Keep Up With Nate — Personal Blog

There are two games I’ve loved for as long as I can remember:

Chess… and Battleship.

At first glance they seem totally different.

One is about intellect, foresight, and reading the board.

The other is about searching, guessing, and slowly locking in the truth through repeated attempts.

But the older I get, the more I realize…

I’ve been living both games at the same time.

And the wild part is — I don’t think I understood that until recently.

I used to think life was a straight line.

Like you pick a path and you go.

But life isn’t a straight line.

Life is a board.

Life is a grid.

Life is a battlefield.

And everything I’m trying to build with Boston Made — everything I want to do with my future — is tied to those two games:

Chess: strategy

Battleship: war

Both: patience

Checkmate: My Dream Isn’t Just a Company… It’s a Move

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:

I want to take a company public.

That’s not a motivational quote to me.

That’s not “hustle culture.”

That’s not ego.

It’s structure.

It’s the highest form of building something that becomes bigger than yourself.

Taking a company public means:

• your story becomes measurable
• your results become visible
• your operations become disciplined
• your value becomes undeniable

That’s why I want it.

But here’s where most people misunderstand me…

I’m not trying to IPO just to IPO.

I’m trying to IPO because I see the bigger game.

I’m playing checkmate.

Not checkers.

Battleship: Finding Targets, Marking Hits, And Learning From Misses

Battleship is the game you play when you don’t yet know where the truth is.

You guess.

You strike.

You miss.

And then you adjust.

And slowly…

slowly…

you begin to find the ship.

That’s what my past feels like sometimes.

A grid full of decisions:

• jobs I thought were permanent
• people I thought would stay
• opportunities I didn’t know how to appreciate
• mistakes I didn’t know I was making until later

Some were hits.

Some were misses.

But every move revealed something.

Every season taught something.

Engineered Floors: One Of My Most Important Boards

This is hard for me to write, but it’s honest.

I used to work for Engineered Floors.

I was in Quality Control — and for the record, I was good at it.

I “got it.”

I cared.

I learned.

I understood manufacturing at the ground level.

And it matters because manufacturing is where America is either built… or broken.

But I left that job…

And I left it on semi-bad terms.

Not because I was trying to burn bridges.

But because I was being brutally honest — and I regret the way I did it.

I can admit that now.

Truth without wisdom can become destruction.

Truth without timing becomes arrogance.

Truth without love becomes ego.

And I didn’t always know how to speak the truth the right way.

I didn’t take enough appreciation in that job.

And I can see that now.

I Worked For A Competitor — Publicly Traded — And It Was 100x Worse

After that season, I ended up working for a competitor.

A company that was publicly traded.

And in my head I thought:

“This is it. This is the next level.”

But it wasn’t.

It was 100x worse.

And that was a painful awakening.

Because I learned something no one tells you:

Just because a company is public doesn’t mean it’s healthy.

Just because it’s big doesn’t mean it’s good.

Just because it has shareholders doesn’t mean it has soul.

That season humbled me.

It also made something clear:

If I go public, I want to go public with purpose.

Not greed.

Not ego.

Not status.

Purpose.

“Merging” Sounds Like A Mob Move… But It’s Actually Survival

Let me say something that might sound crazy.

I want to take Boston Made public…

…but I also want to merge with predominant companies.

The word “merge” makes people nervous.

It sounds like a mob move.

It sounds like hostile takeovers.

It sounds like backroom meetings.

But I don’t mean it like that.

I mean it like this:

Manufacturing costs are rising.

Inflation has punished operations.

Materials are expensive.

Labor is expensive.

Logistics is expensive.

So what happens?

Small companies fail.

Medium companies struggle.

Big companies cut quality and squeeze people.

And the system becomes a mess.

So merging done right…

Merging ethically…

Merging strategically…

…could become part of the solution.

Because when operations consolidate:

• buying power improves
• supply chains stabilize
• manufacturing becomes more scalable
• overhead becomes manageable
• pricing becomes more realistic

This isn’t greed.

This is a survival strategy for modern capitalism.

The Flooring Industry Is Still In My Blood

Flooring is one of the most underrated industries in America.

It’s massive.

It touches:

• homes
• hotels
• hospitals
• schools
• stadiums
• government buildings
• retail
• factories

You can’t “digitize” floors out of existence.

Flooring is real.

Flooring is physical.

Flooring is America.

And that’s why a piece of me still feels like I’m supposed to come back and build something powerful inside that sector — but with a modern backbone:

• automation
• AI auditing
• logistics optimization
• workflow systems
• website ecosystems
• customer trust
• brand strategy

Flooring isn’t just product.

Flooring is operations.

Flooring is relationships.

Flooring is reputation.

News, Media, Graphics: I Learned How Influence Really Works

Another board on my grid…

The news industry.

I worked as an Ad Director for New Boston Post.

And I learned something critical:

Most people don’t understand attention…

until they try to sell it.

You can have the best “product” in the world…

…but if you can’t communicate it,

position it,

sell it,

and earn trust…

it doesn’t move.

Then later I worked at WHDH-TV in their graphics department for NBC Today In New England.

That experience taught me speed.

Precision.

Professionalism.

Deadlines.

Broadcast is a different kind of war.

You don’t get time to “perfect it.”

You get time to deliver it.

Filming My Dad: The Real Foundation

And then there’s the most personal part of all…

I produced videos for my dad’s ministry.

And it aired on WATC-TV.

That wasn’t corporate.

That wasn’t money-driven.

That was purpose.

That was legacy.

That was me learning that media can build people — not just entertain them.

It reminded me that everything I create…

should mean something.

And I think that’s why I’m wired the way I am.

I’m not trying to build just an “internet business.”

I’m trying to build something with impact.

I Want To Partner With Companies I Used To Work For Again

This is the part that takes humility.

I want to work with the companies I used to work for again.

Not to prove something.

Not to “come back as a boss.”

But because I can see a vision now that I couldn’t see then.

I want to come back different:

• wiser
• calmer
• more disciplined
• more operational
• more grateful
• more strategic

I used to think relationships were optional.

Now I know relationships are the whole economy.

And yes — that includes the bridges I damaged.

Especially those.

Hospitality Audits: LAZ Parking, Island Heat, And A Whole New System

Here’s where it starts to connect.

I want to audit everything.

Not in a judgmental way.

In an efficiency way.

In a truth way.

In a “how do we do this better” way.

Using hospitality companies like LAZ Parking as a model.

Because LAZ Parking isn’t just a parking company.

It’s like an island in the sun.

It’s hospitality.

It’s flow.

It’s systems.

It’s operational awareness.

And I see opportunities to build Island Heat as more than a brand…

…but as a standard.

A method.

A way to audit:

• service performance
• customer experience
• manufacturing workflow
• sales operations
• digital trust signals
• infrastructure gaps
• waste
• inefficiency
• outdated marketing systems

Because one thing is true:

America doesn’t just need more businesses.

America needs better systems.

Final Thought: The Board Is Set

If you’ve read this far, I’ll tell you the real truth.

I’m not trying to “make money.”

I’m trying to win the game.

Not against people.

Against poverty.

Against instability.

Against inflation.

Against chaos.

Against wasted talent.

Against broken systems.

Every job I’ve ever worked…

every industry I’ve ever touched…

…wasn’t random.

It was training.

It was scouting.

It was reconnaissance.

Chess taught me: think ahead.

Battleship taught me: never quit searching.

And Boston Made?

Boston Made is my board.

And I’m not done moving yet.