Hello World! My name is John Sarzoza Jr. My friends and family call me JR (jay-are) and I am a business development consultant, music fan and coffee freak! I’m also a stage 3c colorectal cancer (CRC) survivor.
Update: I am now a Stage 4 Colorectal Cancer patient facing surgery in March of 2021. I was diagnosed in Oct 2020 after finding a tumor in the lung and a DNA test revealed that it was a perfect match for the tumor removed from my colon/rectal column. I was scheduled for surgery (tumor removal) at the end of December but ended up getting covid so had to quarantine for a couple weeks and then reschedule the surgery after re-doing all the labs, scans and pre-op physicals in Feb 2021.
Welcome to my personal website (blog / podcast / store) here on the interweb. This is my little piece of space on the net and where you can contact me should you have the need. This is also where you will see my personal musings (blog), some video podcasts that I do (cancer related, business related, coffee related, hockey related etc) and my little merch store where you can help support my online presence.
A little more about me: I’m an entrepreneur who has owned numerous businesses over the last 25 years and I’ve decided to put my business experience to good use by helping small business owners grow their businesses through technology, operational efficiencies, sales and marketing strategies and management as well as putting in-place good accounting and finance practices.
I’m married with children. I live in southern Minnesota where I built my wife her dream house out in the country (my back yard is a corn field) where we can have some piece and quite (I don’t miss the big city traffic!). Our son Brandon lives with us while he searches for a new home that will suit his unique personality and lifestyle. My dad recently retired and moved in with us to help take care of my wife Teresa (who is disabled) and me (while I battled cancer) so it is a true blessing to have a full-house surrounded by loved-ones.
In 2012 I had a missive heart attack and had heart surgery to save my life. In 2017 I was diagnosed with stage IIIc colorectal cancer (CRC) and given 6 to 9 months to live and, and, it took the better part of a year and a half of fighting for my life but I finally won the war in August 2018 when I was declared cancer free (NED – no evidence of disease)!! I’m not a cat so, I don’t know how many more lives I have left in me so, I think it may be a good idea to finally quit smoking so, pray that I’m successful in my attempt to put down the cigs.
Update: I did quit but was re-diagnosed with cancer when a spot in my lung began growing (it’s been there since day one – 2017) and when it was large enough to biopsy, it came back as the same cancer (CRC) as before. Now considered a stage VI colorectal cancer (in the lungs) I am given a 50% chance of survival since my PET scans came back clean (thank God) and it hasn’t spread to other organs (ie: kidneys, liver, bladder, pancreas, etc) I can focus on the lungs and as long as I have a successful [tumor] extraction, complete cleanup (ie: chemo) and you guys pullin’ for me…..I should be able to return to the land of the living and being cancer FREE by year-end.
My wife Teresa is a jewelry designer and has a studio I built for her here at home since she is disabled. She recently had spinal cord surgery to address a severe (genetic disorder) issue with spinal stenosis where her spine was severing her spinal cord in 3 locations. She needed emergency surgery to prevent her becoming a paraplegic. Her surgery was a success but left her disabled and unable to hold her head up. So, she needs one more surgery to fuse some vertebrates. Hopefully things will go well and she can return to a semi-normal lifestyle soon.
I have created a website for her in 2020 as well as an Etsy store so, please feel free to visit her shop and support her passion for jewelry design by purchasing one of her many unique bracelets, necklaces, rings or earrings. She has some really awesome designs and typically sells out of her items within a day or two, especially when her friends are taking bins of items to their work and selling them ALL to their friends and coworkers. LoL
And one final piece of information about me is that I keep myself EXTREMELY busy working. I am the GM and head of business development at Central Coast Solutions, the president of the board of directors at the Paradise Center for the Arts, founder and president of the SoMN Consulting Group, founder and host of the FightingCRC, BizDev and the Penalty Box podcasts.
Update: I was unable to commit to a FT (M-F 8-5) schedule and so my role had to change to being a PT consultant / contractor for Central Coast Solutions. I was also unable to continue on as president of the board of directors at the art center. Perhaps I can contribute to the non-profit organization after I beat cancer. As for my employment status, I can only work PT as a consultant due to all my appointments, cancer treatments, planned surgeries, post surgical treatments and if I survive this, then I can return to working FT either with my small consulting practice, my online businesses or as an employee with another company. In the meantime, please consider supporting my efforts at Buy Me a Coffee dot com. Thanks!
With all that I have going on, it’s amazing I get any sleep at all (currently 3-4 hours) but, hopefully I’ll be able to farm out some of my duties and hire some help…..we’ll see.
Anywho, thanks SO much for checking out my personal website and thanks in advance should you decide to help support my personal health costs / expenses by buying one of my many items. Funds I raise via my shop or buy me a coffee will go to help pay for my HUGE medical bills. Fighting cancer has almost wiped us out.
We no longer have a life savings account and still owe well over $200k in medical expenses that were not covered by insurance. And, now that I’m no longer working FT, I am on cobra and having to pay for our family insurance ($1300+/Mo) by myself without any income to rely on, so any support we receive is greatly appreciated and means more to me than you will ever know.
So….thanks again for all your love, support, prayers, well wishes and kind words of encouragement, it means more to me than you know. Hope all is well with you and, have yourself a wonderful day! ~JR