Louisville loves a celebration.
So when the world marked the 100th anniversary of The Great Gatsby last month, we couldn’t help but join the festivities. Even with Derby season in full swing, we made sure to showcase our city’s brief role in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterwork. In case you didn’t know, Gatsby met Daisy on Cherokee Road (at a party, of course), she married Tom at the Seelbach, and the city made a few other appearances along the way.
If you didn’t read the book while attending a Louisville high school, you immediately forgot all of that. But all this renewed attention on Fitzgerald has gotten me thinking about a quote that (sort of) comes from another one of his works: “There are no second acts in American life.”
As often as it’s repeated, it’s a bogus quote. The actual, longer passage puts that line in a completely different context, and Fitzgerald probably didn’t much mean it anyway. After all, it’s kind of the opposite of the whole Gatsby plan. But if you still need more evidence that there can always be another chapter, it’s a good time for me to tell a story of my own.
As it turns out, my colleagues and I are also celebrating an anniversary this week. On May 8, 2020, we filed the papers to create Fleur de Lis Communications. So, five years ago today, my own second act began.
Act I had been 25 years long, all of it set in a television newsroom. Most of that time was spent as a News Director – a job that’s exhilarating and rewarding, but also so intense that no one should do it for as long as I did. For the final year or so, I knew the job was taking more than I could give it. But when you’ve done the same thing for your entire life, it’s hard to know how to stop – and even harder to know what to start doing next. Finally, I found myself with a little extra runway thanks to the sale of our “employee-owned” parent company, and I knew that if I was ever going to make a leap, the time had come.
The days, weeks, and months that followed weren’t easy. The path forward was anything but clear, and there were certainly times I thought I’d made a terrible mistake. But thanks to advice, friendship, and grace from more people than I will ever deserve, I finally began to figure it out. I found a few customers who needed the skills I could offer, and much more importantly, I found a person (and eventually people) who would do it with me.
Today, my partners and I have built Fleur de Lis Communications into a thriving company. We tell the stories of non-profits and tech firms, people who make everything from stainless steel to Louisville Sluggers, in industries ranging from weather to whiskey. We’re grateful to be realizing what eventually became our vision: We do work that we love, for people we believe in, in a way that supports the lives we want to live.
I think this is where I’m expected to say it’s not always as great as it appears. But that would be a lie. As proud as I am of the newsrooms I led, the success we had, and the difference we made… the work we do at FDLC is the most fulfilling of my career. And the best award I’ve ever won is the trust and friendship of the people who’ve taken this journey with me.
So, despite Mr. Fitzgerald’s quote, there’s still more to come in this play. Act I had plenty of action, but the heart of the story is Act II, in which our hero discovers the things that truly matter.
This week, I can’t wait to raise a glass with the rest of the cast from this adventure, remember everything that got us here, and look forward to the next chapter.
It turns out I love a celebration, too.
-Bill Shory
