Page 44 - BusinessWest September 5, 2022

Axe
bounceback. Continued from page 17 Many
who partake, especially those in leagues, do own their own axes,
which typically run for $80 to $90 — much more than a hatchet off the shelf at a hardware store would cost — and some go for as much as $200 to $300, with customized handles.
But otherwise, the sport is very affordable, with lanes renting for $25 per hour, per person.
Townsend said axe throwing is growing in popu- larity for a number of reasons, starting with the fact that it really is much easier than people think and doesn’t take any real strength, agility, or athletic abil- ity in order to excel. It’s been called the ‘great equal- izer’ by one facility owner interviewed by USA Today. And Townsend agreed with that assessment.
“The reason many people don’t try it is because they assume you have to be strong, you have to be able to throw it fast, you have to have some throw- ing ability,” she said. “It’s a lot easier than one could imagine; people come in every day and say, ‘I’ll never be able to do it,’ and four or five throws later, they’re sticking it.
“It’s all about where you stand — I can make any- one stick it,” she went on, adding that instruction for first-timers is part of the package. “And that’s part of the fun; you come in thinking, ‘I’m never going to
be able to do this,’ and you stick it, and the elation is ... well, that’s what it’s all about. That’s why it’s so addictive.”
What’s more, you can do this yourself or in groups of all kinds — leagues, a gathering of co-workers, those bachelor, bachelorette, and divorce par-
ties (Townsend had two of them scheduled for the approaching weekend when she talked with Business- West), and fundraising events.
These include the upcoming Burn Battle, the sec- ond annual women’s tournament, slated for Oct. 2, that will raise funds for the American Cancer Society.
“Girls from all over New England and far away as New Jersey and Philadelphia come and throw and compete,” she said, adding that one of the bigger surprises thus far is how popular the Axe House, and the sport, has become with women. She estimates that perhaps 65% of customers are women. She’s not exactly sure why, although she has some theories.
“I think many women know that this is women- owned; the assumption, when you hear ‘axe throw- ing,’ is that it’s going to be a gentleman teaching
you how to throw axes. I think that women find out it’s me, because I’ve been on the radio a few times, they’re much more comfortable coming in and trying it out,” she said. “Also, it’s an outlet — for everybody, not just women.”
Looking ahead, Townsend said there are no imme-
diate plans to add additional locations or expand beyond Agawam. The immediate focus is on growing the business there and continuing to build the cus- tomer base by promoting the sport in any way she can.
All You Could Axe For
As for some of those other posted rules, they include “never run with an axe,” “no trick shots,” and “do not hold the axe by the blade.”
There is another rule — participants must wear close-toed shoes (again, for obvious reasons). Some show up not aware of this stipulation, said Townsend, adding that the Axe House has shoes (Crocs, actually) for rent.
“We call them shoes of shame, for obvious rea- sons — you weren’t smart enough to wear close-toed shoes throwing sharp objects,” she joked, adding that fewer people have to rent them these days, yet anoth- er sign that people are becoming aware of this activ- ity and what it’s all about.
Suffice it to say this business venture is paying off, and that participants are not only sticking it, but sticking with it. u
George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
Vistage
Continued from page 7
you to start thinking, then the advice comes, and then you connect every- thing together and decide how to move forward.”
Clutterbuck brought his own issue — one of scalability and the personal mindset to accompany such possible growth — to the group and came away with the feedback he was seeking.
“I’d gone through the roller-coaster of ‘are you building to scale or are you building to get to a certain level and then sustain?’” he said. “So, I brought an issue to the table that was related
Dulye
Continued from page 40
didn’t pick, with people having all kinds of issues going on that are very differ- ent generationally. They need to form relationships and strong communica- tion bonds, and they need to know how to sell themselves and their ideas.”
The DLE, originally established in partnership with Syracuse University, was created as a philanthropic, non- profit organization to help undergradu- ates cope with all that and successfully transition to the workplace.
