Somebody just had to ask . . . .
I loves you & Katy anyway - so, could you please put my bottles in the exact center of the pentagram from now on?
ROFLMAO
NT History?
- Thread starter pennysmalls
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ROFLMAO
Thats an awesome story! Thanks for sharing. Im glad you (and Katy and the team) are my vapor chefs!
My first job in high school was in a small family style restaurant so I am not wholly unfamiliar with food service, cooking, etc... but I would not consider myself anything more than an amateur in that regard. Katy makes more contributions to the final product than most people give her credit for - I experiment, and her palate approves. Failure after miserable failure, and more wasted liquid than we care to mention, we found a system that seems to work for us. It's a constant process of refining and improving process and technique...
Despite the fact that we had several award winning liquids in 2013, I really feel as though some of our more recent efforts elevated our game. Wakonda in particular is a real gem. Frenilla and Strawnilla are both more recent developments. PBC has gone through two revisions and at this point I think it could easily stand on it's own two feet as one of our better liquids (Katy LOVES the stuff). I expect we will continue to refine our craft - after having been in the game for 18 months or so, I feel really fortunate to have over 20 recipes I consider to be "worthy." We've had a few duds along the way, too - thankfully we've minimized those through extensive testing.
As far as my background - There's really no humble way to say this, so I just say it - I'm really smart. Like, super-smart. Many of the people whom have met me over the years would say with no hesitation that I'm the smartest person they've ever met... but, intelligence does not translate into wisdom - and that intelligence is not boundless, there are certain areas where I excel, and other areas in which I struggle. I did my undergrad work at the University of Northern Iowa - I loved to read (still do) and write. In terms of a geographic or geopolitical specialty, I was fond of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union - but my personal interests soon grew outside of any specific geography toward more universal historical and cultural questions. I gravitated towards revisionist history - history is written by the victor, every story has two sides, etc. Revisionist history led me to relativism, which is really my specialty. No where in the annals of human writing is relativism so thoroughly covered than the Greek classics - Plato, Socrates, Aristotle.
Relativism is the fundamental belief that that truth is always relative to some particular frame of reference, such as a language or a culture - it is shaped by the moments that came before this one, and the anxieties associated with moments have yet to come to pass.
Truth is subjective. Problem: Saying "truth is subjective" is an absolute statement, thereby making it false... and so, if truth does exist, by definition, it is not subjective - it is outside the realm of bias, absolutely true.
I'm rambling - but yea, I spent a decade wrestling with that - chain-smoking the whole time I might add.I spent the bulk of that time in sales because it paid good and I was exceptionally good at it. I have had issues with selling for other people though - having a conscious is not conducive to a profitable business in 21st Century America. I had several good runs, but I never fell in with corporate America because I have ethical issues with selling products if I am not reasonably convinced that those products and services really benefit people. I had a crisis of meaning in my life as a salesperson, so I went back to get my Master's Degree in Clinical Counseling. I wanted to teach, but more in the individual setting - and with adults, not children. More than teach, I wanted to listen - more than guide, I wanted to accompany people and help them with their own search for meaning. I specialized in Existential Psychotherapy (Yalom). I employ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques like re-framing to create meaning where none existed previously. Conversations with me focus on 4 primary themes or topics: the inevitability of death, freedom and its attendant responsibility, existential isolation, and the presence (or absence of) meaning.
So, I graduated with a MS in Clinical Counseling - but found myself crawling into local service agencies with my tail between my legs begging for 28k a year. I knew I wanted to help the needy, but I had no idea I had to sell myself into financial ruin to do it... so - I started Nicoticket on the side to achieve a few things... I wanted to quit smoking, mostly to save money. I'd sing about the health benefits, but in all fairness, that was just icing on the cake - I was broke - I had 60k in school loan debt and was coming out of forbearance with an $800/month school loan - money was tight. 2nd - in addition to saving money by quitting, I hoped to supplement my income enough that I could make it through the 2-3 year period during which my license was considered "provisional" (requiring supervision)... the short of it is, I couldn't go into private practice, had no choice but to do agency work, but couldn't really afford to do agency work - you get the idea. It wasn't long before we realized Nicoticket was was something special - it fit into so many of my goals.
