Year Of The Opposite - Travis Stoliker's Substack Podcast

This will be a very brief note: I want to thank Rachel Hosie from Insider.com for covering my story ( read it here! ) and the Year Of The Opposite. Thank You! I want to thank YOU for subscribing and following this journey. It means the world to me. Some people have wondered ‘How Did the Insider.com Article Happen?’ My good friend Matt Tubergen came across this article from Rachel at Insider.com “...

As I celebrate my 43rd birthday, it’s a time of great reflection. The theme of this year continued to be "The Year of The Opposite.” It’s a good time to look back and reflect on what went well and what didn’t. Health Triumphs The year started with a momentous occasion: running my first half-marathon distance on my 42nd birthday in Las Vegas. As the year unfolded, my health milestones were signific...

Current affairs are downright terrifying, maddening, devastating, and perplexing. While I may not have any particularly insightful contributions to the ongoing discourse, I do want to touch on a general point. In today's climate, we frequently find ourselves bombarded with distressing or shocking news from around the globe. We're often compelled to quickly assess incomplete information, identify w...

Preamble: My Thoughts On Sharing the Good & The Bad. Today I’m going to talk about a topic that almost no one wants to discuss: Sadness. The reason I want to talk about this even though it’s difficult and uncomfortable to do so is that: * Sadness struck me unexpectedly this morning and I want to attempt to understand what caused it & how to avoid it in the future. * I think social media and newsle...

I'm thrilled to announce that I've been appointed as a Trustee of the Haslett Board of Education. The position opened up following the resignation of Monica Del Castillo, and after a thorough selection and interview process, I was honored to be chosen at the board meeting this past Monday night. My term will run through December 31, 2024. I'm both excited and humbled by the responsibility to serve...

I initially launched into the Year Of The Opposite to shake up my routine and combat lingering depression from grief. While I expected the new challenges to serve as a mental and physical reboot, I didn't anticipate the full range of benefits. Sure, learning new skills was a given, but what caught me off guard was how these fresh experiences connected me with diverse groups of people I'd never int...

This is your starting guide to The Year Of The Opposite. Let’s start with some links that will help you learn more about this project/newsletter and dive into the content: * Why did I start my Year Of The Opposite? * How to start your own Year Of The Opposite : A step by step guide to start your own year of the opposite & the results from my first Year Of The Opposite. * How I cured my depression...

About 4 months ago, Chris and I launched MyVilla , a startup that aimed to make vacation home ownership easier and more affordable for a greater number of Americans . One of the requirements to grow and scale the company was that we could secure debt financing from banks or financial partners that would allow us to continue purchasing more homes and offer financing to our customers. For months, Ch...

After we sold Liquid Web, I spent short but very rewarding time as the Entrepreneur In Residence at Michigan State University. I remember one moment so vividly it hurts sometimes. As I remember it , my co-worker suggested we walk across campus to explore a new technology developed by PhD researchers, which we believed had potential for commercialization into a product. We strolled through the pict...

This morning I watched my 5 year old son Lane climb onto the school bus for his first half day of kindergarten. Entrusting this precious delicate being, who means the world to me, into the hands of strangers was overwhelming. I recognize that many of you reading this have experienced this profound moment, some even multiple times. It hit me hard today. Lane handled this new adventure like a champi...

“I don't expect myself to live forever but I think that the memory or whatever I build could be so arranged that the thought would go on forever. The only way that I can do it is by developing a foundation so the land and the property out here that I have will be dedicated to the foundation that they can help people and it will go on forever.” - Edward Lowe - Inventor of Kitty Litter. Edward Lowe...

"Meditations" is a series of personal writings by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius written around 170 AD. It’s a reflection of his Stoic philosophy and guidance for his own self-improvement. I first encountered this profound work at the commencement of my "Year Of The Opposite," and its wisdom left an indelible mark on me. What I found particularly striking about "Meditations" is that it was neve...

The Podcast Interview is attached to this Substack or you can listen to Year Of The Opposite on Spotify . Here is the full video interview on Youtube . For nearly a decade, Matthew Terry and I were colleagues at Liquid Web. After the company was sold in 2015, I chose to pursue other opportunities, while Matthew continued his tenure there. During this period, he crossed paths with Michelle Rogers,...

