“Create More: Lessons Learned From A Life At The edge Of Entrepreneurship, In Five Acts”

Len Jessup thought of returning to Chico State as a professor. After all, he had received an MBA and bachelor’s degree in information and communication studies from Chico State, so it seemed logical. Though that didn’t happen, he did become a business professor, served two stints as a university president (most recently of Claremont Graduate University in Southern California), and two as a business school dean.

He realized his great joy was fostering innovation, leading change-oriented teams, and encouraging business startups. As managing partner of Desert Forge Ventures, which uses venture capital for just those purposes in the Las Vegas area, Jessup could write a book about the qualities needed for someone leading innovation. 

He did write it; it’s called “Create More: Lessons Learned From A Life At The edge Of Entrepreneurship, In Five Acts” ($19.99 in paperback from Entrepreneur Books; also for Amazon Kindle). He draws on his own experiences and those from leaders like Steve Jobs in each of the five chapters.

“Child’s Play” encourages childhood creativity; “Innovating at Work” introduces the idea of the “intrapreneuer,” one who innovates from inside an existing company; then there are the qualities of “The Transformational Leader”; “The Leader as A Creative Visionary”; and “The Leader We Need” (“We’ve got to continue to support and incentivize our young entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs.”)

Jessup notes developing five characteristics of an entrepreneurial leader (creativity, vision, charisma, drive, and resilience) “won’t amount to much if you lack one essential personality trait: your tolerance for risk…. Successful entrepreneurs must become comfortable taking risks, and nearly anyone can learn to do this.”

Risk taking is not a random dice throw but flows out of the leader’s “core competencies,” creativity, adaptability, discernment, foresight, and “pattern recognition” (seeing common factors in organizational problems). Throw the dice, but with educated intuition.

Jessup lays out practical strategies to help the budding leader “see around corners.” “A leader with a strong ethos doesn’t just tell people what to do—they inspire trust because of who they are and how they lead.” Readers will find inspiration to “create more” by helping others achieve their own dreams.

“Self Less: Lessons Learned From A Life Devoted To Servant Leadership, In Five Acts”

“My best friend … was headed to Cal State Chico and wanted me to join him,” writes Len Jessup. “My dad, however, strongly advised me to think about getting a good civil service job like he had….” Not quite confident enough, Jessup first attended a community college near their home in Fort Jones. But eventually he graduated with an MBA from Chico State in 1985, and over the years an extraordinary series of leadership opportunities opened up for him.

He retired in 2024, having been “a two-time business school dean and a two-time university president…. On the other hand, in many ways, I’m still that quirky Italian squirt, the son of a fireman, the grandson of Italian immigrants, still unsure, still working on my confidence, continuing to want to learn and grow and to be in service to others.”

“Self Less: Lessons Learned From A Life Devoted To Servant Leadership, In Five Acts” ($24.99 in hardcover from Forbes Books; also for Amazon Kindle) asks readers to think of “self” as a verb. Over time “I was starting to ‘self less,’ to act less in my own self-interests and proactively do more for others.”

Pithy chapters chart not just Jessup’s many teamwork successes, but also the low points in his life, like the breakup of his first marriage. Yet becoming a single dad forced him to “self less.” 

The first act, “Origins,” is self-reflective, acknowledging family influence, especially from his father; “Beliefs,” is about forming a team which believes in the dream; “Adversity” deals with often subtle resistance to a project; “Impact” focuses on what can be done, not who gets credit; “Legacy” is about philanthropy, about a vision that will outlast an individual.

Jessup embodies his life purpose: “When I get to the end of my path, I want to be able to look back in that moment and know that I did everything I possibly could, to positively impact as many people as I possibly could, and that I never shied away from an opportunity to do so.” 

The young man lacking self-confidence became a wiser man who developed confidence in others.

"Remote For Life: How To Find A Flexible Job And Fast Forward To Freedom"

"Crazy as it seems to me now," self-described "digital nomad" Jordan Carroll writes, "I remember recruiting for IBM at my alma mater, Chico State, from 2013 to 2016. We would set up a booth at the job fair and talk to candidates in person." But if you want to work remotely—the subject of his book—you need to learn "to be 'good at the internet.' And it benefits you because interacting with companies online is far more scalable than anything you can do in person."

In "Remote For Life: How To Find A Flexible Job And Fast Forward To Freedom" ($17.99 in paperback from Lioncrest Publishing; also for Amazon Kindle), Carroll lays out a comprehensive strategy. Post-Covid, he notes, when many companies are modifying their work-at-home policies, it's important to distinguish between a job that allows for some remote work and a job that is fully remote all the time.

