The post this community deserved long ago (VsNYYC)

General Yo-Yo
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Hey there everyone.

If you don’t know who I am, my name is Heath Vizier. I once owned and operated a yoyo company known as Vs. Newton YoYo Concepts or VsNYYC.

The reason of this post is first and foremost an apology, and second an explanation to several things VsNYYC related and not.

This post is really hard to write. Not because the community doesn’t deserve it or anything like that, but because I can’t really express how I feel. I threw away an AMAZING opportunity with a community that I considered my family. A day doesn’t go by where I don’t think about how badly I messed up. About the good friends I lost. About any of it. I don’t expect forgiveness at this point (I never have), but know that I am sincerely sorry for what I did, and I am still to this day working to make it up to the world.

I’m completely expecting questions at this point and will do my best to answer all of them, but I have done the bulk of you a favor by answering the following ahead of time:

How could you do this?/Why did this happen?

If I had to sum that up into two words it would be ignorance and pride. VsNYYC was something that I loved more than nearly anything, but I was a terrible business owner. What little profit was made always went somewhere it didn’t need to. It lead to the company inevitably never having enough money to do the things it said it would do, but my pride refused to give up or ask for help. I checked off the losses as growing pains. I even quit my job to devote all of my extra time to VsNYYC. It didn’t help anything. VsNYYC wasn’t the problem. My lack of knowledge in the industry and unwillingness to show weakness was the issue. Which inevitably lead to this…

I was stuck with a few weeks before the last worlds I attended, no money, and a promise to my team to pay their way, entry, etc. I KNOW it was the worst decision I could have ever made. I should have just told them sorry and not went, but I didn’t. I made the most horrible decision I’ve ever made. I borrowed against the charity money to send myself and my team to worlds…

I have no way of proving that’s what happened, and I am expecting you all to think I’m lying, but I have nothing left to lose in this matter and with all of you. That’s what happened. I had EVERY intention to pay it back. I know I shouldn’t have even considered it, but I couldn’t not go in my head. By the time I started gathering personal funds (nowhere near enough) it was far too late.

How did you get the funds then?

I sold off personal belongings. A silver burst Gibson Les Paul, a Sig AR rifle, and nearly all of my personal collection. I posted a receipt that every dime has been paid plus a few hundred after this all happened.

Why did this take you so long?

I wish I had some real excuse to put here. Something that made perfect sense. I don’t. Part of me felt like even coming back to say sorry meant that I wanted you guys to “take me back”, and I didn’t want to just be forgiven and come back. I’m still not sure if I do. I just know I needed to get this out.

What have you been doing to make this better?

Other than paying back all of the money plus some and not claiming it towards my taxes that year, I have joined a local group that donates 100% of its proceeds to Relay for life and ACS and has recently added on autism awareness. I don’t handle the money, but I work at events, walk in parades, and do everything that I can to make sure that everything runs smoothly.

What’s next?

In the world of yoyos I have no idea. As Steve Brown once said I offered nothing that a consumer couldn’t get from a more reputable company with a perfect history. I’m not completely against designing yoyos (my mom and best friend have asked me to), but I’m aware of my weaknesses at this point, and owning a company is simply out of the question. I just wanted to give the community the full explanation and apology it deserved so long ago.

I let you all down as a company, friend, and person and I can never truly apologize for what I’ve done enough. I’m sorry that I allowed my selfish pride and stupidity to ruin such an awesome thing.

P.S. If you were ANY part of what my mother did for my son involving reclaiming my old collection thank you from the bottom of my heart. Once he’s old enough to enjoy them, I know that he will.

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Everyone has made a mistake in their life and it would be foolish to think that there are people who are immune to it. However, There is no denying that what you did while it may have been for other reasons was wrong. Some may still resent you for what you did and they will also not accept that you tried to clean your act up. I feel though that because you came back and apologized however long it may have taken that it shows that you are learning and growing as a person. Apologizing is one of the hardest things we as humans can do and to me it shows that you must feel some guilt for what you did.

I for one would accept this apology because you are part of the community to me. This community is one of the best I’ve been apart of and it feels like a second family to me.

However, I can see that VsNYYC should not come back. It has lived its life and it is time for it to be done. Even though I really want to see another release of the Tiwalker and battosai.

It is probably not my place since I was not one of the ones you hurt, but I’m going to say apology accepted Heath and hopefully you will learn from this and be able to teach your son.

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I was only around for the tail end of this, so my opinions don’t really mean much. But as a human being I want to say this: now that you are earnestly asking for forgiveness from outside, you owe it to yourself to forgive yourself from the inside.

We are all deeply flawed people and we make mistakes. It doesn’t matter if people come back and still have negativity for you; you deserve to be a human being and forgive yourself. Let some of the weight go.

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It’s a bummer that hardly anybody will believe you.I do, and suggest that others look for the best in you regardless of your history.

Today everybody thinks everybody else is either terrible or good. What’s worse, if someone presumed good does something bad, then that person becomes bad. Yet, if a person presumed bad does something good and tries to make amends, they are still presumed bad. Redemption is almost impossible, yet I wish it was possible in your case because VsNewton was my favorite company in its day and if it hadn’t gone under then I believe it would have grown into something of the likes of CLYW. That is beside the point, however. Pride and ignorance aren’t just your problems, they are everybody’s. People judge people with the presumption that they are even qualified to judge anybody; which, of course, they aren’t.