I had the honor of being interviewed on the Cold Oatmeal Podcast last week and it was a great experience. Their show is about Public Relations. Please make sure to give them a Subscribe . With their permission, in today’s podcast / newsletter I am sharing the full interview and clips from the discussion. I hope you enjoy. For the full interview, please click Play above. Or listen/subscribe to the...

Watch The Video Of Me Completing The Hot Ones Challenge! In 2017 my good friend Dean Miesner took down (almost) the Blazin’ Wing Challenge by eating 12 of BW3's hottest Blazin’ wings in 6 minutes without puking. I touched one of the wings to my tongue and was in agony for 2 hours. I was astonished watching Dean and his friend pull this off. Check out the video of it here . Year Of The Opposite is...

Let’s clear something up... 1 year ago today, my oldest friend, Matt Hill died. It was incredibly painful for many of us and something that compounded the pain was that at the time the medical examiners in Los Angeles were taking 5-6 months to complete autopsies. This meant that for several months after Matt's tragic death, none of his loved ones knew the true cause of his death. For 5 months we w...

In the 1880s, Chicago was faced with a huge problem. Chicagoans were dying from typhoid, cholera, and other waterborne illnesses at an alarming rate. Chicago was the fastest growing city in the world at that time and their future was threatened. The Chicago River runs right through the heart of Chicago and connects with beautiful Lake Michigan. It was customary at the time to use rivers as a dumps...

It's an uncomfortable admission, but sometimes, when I see my friends achieving great things—be it a shiny new purchase, an exciting travel experience, a successful business launch, or a prestigious award—I can't help but feel a bit of jealousy. As much as it pains me to admit, sometimes my happiness for them is eclipsed by a sense of resentment. This jealousy isn't just a negative emotion; it als...

For months I had been verbally telling the story of how I cured my depression in 30 days. It was a great story and it captivated people. The only problem was, it was a lie. I wasn’t intentionally telling a lie. I genuinely and completely thought I was telling the truth. But when I set out to write last weeks post How I Cured My Depression I started revisiting my nightly journals to verify the even...

“I'm 3 years sober and just wanted to say. I thank you. You were a good boss and a friend and I'm sorry I let you down. You influenced or inspired me in places I wouldn't have gone. Anyways thanks for being you to me. Just thanks.” - Bret Hitchcock" In January of 2020, I received this touching text message. But the message got a darker and and deeper meaning when my friend Bret, only 42, tragicall...

I spent the week at the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island as my wife, Laken’s, plus one. It’s been about 20 years since I’ve spent considerable time on the Island and I really enjoyed it. If you’re not familiar, Mackinac Island is between the upper and lower peninsula in Michigan. It’s unique in several ways but one of the ways it stands out is that it doesn’t allow any cars on the Isl...

Happy Memorial Day! This week my 4 year old and I have been reading The United States Constitution. I read it for the first time in its entirety only last year. I was pretty ashamed of myself for it taking 41 years for me to read one of the best and most important works in modern history. It also made me sad to learn that only 10-25% of Americans have ever read the document in its entirety dependi...

Sunday marked an exciting milestone in my personal fitness journey. For the first time, my Vo2 Max—a measure of my cardiovascular fitness—reached the 'High' category. A remarkable leap from being 'below average' to 'High' in just 13 months. In April of 2022 my VO2 Max as measured by my Apple Watch was 31.5 which put me right on the borderline between “Below Average” and “low” cardio fitness. 13 mo...

My second Year Of The Opposite is dedicated to Building and Creating.  This newsletter/ podcast that you are reading or listening to is one such creation. Last week I launched another. I launched a new startup this past Friday with my good friend Chris Strandt. I’m filled with excitement about it. Today I want to share an often unspoken aspect of starting a business: fear, anxiety, and imposter sy...

"We should every night call ourselves to an account: What infirmity have I mastered today? What passions opposed? What temptation resisted? What virtue acquired? Our vices will abate of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift." - Seneca, "Moral Letters to Lucilius," Letter 83. "At the end of the day, you should always be able to ask yourself: What weakness did I overcome today? What...