And it has to be satisfying work. At Chico State in 2013, before connecting with IBM, Carroll was a "remote telemarketer…. I would squeeze hour-long 'call blitzes' in between a full-time university course load and two other part-time jobs." Not fun. But "little did I know, the remote work movement would become the most impactful cultural phenomenon in my life….."

Since then, Carroll worked remotely for many companies and started his own business. A resident of Mexico, he's lived all over the world. "As I built a more fulfilling life I quit many of the substances that I previously used as numbing agents, including cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs (except natural psychedelics and, well, caffeine, of course)." His "greater purpose in life is helping those for whom remote work can be the biggest lifesaver: underprivileged populations, those with disabilities, and refugees."

The secret? Well, "to get hired the difficult way, apply online. To get hired the easy way, network." Develop a personal brand, use LinkedIn, do your research and learn how to give a good interview. The details and insider tips are all here. And network, network, network.

Do you have that remote look in your eye? Then this book is for you.

"Fulfilled: The Passion And Provision Strategy For Building A Business With Profit, Purpose And Legacy"

Owners of local businesses will be making crucial decisions in the coming weeks. Can their doors reopen? And, if so, will the customers be there? A new book by a Chico couple, the founders and owners of the marketing and consulting firm Half a Bubble Out, is a superb guide to rethinking one's business in a time of crisis.

Drawing on lessons from their own early missteps, Kathryn and Michael Redman propose a holistic approach to build or rebuild a business that attracts customers and keeps employees motivated. It's called "Fulfilled: The Passion And Provision Strategy For Building A Business With Profit, Purpose And Legacy" ($19.99 in paperback from Lioncrest Publishing; also for Amazon Kindle). An associated website, fulfilledthebook.com, provides special offers and worksheets.

For the Redmans, "Our Passion & Provision concept ... is about living into the 'more' of what life is supposed to be. When we talk about Passion & Provision, we’re talking about fighting a battle against despair, against the status quo, against fear and failure and loss."

Passion is "conviction, values, and commitment ... the willingness to endure pain and suffering to reach a desired destination...." But purpose must be balanced with Provision, "having the resources you need to achieve your goals." This is not, the Redmans say, about just "breaking even" (and for them that includes paying oneself).

Start with core values, like trust and integrity. Create a vision of how to realize what the authors call BHAG, "our Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal." To do that, become minimally competent in leadership; management and operations; marketing and sales; money; and culture (helping everyone reach their potential through the work they do).

It's not easy, but the book includes key real-world insights from other business writers that will help light the way.

As Kathryn writes, "Many times I have looked at Michael and said, 'I knew this would be hard, but I didn't know.' ... The challenge of walking through failures as well as triumphs. Of days when the future looks bright and days when you are convinced the end is imminent."

"Fulfilled" is a must read for business leaders. Anchored in reality, it will encourage and inspire in the uncertain days ahead.

"Open Your Studio: Nine Steps To A Successful Art Event"

Melinda Cootsona (melindacootsona.com) is a Bay Area painter and art teacher with family in Chico. Over the years she's gained experience in hosting or participating in Open Studio events; that's where the public is invited to meet the artist, see the artist's domain, and view and purchase selected works. But there's much more to it than putting out a sign that says "the artist is in!"

Cootsona has distilled her advice into a no-nonsense manual that guides the artist into the business side of things. "Open Your Studio: Nine Steps To A Successful Art Event" ($14.95 in paperback from RedDot Press; also for Amazon Kindle) "is a step-by-step guide written to encourage artists to participate in Open Studios."

It's timely help--and motivation--for those preparing for the 30th annual Chico Art Center Open Studios Art Tour (OSAT) October 21-22 and October 28-29. There's a preview exhibition October 6-29, a reception, and more (see facebook.com/CACOSAT2017).

What Cootsona wants to do is demystify the "commerce" side of art. "Selling your own art," she writes, "can be done successfully without 'selling out' or compromising your integrity."

What should the artist show? "Put your best/favorite pieces at one end and arrange them down to your least favorite. Try to be objective in looking at the quality" and then "show only your best work."

"It will hang on someone's wall and they will remember you when they see it. How much they like the art determines if they'll return. So, if you need to eliminate some of your pieces because you don't feel they are as strong, do it!" Make sure the presentation is "cohesive"; eliminate those works that don't seem to "fit" with the others.

The chapters on pricing are worth the cost of admission. Key ideas: "Never price a work according to your own emotional attachment to it"; "always be consistent with your pricing, no matter what your medium"; and "discounting your work cheapens it."

Cootsona gets into some nitty-gritty details but reminds artists to "create what you want to create and what speaks to you … people will see passion in your work."

And they will be moved.

