Weaving Together My Life Story In A Series Of Blogs

The blog has always been a great platform for storytelling. Over time, I have shared many things about my history, my present, and goals for the future - they are:

My Life Story - Have you ever thought about the impact of big decisions that you made in your life? How about the small ones or the ones made for you? How would have your life turned out if things went the other way?

My Love Story - Michelle and met on October 15, 2010 in a serendipitous way. We were both part of a charity in Raleigh, NC and one night at a dinner struck up a conversation about many things - including our love of travel.

My Housing Story - After 13 moves and stops in three Canadian Provinces and three U.S. States, here is my journey in pictures from the Northwest to the Southeast of North America.

My Car Story - I have the dubious honor of getting speeding tickets on all 6 driveable continents - lucky that there are no cars in Antarctica! Did I ever tell you the time I passed the Polizia in Italy with my mom?

My Travel Story - The story started with a "Rollerblades and Red Bull" journey to 100 countries. It is now expanding in every direction after hitting 7 continents and the 7 wonders of the world (most with kids in tow).

My Nautical Story - I am pretty sure the love of water started in 1972 when I was six weeks old and my grandparents Bob and Dona McBain retired to Shuswap, British Columbia, Canada, and built a log cabin.

My Crazy MBA Story - In the summer of 2017, while climbing Machu Picchu, Peru as part of my wife Michelle’s International MBA from Manhattan College, I thought – why not me?

My Hockey Story - As long as I can remember, I have been playing hockey. Over four and a half decades and thousands of games later, I still lace them up a couple times a week, year-round.

My Cycling Story - When the Covid-19 pandemic first took hold in March 2020 we responded quickly as a family - including strict stay at home orders and no outside contact until we could get a handle on the risks. My attention now turned to exercise - and biking across North America (virtually).

My Retirement Story - I have no interest in disconnecting fully from the work that makes me so fulfilled. I could never see myself  in bingo-playing retired life. I want to stay curious, engaged, and adding value past the (very specific) date in 2034 that I am aiming for.

My Christmas Story - Whether traveling to see family, or going to Disney or Hawaii, or simply staying home - the season is packed with memories of family and friends.

My Music Story - My favorite music can be best defined as sad / emotional / multi-level slow music. Oddly, it is opposite of my worldview - which is normally overly-positive and optimistic.

My Movie Story - Oddly enough, I think Pretty Woman made me very interested in business. I named my cat Austin Powers - oh, and yes, "Danger" is his middle name. Our current dog is named August Rush (Auggie Doggy). Movies such as Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Forrest Gump, & National Lampoon's Vacation have become soundtracks to my life.

These are all my personal stories. My business stories wrap around channels, partnerships, alliances, and ecosystems and can be found here. 

Also business related, on this platform I named the top 100 most visible channel influencers and top 100 global women in technology groups that continue to get thousands of visitors per month.

Thanks for taking a walk with me through memory lane!

Civil War

There are two ways the United States could fail and both are internal.

The grand experiment - America's unique attempt to establish and sustain a republic and democracy based on principles of liberty and popular sovereignty - is at critical risk of a civil war triggered by either poor vs. rich or left vs. right.

The external threat isn't military-driven but sowing division through malign influence campaigns. According to the U.S. Intelligence Community and Department of Homeland Security, major threats include Russia, China, and Iran. Their tactics exploit existing societal frictions to undermine trust in institutions, amplify discord, and interfere in democratic processes.

First, growing income inequality has played a significant role in the decline and collapse of great empires throughout history by fueling political instability, fostering resentment among the poor, and creating a decadent and less resilient elite. Research comparing the Roman and Han Chinese empires, for example, found that high inequality increased the potential for political instability that ultimately contributed to their downfalls.

Almost on every measure, we are marching towards this.

Second, happening quicker than the first, is the increasing division between the left and the right on the political spectrum. By nature, humans are tribal and are wired for survival with the need for packs or teams. The "us vs. them" is evolutionary and deeply rooted in our psychology.

Overriding these divisions over the first 200 years in the U.S. has been bipartisan leadership driving a deep sense of patriotism for the country over anything else. Whether it was the World Wars or yesterday's 24th anniversary of 9/11, a large and diverse collection of different states, races, and religions stayed true to this overriding pride and protection of the whole.

I created the visual below to help me think about this moment in history.

America has always had that "80% in the middle" of the bell curve - the neighbors, family, friends, and industry colleagues that wanted a better country but had different (but civil) opinions on how to achieve. It was ok to be a socially-minded conservative or a fiscally-minded liberal. It was ok to independently choose a side on over 100 of the most pressing issues of the day and not have those defined for us based on the team we chose.

Interestingly enough, large institutions such as government, courts, religion, and traditional media reinforced (and protected) the bell curve.

Sowing division and lowering trust in these institutions combined with the rise of the internet (1995) and social media (2006) has set us on a course to civil war. The world has never had millions of communication channels amplifying voices from every part of society.

The emergency issue is that to cut through this noise and clutter, algorithms have amplified the most extreme voices (on both sides) and commercialized them. American society is pretty numb to the barrage of information hitting us everyday and only engages when something is extreme enough to warrant a response. Reasonable discord in the middle (the 80%) is invisible.

We all recognize and can rank people around us (and ourselves) into each slice of this bell curve.

What do we do?

First, we need to protect each other and report anyone that falls (or is at risk of falling) off either edge of the curve.

Second, we need to recognize that we are ALL being manipulated. The media around us is driven off of clicks and engagement - it is sending them towards the edges to get noticed and compensated.

Tribal nature is pulling us with them.

Third, understand that we are making the job of people trying to end this empire easy. Sowing division is easy when something extreme gets painted as "them".

This week is a perfect example with the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Millions of communication channels quickly became a cesspool of division and hate. Hundreds of my connections (on both sides and in different slices) have used the word "they or them" in their outrage.

These aren't woke pronouns - it is the seed of civil war.

