling you this is one of the places that we like to visit is Ogunquit, Maine. For those of you not from this part of the country, it is a beautiful town with a rugged coast line. A great place to walk. As we were walking, we noticed a home that had painted rocks with inspirational sayings that people left on a stone wall. This wall was started during the COVID-19 pandemic to bring inspiration to people walking that were feeling uncertain and stressed about what was going on in the world. One saying stuck with me, which is the photo I am sharing with this blog and it is appropriate for this blog and what is going on in the world.
October, just like the prior months, continues to sprint by at an alarming pace. Before you know it, Thanksgiving (for our US readers) and Christmas will be here. I wish things would slow down a little, but as the old saying goes, “Life goes by fast when you’re having fun.” The month has been productive on all fronts for the team. We hosted our first webinar focused on next generation solutions for benchtop tissue models (https://www.biosurfaces.us/webinar-1) on October 11th. We were able to showcase our In Vitro Research Tools (IVRT) technology alongside other investigators in this space. This month allowed us to really focus on developing new processes for R&D as well as manufacturing, continue to advance our ongoing research studies and explore different business possibilities. I really enjoy getting to speak with different people to see if there are areas that we can work together on as well as learn about different technologies (that’s the scientist in me – still here over 33 years later). Most of the time these talks do not yield anything due to lack of synergy or other priorities but the few that do make it worth taking the time. I think this is the benefit of being a small business in that you can quickly explore these areas without getting bogged down in the large company bureaucracy.
There are several things that won’t change: our belief in our team, our belief in our technology and what it can do and our belief in that most people mean well and are good at the core. While life can challenge these beliefs at times, we will not let the hard days win.
We will continue to bring our #FactualFriday and Monthly Spin posts to you as well as begin to bring new webcasts. Thanks as always for supporting the company and for being a dedicated reader of our blog. It means a lot!
Matt