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.

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!

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Read some other stories from A Few Thoughts - Jay McBain:

________________________________________________________________________

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 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.

15 Country, 21 Day, Round-The-World McBain Adventure 2019

Having returned yesterday from an epic family vacation, several people asked about the itinerary so I wanted to share the details. Michelle will be sharing her thoughts here shortly.

The trip started with a speech I needed to deliver on July 31 in Hamilton Island, Australia for ARN Edge 2019 on the future of channels. The idea was to meander our way around the world with a bunch of shorter flights ending up in Australia at the end.

With heavy use of Kayak.com and Hotels.com, we kept the trip as flexible as possible and in many cases would only book the hotel room the day of staying. This caused a bit of anxiety at times, but also saved money without keeping to a rigid schedule. The days of having to book anything multiple weeks in advance is long over.

This trip also helped the original bucket list "100 Country Rollerblades and Red Bull Tour". While the rollerblades and red bull have been curtailed in recent years, the march to 100 continues with this trip bringing me up to 95 countries!

Next year I expect to join the Travelers' Century Club. The Travelers' Century Club™ is a nonprofit social organization representing world travelers who have visited 100 or more of the world's countries and territories.

Here is a quick video of the trip:

Well, here is a taste of the numerous stops:

And here is the detailed itinerary of how it all happened:

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.

 

________________________________________________________________________

Read some other stories from A Few Thoughts - Jay McBain:

________________________________________________________________________

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 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.