Will Bowron
📍 Birmingham, AL | SVP - Away from Home for Red Diamond Coffee & Tea + author of the crime thriller VIGILANT
📝 Editors Note
Feeling Stuck? I have the classic type-A tendency where I appreciate doing thought exercises with actionable outcomes. The career center in grad school told me to call this a “Bias for Action” in interviews. My wife calls this “inability to chill out.” That is why I highly recommend the book Designing Your Life. It is perfect for anyone who feels like they still haven’t found the right fit professionally or is contemplating making some type of life change.
One of the exercises involves making three, 5-year plans. Without spoiling too much, you write your 3rd plan without taking financial upside or worries about ‘what will people think’ into account.
For me, this plan involved running a summer camp that doubled as a corporate retreat in the offseason. Maybe one day…
My stream of consciousness right now:
The Garden State Soundtrack remains one of the best movie soundtracks
Crocs did $3.6 billion in revenue in 2022, BILLION!
Friends told us about the Peter Attia book, Outlive. Now I’m afraid to wear shoes or walk out of the house without sunscreen. Team Attia, Team Huberman or neither?
Without further ado….
Why Will?
Will is a friend and a classmate from high school. It has been really fun to follow some of Will’s passions whether it be an Atlanta United super fan or recently published (and award winning) author.
Follow Will on Twitter
Self-Description
Writer by night, coffee drinker by day. And also night. And in the morning too.
Will’s Recommendations
Written in his own words…
Product
I'm captivated by everything MSCHF puts out. They started as a modern art collective that puts out satirical pieces on technology and capitalism, but for the most part that's evolved into some really interesting pieces (not including the Big Red Boots or the Big Red Boots x Crocs collab). I'm a sneakerhead, so I have a pair of their AF1 send-ups, the Super Normal 2s, and a skate shoe they put out called the Gobstomper that changes color the more you wear out the material. They also have non-sneaker experiential art they put out that is silly enough to enjoy casually, like Key4All, which is a key fob they sold thousands of that all work for one car somewhere in the world, or Fruit Loop, which is a box of cereal with just one giant fruit loop in the box.
Content
I consume a lot more content than I probably should, considering the real job and the writing job and the whole "work/life balance" thing. My favorite book so far this year is Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe. It's about the history of the Sackler family and manufacturer of Oxycontin, Purdue Pharma. While not exactly a beach read with its very heavy material, it's probably the most well-researched and documented work of non-fiction that I've ever read and somehow doesn't come across as preachy or textbook-y.
Skyward
For the fiction readers, I was really pleasantly surprised by Brandon Sanderson's Skyward. It calls itself a YA novel, but that's mostly because of the "chosen one" tropes it touches on. This feels like a lovechild of Ender's Game and Top Gun and is a GREAT audiobook listen for commuting with a lot of action sequences and dialogue between characters.
Digital Product
Last year I bought a ReMarkable 2 and I'm not being dramatic when I say it completely changed my approach to notetaking and to-do lists. I frequently try (and fail) to separate out my work, personal, and writing time and have really struggled with the priorities until leveraging a weekly overview and daily to-do list that I can easily adjust with the ReMarkable. It's extremely pricy but I've found it's worth it and comes with a 100-day guarantee if you're not feeling it and want to return it.
Music
There's a band based out of Nashville called Brook and the Bluff that always puts out great music. They're extremely talented musicians with tight harmonies and instrumentals and and fit usually any chill moment, whether that's Sunday morning relaxing or getting Excel work done in the middle of the day.
Food & Drink
I'm obviously biased but I think my family's company, Red Diamond, makes the best coffee and tea out there. The coffee isn't as widely available in retail as the ready-to-drink tea is, but in the away from home side it can frequently be found in restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, etc. One of the best perks of the job is definitely drinking free coffee at the headquarters that was probably roasted across the street in a world-class Scolari roaster only a few days earlier.
Watch
When I get hooked on a creator that I enjoy, I usually dive into their content and try to go through it all chronologically. I recently watched Denis Villeneuve's Arrival from 2016 (I know, a little late), and was blown away. He also directed Dune, Sicario, and Blade Runner 2049, which were all fantastic, so I'm going back and watching all of his movies from when he first started as an indie Canadian director.
Plug
Along with my day job of running the Away from Home division of my family's coffee and tea company, I'm also an author. My first book, VIGILANT, is about people who get caught up in crime in a city where masked vigilantes are the norm. I was lucky enough to win a couple of awards last year including the 2023 IPPY Gold Medal for Best Suspense/Thriller and 2023 NIEA Best Crime Fiction Winner. I'm currently working on the sequel, DEVIANT, which is expected to come out in Holiday 2024, as well as a few other side projects in other fiction genres.
Thank You, Will!
Want to get in touch with Will? He is fairly active on his Twitter, but his email, info@willbowron.com is best for anything involving writing.
ChatGPT says that “Radsters” is a cross between “Rad” and “Hipster”.
P.S. do you think this is worth the $7 a month in lieu of a traditional website?