FINDING YOUR TRUE PATH IN LIFE

Part of the life coach training coursework I took during my Covid year is based on finding your true purpose in life*.  Sometimes it never happens and sometimes it does.  When it does happen to someone, it is usually because they become aware of it and can find it.  It can happen naturally, like the 10 year old who knows he/she wants to build things and then becomes an architect, or the teenager who has always wanted to become a doctor.  Then there are folks like me… I kind of always had a leaning towards helping people through communicating with them. I became a schoolteacher, then a video producer, a business executive,, before finally finding my true calling as a life coach. The interesting side note here is that I’ve had this feeling for over 40 years.

When I was a teacher it felt right, like I was on the right course, and when I look back and reflect on my move to video producer and businessman, I felt more disjointed. Although successful in those careers, I felt a little off course from my true path.  It wasn’t until my semi-retirement that I finally connected with my true purpose of life coaching.

AN UNUSUAL BUSINESS

I bring this up because as you can imagine, I pick up a lot of people who represent a wide range of careers. Sometimes I need to write about them because of their uniqueness.  On this particular day, I picked up an older gentleman, James, who was in his 70s and very talkative.  I picked up James in one of the towns that outlines the city of Boston.  He seemed to be in a great mood when we started chatting about his business. His business surprised me as I had never thought about it before, but hey, there is a need for everything! James definitely had a highly specialized business; you see, James sells one product… DICE!!!! That’s right, I said dice.  Who knew, right?

THE WORLD OF DICE

James’ business is called Koplow Games. It is focused on dice and game accessories, but mainly dice!  When I say this is a highly specialized business, I am not fooling around.  There are not a ton of competitors and he sells 20-30 million dice a year.  The prices can range from 10¢ to $5-$10,000, and then there was the domino set he designed for an Arab Sheik that was gold with diamond inlays that cost $280,000.  James has even come up with solutions for games such as Magic: The Gathering. In this game each player is represented by a character who has 20 lives. Each player is given a bag of 20 stones which represent how many lives they have. The problem for players was that stones would get misplaced.  At toy shows where James’ company would display a booth, players would stop by and look for another kind of solution to this problem.  James came up with a perfect solution by designing a baseball-sized die that had 20 sides to it, one for each life of the character.

James’ customer base is mainly made up of schools, game companies, and casinos. The most popular pair of dice are the standard monopoly sized, 6-sided white dice. Typical sales are in the range of $600-$700.

LADY LUCK

I had many more questions for James but ran out of time as the ride ended. As excited as James was about his company, he sounded like he would be open for selling this unique business and mo,ve into retirement if he found the right buyer.  The question is, will James have Lady Luck on his side? It just might take a roll of the dice to find out!

*MBI Wayfinders Life Coaching

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