I wanted to do something meaningful - make a difference in peoples lives.
I've always been a huge supporter of harm reduction, even before I got into the industry. I'd delve into details about my work in Drug and Alcohol Abuse and Dependence, but it would suffice to say that I spent a great deal of time (over a year) working in long-term residential treatment... and... I really enjoy working with that population. eliquid "fit" because I could use my skills as a therapist and counselor, while simultaneously building a recovery community focused on harm reduction.
I've always been better at the keyboard as opposed to being in person. In person, I pause at the most in-opportune moments because my mind moves really fast. I have to stop and formulate what I am going to say to ensure the people I am talking to can comprehend what I am saying... I 'drift off' a lot, it's unnerving because you might think I am not paying attention (which couldn't be farther from the truth - conversations with me are like a game of chess... you don't make a move without anticipating the next 10-20 moves). ECF - working the forums - it was just a good fit.
I've always had a yearning to "make something" - IE - something tangible, something with substance - but something that also has meaning. Words are just words, but in my mind - the liquid is a vehicle, a way for me to communicate. This is totally whacko, but sometimes I think of myself like a cleric or a shaman. I'm very, ritualistic, when it comes to making liquid. As strange as it sounds, I put "good energy" in those bottles... and i think it comes through.
Man, whoever is reading this is probably going to flip - but you asked, and I had the time to ramble so I figured what the hell. LMAO
I love NT even more after reading this. I'm a bit of a new ager, you could say (not a hippie - although many people call me that, I disagree) - and to say that I feel your "good energy" in the juice is an understatement. NT is a happy thing - it is fulfilling, it feels right. It truly is more than the taste to me (though that is impeccable) - it is the "feel" and "energy" in the liquid. It just accompanies me through my day. As analogs had a kind of dirty, shameful feeling tagging along with them throughout my days - NT seems almost spiritual. And sitting by the water, watching the gentle ripples and moonlit reflections at night, having a vape of some Wakonda - or any other NT juice I've got loaded up - is indeed a spiritual experience.
Wow Clark! Thank you very much for sharing that! Not sure what to say to that! I am Not an extroverted passionate person, never have been, but you have found your calling in several different ways! I have to say after getting my first order from you guys yesterday I am hooked, now even more so! In fact I even have a wish list built up already and I am still on my first 5 ML of CLS!
I do have to thank you for your service and now for your service to the vaping community which I just joined after inhaling toxins for 28 years straight. Started the 6th of September vaping and was down to 5 stinkies within 6 days! On the evening of the sixth day I took the plunge and was stink free from then on and have fully submerged myself into vaping. Okay I am getting off topic now!
Okay so what I meant to post here is Thank You Clark! I dub thee & Kathy the E-Juice Whisperers! You guys have me hooked and wish I could order them all, but I will get there! So thank you, because I was already getting disappointed and frustrated in the juices I have on hand, they are not all day vapes!
The CLS is easily an all day vape for me and it is quite a relief. Sorry for the babbling ons, but it was quite a relief since I am only 3 weeks stink free and vape, well according to the MVP about 500 puffs a day. I will be filling it with the homeslice sometime today or tonight as soon as I finish the CLS!
I keep hearing how vaping has changed everyone's life tremendously! Well they are correct! So please keep doing what you are doing and know you are making a huge difference in people's lives! Sorry for hijacking and rambling. So a huge thank you to you and the Nicoticket team!
I do have to thank you for your service and now for your service to the vaping community which I just joined after inhaling toxins for 28 years straight. Started the 6th of September vaping and was down to 5 stinkies within 6 days! On the evening of the sixth day I took the plunge and was stink free from then on and have fully submerged myself into vaping. Okay I am getting off topic now!
Okay so what I meant to post here is Thank You Clark! I dub thee & Kathy the E-Juice Whisperers! You guys have me hooked and wish I could order them all, but I will get there! So thank you, because I was already getting disappointed and frustrated in the juices I have on hand, they are not all day vapes!
The CLS is easily an all day vape for me and it is quite a relief. Sorry for the babbling ons, but it was quite a relief since I am only 3 weeks stink free and vape, well according to the MVP about 500 puffs a day. I will be filling it with the homeslice sometime today or tonight as soon as I finish the CLS!
