People often tell me, “I’m a business owner, not a speaker.” “I’m a consultant, not an author.” “I’m a non-profit leader, not a social media influencer.”
I reply back with, “I hear you! AND, if we want to impact more people, we must be all of these!”
Captain Ray Ashley had a dream of building a replica ship, the San Salvador, as a project for the San Diego Maritime Museum.
He made a brilliant decision to build it in PUBLIC (right by a busy freeway near the airport) instead of in PRIVATE (where it’d be out-of-sight-out-of-mind).
People talk about finding their calling as if it exists out there somewhere. I think our calling – doing work we love that matters – emerges from doing and pursuing things that matter to us. It’s not found, it’s forged.
What a joy it was to be interviewed on John Lee Dumas’ pioneering podcast Entrepreneurs on Fire. John and I talked about how having something specific on our calendars gives us IKIGAI, a Japanese word for “purpose, a reason to get up in the morning.”
The first year of the Maui Writers Conference, a woman walked out of her pitch meeting with tears in her eyes. I walked over and asked her, “Are you okay?” “’No, I’m not okay…”
Someone got in touch with me recently and said she has wanted to write a book for years.
I said. “What’s been keeping you from writing?”
“Well you know, I’ve been busy and
At a recent event, a founder told me she was feeling lost after selling her company. “I had a nice exit… but now what?” she said.
I asked, “What used to light you up?”
Instead of leading meetings and virtual events that fall flat, I suggested building in connection opportunities with breakout sessions, so your participants feel seen, heard and valued as part of the community.
But here’s the thing—breakouts can be game-changers or total time-wasters.
As Emcee of the Maui Writers Conference, I walked the beach every morning. One morning, I saw Pulitzer-Prize winning author Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes) writing away on two high-school composition notebooks… I was intrigued and asked, “Frank, quick question, what are you doing?”
Years ago, I judged a pitch competition called The Dolphin Tank. I reviewed the business plans the night before, including one for a hook you put in your car to put your purse on…
