How I became a homeless activist
My son, who is currently 16, asked me why I no longer run a marketing firm with a bunch of employees. At our peak we had about 16 employees and, as Wikipedia reports accurately, we were generating abo
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How Addiction Has Shaped My Life
Simply put: If you judge addicts you either A) don’t understand the first thing about addiction or B) you’re lying to yourself. Have you ever found yourself binge eating an entire family size bag of D
Is Doing Good Things Insane?
The thing about it is: I don’t feel like a “good” human at all. I also don’t feel like a bad human. I’m just a human. But I do like to learn about other humans doing good things. It kind of helps me k
We Are Emma Gonzalez
I hope you’ve had the chance to watch the speech Emma Gonzalez gave as a survivor of the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Speeches like this transcend human constraints like age. Don’t we
Dementia Overseer
“Congratulations! You are the proud new overseer of a healthy, old, mentally decaying parent.” Dementia is everything backwards. But it’s not just backwards. It’s sideways. Inside out. Reverse. Forwar
A Call For Podcast Guests for Sage and Friends
I’ve been committed to creating a podcast. I am at a place in my life where I feel more like an artist than a business person. It’s actually a message I’m trying to instill in other business people. C
Sage Lewis – Chosen to Chair Project RISE Auxiliary Committee
I’m not the kind of person other people typically entrust to important jobs. “Loose canon” is a common phrase I’ve heard to describe me. But for some reason, Debra Manteghi, the Program Manager of Pro
Homeless Kids Can’t Get Housing Help if they go to college
So let me break this down for you: Let’s say you are a homeless kid. Good news! There are programs to help you get a place to live. Let’s say you are a homeless kid that wants to go to college. No mor
Ohio Auctioneers Sample Contract in Word and Google Doc Format
The Ohio Department of Agriculture Auction Program offers an example contract for auctioneers here: http://www.agri.ohio.gov/public_docs/auctioneer/Auct_Sample%20auction%20contract.pdf The problem wit
My Friend Is Doing A LinkedIn Event In Cleveland
My friend, Harry Lader, Ph.D., is doing a LinkedIn event on using LinkedIn more effectively. He’s a super smart guy and really nice too. His day job is that he’s a trainer for Excel. But he has applie
Why I Want You To Go Camping
We started camping as a family when Indy, our kid, was 2. It rained. The tent leaked. The fire wouldn’t start. And you know… We had a 2 year old. This seems to be a very common story. Many people seem
It’s official: I’M AN AUCTIONEER!!!
80 hours of classes in Kentucky. Finding a sponsor, which is incredibly difficult. Or maybe I was meant to be with Chuck Kreiner and we just had to find each other. He is amazing! Get a background che
Learn About Adoption Meetup
I friend of mine, Jackie Smigel, runs a non-profit adoption agency. She has just announced a meeting she is having in Kent Ohio on Wednesday, April 27 from 10:30am-11:30am. here: Fred Fuller ParkOld J
Why I Don’t Speak In Person Much Any More
I used to speak anywhere and everywhere. I once did an SEO speech at a Golden Corral Buffet. My van broke down on the highway on the way to a speech. Both to and from the speech, actually. I’ve driven
Ep. 3 Picking a Product. Making an Entrepreneur
I think people get really hung up on what product or service to sell in a business. I know I do. I’m always trying to come up with something totally new and innovative. The big problem with this appro
Homeless GoFundMe Accounting
I have another campaign coming up so I wanted to get my finances together. (I’ll tell you more about it soon.) But I wanted to post where we are with our money. In a nutshell: The Shoes for Homeless K
Ep. 2 The Other Side. Making an Entrepreneur
I’m a little unsure about this post. The world is filled with pie in the sky visions of what “taking control of your future” looks like as an entrepreneur. Fancy trips. Working 4 hours a week. Fancy c
Ep 1. Why I like abusing myself. Making an Entrepreneur
When we first started SageRock I told everybody how great owning your own company was. “You should start your own company,” I’d say like some kid who just discovered gummy worms. I don’t say that any
Making an Entreprenuer – Intro
Sure. I stole that title from “Making a Murderer.” There’s a reason for my plagiarism. But that’s a story for another time. This is my written documentary of (hopefully) making a successful company. M
Here’s the biggest thing you can do for homeless kids right now…
How much money do you think the national government spends on helping homeless kids? Before you guess, let me give you some budgets the government does spend money on: Printing Costs ($930,000,000) Ma
Unadopted Akron Family Needs Your Help This Christmas
I got an email last night from Debra Manteghi, the Program Manager for Project RISE: the only group in Akron that solely focuses on homeless kids in the Akron area. They organize an “adoption” of fami
Um… Wait. What????
