The Escape Hatch

I’m here at the Ryan Lee Continuity Summit in Stamford, CT working as an “Idea Jogger” and LOVING every minute of it.  The energy is electric…entrepreneurs, internet marketers and gozillionaires abound.  We’ve heard some great presentations by people like Chris Farrell, copywriter extraordinaire Chris “Moneyfingers” Haddad, Jerry Clark, Travis Miller & Jimmy Vee just to name a few.

Although many of the presenters themselves widely respected experts in their fields, I must single out Ryan.  He’s dynamic, funny with a raunchy sense of humor and possesses palpable passion.  I immediately felt why people are drawn to him.  He’s got the “magic sauce”.  He deeply believes in what he teaches and he LIVES it.  Its difficult to spend a moment in his presence and not be inspired, his energy jut fills up the room and keeps you feeling engaged.  I hope to work with him again in the future, its been an honor to so far.

It is my pleasure to welcome aboard another “Escape Artist”, Nikki Klecha.  Nikki will be guest blogging on the Escape Hatch sharing her experience as an artist who has escaped the 9-5 and is currently pursuing her passions — writing, traveling, acting.  I’m sure you will be as inspired by her journey as I have been.

Welcome Nikki!

Nikki Klecha

Nikki is an artist with a gypsy heart.  An actor dissatisfied with the film industry, she canceled auditions, quit her day job, put her apartment on hold, and set off for Australia alone.  She spent four months crossing the continent, living out of a backpack from the clear turquoise sea of the Great Barrier Reef, to the contrast of endless earth and sky in the Red Center, to the rocky shores of the west coast.  Along the way, she met myriad amazing people and, inspired by their stories, realized she’d been dreaming inside a box.  Life is so much bigger than she’d given herself permission to imagine.

She documented her trip in her blog, which started off as a way to keep friends & family informed, but quickly grew to a passion for writing, fueled by her wanderlust.  She recently returned to LA (for now) and is working to establish herself as a travel writer.  She hopes to encourage everyone – especially those that feel “stuck” – to reshape their perspective by seeing the world, and to prove, by example, that stepping into the unknown can mean freedom, not fear.  She believes it’s never too late to change your life; most people just need to get out of their own way and broaden their focus, which can be done with the help of gratitude and positive thinking.

She’s now dreaming outside the box and onto the map.

In addition to her posts here, you can follow her (and read about her Australian adventures) at The Grateful Sparrow ( www.gratefulsparrow.blogspot.com), which was recently featured as Blog of the Day by Travel Blog Sites (http://travelblogsites.com/2010/02/24/nikki-klecha/).

The Grateful Sparrow

I just arrived in Stamford, CT for Ryan Lee’s Continuity Summit.  I am attending as a guest of Valerie Young along with several other Changing Course Profiting from Your Passions Coaching Program graduates.  I’m here to learn more about continuity income from the master himself, but I’m also here to work as a “Business Idea Jogger” with my fellow Consultants and Coaches.  We are here to conduct laser sessions with Summit attendees on honing their business ideas and as Valerie says help them learn how to “continuitize” them.

I can’t hardly wait to meet all the people, hear all of the great ideas and see how I can help.  I’ll keep you posted while here and you can best believe I’ll be bringing LOTS of great ideas back for my clients and readers.

I’m something of an amateur painter.  Only took one class in high school and my technique is for shit, but I enjoy the process.

One of the reasons I got into it in the first place, and one of the reasons it continues to fascinate me, is that it’s amazing to me how all of these tiny, basic, seemingly insignificant brushstrokes can come together to create the illusion of something very real and dimensional.  I always wondered how a painter knows when he’s done.  When every brushstroke is so miniscule and changes the overall picture so very little, how can you possibly be sure when you’ve made your final touch?

I’m finding that everything I’m doing nowadays is like a series of brushstrokes.  It’s easy to become overwhelmed – after all, I’m trying to pursue novel writing, screenwriting, acting, stand-up, and professional poker careers all at once.  Since I quit my job, there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by that I haven’t been hard on myself, that I haven’t felt like I’ve accomplished so much less than I could have.

But when I step back and take a broader look at my canvas, I’m in awe of all the individual pieces that are coming together, making it begin to resemble what I’ve envisioned from the beginning.

