I publish my personal podcast every Wednesday at 1:30pm central time on bswithbobpodcast.com, and since the publish date for this week is the 4th of July, I thought I would try something a little different.  I want to celebrate freedom.  I am not much of a job jumper.  In fact, in the 26 year I have lived in La Crosse, Wisconsin,  I have worked for 4 different companies, the longest for 15 and a half years.  The reason I bring this up is the place I just got laid off from, employed me for 9 years, and the radio station that I anchored every morning was switched over from Adult Standards to Talk Radio 6 years ago Sunday.  I have said it many times in my life, and I am sure you have heard it many times as well, that if you find a job you love doing it isn’t like you are working, and I still believe that today, but unfortunately things change.  I am however now free to be independent, more so than I was working for someone else.  For many years I was up at  4 am, and I am not going to lie, that is still the middle of the night, sometimes it sucked.  But getting home for lunch most days is fantastic.  When I started my adventures in radio 30 years ago my goal was to entertain.  When I got into talk radio 20 years ago, I added educate and inspire to what my goal was for each show, I am going to continue with that pledge to myself and to you my podcast listeners.  For those of you who have chosen to take this ride with me, thank you and I hope that the future is even smoother sailing than the past. 
Have you ever thought of the old saying “as American as baseball, Cracker Jacks and apple pie?”  The 4th of July is a day to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  The document that gave us freedom and equality by declaring that all men are created equal, well equality if you were like everyone that signed it, I think we have a long way to go for total equality.  But we are striving for it as a nation I believe.  I wondered this morning as I wrote this, what is the most iconic American Brand?  That brand is Jeep; Jeep is the number one brand name that pops into the heads of many Americans as patriotic, weird since it is owned by Fait, a foreign company.  I am guessing that on the 4th of July we will be washing down our brats and burgers with an ice cold beer,  and guess what the top 3 beer brands Bud Light, Coors Light and Miller Lite are all owned by companies based outside of the United States.  Which brings us back to Cracker Jacks, they still owned by an American company.
God bless America.  Land that I love.  We are blessed to live in a great country, a country that lets us be who we want to be, and a country that gives us the freedom to stand up for what we believe in, a country that offers opportunity, and equal rights.  America, the freest nation on earth, let’s all enjoy each other’s company, not only on holidays or family get-togethers, but always.  Know that Americans are Free and that we are Independent, and that we can do what you put your mind to.  Know that people are on your side.  And that your success is going to come, it just may take more time than you were hoping.  Keep at it.  Next week back to the regular podcasts focusing on entrepreneurship, business and marketing.  This week just a piece of me being Independent.