DeVries Law - March 2021

DeVries Law - March 2021

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March 2021

A ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Holiday Mark March 26 on Your Calendar

You probably know and celebrate at least some of the major holidays throughout the year, but beyond those, there are lesser-known holidays to commemorate everything from inventors (National Inventors Day, Feb. 11) to doing something “just because” (Just Because Day, Aug. 27). There may be something you believe is worth celebrating for which there is no official or unofficial holiday — and that’s why you should know about March 26. March 26 is Make Up Your Own Holiday Day, meaning that if there’s something you believe is worth celebrating but doesn’t have a day to commemorate it, March 26 is the day you should remember. As a kind of goofy example, maybe you really love chicken enchiladas. I mean, who doesn’t? They’re delicious! Unfortunately, there’s no day to celebrate them like there is for hamburgers (National Hamburger Day, May 28), steak (National Steak Day, April 25), or a multitude of other delicious foods. If you’d really like to give chicken enchiladas the commemorative day that you believe they deserve, then you can mark your calendar to celebrate them on March 26. The thing you want to commemorate doesn’t have to be goofy or food-related, though. You can use that day to honor something that’s very special to you, whether it’s an activity that you enjoy with friends, a great life event, or just a day you mark on your calendar to remember to spend time with family and friends. That’s the beauty of this day: It can be whatever you want it to be! Ultimately though, while you can celebrate whatever you want on Make Up Your Own Holiday Day, I think it serves more as a

reminder of a timeless truth than it does as an actual holiday: Every day contains something worth celebrating. There’s not anything inherently special about March 26. More likely than not, I bet that was just a day that was free on the calendar, so someone decided to turn it into Make Up Your Own Holiday Day. At the same time, I think the inspiration for this day came from the fact that there are so many different little holidays throughout the year that the holiday creators just decided to have a day set aside to celebrate whatever everyone else forgot (like chicken enchiladas). People have been making up holidays and celebrations for decades. We love to celebrate the things that are

important to us, and we don’t have to confine our celebration of certain things to just one day. Every holiday functions as a reminder of the things we should value every day of the year. Thanksgiving is a reminder to be thankful, not the only day when we should express gratitude. Valentine’s Day is a day to remember how special our loved ones are to us, not the only day we should express love. Make Up Your Own Holiday Day might be a day to celebrate something else entirely, but you don’t have to confine your celebration to that one day. Let it function as a reminder of that special thing, then celebrate it all year round!

— Shawn Devries

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What Can a Netflix CEO Teach You About Business?

If you ask Marc Randolph about his favorite place, he’ll mention an office building in Dallas, where Blockbuster had its corporate headquarters on the 27th floor. Randolph, one of the founders of Netflix and its first CEO, has no illusions about what happened to the former retail giant. In his new book, “That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea,” Randolph shares how Netflix disrupted an industry and took the world be storm, an example every business leader can learn from.

Randolph himself is fascinated by the nuts and bolts of business and entrepreneurship: “How does your business test new ideas? Can it happen faster? What’s the cost of having sloppy content hit the internet if it gets you out there sooner?” He examines how quickly you can put an idea in front of a customer where “you will learn more than you could in five months of R&D.” Randolph addresses these issues and more in “That Will Never Work,” all the while explaining their relevance to entrepreneurs. If you’re looking for more salacious details, he spends much of the first chapter debunking the stories about who had the idea for Netflix and whether or not it was an epiphany. “That story is beautiful,” Randolph writes. “It’s useful. It is, as we say in marketing, emotionally true. But as you’ll see in this book, that’s not the whole story.” The whole story is one we’ll let you read for yourself, and there is plenty more where that came from. Anybody can research Netflix online, but “That Will Never Work” is a rare glimpse into the inner workings of one of the 21st century’s most lucrative and secretive companies. Juicy stories pair well with marketing lessons, and the writing style is easy to get lost in — it really is a page-turner.

From Podcast to Prosecution 2 True-Crime Podcasts That Had Real-World Impacts

‘In the Dark’ Season 2 of this popular true-crime podcast centered on Curtis Flowers, a man from Mississippi who’s been tried six times for the murder of four Winona residents at a local furniture store. Despite very little evidence linking Flowers to the murders, he was convicted and sentenced to death in 1997. “In the Dark” investigated Flowers’ four overturned convictions and two mistrials and uncovered an indisputable pattern of racial bias in the state prosecutor Doug Evans’ jury selection process.

Americans have long loved murder mysteries, whether they’re fictional plays performed on stage or true stories told on television. So, it’s no surprise that as podcasting has skyrocketed in popularity, so have true-crime podcasts. While there is some debate about whether gruesome crimes should be aired for entertainment value, the best shows in the genre are supported by high-quality investigative journalism — and some are having real-world impacts. ‘Serial’ One of the best-known and most popular true-crime podcasts of all time, “Serial” first aired in 2014. Season 1 focused on the case of Adnan Syed, who was convicted of murdering his high school girlfriend in 1999. “Serial” called into question whether Syed’s trial was fair and if there was enough evidence to convict him. The groundbreaking series helped bring Syed’s case back to life. In 2018, a Maryland appeals court ruled that Syed should be granted a new trial based on “ineffective legal counsel” who failed to call a witness to testify who would have corroborated Syed’s alibi, according to The New York Times. Though this was a triumph for Syed, the ruling was appealed, and a year later, the Maryland Supreme Court refused to hear the new case. Syed and his counsel continue to appeal to higher courts.

