Meet Paul Menta

We recently connected with Paul Menta and have shared our conversation below.

Paul, thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?

I will start with taking a risk is better than not showing up or trying anything at all. I would admit it takes quite a few failures to develop a temperament and a mindset to see that you just took a risk and it’s actually not a failure, but it’s success. The end result a lot of people look at as winning or losing. You’re only competing against yourself and you don’t want to have regret from not trying something, that’s so-called risk is a learning tool. You learn to discover the difference between risky and something not intelligent. I like to think that most days I’m taking a risk getting up out of bed and trying to do better than the day before or challenging myself to go out of my comfort zone whether it be at work, on the water, the land or even under the water. I feel if I don’t push myself in the simplest things, that later, I will regret not at least giving it a shot. A lot of things I try I might just do OK, maybe it’s considered a failure to others or I have an amazing success. Any one of these levels that I made all taught me something. Being 58 years old and still pushing myself to take risks that makes sense for me and not for others. Sometimes it’s hard to explain. Some people might find amazing, I might just think. is normal. And what I think is amazing when I’ve taken a risk, other people might think is not normal, boring or have no interest in it. At the end of the day, we are competing against ourselves, not the rest of the world, and when you can make this mentality a reality, you live a life that is much fuller, competitive and fun. I wouldn’t want it any other way. .

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Learning about me can be somewhat difficult as I’ve gotten to point my life where I blended my skills and my passions all together. I’ll wake up in the morning and look at the wind and if I can’t go out kite Boarding or Wing foiling, then I will go exercise Outside not in the gym . Next, I will see what I need to plan for the day and head off to work as a distiller and go make rum. When that’s finished do I want to go out in the ocean and free dive or go see a sunset on the boat with my wife. I try to think of it as I live the salt cured life. Food ,drink and Ocean. if you have all these things involved in your life, no matter if you live next to an ocean, a lake or river, we all experience the same effect. We are full of electricity, and when we stand in saltwater, and even a lake in a river has salt in it. There is a charge that occurs in our body as we conduct electricity with the salt and suddenly we feel relaxed or things that we are stressed about don’t seem as important and we think about our families our community. Sharing food and drink with anybody takes away tensions, and everybody has a different attitude That might’ve been in another situation a bit rough. That time we take to get to know each other enjoy eating and having drink as all humans need for life, including water us in a situation where we look around us and even see what’s needed. For me I feel it’s easier than to go out and help my Comunity , whether something happened, people are in need or even if somebody is hungry. Community is very important and a lot of people think that it just takes money to help your community but even just saying hello to somebody checking in on somebody or lending a hand for something simple is being a part of the community. Before I exercise , I walk around my community to warm up anybody that looks at me in the eyes I say hello, some people I have said to for over a year until one day we spoke and actually got to know each other. This is an amazing way to involve yourself and immerse in your own community no matter where you live . I treat my Rum Distillery almost the same way by never going by the normal, always trying something different, whether it’s salt curing my barrels in the ocean or coming up with a creative flavor because I’m a chef and I think this would be something interesting that people would like to try. The science is what amazes me about distilling, my life on the ocean brings me joy, but also showing other people how to do things on the ocean, lakes, or rivers helps me pay a homage for the good times that I get to have in my own life . I’ve just finished competing on TV with Gordon Ramsay on National Geographic show uncharted to express how strongly I feel about my local food culture in Key West and the ocean. We have also shot a documentary called the salt cured life, that explains a lot more of this in detail. Currently, I’m working on, a parade and celebration for the life of Jimmy Buffett like I did the previous year when he passed away and all the money will go to helping the local charities in my community and the underdogs that need help. I always like the underdog and doing what I can or just rallying other people in my community with me to help out someone I need. Family and Comunity next important things we need in life and we should always remember that.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Not being afraid to ask, trying something whether I liked it or not, and pushing myself more than anybody else could. All these things take time to be able to accomplish, but you need to set goals for yourself and have a certain mentality that ends up creating a personality for yourself, sometimes in life, we sit around waiting for the answer. Yes, when we don’t understand if we ask if it’s a yes or no and someone says it’s a no, well you just saved a lot of time not wondering if it was gonna work out or not, and you can move onto the next thing or the next person With the subject that you’re trying to accomplish. Never not try anything, no matter how unimportant it seems. If you have the opportunity you should seize it. You never know when your skills that you learn from it are gonna be used. That person that asked questions, don’t be afraid, even if you’re the only one in the room that raises your hand and ask the question that you really have curiosity about . The worst thing is to have the chance to ask somebody who has more experience than you and you don’t take advantage of that. They don’t say do you have any questions Just be polite , they want to share their skills embrace that and learn something. goals set for you, they are not gonna have to live your life and do your job or passion so set your goals accordingly to what you want and as high as possible.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I’m always looking to collaborate with folks who do things that are a bit different than me be cooking, or they have a certain skill or they have a way of expressing themselves I love to learn from people and get to do new things and put myself in new places with people, who aren’t exactly the same as me at all, but we both end up having the same mentality. This is how I’m involved in many different aspects of work community and my involvement in the ocean.. I am constantly in search of that person who is may be related to somebody that that makes an incredible dish, or that Fisherman, who has a special technique of doing something or that artist that can create something so fantastic that others are absolutely blown away by. I don’t expect to do it as well as they do, but I pick up little things that I can incorporate in my own style for how I do my own passions. This I think is very important. Always use your skills that you gather in life and get paid for them, it keeps a roof over your head and food for your family. Your passion due for free because you enjoy it so much you’ll learn so much more when you’re not asking for it. if you’re lucky your skills and your passions will collide ! I look for people who have this type of attitude to collaborate with me to see what we can do to change a few people, a town, a city or a large group of people into seeing things in a different way. It’s great to bring a little fun into everybody’s life with some of the funny and quirky things that you learn, and put a smile on peoples face

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Keywestlegalrum.com

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