Yesterday, a large, but simple box came to our office from Paris Hatters in San Antonio Texas. That was strange because almost all boxes we get come from Amazon, or recently from Wal-Mart for the shoe
Harvest Dinner for Local Families Experiencing Homelessness
Probably the most influential post I’ve ever written was discussing the 2200 homeless kids that are in Akron and the only group that is solely responsible for helping them: Project R.I.S.E. (Realizing
Who Are We?
I’m 44 years old. I’ve spent this first half of my life collecting. Collecting things like: An amazing wife A mind-blowing kid A mediocre business A couple properties Various cars A pop-up camper The
One Last Marijuana Plea – Yes on Issue 3
I know why most of you say you don’t like Issue 3. “It’s a monopoly. I mean it will say that on the ballot. So it must be one.” It is not a monopoly. In 2009 you voted to allow only four casinos in Oh
A Completely Selfish Post. Please Read.
This is a really selfish post. So forgive me ahead of time. But Im going to gloat a bit here. I can’t help myself. About 6 years ago, during a hellish part of the Great Recession, Rocky and I bought 1
Who I Endorse For Akron Mayor
As I attempted to run for Akron mayor, I was given a unique front row seat to the candidates. I also got a lot of interesting off the record insight into these people too. There is a part of me that r
Ohio ACLU Supports Issue 3 and So Do I
You may wonder why I care about a marijuana bill when my focus is the homeless. It’s simple: the war on drugs is an easy way to hurt minorities of all kinds, including the homeless. Issue 3 will stop
Accounting Update for No Feet Left Behind – Socks Edition
I’m a big believer in transparency. So I wanted to upload my completed order from Sam’s Club for socks and Ziploc Freezer Bags. It’s for a total of $269.62. There have been $325 in donations at our “N
Shoes For Homeless Kids: 11 Donations, $214, 2 Days
https://www.gofundme.com/akronshoes Because so much of my work is on email I tend to take an email break over the weekends. Email can get a little overwhelming. But this Monday morning, today, could p
2200 Homeless Kids In Akron
When I write these posts I try to come up with a catchy headline. I try to say something that will make you stop a second and consider clicking into read the rest of the story. If 2200 homeless kids i
Akron Press Club – A Scourge On Democracy
I spent most of the Akron Mayoral debate yesterday just shaking my head. There are three candidates you will see on the ballot for Akron mayor on November 3. But the Akron Press Club chose to only let
Taking the Monopoly / Cartel Propaganda Head On
If you live in Ohio you are probably aware that when you go vote on Tuesday November 3 you will be voting on Issue 3. It’s the marijuana initiative. If you are familiar with the initiative you might a
Why I really want you to vote for the marijuana bill…
There is one prevailing reason most people I know don’t like Issue 3 that will be on the ballot on Tuesday, November 3: It creates a monopoly. In fact, here is the text you will read on the ballot: Is
The Mac is Bac!
You may remember the story of our iMac being stolen from our office by a homeless guy I was helping. The interesting part of that story is that all Apple products have gps tracking on them. So I’ve ha
Wait! What? You already met the goal???
