This is a message from a small business owner to all Americans. Oregonians especially need to listen up. I have been told I am ambitious, and I wish sometimes I was not to the degree I am. I am the perpetual student and have done too many impossible things because I understand human nature. I do not get repeat clients in my business. I have to earn every single one. Our leaders do not understand human nature, and this is more dangerous than any misunderstanding or mixed feelings we have on the current pandemic. Our leaders do not understand us and it’s dangerous. My objective is to preserve quality and quantity of life. My name is Zach Thomas and I have 10 employees in my wedding business. We are also the largest wedding company in the state and were planning on 350 weddings this year and 500 in 2021. Suffice to say, I am fed up with having to tell brides that I don't have a plan, a solution. Nor am I able to console them in any way. I can't tell my employees that it will be OK, when I have missed multiple paychecks myself because we have already had 4 months of revenue taken away from us. We were up 37% year over year in February. 1 in 5 of my brides are anti-depressants because the life we have all been told to create does not make us happy. Parents, teachers, religious leaders, news outlets and politicians either lied to us or placed so much distrust in them that we will never trust any of you again. All of us have felt the culture shift this last decade. Let's mix that with a pandemic, look at history, and take real inventory of our fragile predicament. I chose the name Apogee when I started us as a DJ company 14 years ago because the meaning of the word resonated with me as a person. Apogee is the highest point in the development of something. Apex, zenith, pinnacle, paramount. I have always had a desire to be the best. I have always wanted to be the best because I have never felt like I was good enough and I had something to prove to someone else. I did this in many areas, and most of all I did it in weddings. Now, I am calling on all medical professionals, educators, politicians, lawyers, doctors, high school drop outs, business owners, felons, and everyone else who feels their voice is not heard to make it known. It is time for us to unite our minds and create a plan of action which discusses all problems we are facing as a people. Since I am not afraid of being wrong, and don't give a shit if I am right, or if you don't like a noise that my mouth makes. What I care about is doing what is right. To me, doing what is right means providing for the ones I love and that is something I will do and will sacrifice every fiber of my being for. Should someone have told me 7 months ago that I would become single, open my dream business, move my mom into my house, become unemployed, revise my business vision, get TikTok famous, and have to write a pandemic plan to the governor while and be sincerely asked to run for office I would have laughed my ass off. Yet, life happens and we do what we must. Making a plan is the right thing to do. If I am wrong and my plan is wrong or a better plan emerges, I am fine to admit it and seek a better solution. I am not a cry baby who is attached to my feelings and insecure about being wrong. I care about action, and a leader needs to act. I do not identify with any political party and have been unsuccessful in finding one that which fits my point of view. My point of view is quite simple. I want the bull shit and incompetence to stop. Unlike our elected leaders, I understand introspection and course correction. I understand not knowing what to do. That's how business works. We look at what people need and if we have a good answer to what they need, we can make money and feed our family. To me, that is a successful business. I understand how important relationships are. I know what humans can do. Both the bad, and the good. We must... Support this podcast