Sitton in on class

When W. Gary Sitton was asked to teach a graduate-level course at Chico State University called Technical Startups, he insisted on a class time of 6:00 a.m. and the freedom to pick his own guest presenters. “We ended up with twenty-five registered students, mostly electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science majors.” The class ran on coffee and Krispy Kreme, he writes, and though the focus was on high-tech entrepreneurism many of the business lessons shared that spring of 2014 would be applicable to any startup.

So a book was born, a “translation” of the course into the written word, mixing business acumen with the personal. “Fire Up Your Startup And Keep It Up: Lessons From Twelve Business And Entrepreneur Experts” ($18.95 from iUniverse, also for Amazon Kindle) begins with Sitton’s own story.

Born in Chico, he found his calling in software development and in 1981 founded Bi-Tech which, according to Bloomberg Business, “offers software and processing solutions for financial services, higher education, and the public sectors.” Still based in Chico, Bi-Tech is now “a subsidiary of SunGard Data Systems Inc.”

Though he sold the company in 1995, Sitton continues his close ties to the industry, and the invited guests (who covered marketing and sales, human resources, customer service, research and development, going global and social media) generally had connections with Bi-Tech. Each chapter includes a list of “lessons learned.” James Bennett, Vice President of Technology at Bi-Tech, discusses the clash of cultures when companies merge. Sitton’s wife, Judy, “the conscience of Bi-Tech,” writes about creating effective customer service.

Sitton himself closes the book with a list of dogmas (that shouldn’t be) and best practices. Consider “Axiom #9: Hire a few people who tease and cut up (they keep things light.)” That’s reflected in the book, with plenty of street smarts stirred in.

Sitton will be signing copies of his book at Lyon Books in Chico on Monday at 7:00 p.m. An archive of an interview with Sitton, scheduled to air on Nancy’s Bookshelf, with host Nancy Wiegman, should be available at kchofm.podbean.com.

Helping students, but not without controversy

Former Chico State University President Manuel Esteban characterizes business professor Curt DeBerg as “a nonconformist, irrepressible, blunt, and undeterred by bureaucratic hurdles.” Those qualities are very much in evidence in Professor DeBerg’s detailed account, “How High Is Up? The Rise, Fall, and Redemption Of A Sam M. Walton SIFE Fellow” ($24.95 in paperback from Memoir Books; also for Amazon Kindle).

Esteban encouraged Professor DeBerg’s efforts establishing a chapter of Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) on the Chico State campus. SIFE, writes DeBerg, is “one of Wal-Mart’s favorite nonprofit organizations,” a way for the corporation and its business sponsors to help college students practice free enterprise in their local communities, and also a way to train a future generation of leaders.

DeBerg advocated “service learning” which emphasized community support projects. That seemed a good fit with SIFE, and so DeBerg became a Sam Walton Fellow, named after the legendary founder of Wal-Mart.

His book details his adventures during his dozen or so years as a SIFE leader (Chico State teams became national champions and a force to be reckoned with), but DeBerg grew increasingly at odds with the organization, wanting it to be more accountable (the Fellows had little say), less Christian (and more inclusive) and less politically right-wing. As DeBerg explored his idea of SIFE teams helping less privileged high school students become entrepreneurs, there was a clash of goals, and egos, and he was kicked out.

Yet what DeBerg learned in SIFE helped him start Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE), focusing on high schools. SIFE itself changed its name to “Enactus” and instituted some of the reforms DeBerg advocated. It’s a tangled tale, more “prickly” than this review would suggest, but ultimately a vision for what DeBerg calls “humanitarian capitalism.”

The author will be discussing his book at Lyon Books in Chico on Monday, May 5 at 7:00 p.m., and will be interviewed by Nancy Wiegman on Nancy’s Bookshelf Friday, May 9 at 10:00 a.m. on KCHO, Northstate Public Radio (91.7 FM).

Will the family farm survive?

Gary Romano, his wife, Kim and son, Joey, own and operate Sierra Valley Farms (sierravalleyfarms.com) in Beckwourth, on the Middle Fork of the Feather River, in Plumas County. Certified organic, the 65-acre family farm, according to its Website, "hosts the only on-farm Certified Farmers Market in California." Innovations also include the summer "dinner in the barn series" and a CSA ("community-supported agriculture") program for restaurants.

But family farming is a struggle, and though Romano himself comes from generations of farmers, fewer and fewer Americans count farming as a family heritage. Romano argues that the US farm system is allied against small farmers, making a spirited case in "Why I Farm: Risking It All For A Life On The Land" ($15 in paperback from Bona Fide Books; also for Amazon Kindle). At times raucus (pretty raw emotions, and there's cussing), the book mixes family memoir with a plea for change (cultural, financial, legal) to help the small farmer survive.

What shines through is Romano's passion for the soil, and for honoring the family farmer. "So as we positively change our image," he writes, "how are we going to get people to like dirt? This is a hard one. The American public is so paranoid about germs. They are all about sanitizing everything! People need to go back to the earth, where all life begins and ends. Don't fight it! A little dirt under the fingernails is just fine. I don't know anyone who has died from eating a mouthful of organic soil."