I keep hearing how vaping has changed everyone's life tremendously! Well they are correct! So please keep doing what you are doing and know you are making a huge difference in people's lives! Sorry for hijacking and rambling. So a huge thank you to you and the Nicoticket team!
Martin congrats on your 3 weeks stinky free - welcome to the family, glad you're here my friend
Martin congrats on your 3 weeks stinky free - welcome to the family, glad you're here my friend
Agreed!! That is a HUGE success! A year may seem like the big deal but honestly those first few weeks are the biggest. You are on your way now! GO YOU!!!
My first job in high school was in a small family style restaurant so I am not wholly unfamiliar with food service, cooking, etc... but I would not consider myself anything more than an amateur in that regard. Katy makes more contributions to the final product than most people give her credit for - I experiment, and her palate approves. Failure after miserable failure, and more wasted liquid than we care to mention, we found a system that seems to work for us. It's a constant process of refining and improving process and technique...
Despite the fact that we had several award winning liquids in 2013, I really feel as though some of our more recent efforts elevated our game. Wakonda in particular is a real gem. Frenilla and Strawnilla are both more recent developments. PBC has gone through two revisions and at this point I think it could easily stand on it's own two feet as one of our better liquids (Katy LOVES the stuff). I expect we will continue to refine our craft - after having been in the game for 18 months or so, I feel really fortunate to have over 20 recipes I consider to be "worthy." We've had a few duds along the way, too - thankfully we've minimized those through extensive testing.
As far as my background - There's really no humble way to say this, so I just say it - I'm really smart. Like, super-smart. Many of the people whom have met me over the years would say with no hesitation that I'm the smartest person they've ever met... but, intelligence does not translate into wisdom - and that intelligence is not boundless, there are certain areas where I excel, and other areas in which I struggle. I did my undergrad work at the University of Northern Iowa - I loved to read (still do) and write. In terms of a geographic or geopolitical specialty, I was fond of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union - but my personal interests soon grew outside of any specific geography toward more universal historical and cultural questions. I gravitated towards revisionist history - history is written by the victor, every story has two sides, etc. Revisionist history led me to relativism, which is really my specialty. No where in the annals of human writing is relativism so thoroughly covered than the Greek classics - Plato, Socrates, Aristotle.
Relativism is the fundamental belief that that truth is always relative to some particular frame of reference, such as a language or a culture - it is shaped by the moments that came before this one, and the anxieties associated with moments have yet to come to pass.
Truth is subjective. Problem: Saying "truth is subjective" is an absolute statement, thereby making it false... and so, if truth does exist, by definition, it is not subjective - it is outside the realm of bias, absolutely true.
I'm rambling - but yea, I spent a decade wrestling with that - chain-smoking the whole time I might add.
So, I graduated with a MS in Clinical Counseling - but found myself crawling into local service agencies with my tail between my legs begging for 28k a year. I knew I wanted to help the needy, but I had no idea I had to sell myself into financial ruin to do it... so - I started Nicoticket on the side to achieve a few things... I wanted to quit smoking, mostly to save money. I'd sing about the health benefits, but in all fairness, that was just icing on the cake - I was broke - I had 60k in school loan debt and was coming out of forbearance with an $800/month school loan - money was tight. 2nd - in addition to saving money by quitting, I hoped to supplement my income enough that I could make it through the 2-3 year period during which my license was considered "provisional" (requiring supervision)... the short of it is, I couldn't go into private practice, had no choice but to do agency work, but couldn't really afford to do agency work - you get the idea. It wasn't long before we realized Nicoticket was was something special - it fit into so many of my goals.
I wanted to do something meaningful - make a difference in peoples lives.
I've always been a huge supporter of harm reduction, even before I got into the industry. I'd delve into details about my work in Drug and Alcohol Abuse and Dependence, but it would suffice to say that I spent a great deal of time (over a year) working in long-term residential treatment... and... I really enjoy working with that population. eLiquid "fit" because I could use my skills as a therapist and counselor, while simultaneously building a recovery community focused on harm reduction.