Am I reading that right? Did you guys already, like in one day, meet the goal for the “No Feet Left Behind” campaign? I came in this morning thinking about how I was going to inspire you all to donate
Somebody is going to get a shit ton of socks out of this mayoral race
I just heard Rocky tell her friend Holly that on the phone. I’ve been told by several homeless people that they always need socks. Homeless people are constantly walking. Their socks wear out, get wet
Intermission – The end of season 1
I bet most baseball players feel embarrassed striking out. “I should’ve let that ball go. “ “I could’ve focused more.” “I would’ve hit it if I didn’t have a headache.” Should’ve. Would’ve. Could’ve. T
Day 106: I’m Out and I’m Sorry – On The Road To Mayor
The verdict was decided today by the Summit County Board of Elections: Not enough of my 1086 signatures were deemed valid. Most of the reasons were either because they: Weren’t registered. Not the cor
Day 104 – Perpetual Not Knowing – On The Road To Mayor
Fortunately, the next chapter of this journey is near. This Wednesday, September 23, at 10am the Board of Elections will determine if any of the Independent Candidates will make it onto the November 3
Day 100 – Guess who’s a Gigabit city. It’s not Akron. – On the road to mayor
The awesome news that Hudson is now going to officially be a Gigabit city came over yesterday: Hudson starts up high-speed gigabit internet service – Your Business – Ohio Hudsons city owned and operat
Day 99: This is how change starts. – On the road to mayor
I missed a call and text last night about 10:15. When I woke up this morning I was able to put the whole story together through text, Facebook and some Facebook messages. A homeless guy I, and two oth
Day 98 – Second Class Citizens – On The Road To Mayor
I think one of the most difficult human abilities to develop is empathy. Being able to put yourself in another person’s shoes is incredibly difficult. Maybe impossible, really. If you aren’t experienc
Day 96: Why there are so few great people. On The Road To Mayor
Do you remember the post (day 32) where I listed a few people who I thought would be cool to run for mayor? As you can imagine, there was no resounding thrill from them to run. The best people in our
Day 95: But he stole your iMac! On the road to mayor.
That picture pretty much says it all. That’s my newest friend walking out the front door of my office in the middle of the night this past Thursday with the iMac in my office. We had met earlier in th
Day 94 – Dan Horrigan Already Outsourcing Akron Jobs – On The Road To Mayor
You can learn so much by looking at a candidate’s campaign finance reports. And what’s cool is they are all public record. As a candidate that gets or spends over a $1000 you have to file a campaign f
Day 92 – Forget Mayor. I’m going to be a fortune teller – On The Road To Mayor
On Day 8 of this journey, June 17, I told you Dan Horrigan was going to win: Day 8 – Everybody knows this is Dan Horrigan’s Town – The Road To Mayor – Sage Lewis for Mayor of Akron Talk to an insider
Day 91 – Primary Election Day! On The Road To Mayor
Did you know that the word “democracy” is never mentioned in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution? Democracy was feared by the founding fathers. James Madison expressed this attitude in
Day 90 – A Zero Waste City – On the Road To Mayor
I read with great interest the New York Times article on zero waste communities. I am a firm believer that in order for Akron to grow and become a place young people want to live we must move forward
Day 87 – 1086 Signatures! – On The Road To Mayor
I have a habit of becoming obsessed with things. I can’t just run a few miles a day. I have to run a marathon without ever running another race in my life. I can’t run just one marathon. I need to run
Day 85 – A Gift of Vegetables – On The Road To Mayor
There is a man who has been a great help to me with my campaign so far. He spent over two decades in prison. Though thin, he has diabetes. His liver is failing. His feet hurt him immensely. He’s been
Day 85 – Stop Complaining! – On The Road To Mayor
As a middle aged, (used to be) blonde haired, blue eyed, 6’2″ white male I know nothing of what it means to be dismissed, segregated or marginalized. Truly, I am “the man.” But this mayoral campaign h
Day 83 – Mayoral Available Funds – On The Road To Mayor
The Akron mayoral candidates in the primary race needed to submit their financial information last week. I’ll be talking about this in greater detail over the next few days. But today I just wanted to
Fully Support Fight for $15
I am in complete support and will advocate for the Fight for $15 cause. We cannot live in a world where people work full time and can’t live. $15 minimum wage is realistic and fair. If you believe the
Day 82: To Mike Williams Supporters – On The Road To Mayor
You probably don’t know me. And therefore you have no reason to trust me. And honestly, I’m not overly enthusiastic about Mike. But he definitely has strengths: He is incredibly knowledgeable about ho
Day 80: Horrigan – Public Enemy #1 – On The Road To Mayor