But like any successful business, it has responded to change and evolved over the years.
Indeed, when Dulye moved to West- ern Mass. in 2017 to re-establish her home and business, programming shifted to attract, develop, and retain young professionals in the Berkshires. And with the pandemic and the dra- matic changes it has brought to the workplace, the DLE shifted again, to virtual programming that escalated in frequency and variety and succeeded in attracting a more diverse profes- sional network that now stretches from coast to coast and beyond, she told
to more my personal mindset of what should I be doing from a target stand- point and a growth standpoint that’s going to beneficial for both the compa- ny and the family and making sure I’m not burning out on either end.
“It certainly helped me reset and get back to the original plan that I had developed for the business and the direction I wanted to go in,” he went on as he recalled this issue-procession session. “It was a good conversation to have, because there’s no one else I can have it with.”
BusinessWest.
“We started moving and creating
new programming every single week to connect people, which means con- necting people from all over,” she explained, adding that an alumni group was established, and programs like a ‘breakfast club’ and chat initia- tives were created to involve more individuals at a time when technology allowed that to happen.
The DLE soon added workshops on a variety of topics, from public speak- ing to time management, to provide more and different learning experi- ences, most of them inspired by polling and questions like ‘what are you strug- gling with?’
This shift can be seen in the lat-
est offering, an ownership workshop titled “Demystifying Cryptocurrency,” slated for Sept. 20. The one-hour, vir- tual conversation will feature nation- ally recognized experts Paul Farella and Alexandra Renders of Berkshire-based Willow Investments, who will discuss, among other things, what blockchains are and how they work, the impact this technology can have on business and society, and the risks and opportunity
Meeting Expectations
Moving forward, Kulkarni said his immediate goal is to recruit more members — “we’re looking for those who are hungry, humble, and smart” — and bring the number of business lead- ers in the room closer to 12, the desired sweet spot.
Doing so will bring more voices to that table and more processing of criti- cal issues facing area business owners and managers.
These company leaders do not have their own board of directors, but they can share one. And this is the essence
that exist in this realm.
This workshop is an example of how
the DLE works to educate and inform, while helping emerging leaders suc- ceed in a business world where change is the only constant, Dulye said.
As for the upcoming annual retreat, it is, as she noted earlier, an immersion in every sense of the word.
“It’s three days in the Berkshires — you stay at this compound; you don’t come and go like at a conference where you go to a 9 o’clock session and then hit Starbucks at 10 and go back at 11,” she explained. “Once you come in on Friday night, you can’t leave until Sun- day, at all, and you need to stay fully engaged with everyone there.”
There’s that word, engaged, again.
Summing up the retreat, Dulye said the goal, the mission, is to get partici- pants to “learn like mad and get out of their comfort zones,” and it has been this way since she first launched the initiative in 2008.
Bottom Line
Flashing back a half-century or so, Dulye remembers when her mother
of Vistage, summed up effectively and concisely by Clutterbuck.
“They say it’s lonely at the top;
I don’t necessarily agree with that,
but you don’t have a lot of sound-
ing boards,” he said. “It’s not like you can bring these conversations to your employees or people within your orga- nization because they’re deeply per- sonal. This is a good group of people to have real conversations with.” u
George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
took what was a huge risk at that time and invested heavily in a Goss Com- munity press to take her commercial printing enterprise to the next level.
“People would come into her busi- ness from all over the world to look at this press,” she recalled. “I have no idea how much she probably put on the line from our family finances and going into debt — although my father had to sign for everything, because women couldn’t do that then. That, I remem- ber, was groundbreaking.
“And I wanted to experience a lot of groundbreaking events in business,” she went on, adding that she certainly has. But, more than experience them, she’s been part of them, through her work as a consultant, but also through creation of the Dulye Leadership Experience.
In both realms, she’s focused on facilitating success in a changing workplace and, as she said repeatedly, helping business leaders create a place where there are no spectators. u
George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
44 SEPTEMBER 5, 2022
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