Fourth, we need to obviously find common ground. This is where the 80% of the bell curve can disagree, knowing that the source of that friction is for a better country. Where we can identify and act (together) on the growing fringes and protect each other at the outer edge.

This is the tragic irony of what happened this week. Charlie is someone who successfully triggered some of these "extreme" algorithms (regardless of whether that was in or out of context, the result was the same) but believed in civil public discourse and wasn't afraid to engage and debate.

Many were quick to assign motive and blame before the shooter was even in custody because it had to be "them". Others were quick to support the horrific narrative that somehow he deserved to be killed.

We never got to see what the middle of America thought as we were invisible.

The Butterfly Effect – My Life Story

Have you ever thought about the impact of big decisions that you made in your life? How about the small ones or the ones made for you? How would have your life turned out if things went the other way?

A movie that has always fascinated me is the Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher. The movie was good (not great) but the concept is mind-blowing.

In chaos theory, the butterfly effect says that a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. The concept was formulated by Edward Lorenz, and uses a metaphorical example of a hurricane being influenced by the flapping of the wings of a distant butterfly.

Thus, a very small change in initial conditions can create a significantly different outcome.

Another similar and equally fascinating concept in science fiction is parallel universes or multiverses. Star Trek TNG had an episode called Parallels where every decision and possible outcome create multiple parallel dimensions. Thus, your life would have millions of permutations based on every decision you have ever made (or was made for you). You could be President of the United States or a bum on the street, depending on chance.

Today I talked about those moments in my life in front of MBA students at the Lally School of Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY. I came up with 11 pivotal times in my life that got me to where I am today:

1982 - My mom lugs home an Apple IIe computer 

As a computer teacher at a small Jewish school in Calgary, my mom regularly carried home a heavy computer, screen and disk drives, introducing her inquisitive 10 year old son to computers. Instead of playing games, I learned BASIC and built a Quicken type financial tracking software that manages every dollar I earned at my paper route and every dollar I spent (normally Slurpees and Hockey Cards at 7-Eleven).

This small flap of butterfly wings created a future I couldn't imagine...



1987 - Five years later, a hit movie called Top Gun changes everything 

Watching Tom Cruise pop a wheelie on that Ninja 900 (chasing a girl) as a jet takes off in the background had a monumental effect on an impressionable 15 year old kid, 6 months away from getting his drivers license.

I did the research (this was before the internet remember!) and figured out that the bike would cost $4,000. That finance program I built years back detailed for me exactly how to make it happen.

That frugal 6 months, combined with achieving a clear goal had a huge impact on my life from that day forward. Cutting out alcohol, smoking, drugs (or anything else frivolous) allowed me to get that motorcycle, build an executive home at 22 years old and get a new cherry red Mercedes a few years later.

That is the reason I don't drink alcohol today - plain and simple.



1994 – IBM Intern and resident Futurist

My dad strongly encouraged me to pursue an internship in my final year of college and I was lucky to have Cargill and IBM come knocking. Working a tech call center seemed to be a better option than a meat processing plant, and my career was officially launched.

Two stories stick out in those early days.

I walked in my first day expecting to work on spreadsheets tracking call center rep performance – it was January and IBM had just sold a boat load of Aptiva home computers. Canadian customers bought NHL Hockey ’94 in large numbers as well. Problem was, after spending over $3,000 and having the family open up the computer on Christmas morning – the game wouldn’t run! After waiting on hold for over 60 minutes the customers were livid! The stress was felt in the office and instead of working on spreadsheets, I picked up the phone. I took over 50 calls that day and everyday after. My boss met me for the first time a week later and was shocked - and pleasantly surprised - that I was the top rep in productivity as measured on the spreadsheet I didn’t work on.

Even in the first few weeks of that internship I could see myself contributing more. IBM at the time was a technology juggernaut employing over 10% of all world PHD grads in math, computers and science. They had just proven that Teleportation (Star Trek style) was possible, were building the computer called Deep Blue that would be the first to beat a grandmaster at Chess (Gary Kasparov never got over it) and evolve into Jeapardy champion Watson, and were demo’ing a new personal area network that used the bodies natural electricity and could transfer data by just shaking someone’s hand.

Problem was, there were no evangelists that could talk to business audiences, students and go on TV. I jumped on the opportunity and became the resident IBM futurist. According to the World Future Society, I was the only one they knew of that had lifestreamed my life from the beginning – using that financial tracking software, combined with the fact that I was scanning all my documents and storing all of my pictures in digital format.

Every day of my life was documented; financially, documents and pictures – and it still is today!



1996 – The Winnipeg Place Mat

When IBM promoted and moved me to Manitoba to be a sales rep it was a big deal. Most IBMers before me had to wait 5 or 6 years to ever get a chance in front of a customer, and even then as a junior assistant. Here I was, 24 years old (looking more like 14) trying to manage an entire IBM Territory for the PC division.

Knowing I wasn’t the most extroverted relationship salesperson, I went the transactional route. I spent hours in the library and on the road documenting EVERY customer in the region. It became a massive color-coded spreadsheet called the Manitoba Unfortunate 500. I even took my family on a trip driving thousands of miles through the Northern townships and peeking inside each window on main street to see what kind of computers they used. The spreadsheet grew to dozens of columns with absolutely every piece of competitive and contact info I could get my hands on.

I would print the spreadsheet on a large sheet of paper and then laminate it – becoming affectionately known as the “place mat”.

This place mat drove my activity every day and a few years later I was recognized for having the largest IBM market share of any Territory in the world – almost 7 out of 10 computers bought in Manitoba in 1998 were IBM!


2000 – The Knowledge Worker Index 

IBM had moved me to Country Headquarters in Toronto and I was now a National Sales Manager. I was able to replicate the place mats for all 10 Territories and because of the mass quantity of prospects, a new scoring and propensity system needed to be developed.

