AKA: No risk, no reward.

This poster is adorning the walls of one of the largest advertising agencies in New York City today. I know because my client works there and this is her personal mantra for the week.

Back when we were starting @chocolatao1, my business partner Joel would say this regularly and I loved it. (Last week, “someone” explained that due to IVF, there’s no need for balls in order to get babies, but I still like the expression.)

ChocolaTao was an idea I had in my last year of acupuncture school. What if I put traditional Chinese Herbs for PMS, erectile dysfunction, memory challenges, etc into chocolate?

It was a ludicrous notion, so I melted Hershey bars in a frying pan one night, stirring in a box of E.D. herbs, sticking the whole mess in my freezer (you can see why I partnered with a professional chef…) and then eating the entire batch myself.

Low and behold, I woke up around 3 a.m. feeling like there was a heart attack going on in my boxers and came to the throbbing conclusion that this idea had a leg to stand on.

Three years, twenty-five thousand dollars of debt and countless late nights and weekends later, a woman from the California FDA came in and shut us down. Our production facility was a rented kitchen and not a supplement manufacturing plant. She also didn’t think I was funny…

Done. Kaput.
No more chocolate
balls, no more
chocolate babies.

But, we went for it. I took an ethereal idea into an actual product that sold all over the country. The lesson was — you’ll never know unless you try. And trying isn’t a guarantee.

To me, that
juice is totally worth
the squeeze though.
Thus this mantra.

Everyday I help people find the balls to express themselves in ways they’ve always wanted to but are telling themselves they can’t. We blow their stories apart and put a roadmap in front of them that’s clear, terrifying, and exciting as hell.

No balls, no babies, folks.

Get after it today, whatever it is for you.

If you need help, let me know.

Yours Uncivilized,
Traver