Tag Archives: financial

Site News

Starting to make changes…

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I’m starting to make changes to how my blog looks in preparation of turning it into a community website when I get the money I’ve been waiting for (and I’m annoyed that it’s still not been deposited in my bank account). I’ve got all the necessary plugins downloaded already, so I figured I would start work on the changes the site will need to transition to a community website from its current status as my blog. (BTW, I have not written this post or designed any of new pages with the help of AI.)

I’ve also separated my podcast episodes from the main blog posts like this one, as well as the videos. I won’t add my YouTube series videos here until I have the series plugin added when I have a paid hosted site elsewhere, to make it easier for you to find each episode.

Work and Life

A Good Start to the Weekend (and Next Week!)

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Hey everyone,

Just a quick check-in for this Saturday’s post. After doing a video blog on Thursday, I wanted to keep today’s update a bit shorter, but still keep my Saturday tradition going!

It’s been a quiet week on the work front, so I’m really happy to share some positive news. I recently got confirmation from my supervisor at the site that they’re returning to work there, and they specifically want me back! This job is usually 10-hour shifts, and I get paid as a flagger, not a regular labourer, which is great. It’s a huge relief to know I’ll be working this Monday, and it definitely takes a bit of financial pressure off. I’m looking forward to getting things caught up and even being able to do laundry!

It’s always nice when things start looking up.

Hope you all have a great weekend! As you’re reading this, I’m likely out grabbing those free groceries I get most Saturdays, which is another little win.

Work and Life

Building the Future: A Strategic Plan for My Community-Focused Business

After thinking about the future of my business, I realized that I had made a major mistake in how I was going to hire people when I wrote that post about it earlier this year. In this post, I will explain the correct first few hires that I will make and why each one is vital in the order I will be hiring them as my income from online content allows me to do.

I will be the first person that will be hired by my company, and I will be setting it up as a Limited Liability Corporation or LLC for short. I do not know what name I will use, but I will have to check and see if it is available, and I will be using a lawyer to ensure that this goes smoothly, even though I have incorporated a company in Alberta before. I will be the company’s Chief Executive Officer as well as the Chief Content Officer, thus ensuring that all content produced by the company meets my standards.

I would like to point out that my vision for the company is to create family-friendly content and spaces to give parents a place to be able to send them online and not have to worry about exposure to content that is not appropriate for them. This blog will be transformed into a community website where that vision can be fulfilled. This will include moderated forums, safe games in the arcades, fun videos for them to watch and comment on, my weekly podcast, and of course, weekly blog posts about interesting topics from yours truly.

The second person the company will hire is a Chief Financial Officer when it can afford to do so. By hiring such a person early, the company’s financial future will be secured, preventing spending money that it doesn’t have. This person will also help to determine when it is safe to expand the team and hire the others I will be mentioning in this post. Ideally, they will have experience doing this, but willing to help a young company grow into a profitable one.

The next person I’ll be hiring will be working closely with the CFO and that is the person who will be in charge of human resources. Their job will be to hire everyone after them, following a priority list that I will be giving them, when the CFO says that they can hire someone. They will also be handing everything to do with employees – from pay to benefits and everything in between.

A Chief Graphics Officer will be the fourth person I’ll be hiring instead of the second one. This person’s job will be ensuring all graphics meet my vision’s standard as well as coming up with new graphics as needed for products and Minecraft mods and modpacks that future hires will need for their projects. They will also work with me to ensure my videos have the best thumbnails for whatever video platform the community website is using.

The next role to be filled will be the company’s Chief Programmer. They will work closely with me to not only improve the website but also modpacks that I am developing. This person will also co-head the future Creative department with the Chief Graphics Officer, ensuring that all coding meets the company’s expectations – from HTML and CSS to Java and PHP.

Reporting to the Chief Programmer and the Chief Graphics Officer will be the next hire, the Lead Developer. This person will be in charge of a development team for new mods for games and plugins for WordPress, as well as maintenance to existing ones. The ideal candidate will have a good sense of time management and team leadership, two critical things that I feel cannot be learned but are a part of a person from a young age.

After the above roles are hired, I’ll pivot and get the HR lead to focus on the community by hiring a Community Leader, a Public Relations team, and a moderation team for the forums. Existing staff members will also be required to act as mods, especially for topics that they have excellent knowledge in. I’ll also ask to hire an expert in Catholic religious teachings to help me with my podcast writing and maybe even hosting it alongside me. This will ensure that my community will get the best possible staff that will be focused on keeping all members happy and content.

After all these people are hired, I will ask the HR lead to look for experts in various fields that the forums are covering and that I’m interested in writing blog posts on. These will not be full-time employees but contractors who will help ensure that posts in their fields are high-quality yet family-friendly. They will be offered the chance to write guest posts on the site about their topic of expertise and will be asked to do a AMA in the forum corresponding with their field.