After looking at thousands of our current customers, I built an algorithm that predicted how many knowledge workers (and thus computers) every company in Canada would buy in a given year. This predictive model was picked up by other divisions and the same methodology was being used to predict server, software and services sales.



2007 – The Channel Dashboard 

I was now handling Lenovo Channel sales for North and South America, and the challenges were that much larger in size and scope. Like many times before, I used a data approach to tie together over 30 systems including financial, product, inventory, distributors, programs and historicals.

Instead of being data jockeys for partners, the channel reps could now have all information on one screen and start spending their time driving more strategic discussions with partners.



2009 – Moving to the United States and channeling Paul Revere

Lenovo moved me to World-wide Headquarters in Raleigh, N.C. and I was now faced with the biggest challenge yet. How do I run an SMB business for a company that ignored the market for decades with someone brand new to the country?

In the Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell illustrates the story with Paul Revere and the Midnight Ride. Revere was possibly the best connected person in Boston on April 18, 1775. When he was alerted to the impending British attack on the armory at Concord, he successfully alerted and armed much of the Boston countryside. I used the exact same approach for finding connectors, gaining endorsements, and taking the IT Industry in the US by storm.

This is a longer story and maybe one of the most interesting times of my professional life. I go into more detail here:

http://jaymcbain.blogspot.com/2015/08/everything-i-know-about-partner-channel.html



2010 – Market like Dandelions 

I ran into a great connector in my travels by the name of Jeremy Epstein. He had an e-book that compared the future of marketing to a dandelion and it made total sense.

After traveling for 6 months straight on the Paul Revere journey, I needed to make an impact on the 30 or so communities that I became a part of. The problem was that communication preferences were changing with social media and almost 30 newer marketing vehicles. The simple math was 30 x 30 = 900 new touch points and the plan was to cover them all!

This is also a story that has it’s own blog here:

http://jaymcbain.blogspot.com/2010/05/dandelions-and-blowfishthe-future-of.html


2011 – Give up corporate life, become an Entrepreneur! 

One of the top super-connectors I met on the Paul Revere journey was Bob Godgart. He is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of 5 successful businesses.

Bob was just transitioning his fourth company Autotask and I decided to jump on the chance to build ChannelEyes with him and two other great co-founders, Dave Geoghegan and Shari Godgart. The first couple of years were a blast – building the first social, mobile and big data solutions for vendors to better communicate, enable and drive sales with partners.



2015 – Become a CEO – fulfill a life dream

As we entered 2015, ChannelEyes was transitioning into a larger company. Having successfully raised millions in venture capital investment, ChannelEyes is now readying its breakthrough product called OPTYX – the first sales workflow product on the planet made for indirect sellers.

2017 – Becoming an industry curmudgeon – bring it all together

On a trip to Miami with my daughter, Danica, for spring break a couple of interesting things happened. 

One, is a major snowstorm hit our home in Upstate New York, and Michelle was at home stranded with the driveway snowed in. All flights were cancelled for at least a week and we needed to get home! We rented a car and drove 24 straight hours home without sleeping.

Two, on that long car ride (around Virginia), I had a conference call with a company I was advising called Channel Mechanics in Ireland. It was a 4 hour call and I had trouble hearing and communicating effectively - but tried my best. After the call, two representatives from Forrester phoned me - one a sales rep who was on the call, and the other a Vice President and Research Director who was leading the call - both with praise for my contribution and an offer of employment. A few months later, in June of 2017, I joined Forrester as a Principal Analyst of Channels, Partnerships, Alliances, and Ecosystems globally. 

In early 2022, it was time to take my analyst work to the next level - joining Canalys - the world's largest research firm laser focused on channels, partnerships, and ecosystems. Waking up each day with over 120 colleagues around the world thinking about indirect channels is amazing and the company culture is like family.

Now back to the Butterfly Effect. 

If my mom didn’t bring home that Apple IIe computer when I was 10, I may never have got the job at IBM. If I didn’t write that Quicken program, I may never have been inclined to think in new ways during my sales and marketing career. If I didn’t apply the Paul Revere strategy I may never have met Bob and started a new company. The permutations and combinations of what-if scenarios is mind numbing.

Life hasn’t been without its disappointments. At one point I thought I could play in the NHL until I was cut in 1989. I went through a painful divorce in 2001. I thought I would be a lifer at IBM until Lenovo came along and moved my cheese in 2005.

I do know this. Getting cut at hockey refocused my efforts and led me straight into college. Getting divorced taught me life lessons that I apply to my wonderful marriage with the love of my life Michelle and 4 wonderful daughters (Danica – 1997, Mila – 1999, Brooklyn – 2014, and Cali - 2015). Leaving IBM/Lenovo put me in a wonderful position to create something meaningful.

For a moment, I wish I could flip parallel universes to see what my life would be like – although I would make 100% sure I could get back to this one because it is truly blessed.

I wouldn’t change a thing...the butterflies have led me to the right place.



Read more about my life story here:

My Love Story - Michelle and met on October 15, 2010 in a serendipitous way. We were both part of a charity in Raleigh, NC and one night at a dinner struck up a conversation about many things - including our love of travel.

My Travel Story - The story started with a "Rollerblades and Red Bull" journey to 100 countries. It is now expanding in every direction after hitting 7 continents and the 7 wonders of the world (most with kids in tow).

My Car Story - I have the dubious honor of getting speeding tickets on all 6 driveable continents - lucky that there are no cars in Antarctica! Did I ever tell you the time I passed the Polizia in Italy with my mom?

My Housing Story - After 13 moves and stops in three Canadian Provinces and three U.S. States, here is my journey in pictures from the Northwest to the Southeast of North America.

My Nautical Story - I am pretty sure the love of water started in 1972 when I was six weeks old and my grandparents Bob and Dona McBain retired to Shuswap, British Columbia, Canada, and built a log cabin.

My Retirement Story - I have no interest in disconnecting fully from the work that makes me so fulfilled. I could never see myself  in bingo-playing retired life. I want to stay curious, engaged, and adding value past the (very specific) date in 2034 that I am aiming for.

