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EPISODE 6 of the Managing Happiness Show!
Brett Florio is the founder and CEO of the eCommerce platform Foxy. Brett and his family spend 6 months a year touring the United States and Canada with their RV. How does he manage to stay productive? How does he find the balance between work, travel and homeschooling his children? Find out in the 6th episode of the Managing Happiness show.
About Brett Florio
Brett Florio is a co-founder and CEO of FoxyCart (currently rebranding to Foxy.io) – a customizable eCommerce platform. He is married and has 3 beautiful daughters. Brett and his family used to live in Los Angeles but moved to Austin, Texas, and now they spend half the year touring the US in their RV (recreational vehicle).
In this interview, he will share how he combines work, travel and homeschooling his children.
Bootstrapping a business
Brett and his business partner started Foxy 10 years ago. The growth of their business wasn’t capital-intensive because it didn’t depend on traditional marketing. That’s why Brett and his partner bootstrapped the company. Foxy is an eCommerce platform for developers. It is built to add eCommerce functionalities to existing systems.
Brett believes that bootstrapping was a very good decision for Foxy. It allowed the team to have full control over the company and align business goals with personal lifestyle. However, Brett admits that there are benefits to raising capital. The biggest one is that capital comes together with counsel and advice from experienced investors.
Brett and his partner joined different advisory groups and built their own advisory board.
Choosing the right co-founder
Brett believes that choosing the right co-founder is a crucial decision for the success of a business. Thus, people should be looking for red flags when picking their business partner. If a person is dishonest in any way towards the people around them, then what guarantee do you have that they will not be dishonest with you?
The relationship between business partners can be wonderful or can be awful. My first business ended in a very strive-filled way because I didn’t trust my gut.
The fact that someone is an excellent professional in their field doesn’t necessarily make them the right co-founder. A bad relationship with your co-founder puts the entire company at risk, so you should pick your business partner with the same precision you pick your life partner.
Homeschooling and touring the US with an RV
Brett has 3 beautiful daughters and a lovely wife with whom he tours the United States with an RV 6 months a year. His personal goal is to travel the world while giving his children the most amazing education available.
That’s why his daughters are homeschooling or roadschooling when the family is on a trip. Brett believes that this is a great way for them to explore and experience the world.
Every new city they visit introduces a new theme the girls study. They go sight-seeing, visit museums, national parks and learn many things by doing. In addition, Brett teaches them to play music and encourages them to read books.
Homeschooling is about liberating children from the behaviorist notions of threats, punishments, and rewards, and helping them develop their intrinsic motivation.
Work-life balance
When Brett and his family hit the road, he works on his standing desk in the RV or goes to cafeterias and libraries. When they visit a new city, often his family goes sight-seeing while he works on his computer.
Foxy has a remote team with people all over the world and Brett has adapted his business hours to cover their time zones. He enjoys working from 11 pm and 2 am US time because this way he can get things done without being distracted.
Like most people, Brett admits he struggles with time. Both running the company and taking care of the family take time and there are not enough hours in a day to do everything he wants. However, he loves what he does and enjoys his lifestyle.