You probably think that title is extreme. “You’re just jealous he’s doing so well.” If I thought he was good for Akron I’d be pleased as punch he’s totally dominating this race. But I’m telling you th
Day 78 – Dan Horrigan Vaporware – On The Road To Mayor
His blog says: “Dan Horrigan has a very detailed, 15-part plan for the City of Akron, starting the day that he takes office as Akron’s new Mayor.” I was excited to dig into that. Truly, I’m all for id
Day 77: Akron Hunger Games – On The Road To Mayor
Granted, we aren’t offering up our children to fight to the death to appease the Capitol. But otherwise, there are a lot of similarities in how Panem, the nation in The Hunger Games, and Akron operate
Day 75 – The Homeless Army – On The Road To Mayor
I have a very difficult time getting signatures to get on the ballot to run for mayor. In Ohio, if your intention is to really run for political office, just swear your allegiance to the Democratic or
Day 73 – All 3 Candidates Bought and Sold – On The Road To Mayor
My heart sunk a little when I heard Eddie Sipplen decided to have Steve Albrecht to be his campaign manager. I really thought Eddie had a campaign manager who was really awesome. If you don’t know, St
The Socks On Every Feet Program
I have gotten to talk to a lot of homeless on this path to being mayor. These people, often forgotten or looked over, are intensely passionate about the City of Akron and it’s representatives. You mig
Day 72 – Kicked Out of Another Discussion – On The Road To Mayor
I was asked a few weeks ago to participate on a panel about the arts in Akron. I was really excited about that because I have a close relationship with the arts in Akron. I spent all my high school ye
Day 71 – Homeless Interview – On The Road To Mayor
You can’t stand on a street in Akron without meeting a homeless person. As I’ve been doing my signatures I’ve gotten to talk to a lot of homeless people. These conversations are the best part of runni
Day 67 – I Am Changed – On The Road To Mayor
This trip to the West has shaped me more than anything I can think of recently in my life. I’ve been trying to find the words to describe what I’m feeling. The word I keep coming back to is: Greatness
Day 64 – They’re Failing You – On The Road To Mayor
Frank Comunale has officially left the race. You now have 2 candidates for the Democratic primary. Dan Horrigan – the puppet of the 30 year old Dynasty of greed and corruption that won’t let go of Akr
Day 63 – Do You Feel Free and Happy? On the road to mayor
Life. Liberty (freedom). And the pursuit of happiness. It’s very interesting that those three things are presented in that order. You can’t have one without the one before it. With all my heart, I bel
Day 61 – Greatness Is In You – On the Road to Mayor
I wish so much you could see what I’ve seen the last couple weeks. Yellowstone, The Black Hills, The Badlands. These are places that defy explanation. No words or pictures tell the story of actually b
Day 59 – It’s Not A Personality Contest – On The Road To Mayor
I saw someone on Facebook say they were going to decide who to vote for Akron mayor by looking at things like: Who he is married to. How his kids behave and do in school. Where he grew up. Where he we
Day 58 – Global Village Festival of Greater Akron – On The Road To Mayor
As mayor I will definitely continue this daily storytelling of the journey as mayor. I believe very strongly that elected office is a deep privilege that deserves a deep commitment to the whole commun
Day 57 – Don’t Vote For A Democrat – On The Road To Mayor
I can’t remember the last time I didn’t vote for a Democrat. There were many elections I just voted down the party line. But for the Akron mayor election I’m telling you this: Don’t vote for a Democra
Day 56 – Privilege – On The Road To Mayor
I think you would have to be pretty tone deaf to not feel how lucky you are to get to spend time in places like: Yellowstone National Park Disney World The Outer Banks Naples Florida The Bahamas Hawai
Day 53 – What Is Freedom To You? – On The Road To Mayor
I got the opportunity, for the first time in my life, to see Mount Rushmore. Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt. It’s definitely worth experiencing. Actually, any national monuments are impress
Day 51 – Akron Artillery Fire – On The Road To Mayor
For 15 years of my adult life I’ve worked in marketing. A good marketer knows things like: Your strengths Your weaknesses (a lot about your weaknesses) Your insecurities Your fears Where you shop Wher
Day 50 – Working Together – On The Road To Mayor
Doesn’t it seem odd to you that politicians can’t work together? Aren’t they the “leaders”? I’m pretty sure I’d get fired from any other job I worked at if I said, “Bob’s idea is completely wrong. In
Day 48 – Great Responsibility – On The Road To Mayor
It is very easy to blame all the country’s problems on our government officials. And in fairness they never take responsibility for anything that goes wrong. And they never ask us to do anything. The
Day 47 – Perspective – On The Road To Mayor
I’m writing this from Sparta Wisconsin. It’s about 600 miles from Akron. Last summer Rocky and I put together a plan to do the biggest vacation of our adult lives. We started putting a plan together t