My Crazy MBA Story - In the summer of 2017, while climbing Machu Picchu, Peru as part of my wife Michelle’s International MBA from Manhattan College, I thought – why not me?

My Hockey Story - As long as I can remember, I have been playing hockey. Over four and a half decades and thousands of games later, I still lace them up a couple times a week, year-round.

My Cycling Story - When the Covid-19 pandemic first took hold in March 2020 we responded quickly as a family - including strict stay at home orders and no outside contact until we could get a handle on the risks. My attention now turned to exercise - and biking across North America (virtually).

My Music Story - My favorite music can be best defined as sad / emotional / multi-level slow music. Oddly, it is opposite of my worldview - which is normally overly-positive and optimistic.

My Movie Story - Oddly enough, I think Pretty Woman made me very interested in business. I named my cat Austin Powers - oh, and yes, "Danger" is his middle name. Our current dog is named August Rush (Auggie Doggy). Movies such as Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Forrest Gump, & National Lampoon's Vacation have become soundtracks to my life.

My Covid-Inspired Cycling Journey Across North America

When the Covid-19 pandemic first took hold in March 2020 we responded quickly as a family - including strict stay at home orders and no outside contact until we could get a handle on the risks.

The first major impact for me was losing my hockey game(s) each week. Sunday morning hockey and Tuesday night beer league games were put on indefinite hold. More about my 45-year hockey story here.

The question now turned to exercise. Those who know me well will attest to the fact that I have a serious sweet tooth and extended time without elevated heart rate was going to pack on the pounds. Running was quickly ruled out because, as a sprinter, I don't think my body is equipped to run past 200 meters. 

My attention now turned to the garage where I had a couple of 20 year old bikes sitting there - a Kona mountain bike and an aluminum Trek 100 road bike. I remembered back to some epic rides growing up including: 

• 1986 - Braeside (Southwest Calgary, Alberta) to Okotoks on my BMX bike (~70km)
• 1987 - Braeside to Hawkwood (Northwest Calgary) on my BMX bike (~60km)
• 2005 - Markham (North of Toronto, Ontario) to Barrie on Trek (~172km!)
• 2013 - Wynantskill (East of Albany, NY) to Saratoga Lake on Trek (~70 miles)

So off I went - taking off from our home in West Boynton Beach, FL each Sunday morning. 

I explored towns north, south and east of our house and then settled on a route on A1A highway (by the ocean) from home to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort and then down to Linton Avenue and back home. This was roughly 50 miles - and I would never come off the pedals for almost 3 hours (on red lights I would turn right and then U-turn back).

As I logged more and more miles each week I started to track on a spreadsheet - because that is what I do as an analyst! More on why I count everything here.

As the mileage started to reach 500 miles - I gave myself a goal to ride the equivalent of mileage to Toronto, Canada.

Now with 1,182 miles in the books and a pandemic that was lingering into a new year, the plan expanded to now ride over to my mom's house (virtually) in the Sunshine Coast, BC.

I also started to get enamored with cycling shows on YouTube, social communities, and newer bike technology. I walked into a local Trek dealership and said it was time to upgrade the 20 year old aluminum bike to something more modern (carbon) and aerodynamic. I was shocked to hear the pandemic drove up demand (kinda like toilet paper) of road bikes and they were quoting me a 1.5 to 2 year waiting list for bikes!

I wasn't willing to make a 50% deposit on something I wouldn't see for years so put the plan on the back burner. 

One day, we (Michelle, Brooklyn, and Cali) were down at Delray Marketplace (about 5 miles down the road from our house) and I mentioned I was going to pop into a new cycle shop called Epic Cycles.  

They miraculously (and unexpectedly) had just received a new BMC SLR carbon road bike in my 54 size that day. I told them I would think about it and left the store - about 20 seconds later I gave the kids some money to go to the candy store and I made a quick u-turn back into the store!

Now I was cooking with gas! My average speed improved by about 2 mph and I was carving 50 mile Sundays without the pain and suffering that it normally came with.

I was also moving my way across Canada on my new goal to Vancouver. As of this writing (May 6, 2021), I have passed Regina and now en route to my alma mater - Lethbridge, Alberta:

With Vancouver coming into view (about 11 more Sundays) I am guessing I will start to (virtually) ride down the Oregon coast to California and back across the southern U.S. visiting my daughter Danica in Waco, Texas (2nd year law school finished, go national champion Bears!). 

UPDATE:

8/17/21 - This past weekend I made it to the Sunshine Coast - my mom's home - just north of Vancouver, BC!

This strange Covid-inspired journey will likely be 6,000 miles of riding and a couple of years to encircle North America.

So there is my cycling story - I believe it may have just begun a lifelong hobby on the pedals!

Other personal stories are here...

My Life Story - Have you ever thought about the impact of big decisions that you made in your life? How about the small ones or the ones made for you? How would have your life turned out if things went the other way?

My Love Story - Michelle and met on October 15, 2010 in a serendipitous way. We were both part of a charity in Raleigh, NC and one night at a dinner struck up a conversation about many things - including our love of travel.

My Housing Story - After 13 moves and stops in three Canadian Provinces and three U.S. States, here is my journey in pictures from the Northwest to the Southeast of North America.

My Car Story - I have the dubious honor of getting speeding tickets on all 6 driveable continents - lucky that there are no cars in Antarctica! Did I ever tell you the time I passed the Polizia in Italy with my mom?

My Travel Story - After visiting 85 countries (many with kids in tow), we are preparing for a trip to our 7th continent (Antarctica) in January 2021 assuming restrictions from COVID-19 lift.

My Nautical Story - I am pretty sure the love of water started in 1972 when I was six weeks old and my grandparents Bob and Dona McBain retired to Shuswap, British Columbia, Canada, and built a log cabin.