I hope you can manage to find a place back in the community; and if not, then rest easy knowing that you are being true to truth and that anyone who still treats you wrong has no reason to as your amends have been made.

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No worries. We all have done things we’re not proud of. Owning your mistakes and with how you are moving forward shows a lot about the person you are. It’s not easy. I went broke in 2009, had to borrow money from my parents. It’s not easy. You want to do big things, but it’s hard to pull off if you’re not ready. We learn, we move on.

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I’m very glad to see a post like this. And I agree with Alecto that apologizing can be the hardest thing because it involves admitting to yourself that you made a mistake and are asking to take accountability. It takes letting go of one’s pride to do that.

I personally accept your apology, Heath. Having been there, where a few bad choices and my inability to admit my mistakes created a horrible situation, I am incredibly lucky to have friends and family who forgave me when all I could do was confess. But it still took me years to forgive myself, and as Greg expressed, it is so important. It is, in the end, what gave me my pride back.

Thanks for your post, Heath. I hope your designs grace yoyo stores once again.

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I believed you when you told me back then and I still believe you now. Thanks for the post, it’s a closed issue as far as I’m concerned.

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I wasn’t around for any of this, so, this was a bit of a history lesson for me. However, like everyone else who posted has said, we are all human and have all done things we aren’t proud of. Asking forgiveness is a huge step, forgiving yourself, as GregP stated, is an even bigger and more important step.

I try not to be too judgmental and try to live by ‘let the one without sin cast the first stone.’ I’ve made plenty of mistakes, hopefully learned from each of them, and hopefully won’t continue to make the same ones repeatedly.

While you don’t have anything to apologize to me about, I might suggest, if you haven’t already done so, reaching out directly to the individuals you do need to apologize to and tell them. This can be very scary, they don’t have to accept your apology, but, apologize sincerely. You can’t change the past and you can’t make someone forgive you.

Good luck.
French

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. You’re forgiven…happy to have you back Heath, we’ve missed you friend! I can not say anything any better than MikeEff’s said already!

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I was around well after this all happened, but I can still tell that this post took a long time to write. It is very well said and it feels heat-felt. It sounds sincere and anyone who doesn’t believe you is against you for more than one reason.

I really like what Alecto said:

Having the guts to come out and apologize for doing wrong, you’re not only admitting that you did wrong to the public and asking forgiveness, no matter how little you feel you deserve, you’re also admitting to yourself that you messed up and feel truly sincere.

I can’t say that I really know what happened, but it sounds like you did wrong. But, asking for forgiveness and telling the truth is huge. Well done, Heath.

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I loved every yoyo you made.

Apology is a nice step.

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The last Worlds you attended was I believe 2012. You started collecting charity money in June of 2011 (I have a PayPal receipt to you to prove this). Why were you sitting on charity funds for over a year?

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The charity yoyos were anodized in two batches because they didn’t all make it to me in time for the first batch, and I didn’t anodize anything in that time. It was distinguishable via the second batch having a slightly more purple instead of black hue.

As to why I kept the other half, hindsight that was of course a mistake. I liked the idea of showing off one big deposit when it was all said and done.

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I never owned a VsNYYC yo-yo. I just never got around to it, so there is no particular reason why. I always heard good things about them. And, while I didn’t agree with what happened, I always thought it was your decision whether you wanted to continue to make yo-yos again. I think, if you want to revive VSNYYC, (under a new name or the same name), you should just do it. I think you can earn back the trust of enough people to continue the journey. I think you have every right to do that, and as long as you know your limitations financially, you can have lots of success in the future.

Or, you can always take baby steps, and do a yo-yo project here and there to see how things go. If you don’t owe a single soul (retailers included), you’ve paid your debts, issued an apology, and people can move on.

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There’s no need for me to rehash what everyone else has previously said. I commend you for apologizing publicly, I feel that’s more than anyone could have asked for. What’s water under the bridge is just that.

I have to agree with TotalArtist in that if you want to produce something new, go for it. A small project (25-50 yoyos) would be a great way to reestablish yourself, as well as a way to see how the community responds as a whole. Anyone who questions VsNewton’s designs are in denial. There have been dozens of new bi-metals, and probably two dozen new titanium throws in the past year, and people still say that the TiWalker is better than them all. That’s saying something considering it released 6 years ago at $200, a price point that still can barely be met.

Your return has been speculated in the previous years. From what I’ve gathered, everyone who supports VsNYYC agrees that a business partner is necessary, and that you should stick to pumping out killer designs.

It’s good to see you back.

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I’m really sorry if people think this means I’m coming back.

That’s just not in the cards right now.

I posted this because the community deserved it long ago.

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Thanks for coming back and saying this, I think we all needed an update. Sounds like you’re getting everything together, so that’s great. I hope one day you can make something new, even if it isn’t right now, because after getting a Ti-Walker, I really hope you can.

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Thanks, Heath. Apology accepted.

On a side note, I think the fact that he realized at the time that he wasn’t a good business man should be an eye opener to all about starting your own business making yoyos or whatever. As was pointed out in a previously deleted topic, making yoyos for a retail market involves way more than just making a great yoyo. You need a business plan and a sense of financing the affair.

So You Want To Start A Company To Make Yoyos

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Glad I happened to check the forums today for old times sake. Thanks for taking the time to explain what happened.

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Thanks for the apology, hope you can make yoyos again. Would like to try the Skywalker. ;D

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