Red Light People. Green Light People.

"Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little." - Gore Vidal

A friend of mine and fellow entrepreneur says that there are two types of people one will encounter on their way to opening up a business: red light people and green light people. The red light people will present you with obstacles and challenge your belief about your motives and capabilities. They'll project their own fears onto you. Those are people to avoid. They will stop you or cause you to stumble.

Then there are the green light people. Green light people are supportive. They encourage. They believe in you and will offer you help, information, suggestions and moral support. They help you keep going when the tunnel seems dark and you begin to question your own sanity. "Seek out the green people," my friend tells me.

One thing I'm coming to realize is that, although a lot of people are very excited about what we're doing, for whatever reason, not everyone is going to be happy. It's okay, though. I can't expend too much energy thinking about that. I've got a restaurant to open! 'Green People! Can I get an "AMEN!"?

Green light people. Red light people.