Crossroads

There is a popular saying that goes ‘Do something you love, and you will never work a day in your life.’ It is a nice thought, and I appreciate the sentiment, but don’t be fooled, it is not true.

The first time I saw Slightly Furry was in mid-February of 2024, mindlessly looking out the car window on the way to a routine doctor’s visit. “Huh, Slightly Furry, must be some new doggie daycare” I thought and drove on. But for some reason, I found myself looking it up later as I sat in the waiting room. Seriously? A furry bar? And the grand opening is next weekend. This, this I need to see. And I am glad I did.

I was going through a major upheaval in my life, personal, professional, everything and at that time sitting at home was the last thing I wanted to do, so I would ride the bus every weekend and visit what became my favorite bar. The drinks were great, the staff were friendly and the atmosphere helped coax out ties to the furry community that had been reluctantly buried many years ago. Over the course of a few weeks and a few visits, I slowly moved from the far end of the bar, closer and closer to the middle. Instead of keeping to myself, I found myself talking with other customers, some of the staff and then one of the owners, a guy with a (now familiar) bright red mohawk who went by Martini.

Weeks went by, Winter turned to Spring, and I had found a new home - both metaphorically and literally – where I knew everyone and everyone knew me. I would be in at open and stay well past closing to help clean up, despite Martini’s best efforts to get me out. I couldn’t help myself; it is in my nature to help friends. Besides, after hours was when the best conversations happened. At this point, I knew that Slightly Furry was going to play a large role in rebuilding my life. I had witnessed the effect that this place had on people – myself included - bringing out their best, who they wanted to be. It made it comfortable and easy. Completely invaluable. So, I asked for a job and I was fortunate enough that some hours could be tossed my way, but only on a part-time basis with no promises of future hours. I couldn’t do that, I had a decent, stable full-time gig, it was boring and unfulfilling, but it paid the bills. So I passed and asked to be informed the second they could offer full-time. A couple weeks went by and it never left my mind that while working at this faceless corporate behemoth was “safe”, I wasn’t happy. So, I did what any responsible adult would do and quit my full-time job on the spot and bet it all on the furry bar. Just how true that would become, I wouldn’t see for another 6 months or so.

Midsummer rolled around and while I had already had a few conversations with Martini about ‘buying in’, I pressed the issue enough that he and Spork agreed to talk it over with me. And they shot me down. Not that I can blame them, after all, as they told me, they had only known me for a few months, it would be terribly reckless to go into business with me this quickly. Let us get to know you a bit more first. Disappointing, yes, but in the end, it changed nothing. I wanted to be here every day, and I made sure that happened. Cleaning, painting, production help, odd jobs, anything I could do to reinforce that I was here for the long haul, not just on whim. Summer faded to Fall, my responsibilities in the taproom grew and by late Fall I had taken over inside and outside events and found myself second to Martini on the retail side of the business. Late December rolled around and I got invited out for drinks with the bosses. We hit a couple spots, blew off some steam before the holidays and talked about the future of the company. Finally, I revisited the topic of ownership. “You’ve gotten to know me for the last 9 months, at this point you know everything about me professionally that you can”. I stepped away from the table for a few minutes to let them talk amongst themselves (and to refresh my drink) before returning and hoping for a favorable answer. “You’re right, we have no reason to keep you out anymore.” We had a few more drinks to celebrate and rolled right in to the holidays – and a new chapter in life.

2025 has been a blur - enhanced roles and responsibilities, direction and purpose, expected and unexpected challenges. I’ve been in more meetings this year than the previous 38 put together. You will still find me in the taproom most nights, but I am more likely to be glued to my laptop going over item depletion rates or merch sales reports rather than pouring drinks. But that won’t stop me from jumping in and helping when I have the opportunity to. It never has in the past and some things never change.

Which brings me back to those venerable words of wisdom – ‘Do something you love, and you will never work a day in your life.’ It is still not true. In truth, if you find something you love, you work every day of your life to keep it. And you never regret it. I know I don’t.