The Business Time - Ron Decker

Ron Decker combines IT success with Edmond living

I looked over two interviews a few days ago; the first was in 2001and the second just a few weeks ago. I reread the articles because I was interested in how much of the non-business related questions asked, I used to reference my family. I noticed that, in a more recent interview, I spent a lot of time talking about my personal life (family, hobbies, etc.). Unlike the new, the old 2001 was filled with comments only a young CEO, trying to capitalize on every marketing opportunity out there, would make.

Well, ten years after the interview in 2001 and just a week after the recent interview, I understand the two couldn’t differ much more— even tonally. The opportunistic, jumpy feel of the one in 2001 pervaded much of my responses. Whereas the newest one lacks the obviously inherent stresses of first-go business owners, and those insecurities that trickle down your back like goose bumps when anyone asks anything about the company.

I started the company in 1996 with the idea managing personal relationships required a sensible amount of rigor. My wife and kids understood the sacrifices I was going to have to make in order for my vision to become a tangible reality, but no one— including me— understood what my new vision would demand from me for over ten years.

It takes a long time and many more sacrifices to come back from the mindset “grow, grow, grow,” to where family and work appear more balanced and where the unconscious comments are filled with family instead of proclamations about why people should buy what’s being sold.

I don’t know how to reconcile the fact that in order for a company to prosper, one must, in a way, put life on hold and dedicate every molecular trace of imagination, energy, and time into harvesting this new opportunity, and consciously surmising that sacrifices, both good and bad will follow. But I think that’s what creates the appeal—it’s what makes business the double-edged sword that either saves or destroys.

My newest interview revealed two things: one, the early, vigorous investments a small company demands in the beginning translates into farsightedness at the office and nearsightedness at home; and two, my life slowly keeps coming back together.

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