As a human in 2024, I am constantly bombarded with advertising gimmicks via email, text, TV, radio, internet, billboards and every imaginable avenue that a company can pry open and plant their idea in my brain. It is my opinion that the amount of data companies have scraped about me in my past 30+ years of internet use is far more than any scrapbook, facebook account, or even the man I choose to live with and sleep next-to knows.

Additionally, the level of corporate greed that has evolved from the knowledge has grown proportionately along with corporate entitlement and corporate corruption. This profit based business model is, in my opinion, outdated, tired and disgusting. Yes, I need to pay my bills too, I get it. Still, profit is not, and will not be my top priority as a business owner. My priority is to contribute positively to my family and community with the talents God gave me.

Investing in Students

For me, investing what knowledge and experience I have into children and young adults is where I choose to share my talent. After two school years of volunteering to have Occupational Course of Study students from Page High School here Monday - Thursday for 90 minutes a day, I believe that the things I learn from these students far outweigh the time I am away from the demands of my paying job. The time I have with these high school students is powerful good and is by far the best part of my day. It is a balance to the corporate scrapers who grate, pry and scam their way, unwelcomed, into my life. The terms of our agreement was short, easily read and agreed to in less than five minutes. The parents of these students have agreed to sharing their children with us and our small business and we are grateful to them for their gift of this time with their kids.

Concessions We Make as A Small Business

As a small business, we contract with numerous vendors. Some we love to recommend to our friends and family on our Recommended Vendors page. Some, vendors we can not recommend, but we also can not avoid. Possibly we should create a “Rejected Vendor” page, but giving these corporate entities any more space in my life than they already have curls my stomach. We all know who they are: Cell Phone and Internet providers, Medical Conglomerates, Social Media/News Organizations, Subscription-based Software, and Pharmaceutical Corporations top my personal worst offenders but there are many many more that I absolutely loathe attempting to work with.

Yesterday I had a representative from an internet based short term rental advertising platform email me about some properties I choose to list and then hide on their platform. This representative’s communication style was written in a familiar tone I had experienced while in college. They bolded and highlighted in bright yellow. They gave a list of tasks and a deadline threatening me their “pause” of my project if I did not comply with their deadline. My knee jerk response of “fuck off” was edited out of my reply but the overarching message was clear. I will not lay down and let this corporation use my business as their facade. I do not share the same business model and I will not allow them to bully me into submission. I do not NEED them. I can throw up a “for rent” sign in the front yard of any of the homes we rent at any time. They do indeed need me and other humans like me to subscribe to their services in order to pay their shills. Shills that have even less experience using their software than I have. I know these people have far less passion for the product they are selling, than the passion I have for the work Eric and I do and have done building our small locally owned, non-corporate property management and youth apprenticeship urban farm in Greensboro NC.