Flowers’ case was eventually appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019, which overturned the latest conviction. While Evans

contemplated bringing a seventh trial against Flowers, he did not. All charges were eventually dropped, and Flowers was freed in late 2019 after spending 23 years in prison. These two podcasts show that good journalism and strong storytelling can not only captivate an audience but also help bring long-delayed justice

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TAKE A BREAK

BOOST YOUR PROFITS IN 2021 By Rating Your Sales Team

As if 2020 was not already hard enough, its lasting impacts are going to make sales evaluation a lot harder this year. Brick-and-mortar sales fell 14% last year — a number that even the big increase in online sales just couldn’t make up — leaving us with a 10.5% drop in sales overall. What does that big picture mean for your sales team? Should you measure 2021 against 2019? Focus on pre-pandemic projections for the current year? Throw your arms in the air and let the sales crew do whatever they want? First things first: Make sure your sales have stabilized. If you’re not starting to see sales climb again, you need an attack plan to meet your weekly numbers where they’re at. Evaluation is important, but you have to stop the ship from sinking first. Once you’re stable, you can take the next step and run the numbers. What kind of year did your business have in 2020? For many, it was worse than previous years, but some industries saw increased business. If you’re one of those lucky few, your plan is going to look a lot different. Remember, sales numbers are just part of the puzzle. You also need to look at productivity, profits, losses, and more to put together your own big picture. This is when you’ll see if your old metrics are still relevant or if you need a different way to look at 2021. Then, set up your sales targets for the year. Your first leads should be those who canceled or stopped participating with your business last year. Past clients cost less to reactivate than new ones. It often just comes down to how you incentivize them. This is also a good time to question whether your traditional “ideal client” still looks the same as before the pandemic. Economic downturns are rough, but every time, some businesses bounce back stronger. They often attribute this success to changing tactics on a number of key issues and freeing up resources (especially sales personnel) to tackle new areas of interest. Finally, examine your sales team. It can be unpleasant, but is there anybody you wish wasn’t there? Low performers make everyone look like amateurs. The second half of this process is asking yourself, “How can I incentivize the right sales people?” Make them happy, and you’ll be happy.

ASPARAGUS AND SMOKED MOZZARELLA PIZZETTES

Ingredients

Inspired by EatingWell.com

• 1 lb prepared whole-wheat pizza dough, divided into 6 equal portions • 12 oz asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces • 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil • 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 cup shredded smoked mozzarella cheese • 1/3 cup scallions, thinly sliced • 2 tbsp walnuts, toasted and chopped • 1 sprig of fresh mint leaves, torn • Zest of 1 orange

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500 F and ensure there are two racks in your oven. 2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, stretch each piece of dough into a 7-by-3-inch oval and arrange evenly on the pan. 3. On a second baking sheet, toss asparagus with oil and 1/4 tsp salt. 4. Place dough on top rack and asparagus on bottom and bake for 3 minutes. 5. Remove both trays from the oven, sprinkle cheese over the dough, then top with asparagus and scallions. 6. Return pizzettes to oven and bake until the crusts’ edges are golden, about 8–10 minutes. 7. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with walnuts, mint, and orange zest before serving.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE 644 Cesery Blvd #250 Jacksonville, Florida 32211 (904) 467-1119 www.devrieslegal.com

Why You Should Mark March 26 on Your Calendar

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Asparagus & Smoked Mozzarella Pizzettes Boost Your Profits in 2021 Netflix’s CEO on Pursuing Your Ideas True-Crime Podcasts With Real-World Impacts

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‘Jersey Shore’ Stars Battle a New York Restaurant Over Meatball Merch

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THE MEATBALL SHOP SUED SNOOKI! (And Another ‘Jersey Shore’ Star, Too)

Reality TV stars Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Deena Cortese are gearing up for a court battle. But this isn’t a showdown with another celebrity: It’s a fight to the death over merchandise with ... a New York City- based meatball restaurant!

controversy started when the celebrity duo — known as “The Meatballs” since their time together on “Jersey Shore” — launched a clothing brand/online store called The Meatball Shop late last year. The brand sells meatball-themed T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hats with slogans like “Team Meatball Forever” and “Meatball Squad.” Over the holidays, they even offered a sweater with a checklist reading, “Pour wine, wrap gifts, decorate, be a meatball.” All of this merchandise plays off the pair’s “Jersey Shore” nickname, which Polizzi and Cortese earned because, as Food & Wine puts it, “The party girls are both very tan, curvy, and short.” Even with this claim to the moniker, the legality of the celebrities’ clothing line has some competition from, well, places that sell actual meatballs. According to Page Six, the New York City-based restaurant

The Meatball Shop sued Polizzi and Cortese in December of 2020, claiming their clothing infringes on its trademark. As of writing this, a judge is considering The Meatball Shop’s request to shut Polizzi and Cortese’s operation down. To add even more meat to the argument, it was the owners of The Meatball Shop restaurant (Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow) who first taught Polizzi and Cortese to make edible meatballs in 2017. The lesson was documented in a photoshoot with “In Touch.” Does it get more ironic than that? If you want to keep up with the drama, check PageSix.com, and if this article made you crave meatballs, don’t worry — we’ve got you covered. Visit Epicurious.com and search “classic beef meatballs’’ for a recipe that will knock your socks off.

This case sounds laughable, but there’s some real “meat” to dig into. The

Image from Cheatsheet.com

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