My Crazy MBA Story - In the summer of 2017, while climbing Machu Picchu, Peru as part of my wife Michelle’s International MBA from Manhattan College, I thought – why not me?

My Hockey Story - As long as I can remember, I have been playing hockey. Over four decades and thousands of games later, I still lace them up a couple times a week, year-round.

My Christmas Story - Whether traveling to see family, or going to Disney or Hawaii, or simply staying home - the season is packed with memories of family and friends.

My Music Story - My favorite music can be best defined as sad / emotional / multi-level slow music. Oddly, it is opposite of my worldview - which is normally overly-positive and optimistic.

My Movie Story - Oddly enough, I think Pretty Woman made me very interested in business. I named my cat Austin Powers - oh, and yes, "Danger" is his middle name. Our current dog is named August Rush (Auggie Doggy). Movies such as Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Forrest Gump, & National Lampoon's Vacation have become soundtracks to my life.

These are all my personal stories. My business stories wrap around channels, partnerships, alliances, and ecosystems and can be found here. 

My Love Story

Michelle and met on October 15, 2010 in a serendipitous way. We were both part of a charity in Raleigh, NC and one night at a dinner struck up a conversation about many things - including our love of travel.

I was talking about my upcoming Rollerblades and Red Bull trip to South Africa and she had just returned from there days prior. We ended up staying up all night talking about everything!

I was heading on a work cruise in the next few days, but when I returned we really started to click.

Instead of words - let me tell the story in pictures and video. 

Shortly after we started dating I through Michelle a huge curveball that I was moving to New York to pursue a new business. I ended up convincing (tricking) her to move with me to Albany, New York.  :-) 

A year later, she took me skydiving in Long Island for my 40th birthday and I surprised her back with a proposal at 10,000 feet!  Skip ahead to 1:22 if you want to see it:

 

And, we were officially engaged:

The wedding plans were set into motion and on July 4th, 2013 we were married in New Rochelle, NY with family, friends and furkids:

After the wedding, we set off on a honeymoon of a lifetime - visiting Casablanca Morocco, Cairo and Luxor Egypt, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Mumbai and Delhi India. It was a whirlwind, but we saw 5 world wonders - the Sahara, the Nile, the pyramids, Mount Everest and the Taj Mahal:

This is where the story of Brooklyn began. And a few months later, we were ready to share with the world:




In November, we learned the gender of Brooklyn at the same time all of you did - on a live action reveal video!

Michelle was rocking the bump over the winter months with grace and smiles  :-D

And then the big moment!  

We went to a boat show 60 miles away on March 29, 2014, had our final doctor's appointment on Monday, March 31st, then off to a late IMAX movie (Noah) that night.

Michelle started going into labor during the movie and we came home (after finishing the movie of course), got packed up and headed over to Albany Medical Center by 4am on April 1st (4114)

After taking a dip in the whirlpool around 5:30am, Michelle went into active labor and it was game on!  12 hours later, Brooklyn made her way into the world!

After Daddy cut the cord, she was weighed in and spent some wonderful time on Mommy.

What a wonderful feeling! I will let Brooklyn get the last word:

Michelle and I are truly blessed.

Our little angel, Brooklyn Marie McBain, made her way into the world on April 1, 2014 at 5:35pm. She weighed 7 pounds and 11 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. She was born at Albany Medical Center in New York.

All of us are in so much love with Brooklyn - she is so beautiful.

Our fourth little angel, Cali Rose McBain, made her way into the world about 20 months later on December 29, 2015 at 4:57pm. She weighed 8 pounds and 11 ounces and was 20 inches long. She was born at Albany Medical Center in New York.

All of us were in so much love with Cali - she is so beautiful.

And now our family was complete with our four beautiful daughters, Danica, Mila, Brooklyn and Cali. Check out these baby pictures:

Through work changes, moving to Florida, traveling the world, Danica entering Baylor for Law School, Mila finishing her undergrad at York University in Toronto, Brooklyn graduating Kindergarten, Cali entering VPK, we continue the story with as much love as we have built over this incredible decade-long journey.

The best is yet to come!

Other parts of my life story are here - 

My Life Story - Have you ever thought about the impact of big decisions that you made in your life? How about the small ones or the ones made for you? How would have your life turned out if things went the other way?

My Housing Story - After 13 moves and stops in three Canadian Provinces and three U.S. States, here is my journey in pictures from the Northwest to the Southeast of North America.

My Travel Story - After visiting 85 countries (many with kids in tow), we are preparing for a trip to our 7th continent (Antarctica) in January 2021 assuming restrictions from COVID-19 lift.

My Nautical Story - I am pretty sure the love of water started in 1972 when I was six weeks old and my grandparents Bob and Dona McBain retired to Shuswap, British Columbia, Canada, and built a log cabin.

My Crazy MBA Story - In the summer of 2017, while climbing Machu Picchu, Peru as part of my wife Michelle’s International MBA from Manhattan College, I thought – why not me?

My Hockey Story - As long as I can remember, I have been playing hockey. Over four decades and thousands of games later, I still lace them up a couple times a week, year-round.

My Car Story - I have the dubious honor of getting speeding tickets on all 6 driveable continents - lucky that there are no cars in Antarctica! Did I ever tell you the time I passed the Polizia in Italy with my mom?

My Christmas Story - Whether traveling to see family, or going to Disney or Hawaii, or simply staying home - the season is packed with memories of family and friends.

My Music Story - My favorite music can be best defined as sad / emotional / multi-level slow music. Oddly, it is opposite of my worldview - which is normally overly-positive and optimistic.

My Movie Story - Oddly enough, I think Pretty Woman made me very interested in business. I named my cat Austin Powers - oh, and yes, "Danger" is his middle name. Our current dog is named August Rush (Auggie Doggy). Movies such as Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Forrest Gump, & National Lampoon's Vacation have become soundtracks to my life.

These are all my personal stories. My business stories wrap around channels, partnerships, alliances, and ecosystems and can be found here. 

