Hickory Algorithm Newsletter
The Black Moon of Grief
For The Man In The Mirror, It’s All Getting Clearer.
Influence is such an anchor to who we are as individuals. It can come from books, music, friends, family, YouTube, social media, religion, faith—or even something as simple as a butterfly in your backyard. Influence is deeply personal. It’s yours. 🎯
For me, music has always been the most powerful form of influence.
Like a good book, it lets you live a different life—see through someone else’s eyes, feel their struggle, get swept into their rhythm. A good song is someone’s soul set to sound, their emotions surrounded by instruments and shaped by collaboration. It’s shared, but it’s still your own.
I’ve always looked to my musical heroes for guidance. There are records hanging in my studio, music playing in every room of my house, and there’s nothing quite like driving with the windows down and the right song on. Sometimes the road ahead doesn’t feel so unknown when you’re not alone—when the artist is singing with you, and let’s be real, you’re singing right back.
Throughout my life, I’d catch myself wondering what my heroes were doing at my age.
“Springsteen was writing this at 34.”
“John Mayer released that album at 36.”
I’d look for parallels in their journeys, trying to connect—trying to believe I wasn’t too far behind to relate to. But I never quite found someone who felt like a mirrored frequency. Until now.
A couple years ago, my kids came home raving about a band that was “huge on TikTok.” 🤮 But we gave it a shot—and the music was good. A guy in a mask, with a band in matching uniforms. It felt like KISS reincarnated… but Blue Oyster Cult and Def Leppard.
That band was Ghost, led by Tobias Forge.
We saw them live as a family—first in Pittsburgh, then we tried again in South Carolina after moving to Hickory. Rain canceled that second show, but the experience stayed with us. Ghost became part of our home’s soundtrack. And over time, Tobias Forge’s story began to pull me in deeper.
Here was a man, my age, with a long-time wife, children with his wife, a love for 80s rock, a passion for storytelling—and a drive to create - purpose. He spent over a decade performing under masks, inventing new characters every album cycle to front his band. But eventually, it caught up to him.
The mask became more than a costume. He became claustrophobic. He couldn’t put on the outfit - his mask. Everything that tied him to being successful and helped him follow his dreams.
It became a weight.
And a question began to form: What happens when the thing that gave you your dream… becomes the thing holding you back?
His Black Moon need addressed.That moment of reckoning. When hiding is no longer sustainable. When ego and purpose collide, and only one gets to stay.
When I moved to Hickory, I walked away from 23 years in the grocery industry. I wasn’t running—I was just… done. Or so I thought.
What I hadn’t realized was that I wasn’t burnt out on the job. I was being crushed by my own black moon—grief I hadn’t named, trauma I hadn’t faced.
A young man I worked with for years—who started as a stock clerk and became like family—passed away unexpectedly. I had mentored him, spent holidays with him, watched him grow into a leader. And then he was gone.
I tried to push through. I went back to work. I walked the aisles and faced the reminders. Ran the department he was running. Touching the same boxes, items he was touching less than 24 hours ago, and using his desk the morning he passed. I pushed through. But I never addressed it. I buried it.
And the seed of that grief grew into something heavy—something I carried every day. My Black Moon.
It wasn’t until I saw Tobias Forge shed his mask—face his internal war through his music, album after album—that I realized I could too.
There’s a quote from Ethan Hawke I return to often:
“Most people don’t think about poems. They have a life to live. Until a father dies, a child dies. Then art’s not a luxury. It’s sustenance.”
Tobias’ latest album, Skeleta, is his best work. Not just because of the songs—but because of what he went through to make them.
His willingness to confront himself helped me confront myself.
He gave language to something I didn’t know how to say.
And that’s the power of art.
It’s not decoration. It’s rescue. It’s sustenance.
When life gets heavy, art throws the rope.
Thank you, Tobias Forge.
For creating through discomfort.
For choosing purpose over ego.
For becoming someone I didn’t just admire—but someone I could relate to.
Your purpose became your art.
Your art became my influence.
And that influence helped me face down my Black Moon,
To Come home, to myself. 🦋
“For the man in the mirror, it’s all getting clearer.” - Tobias Forge
“Pieces of what could of been,
Pieces of a shattered dream,
Child, take your dark memories,
Like seeds and plant them far from here
Sow Them
Feed Them
Through shine and rain
Your Love
Will be, born again”
Peacefield - Ghost ←—— LINK
Right now, Skeleta by Ghost is number 1 on Billboard charts. The first time a rock album has been number 1 in 4 YEARS. 💪
Featured Event:
📆 May 23rd - Networking
Hosted by: Hickory Algorithm with Business Solutions LLC and Jay Brown Realtors
Whether you’re looking to sharpen your pitch, build intentional connections, or expand your local network, this event is designed to help you level up.
Coach Mike from Business Solutions LLC help sharpen our skills for those networking pitches. Chris, will then help us with our purpose of networking. Jay Brown from Jay Brown Realtors gives us a 10 minute presentation during our ending Mini Meeting
🗣️ Mini Meeting Spotlight:
Mini Meeting will be focused on using everything we have learned and put it directly into action as we go around the room with our pitches and purpose. The Mini Meeting will have a 10 minute presentation by Jay Brown of Jay Brown Realtors.
📍 Location: Neighbors Network
🏢 Address: 502 Thornburg Drive NE, Conover, NC 28613
📅 Date: Friday, May 23rd
🕐 Time: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
💵 Cost: $50.00
🔗 Limited to 35 participants – scan the QR code to register now!
📆May 21st
Business on Top, Party on the Bottom!
LINK———→ Event Page on Facebook for all information HERE
Trace Weidner , president of the Lake Norman BNI Business Nexus and fellow 100 point club member of BNI’s Power of One report. Trace has excelled his unique style into his group by being himself. He surprised the members during their 60 seconds by turning their photos from themselves into muppet forms. That’s top shelf fun.
This event speaks the kind of networking events I love, ones with purpose. Purpose doesn’t have to be serious. Purpose is you uniquely yours. Whomever wants to car pool with me, LQQKING at you BNI FOOTHILLS REFERRAL NETWORK HICKORY 😈
Join us for a one-of-a-kind networking event where the dress code is half professional, half party—and all fun!
Date: Tuesday, May 21st
Time: 6:00–8:00 PM
Location: Pomodoros Italian American Café
Throw on your best blazer or blouse… and pair it with your wildest shorts, skirts, party pants, or whatever screams good vibes!
It’s networking with a twist—because business doesn’t have to be boring.
Make connections. Share laughs. Be unforgettable.
We can’t wait to see your best “business on top, party on the bottom” look!
There will be a contest for best outfit, with the winner receiving a special prize from Lake Norman Business Nexus.
🛸 Marketing with a Mission Starts Here 🛸
📡 Tap into the signal at hickoryalgorithm.com <~~~~~LINK
At Hickory Algorithm, marketing isn’t just noise—it’s campaigns with purpose, content that connects, and networking that builds real, organic relationships.
🎙️ #Podcasting with purpose = professional videography, - not iPhones
📩 #Newsletter = nearly 600 local business owners
📱 #Social media campaigns = organic growth
🤝 #Networking=connections that grow your business
Unlike any Marketing you have had before!
Content that Connects. Connections that matter.
#fortheloveofthegame
Powerful story here Chris. Nice job. You say what many, including myself, are thinking when we go through certain events.
👏 👏 this was intense my friend! Awesome work