09/29/2026
There are moments in business when the hardest thing to accept is that the person you invested in, believed in, defended, and trusted may not have had the same commitment to your success that you had to theirs.
Today is one of those days.
It is a sad realization when you look back and recognize that the warning signs were there from the beginning. People who had nothing to gain warned you. Situations happened that should have made you question things sooner. But instead of assuming the worst, you gave someone the benefit of the doubt.
Again and again.
You invested your time, your resources, your knowledge, and your trust into helping that person become better at what they did. You wanted to see them succeed—not only professionally, but personally and for their family.
And when things went wrong, you looked at yourself first.
When projects went over labor budgets, you questioned yourself.
When installations had problems, you questioned yourself.
When jobs that should have been profitable weren’t, you questioned yourself.
When fingers were pointed in your direction, you accepted responsibility, apologized, made changes, and asked yourself, “What am I doing wrong?”
But eventually, patterns become impossible to ignore.
When the same problems continue occurring under the same leadership—and then projects are completed without that person and suddenly operations run smoothly, budgets work, the company makes money, people get paid, installations go well, and clients are happy—you have to pay attention.
Looking back now, many situations that didn’t make sense at the time are beginning to make a lot more sense.
I don’t write this out of anger, and I won’t publicly name anyone. The people involved know exactly what happened, and the results going forward will speak louder than anything I could say here.
To that person: I sincerely hope you succeed in your new ventures. I hope your projects are profitable. I hope your career grows, and I hope you and your family prosper.
As for me, I have learned an extremely valuable lesson:
Trust is earned.
Leadership requires accountability.
Loyalty has to work both ways.
And sometimes believing in someone’s potential can prevent you from seeing what is actually happening right in front of you.
Now there are no more excuses. No more looking backward. No more questioning whether we are capable of what I have always believed we are capable of.
The next chapter is about accountability, profitability, craftsmanship, stronger leadership, and building the company we know 1822 Sets, Scenery & Rentals, Inc. can become.
We have work to do.
Let’s get back to succeeding.
Let’s get back to building.
And let’s make 1822 one of the strongest companies in our industry.
Where Vision Meets Craftsmanship.