Also business related, on this platform I named the top 100 most visible channel influencers and top 100 global women in technology groups that continue to get thousands of visitors per month.

Thanks for taking a walk with me through memory lane!

My Crazy MBA Story…

Last summer while climbing Machu Picchu, Peru as part of my wife Michelle’s International MBA from Manhattan College, I thought – why not me?

As a mentor earlier in my career, I would often tell younger people to not take an MBA too close to their undergraduate degree as it tends to get overlooked by recruiters and hiring managers if there isn’t enough work experience in-between. My own personal life plan had me returning to school at some point, but as with so many people, life got in the way.

I looked for a recognized, accredited, and affordable online program that I could do while working at Forrester (and that they would pay for). For almost 25 years, I have been in channel-related jobs which is basically representing over 600,000 entrepreneurs and family-run businesses around the world. LSU – Louisiana State University – had the perfect program for me, an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise. The program could be completed in as little as 10 months and cost a grand total (including books and all other costs) of $12,473.90.

I had a couple of hiccups getting started convincing them that Canada was not a third-world country and my undergraduate degree from the University of Lethbridge should be accepted on par with a U.S. degree. Once the dean accepted my story, I was off to the races. Online classes would commence on October 23, 2017 and end on August 18, 2018 – a few days shy of ten months.

Then the fun really began!


1. Nov 11, 2017 - Embarked on a 10 day cruise through South America and Panama Canal 2 weeks into first semester. The Wi-Fi on cruise ships is spotty at best and the cost ran into hundreds of dollars as I was on video calls with my class teams (who would later rate my participation as part of the final grade!).

2. Dec 10, 2017 - Moved the family from New York to Florida. Michelle had a great opportunity to join the team at Office Depot in Boca Raton and we set sail for warmer climates!

3. Mar 18, 2018 – Completed my first Forrester Wave on TCMA, the most intensive product that the company offers, taking over 100 hours of research and interviews. This is while traveling heavily through the channel industry busy period and keynoting in front of large audiences once per week on average.

4. Mar 20, 2018 – Became Vice-Chair of Emerging Technology community at CompTIA – the world’s largest IT Association, involving multiple calls per month and travel to Chicago in March and Washington DC in August.

5. May 3, 2018 – Closed on new house in Boynton Beach after living in tiny corporate temporary housing for almost 5 months with Michelle, Danica, Brooklyn, Cali, and either my mom and sister as well as Michelle’s mom giving a much needed helping hand.

6. Aug 6, 2018 – Michelle had open heart surgery in New York City to repair a condition she has had since birth. We spent two and a half weeks at different apartments and hotels with the kids and Michelle’s mom Mary Anne while she recovered. I ended up finishing my last semester finals using spotty internet and not sure where I was going to be from one minute to the next! (I finished my Econ 705 final at the hospital while waiting to hear from the surgeon on how it went).


So, if you are sitting back thinking that the time isn’t right for an MBA…when would be better? With my wife and two older children, Danica and Mila, all in college together, it was a family bonding exercise talking about our school adventures.

With two young ones in diapers, moving across the country, a very time and travel intensive job, holidays, and a serious medical issue, never did I feel that the doubling of classes was too much. There were times that I had to reach deep into the night to finish everything – but it was never overwhelming.

And now, much like pulling off a band-aid, the MBA is done! I have completed the course requirements and can walk across the stage as a newly-minted MBA. The course work has proven to be immediately valuable to my job and a major personal bucket list item has been checked off the list.

 

Jay McBain Joins Forrester Research As A Principal Analyst - Global Channels

June 5, 2017

I am very excited to be joining the amazing team at Forrester today as Principal Analyst - Global Channels.  Most of my 23 year career has been inside the channel, gaining experience from Fortune 500 companies such as IBM and Lenovo, midmarket companies such as Autotask, and a 5 year startup journey with ChannelEyes.

This blog has been home to over 100 different articles about the channel (among other things). I am fascinated with how partners, vendors and distributors have navigated the changes in technology, business models, and most recently, the customer buying journey over the past 35 years. With over 160,000 views, there are many others that share my passion!

Forrester is an idea company, where smart, motivated, curious people bring a diversity of opinions and the courage of their convictions to collaborate on ideas that change the course of business. Most of all, bring a point of view. I’ll get to work with innovative clients at emerging and established brands around the world; these are the business and technology leaders who I can inspire and who will inspire me. The Forrester experience is built on a singular, powerful purpose: to challenge thinking and lead change.

Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR) is one of the most influential global research and advisory firms in the world. They work with business and technology leaders to develop customer-obsessed strategies that drive growth. Forrester’s unique insights are grounded in annual surveys of more than 500,000 consumers and business leaders worldwide, rigorous and objective methodologies, and the shared wisdom of our most innovative clients. Through proprietary research, data, custom consulting, exclusive executive peer groups, and events, the Forrester experience is about a singular and powerful purpose: to challenge the thinking of their clients to help them lead change in their organizations.

For more information, visit forrester.com.

Celebrating US Citizenship at CompTIA AMM 2017

Thank you Annette Taber and the entire team at CompTIA - The Computing Technology Industry Association for celebrating my U.S. Citizenship this week at the Swissôtel in Chicago.

My Hockey Story - a Lifelong Passion

As long as I can remember, I have been playing hockey. Over four decades and thousands of games later, I still lace them up a couple times a week, year-round.

I joke with my American friends that it is, by law, that all Canadian children must play hockey. The reality is a bit different. A few years ago, soccer overtook hockey in Canada for those aged 3-17 and youth hockey is losing thousands of players each year.

The reasons for these changes can be attributed to demographic shifts, immigration patterns, cost of equipment and ice-time, right down to the increased dangers of injury of young players. The most recent World Cup of Football (Soccer) achieved similar TV ratings as the Stanley Cup, with 82% of the population watched a part of the coverage.



Some other random facts...