Hiring the right people at the right time is essential to ensuring my company grows into a stable and thriving organization. With a foundation rooted in family-friendly content, structured engagement, and community-building, every role I’ve outlined plays a crucial part in making this vision a reality.

By starting with financial stability and strategic hiring, I’ll be able to build a team that shares my passion for creating safe, engaging spaces online. As the company scales, these hires will help develop innovative content, powerful tools, and a vibrant community that members can trust and enjoy.

This journey is about more than just running a business—it’s about shaping an ecosystem that fosters creativity, learning, and meaningful connections. With careful planning and the right people by my side, I’m ready to turn this dream into a lasting success.

Religious, Personal

Swag at 40: Looking Back to Look Forward

Greetings everyone! I’m Swagnilla Ice, but you can call me Nathan Pinno. I hail from the beautiful province of Alberta, Canada. Every week, I enjoy sharing my thoughts and experiences here on my Ko‑fi page. This week, in celebration of reaching the big 4-0, I thought I’d take a trip down memory lane to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned over the past forty years, and share my aspirations for the future. Join me on this journey as I look back to look forward.

Looking Back: Lessons Learned

As I reflect on my life, there are some clear lessons that stand out. The most significant lesson I’ve learned is the truth about salvation. It’s a constant process that I need to work on daily. Whenever I lose focus on my walk with God, I tend to slip up and make mistakes. However, I’m immensely grateful to have a relationship with a forgiving God who supports me on this journey and walks by my side.

Another lesson I’ve learned is to be grateful for those who support me on my life’s journey. From my parents to good friends, both in real life and online, I’ve been fortunate to have people who encourage and support me. Even when the chips are down, they remind me to look up and not lose hope. I am immensely grateful for each and every one of them, including all those who support my content creation. Thank you!

A hard lesson I’ve learned over the last forty years is the importance of wisely managing my money and sticking to a budget while avoiding debt whenever possible. As a result of this lesson, I’m now enrolled in a program to pay off part of my credit card debt. If I fail to make my monthly payment even three times, serious consequences will follow. To make the most of my money every month, I need to take advantage of every free resource available to me. Given the instability of work, I must be ready to adapt and find ways to make ends meet when I don’t get the hours I need. Your support of my content creation is immensely helpful in this regard.

Another lesson I’ve learned through harsh experiences is that I’m human and mortal. Not only did I nearly die on the operating table during a transplant five years ago, but I also had my appendix removed just before it burst. These events have forced me to evaluate every decision I’ve made in my life and have made me determined to live a cleaner, healthier life, both physically and spiritually. I’m grateful for the resources I have and for my church family and priests—without them, I’d be like a boat lost at sea.

Looking Forward

As I look forward to the next decade of my life, I have several goals I aim to accomplish. The first and most important is to turn my content creation into a steady source of income. Through my experiences, I’ve learned that I can’t rely on an employer to provide consistent work. Your help and support, both financial and otherwise, are crucial for this goal. I aspire to go full-time with content creation, producing material that everyone can enjoy—be it blog posts, live streams, podcast episodes, or YouTube videos. While I’m committed to creating engaging content, I’ll still need to work outside my residence to earn a living without your support.

My second goal is more personal in nature. I want to have more days free of sin. I’ve been struggling with the same sin repeatedly, and it’s time for it to end. With God’s help and your prayers, I believe I can overcome this habit and become the man God wants me to be.

My third goal is to pay off my debt, even though it’s currently on track to be resolved through the program I’m enrolled in and the payments I’m making on my school loans. Once my debt is fully paid, I will avoid using debt to finance anything unless it’s a one-time-use gift card that doesn’t accumulate interest.

My final goal is to find stable housing—whether by buying my own home or buying/building an apartment building and renting out the other suites. This is a long-term goal since I’m currently in a year-long lease that expires next December, but it’s not cheap at $900 per month. Not having to worry about rent every month and potentially earning some rental income instead would be a huge relief for my financial situation.

Conclusion
To wrap up this post, let me say that I’ve learned many lessons over the past forty years—too many to list here. I’ve gained a lot of wisdom and knowledge over the years, but I am still willing to learn from those wiser than me. I have clear goals for the next decade of my life, and hopefully, when I write a similar post at fifty, I’ll have even better news to share about my goals and accomplishments. If God allows me to reach my fiftieth birthday, I look forward to reflecting on another decade of growth and learning.

Thank you so much for reading this blog post. Your support here on Ko‑fi (as well as YouTube, Spotify, and Twitch) means the world to me! Please consider supporting me monthly to gain access to exclusive polls and images, and to help me create more posts like this one and other content you will enjoy. May God bless you all!