For this week's edition of Hi-Fives, our mini interview feature we pester Fuzzrocious Pedal's Ryan Ratajski to get his take on a series of random top five questions.
Top five scariest things about running your own company
1. Not being able to make ends meet and losing everything we have - house, food, clothing, etc.
2. Longevity of our product - will we be around in 2 years, 3 years...10? I'd love to do this forever!
3. The long term effects of stress and anxiety - it can't be good to stress this much
4. Reading people's negative comments about the product with no prior direct conversation or direct constructive criticism first. Voicing negativity is, well, negative and negativity doesn't help anyone, especially on the internet. The internet would be less scary if people would just be civil and talk to one another :).
5. Failing everyone - family, customers, myself
Top five things I'll miss about being a teacher
1. Knowing that you are making a difference in 1-15 children's lives
2. Summers off
3. Holiday recess (winter break, spring break)
4. Being able to close your classroom door and teach kids for a few hours with no distractions
5. Health benefits
Top five things about quitting your teaching job
1. No master, work faster
2. Being able to be present for my wife and kids
3. Being able to enjoy my house
4. The ability to just make pedals all day and nothing else
5. The excitement of trying something "new"
Top five pedals you wish you’d thought of
1. Moog Freqbox
2. Line 6 DL4
3. Roland Jet Phaser
4. Our Afterlife Reverb pedal 1 year sooner
5. EHX HOG
Top five weirdest custom requests
I can't answer this without offending customers.
Top five worst songs in your music collection
There are no worst songs or guilty pleasures. If you like a song, own it!
Top five instagram accounts to follow
1. @officialseanpenn - an account that looks like my brain
2. @marvel - comics!
3. @terminalradness - rad skater/stoner/mellow dude/bummed dude art
4. @drew_rash - traditional tattoos and paintings
5. @grantvanamburgh - 90% photos of him with a Prince poster
Top five free gear requests (you should give me because of X)
I can't answer this without offending anyone.
Top five meals when you’re home alone
1. 2 Sorrento's Cheesesteaks (cokesteaks)
2. A slab of nearly burnt bacon and brick of scrapple 1/2 cut thin, 1/2 cut thick
3. Fried shrimp parmesan
4. 6 fancy beers
5. Turkey skin pizza
Top five things you've wasted money on - bad or unnecessary purchases
1. A straight edge tattoo by a bad tattoo artist
2. Toys for my kids that they never play/played with
3. Food that spoils or we think has gone bad and has to be thrown out
4. Grass seed for the back yard that repeatedly gets washed away
5. Iron Gym