Romano's book is a compelling read, tell-it-like-it-is honest about his own struggles to sustain a farm. "The old-timers say, 'All you have in Sierra Valley is July and winter.'" So, for Romano, diversification is in order, and even a little humor creeps in in his "Farmercise" suggestion, "fresh air exercise clubs" where "you can work your biceps and your quads by moving irrigation pipes...." An Appendix lists ten ways to "sustain the family farm in the twenty-first century."

Why does Romano farm? "I've worked a lot of jobs in my life," says the Chico State University grad, "from sales to a garbage man, a park ranger, and a cushy park superintendent job in Lake Tahoe. I must say that in the end I was born to farm."

The business side of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Sierra Nevada's first brew date was November 15, 1980. Almost a quarter century and uncounted bottles of Pale Ale later, Ken Grossman, president and owner of the company, contemplated retirement. Then he read a book by "Gary Erickson, the founder of Clif Bar and Company, that chronicled his struggle with the direction of his company at a similar point in his life. His story was similar to mine, with a troubled partnership and the near sale of his company to a major industry player. He changed his mind at the absolute last minute and walked away from signing over his company and had since rededicated himself to it."

With Sierra Nevada, Grossman writes, "we built one of the best breweries in the world." Now, as he rededicated his energies, he learned the importance of a sales team, made plans to build a second operation in North Carolina, and nurtured the next generation of craft brewers. In an odd way, a Clif Bar saved the vision.

Grossman tells the story of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in "Beyond The Pale" ($24.95 in hardcover from Wiley and in Amazon Kindle format). It's a business memoir, with a color photograph section included, recounting the growth of a company that by 2010 was producing 800,000 barrels and running out of room. There were financial and personal challenges, including the tragic loss of the company's first employee, Steve Harrison. His death, Grossman writes, "was the worst thing the brewery has ever been through."

But the focus of the book is on how the business navigated the ups and downs of the craft beer revolution and how Grossman, an avowed beer purist, became a beer scientist, "shunning pasteurization" and instead focusing on "the yeast and the cleanliness of your plant." As far as the hops are concerned, "we have the one of the most sophisticated gas chromatographs available for aroma analysis." He discusses management style as well, and the use of alternative energy.

It's wisdom to tap into.

Grossman will be signing copies at Sierra Nevada's "Single, Fresh, Wet and Wild Harvest Festival" this Saturday from 1:00 - 6:00 (visit sierranevada.com/sfww for ticket information) and Lyon Books in Chico will hold a free signing event on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 7:00 p.m.

Magalia writer on bullying in the workplace

"My own experience at the hands of a bully was horrendous at best," writes Magalia resident Judith Munson, but she's not talking about the schoolyard variety. "Alligators In The Water Cooler" ($15.99 in paperback from Xlibris, with illustrations by Larry Foss of Paradise) refers to men and women in the workplace who "choose to bully others, passively or aggressively, often causing emotional pain or physical illness." Baby alligators stuffed into a water cooler might be a joke, but the alligator-like bully--"a menacing predator, opportunist, solitary and territorial"--is no joke at all. (There's more information at www.workplaceintimidation.com.)

Munson is scheduled to be interviewed by Nancy Wiegman on Nancy's Bookshelf this Saturday. The program airs at 4:30 p.m. on Northstate Public Radio, KCHO, 91.7 FM. She will also be signing copies of her book at Lyon Books in Chico on Tuesday, June 15, from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

"Contrary to popular belief," Munson notes, "upper management and supervisors are not always the bullies that are making your life miserable. It is often your co-workers who are the culprits. They can draw you in and gain your trust then freeze you out of the inner circle."

The heart of the book helps readers identify some of the many types of workplace bullies and offers remedies (ranging from peacemaking communication to filing documented complaints to leaving the job altogether). Aggressive personalities may use outright intimidation or threats against the worker or "jump on any mistake with negative feedback."

More passive types are especially dangerous because the abuse is often hidden. "The mental and physical damage piles up, and the source is often not known or dealt with for a long time, if ever." The "potshot taker" uses "jabs, humor, sarcasm, and verbal sparring to put others down," "eavesdrops on conference calls" and "talk behind other people's backs." The "destructive storyteller" is a rumor-monger who spreads innuendos about workplace relationships or salaries.

Then there is the "alligator mob," usually coordinated by a single person, in which "co-workers, colleagues, superiors, or subordinates malign" the dignity of the worker, calling his or her integrity or competence into question. Self-confidence shattered, the worker often leaves.

Munson offers a calm voice and sensible guidance for "climbing out of the swamp." She's been there.