• Last week the Canadian Men's World Junior team lost in a shootout nail-biter with the USA. 
• Last years Stanley Cup playoffs did not have any Canadian teams participating.
• The percentage of Canadian born players in the NHL has steadily declined, most recently to less than half of all players:

An interesting side effect as the professional game has become faster and more skilled, an increased number of Junior eligible players in Canada are electing to wait and play US College hockey (NCAA) instead.

I am not suggesting that hockey will lose its place in Canadian religious lore anytime soon, but perhaps in a generation it will be competing for mindshare.

For me, hockey was a way of life growing up. Another popular story I tell is living in Edmonton and Calgary was a blessing for watching NHL hockey. Either the Oilers or Flames were in the Stanley Cup Final EVERY year from the age of 10 to 17! (Not to mention winning 6 out of those 8 Cup chances)

The memories of such greats as Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Lanny McDonald and many others would shape the way I looked at the game.


My Personal Story

Special thanks to my mom, Gloria, for organizing these pictures into a scrapbook that I cherish.

My first ever memory (probably 3 or 4 years old) of lacing up the skates was on an outdoor rink in St. Albert, Alberta, Canada. Even though the temperatures were frigid, playing would make me sweat and heat up. I would therefore pick up some speed and do a Superman dive face-first along the ice. The cage on the front of the helmet would grind the ice and throw cold chips into my face. It would feel like heaven!

Here is a shot of the Flagstone Park rink in a bit warmer of temperatures:

Organized hockey began at 6 years old with the:

1978-79 St. Albert Warriors

Back: Jay McBain, Chris Osgood, Doug Sadler, Darren Gammon, Ian Gray

Front: Chris Vallevand, Ian McKinley, Sean Chartrand

(By adding names manually throughout this blog hopefully some will get a Google Alert and re-connect! My email is jamesrmcbain@gmail.com or Twitter @jmcbain)

Don't worry, the picture quality improves over the years! This was an old Polaroid that the scanner did a better job on than it really looks.

Hockey fans with a careful eye will see, seated next to me, the 10th all-time winning goalie in NHL history. With 3 Stanley Cups under his belt and one of only 6 goalies to ever score a goal by shooting a puck directly into the opponents goal, Chris Osgood, or "Ozzie" for short, provided some wonderful memories for Detroit Red Wings fans during the 1990's and 2000's. I would play with Chris for a few more years before he strapped on the pads and achieved hockey stardom.

The first few years also had my dad as a coach which was wonderful.

1980-81 St. Albert Legion

Back: Ernie Wilks (Asst.), Bill Sadler (Asst.), Jim McBain (Coach), Jack Talbot (Asst.)

Middle: Jay McBain, Doug Sadler, Doyle Lefebvre, Chris Findlay, Paul Robson, Stevan Betts, Chris Osgood, Chris Talbot

Front: Shelley Sebastianelli, Raymond Der, Ryan Reynolds, Mike Wilks, Bernie Failing, Ian McKinley, Darren Gammon

One of my favorite memories from this team were Shelley's sweater spelling out "SEBASTIANELLI" from elbow to elbow to fit on her small frame. The other was Raymond, who was still learning to skate, with his mom yelling "the other way Raymond" from the stands. He did score a goal later in the season and we celebrated like winning the Stanley Cup.

1982-83 Braeside Hawks (Tiny Mite "BB" - Calgary)

Back: Ed Melville (Player Personnel), Les Payne (Referee), Ernie Panich (Manager)

Middle: Ed Melville, Colin Payne, Ricky Robbins, Al Krawchuk, Michael Jans, Jay McBain, Pat Mallany, Trent Norcross, Brock Hlavsa

Front: Kurt Panich, Teeder Wynne, Fred Wynne (Coach), Alastair King, Hugh Mallany (Asst.), Sean Mallany, Troy Calder

Moving to Calgary in early 1982 was a turning point where hockey became a more serious endeavor. As the story goes, legendary coach Fred Wynne heard that I had just won a major track meet for Braeside Elementary school and he said if I can skate as fast as I could run, I would be all set.

Although we were just 10 years old, we had home and away jerseys, dressed up for games, treated our Hawks jacket with respect and carried ourselves with confidence of playing on a special team. That feeling never left me and Fred was (and still is) the best coach I have ever had outside of my father.

If you ask me about being a team player, I think back to what is was like being a Hawk.

1984-85 South-West Devils (Peewee"B")

Back: Jim McBain (Asst.), Dave Price, (Asst.), Trevor Mirosh, Jason Kaiser, Colin Payne, Jason L'Hirondelle, Jay McBain, Chris Hunt, Sterling Dorish, Cory Hoople (Manager), Anthony Falvi, Les Payne (Coach)

Front: Alastair King, Ed Melville, Roger McDonald, Ken Ruddock, Teeder Wynne, Jason Price, Trent Norcross, Curtis Hoople

A couple of things stand out playing on this Devils team. First, our coaches name was Les Payne. Repeat that a couple of times out loud. Every time we were skating hard in practice we kept thinking less pain...less pain.

Well, the pain must of been worth it because it was the only time in over 4 decades of playing I have even gone through the regular season undefeated. I remember Ed Melville and Teeder Wynne having a magical play behind the net and scoring about a billion goals. I also remember Les Payne between each period saying to "just play our game".

We never knew what "our game" was - but hey, it worked!

1985-86 South-Four Rangers (Major Peewee"BB")

Back: Bruce McDonald (Asst.), Brian Campbell, Rick Robbins, Jeff Jones, Pat Cowen, Jason L'Hirondelle, Jay McBain, Roger McDonald, Kenny Ruddock, Allan Krawchuck, Dave Price (Coach)

Front: Teeder Wynne, Eddie Melville, Curtis Hoople, Trent Norcross, Jason Price, Mitch Earley, Trevor Mirosh, Brock Hlavsa

With our undefeated season behind us, and without the magic of Les Payne's "our game" we returned to earth this year. This was the final year before things got more serious again in hockey - making the big Bantam teams.