I've always been better at the keyboard as opposed to being in person. In person, I pause at the most in-opportune moments because my mind moves really fast. I have to stop and formulate what I am going to say to ensure the people I am talking to can comprehend what I am saying... I 'drift off' a lot, it's unnerving because you might think I am not paying attention (which couldn't be farther from the truth - conversations with me are like a game of chess... you don't make a move without anticipating the next 10-20 moves). ECF - working the forums - it was just a good fit.
I've always had a yearning to "make something" - IE - something tangible, something with substance - but something that also has meaning. Words are just words, but in my mind - the liquid is a vehicle, a way for me to communicate. This is totally whacko, but sometimes I think of myself like a cleric or a shaman. I'm very, ritualistic, when it comes to making liquid. As strange as it sounds, I put "good energy" in those bottles... and i think it comes through.
Man, whoever is reading this is probably going to flip - but you asked, and I had the time to ramble so I figured what the hell. LMAO
And then things escalated quickly
Katy's story is every bit as interesting - sooner or later she'll be compelled to share her story, also... she's mostly awesome with a strong chance of bazinga.
We're exceptionally pleased you found us, also!! You've been a great addition to the community B4F!~
I don't go overboard with the whole new-age thing myself personally, but I have met people in my journeys whom have given me reason to believe that adopting belief systems with passion and conviction have the potential to have tremendous effects on the quality of an individual's life. The content of the book means less than the actual application in my world - you can find reasonable justification for both war and peace contained in any belief system. I can certainly identity with that "dirty" "shameful" feeling I got from cigarettes - and I can definitely confirm that I get much less of that feeling from vaping in general. Part of the "extensive testing" for us is more than just flavor, or vapor production, or throat hit... it's a search for "that feeling" that even the most respected reviews have a tendency to overlook.
I'm glad some of what I was trying to communicate wasn't lost in translation
Congrats on 3 weeks big guy! You've endured the worst of the "detox" phase - it's all downhill from here. You're very welcome - and - thank you.
Thank you ALL. You all made this possible - without your continued support we would have to do something else. We started Nicoticket with a great deal of uncertainty - every day a juice company is "born" - statistically - 1 in 100 will still exist in 6 months. Any success we have enjoyed is due in large part to the dedication of the community. I've felt from the very beginning that "even if we only produced exceedingly average liquids, we could significantly increase success rates for would-be-ex-smokers by providing them the kind of support they need to get through the daily obstacles that vaping presents." Thankfully I can say with the confidence that they liquid is substantially better than average, and that the community we provide is second-to-none. The day I quit my counseling job my supervisor said "You're kidding, right? - you went to school for nearly a decade so you could be a counselor, and now you're quitting?" All I could respond with was - "I hope by the time this is done I have helped more people than either of us imagined was possible." He didn't understand, or approve. I haven't seen him since, but - If I did, I would say in no uncertain terms - I know, now, I made the right choice.
Understatement of the century. Killed it and one year quits need to be tallied now. You got two Keith's these past couple of months.
I've actually kept a (rough) tally - from posts on ECF, emails, in-system messages... over a couple hundred, with 1000's more on the way...
Agreed!! That is a HUGE success! A year may seem like the big deal but honestly those first few weeks are the biggest. You are on your way now! GO YOU!!!
parking my ditto here. heck, one DAY is something to be proud of! you've got this! welcome, martin
I hope I'm on your tally because I'm not sure I would have come this far due to my picky tastebuds without NT, the Reonauts and the NuThouse.
No, didn't flip - was fascinated to read it all.
I also find I write far better than talking to a person - I find my mind racing and searching for what I really need to say, and the right words to achieve it, and often miss key points while doing that. Far easier to let something unravel clearly on paper.
Making something that communicates to people on so many levels is a truly special quality.
There's a refreshing clarity in all that is NT, yet an elusive 'something' that doesn't need explanation.
NT is unique, and it's in the liquid, in yourself and Katy and those who work with you, it's here on this forum and in the people that come here.
It has to be 'the sum total' that gives that remarkable uniqueness. That good energy you talk of is a positive reality.
I am one of the 1000's more on the way. With y'alls help I am on my way to a year, have a ways to go, but I will get there. Your great product and the wonderful community that has developed here is a big part of my success. Also it is interesting to read about your background, thanks for sharing.
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