Day 46 – The Voice of the People – On The Road To Mayor
We had a really great talk on Facebook today about what the focus of the campaign should be. A major focus for me is the ages old infrastructure of the 2 party system. We live in the United States of
Day 45 – Death Panels – On The Road To Mayor
I finished up Mark Maron’s interview of Barack Obama today. Obama was talking about the importance of being succinct in politics. He said that it’s not that people can’t understand the complexity of p
Day 44 – Mark Maron with Obama
I’m listening to a podcast with Barack Obama. He did an interview with Mark Maron. Mark is a comedian who does a podcast in his garage. This is interesting on many levels: Garage Comedian Sitting pres
Day 43 – PAARI – On The Road To Mayor
There are a lot of drugs being used in Akron. People that don’t use illegal drugs often have a disconnect with people that do use illegal drugs. It’s a pretty silly separation if you think about it. H
Day 42 – ConnectHome – On The Road To Mayor
One out of every four people living in the U.S. dont have Internet at home. One in four. The White House wants to change this through its new ConnectHome initiative. Its mission: Every child should be
Day 41 – Change Is Upon Us – On The Road To Mayor
I know people don’t like change. It disrupts our lives. It’s uncomfortable. You never know what will happen on the other side. There’s no reason to change for change sake. But I’m here to tell you: We
Day 40 – Ohio Prison Facts – On The Road To Mayor
I just got back from the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield. We’re spending the weekend camping at the Shelby / Mansfield KOA. The movie Shawshank Redemption was filmed there. Look at this graph from
Day 39 – Nextdoor – On The Road To Mayor
I had a great conversation today with a resident of Cuyahoga Falls. She said that their mayor suggested everyone in Cuyahoga Falls go meet their neighbor. What a great idea! She told two stories where
Day 38 – All Hail Wealthy Donors & Power Mongers! – On The Road To Mayor
Money and politics. This is the great corruption of America. Money buys political favors: You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Find great political power and I guarantee you will find money hoveri
Legalized Squatting & Tent Cities
The International Squaters Symbol Homelessness is a very real problem in Akron. If you have a better way of solving it I’m all ears. But I have an idea: What if prequalified homeless were given the op
Day 37 – Competition – On The Road To Mayor
I just got back from Eddie Sipplen‘s fundraiser event. (For the record, those trying to keep me off the ballot, I didn’t donate to him. So you can’t try to corner me as a Republican in Independent’s c
Plastic Roads
Dutch company, VolkerWessels, has recently come out with a new concept: PlasticRoad. As the Rubber Capital of the World and the Polymer Capital of the World we should be leading this initiative. Akron
Day 36 – Doubt – On The Road To Mayor
In the drug world there is something called Suicide Tuesday. It typically happens after a wild Saturday night of partying. Tuesday is the day when it all comes crashing down around you. The strongest
Day 35 – Auctions – On The Road To Mayor
Based on this blog, you might be surprised to know that I actually run several businesses. SageRock is my bread and butter. It’s a digital marketing agency that my wife, Rocky, and I founded in 1999.
Day 34 – Getting My Voice – On The Road To Mayor
When I started this journey my position was to give the people of Akron an alternative to the status quo. To the good-old-boy club of Akron Democrats. But saying, “If you don’t like this then we have
Day 33 – How Can You Be Mayor If You Don’t Know That? – On The Road To Mayor
That was my niece’s response when I asked her if they still made juice boxes. “How can you be mayor if you don’t know if they still make juice boxes?” I get that question every so often about various
Day 32 – Who I WISH Was Running For Mayor – On The Road To Mayor
I’m not sure what I thought other candidates would be like when I got into this race. But I’m pretty sure it’s not what I’m finding. From what I can see, there are 2 types of people that run for mayor
Day 31 – Getting To Me – On The Road to Akron Mayor
If you’ve been following along you probably know I’ve been spending an increasing amount of time in front of Angel Falls Coffee Shop here in Akron. I spend a couple hours nearly every day standing in
The 1000 Business Challenge
As soon as I’m mayor we will begin a challenge to get 1000 new startup businesses in Akron in the first 2 years I am mayor. People will be able to submit their business ideas and then these people wil
State & Federal Mass Transit Funding
We need to look very intensely at what grants and funds are available for mass transit and bike routes. We likely don’t have a lot of extra money in the budget for these things. But there is very like
The Urban Garden Initiative
Akron already has some really cool urban gardens. We need to look at all the places we can put more urban gardens. Green space is critical to slowing water runoff during storms. We can let the communi