I’ve got a lot going on right now.
I’m running Charlotte Ladder Services. I’m still active in the roofing industry. And I’m building new businesses, learning AI, and figuring out how technology can help me create something bigger.
I’ve got customers, responsibilities, bills to pay, and a family I want to spend time with.
And somewhere in the middle of all this, I’ve started asking myself a question.
Is this really what I wanted?
Don’t get me wrong. I want to build these businesses. I’m excited about what I’m working on. I can see the possibilities.
But I’ll sit there working on one thing, and then another thing comes up. Then there’s something else to fix. Another system to connect. Another idea I want to try.
And before you know it, you’re spending the entire day trying to build a business that’s supposed to give you more time.
That’s a pretty strange way to chase freedom, isn’t it?
I don’t want to wake up five years from now with a bunch of businesses, a pile of responsibilities, and no time to enjoy any of it.
So I’ve decided to try something. I’m calling it the Wild Business Experiment.
What am I actually trying to do?
On paper, I guess the goal sounds pretty ambitious.
I want to build multiple businesses. I want to create income online. I want to use AI and automation to make those businesses run more efficiently. And eventually, I want to be able to operate across borders instead of being tied to one city, one office, or one way of making money.
I’m building Wild Built Studio, a business focused on helping small businesses grow through smarter marketing, technology, AI, and systems that take some of the everyday work off their owners’ shoulders.
I’m also running Charlotte Ladder Services and continuing my work in the roofing industry. And I’m thinking seriously about what it would look like to build a life in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
That’s a lot of moving parts. But here’s the thing.
I don’t actually want to spend the rest of my life managing moving parts.
I want to build things that give me options. The option to travel. The option to spend an afternoon with my kids. The option to wake up somewhere new. The option to take a day off without feeling guilty about it.
And sometimes, the option to just sit outside, drink my coffee, and enjoy being alive. That’s what I’m after.
The problem with chasing success
It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that you’re supposed to be productive every second. Build more. Work harder. Scale faster. Make more money.
I’m not against hard work. I’ve worked hard most of my life. I’m not suddenly expecting businesses to build themselves while I sit on a beach. Although, if the robots eventually figure that one out, I’m listening.
But what happens when you’re so busy building your future that you never enjoy your present?
That’s what I want to challenge. Not by giving up on ambition. By figuring out how to be ambitious about my whole life, not just my businesses.
Three days in one
I’ve been influenced by Ed Mylett and his Max Out philosophy, especially the idea of approaching one day as if it contains multiple days.
What I want to find out is how to make a version of it work in my actual life. Because reading about maximizing your day is one thing. Doing it when you’ve got kids to get to school, customers calling, bills coming in, and a business that isn’t fully built yet? That’s a different story.
Day One: Me + Build. 6 AM to 1 PM.
I get up around six. I have my coffee. I take my time waking up. I spend time with my family, get the kids ready, and take them to school. Then I come home, work out, eat breakfast, and get myself ready.
By nine, I want to be building. Working on the businesses. Learning. Testing automation. Figuring out what works. Not just being busy for the sake of being busy. Actually making progress on the things that might create more freedom down the road.
Day Two: Earn. 1 PM to 5 PM.
This is the part that pays the bills. Work in the roofing industry, appointments, meeting customers, following up, and creating opportunities.
You can’t finance a dream with ideas alone.
Some days I’ll have appointments scheduled in the morning. That’s life. I’m not going to turn down paying work because it doesn’t fit perfectly into some schedule I wrote down. The idea is to have a framework that helps me make decisions, not a prison with nicer labels.
Day Three: Live. 5 PM to 10 PM.
This is the part I’m especially interested in. At five o’clock, I want to be done with routine work. Not done with life. Done with work.
Dinner. Family. Time with my girlfriend. Learning Spanish. Reading. Hobbies. Going somewhere. Trying something new. Maybe we go out. Maybe we stay home. Maybe I do absolutely nothing.
Because if the whole point of building these businesses is to have a better life, shouldn’t I be practicing having that better life right now? Not someday. Now.
But is any of this sustainable?
That’s the real experiment. I can write out a beautiful schedule. I can make a plan. I can get excited about it. But can I actually follow it?
Can I stop working at five when there’s still a hundred things to do? Can I build businesses that make money without needing me involved in every little decision? Can I use AI to take repetitive work off my plate without creating even more work managing the AI?
Can I build something that works from Charlotte and eventually from another country? Can I make enough money to create real financial stability while still being present for my kids? And can I do all of this without turning every hobby, family moment, and vacation into another business opportunity?
I genuinely don’t know. That’s why it’s an experiment.
Some weeks will probably be a mess. Some ideas won’t work. Some days I’ll get distracted. Some weeks the bills and the work will have to take priority. I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
What matters is whether I can keep adjusting and move toward a life that feels better, not just looks successful on paper.
What does winning look like?
I have business goals. I have income goals. I have places I want to go and things I want to build. And yes, I want to make good money. Money pays the bills. It creates options. It makes a lot of things possible.
But making money isn’t the whole point.
I want to live louder. I want to live freer. I want to live slower, when that’s what I need.
I want to experience more. Learn more. Travel more. Laugh more. Be present more. I want to build businesses that support that life instead of swallowing it.
Maybe that means fewer businesses than I originally imagined. Maybe it means better systems. Maybe it means changing my definition of success as I go. I’m open to finding out.
So I’m going to document it
That’s what Wild at Last is becoming. Part business experiment. Part life experiment. Part adventure.
I’ll write about what I’m building, what I’m learning, what works, what doesn’t, and what happens along the way. There will be business updates, stories from the road, lessons about AI and automation, and eventually, hopefully, stories from the Dominican Republic.
But there will also be the other stuff. The time with family. The things I try. The places I visit. The days that don’t go according to plan. Because that’s the life I’m trying to build.
I don’t have the results yet. I don’t have some secret formula. I’m just starting, and I’m going to see where this goes.
I wasn’t trying to build a business so I could work more.
I was trying to build a business that would finally let me live… wild.
So let’s see if this thing actually works.
Go be wild.
Mike Crespo
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