I think a part of keeping employees happy is finding the right employees. I love my team, and they’re a big part of why I love doing what I do everyday. But it was definitely a journey making sure we had A-level rockstars - both in performance and personality/mindset.

I also realized that I played a large part in my employee’s mindsets and work/life balance. If I overworked, they would feel compelled to do the same (well, I guess you have to first find people that do that) - which would then lead to burnout. I found one of my most meaningful and most difficult job was being, in some sense, a mentor to my employees. Money definitely played a role, but growth was something they all consistently sought. Some even went on to “graduate” from my company to excel at another much larger one.

For me it’s 3 parts:

1. Freedom to spend time with my family and do the things I love without worry/stress.
   I feel it’s actually 20% resources; 80% mindset to achieve this though.
2. Ability to give to and support people and causes I care about in a meaningful/impactful way. Hard to measure this, but I’m currently measuring it in how much % of my income can I live off of? Want to get it down to living off 20%. Investing 40%. And giving 40%.
3. My employees are happy and fulfilled. They helped me get here. I want to make sure they’re well-taken care of.

Biggest compliment someone can give you is copy your work. Only shows that you’re doing something right and getting big enough that it’s worth stealing.

In terms of moving forward, people who copy will always be one step behind. So just keep innovating - producing more personalized 3d items that your community wants, maintaining excellent customer communication, keeping your quality of work intact.

Build your brand so that people know you’re the legit one, and the others are copycats.