1986-87 South West Royals Gold (Minor Bantam"AA")

Back: Dale Hird, Rick Robbins, Matt Rallison, Terry Spink, Troy Henderson, Pierre Mercier, Ivan Eagletale

Middle: Al Chambers (Manager), Rob Prpic, Riley Will, Rob Simpson, Chad Willoughby, Colin Chala, Darcy Simonelli, Jason Kaiser, Monty Mattson (Trainer)

Front: Brad Steed, Mike Moore (Asst.), Jay McBain, Rick Bailey (Coach), Gord Cushing, Chris Sowlak (Asst.), Jason Scullion

Making the "AA" team was the equivalent (4 years before) to making the Hawks. It carried a prestige walking around school in the leather Royals jacket and probably inflated my ego more than it should have.

The competition was now much more fierce around the city and rivalries that would last for years were started. This is also when the scouts became much more involved. At this age, players are starting to mature into potential professionals and the Junior teams in Canada are on the prowl for talent:

1987-88 South West Royals Blue (Major Bantam"AA")

Back: Jason Kaiser, Chad Willoughby, Terry Spink, Mike Jans, Mark Wood

Middle: Jim McBain (Manager), Brad Purdy, Alan Krawchuk, Jason Frizelle, Darin Witt, John Sallis, Gord Cushing

Front: Curtis Hoople, Darcy Simonelli, Gary Woodward (Coach), Jay McBain, John Cameron (Asst.), Matt Rallison, Chris Akins

This was the season that I told my parents that hockey was becoming stressful. Parents were much more involved and boys hormones (combined with ego) are running so high that it wasn't fun anymore. 

The pressure was on to make the 'AAA' hockey team the following year and try to play in the WHL after that. At this point, kids still think they have a shot - which isn't really true. Unless you are already chosen at this age through the above WHL camps, it is tough to become a pro as a late bloomer.

My ego was as high as ever, being captain of the team. Also in 1987 was the first year of high school, and making the football team as well. So, track in the morning, football after school and hockey at night - with chasing girls in-between. Luckily, at the time, our school marks didn't need to start rising until Grade 12 which gave me some breathing room (which I used every breath).

1988-89 South West Royals Gold (Minor Midget"AA")

Back: Rob Simpson, Jason Kaiser, Brad Purdy, Rob Bensen, Matt Rallison, Ricky Robbins Mark Wood

Middle: Angela Young (Trainer), Tyler Komaryk, unsure, unsure, unsure, Jay McBain, Matthew Fell, Mike Jans

Front: Brad Steed, Darcy Simonelli, Bob Metcalfe (Asst.), Chad Willoughby, Mark Frank (Coach), Jason Konoff, Gordon Betts

The next 2 seasons were the most impactful in my life. I was the final cut from the 'AAA' team in 1988 and was sent to "the minors" in Midget AA. It was a humbling experience as the 'AAA' coach mostly avoided our section of the city and took the cuts from other regions. I wondered how he planned to win against other teams using their cuts, but he had a real problem with the cockiness and ego that our team brought to try-outs and decided to teach everyone a lesson.

The hard part is that I was kept on the team for many weeks and I would see each player make it when they started wearing brand new blue and gold pants. I never was given those pants and, even though I thought I was one of the better defencemen, was cut down to AA.

I write more about the this and the other most important moments in my life in the butterfly effect blog. 

I knew then my NHL hockey dream was over - but the news came just in time - allowing me to significantly raise my grades and earn early acceptance into the University of Lethbridge.

Two things happened that capped off my competitive career - one bad and one good.

1. The famous Mac's AAA tournament was played in our hometown of Calgary and somehow we were allowed to participate as a AA team (perhaps there was a no-show). We played the AAA team I was cut from as part of the tournament round-robin. We jumped out to a quick lead and had them on the ropes deep into the third when they came back to beat us with a 4 goal flurry. 

I wasn't around by this time as I was taking all kinds of penalties and playing a revenge game against the coach who cut me months earlier. I was going to show him I thought. My ego got in the way and I was kicked out of the game. If you look closely at the picture above, I am in street clothes and shoes after the game.

2. The good part came the next year when, stocked with a number of good players (because of the coaches cuts in our region) we went on to WIN the Provincial (State) Championships as huge underdogs. I was playing with friends and we were much more relaxed, enjoying hockey again for the first time in a few years. We played younger, more feisty teams but we took the City Championships and then traveled and won the big prize. 

What a way to finish youth hockey and head off to college!

1990-91 Taber Oil Kings (International Junior Hockey League)

An interesting and fun story happened while I was at the University of Lethbridge. I was playing in an intramural game where I scored about 8 goals. The coach of an IJHL - International Junior Hockey League team approached me after and offered me a contract.

I didn't have to practice with the team - just play. Every weekend I loaded up on the bus with the team and we traveled around to different cities in Canada and the U.S. It was something straight out of a movie!

Post-competitive play (AKA: Beer League)

I have been able to play hockey weekly since leaving college and the IJHL. When I joined IBM in 1994, I would travel every year to the Prairies Classic where we competed with other Western Canadian regions of IBM.

When I joined Lenovo in 2005, we had an annual game where we played against IBM for charity. Somehow the little company no one had heard of at the time, won 3 straight years!

In 2009, I moved to the US with Lenovo to work at HQ in Raleigh, N.C. I found a group of Canadian ex-pats (mostly nurses and medical professionals from Newfoundland) and we were able to grab a league championship:

In 2011, I moved up to Albany, NY and was able to play (and win) in the USA Hockey Classic Tournament in Lake Placid - on the same ice as the miracle in 1980!  

Do you believe in miracles?

Finally, today I play with a team in the Capital District Hockey Association (CDHA) and we also won a league championship in 2016:

So, that is my hockey story.

I would love to play forever. In fact, there are several examples in Canada of men playing into their 90's. That is a lofty goal, but one worth pursuing in my books.