When I was 15, I bagged ice in my parents' garage in suburban Michigan.
By Toddpie · June 25, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
When I was 15, I bagged ice in my parents' garage in suburban Michigan.
This was my dad's side hustle.
A restaurant's ice machine died. Lunch rush coming, no ice, no fast restock. He bought commercial ice makers, retrofitted a station wagon to haul the load, and filled the gap.
I thought it was interesting. But at 15 I didn't actually understand what he was doing.
What he was doing had nothing to do with ice. He saw a gap and he moved. He had no warehouse or business plan. No employees. There was a need right there, and he filled it before anyone told him he was allowed to.
It took me years to grasp this simple, obvious thing.
I've spent 20 years in e-commerce. Ridden every wave. The pattern never changes:
The people who move early, before it's obvious (and before it feels safe) - they win. Every time.
My dad taught me that with a station wagon full of ice. Took me 25 years to actually hear it.