Take my novel, for example.  I started it over two years ago.  Up until two months ago, I had written about fifty pages.  Granted, that includes a period of about a year when I wrote absolutely none of it, but still – not a lot of output for that much time.  But since I’ve started writing every day, even if just for a short while at a time… I am now closing in on 300 pages and should wrap up the first draft in the next few weeks.

I’ve often found myself longing for the time when I was younger and was able to sit at my computer and write for eight hours straight without getting distracted or craving food or sleep.  Those days are gone, but it doesn’t mean my dreams of being a prolific writer need to be.  By making at least a few tiny brushstrokes every day, you really can come away with a complete work of art in much less time than you might think.  How else can you ever expect to see the big picture?

You can follow Todd and read more about his progress on his blog: www.discardthelard.blogspot.com.  You can also check out his novel ‘The Wellspring’ at www.thewellspringbook.com.

I read Seth Godin’s blog a lot…I believe in his philosophy and his mission.  One of the things he talks about a lot is how businesses should never strive to be ordinary, but rather to be extraordinary.

Well, I recently had just such an experience.  Gold Class Cinemas, a business venture by Village Roadshow (which I know from my 20 year stint in entertainment as a producer of films, not a shower of them) has opened a few locations around the country (CA, TX, IL).  I went for a belated birthday gift with an avid movie-goer friend of mine, we try to see all of the stuff together that we can’t see with our significant others (horror films, etc.).  Anyway, I had heard about Gold Class Cinemas from a couple of friends and thought it was a neat idea, but little did I know.

First of all, the entire building is posh and fancy – you feel like you are going to a nightclub not the movies.  They are very welcoming AND streamlined, when you check in with your “concierge” they take your cc information so you can open up a tab for food and drink (so they don’t have to interrupt your viewing pleasure to retrieve this info)…then you go downstairs to the waiting area which is like a lounge.  They somehow know what movie you are going to see and they keep you posted on the time while you have a drink, chat, maybe eat something, etc.  Once the theatre is available – they come get you- lead you to your seats (which have been reserved in a spot you prefer), show you around:  you have a closet-like cubby hole to put all of your personal belongings so you are not constantly checking on them during the movie and you won’t forget them when the movie is done.  They seat you in the plushest seats I think I’ve ever sat in, which recline.  There is a table between you and your partner so that you can eat your dinner (if you’ve ordered it – I DON’T rec eating sliders while watching Wolfman attack innocent villagers!).  They also strategically place a call button (lit up in red so it doesn’t distract you from the movie, but its easy to see) so you can order more food/drinks.  If all of this isn’t enough, they offer you pillows and blankets…

All in all – it was a FABULOUS experience.  Gold Class Cinemas has taken an old idea (going to the movies) and re-imagined the experience.  Tickets are pricier, but in order to keep this experience accessible to everyone, they offer happy hour prices on food/drinks on Tuesday nights and 4 people get in for the price of 3 on Thursday nights (for members only – free) so this makes a nice double date option and it saves you some money.  They also offer buy one/get one pricing to celebrate birthdays – on any weeknight (except Friday) within a 3 day window of your special day.

All in all, I would HIGHLY recommend Gold Class Cinemas, not just as an experience, but as a study in how a business can re-enliven a tried and true business idea.

Happy viewing (and possibly napping)!

I’m a fan of Nathan Hangen.  Why?  Because he lives it.  He doesn’t just espouse an ideology, he IS it.  He built his business (a successful one mind you) while being stationed in Afghanistan during the war.  After hearing his story, its tough for anyone to come up with excuses for NOT pursuing your dreams.

He’s also one of those rarest of entrepreneurs – he knows he has knowledge and “keys” (as Chris Guillebeau talks about here) to help other people unlock their own doors of potential and he’s not about to hoard that, he’s got to share it – to help people pursue a livelihood of their own design.

One of the tools Nathan has designed will help any entrepreneur, be they solo, micro, mega, or monolithic…its called Beyond Blogging and it provides over 200 pages of actionable content.  It will give you all sorts of ideas on how you can embark on a winning blog journey.

As if this isn’t enough, Nathan and his partner Mike CJ have also compiled a collection of interviews and case studies with a select group of A-list bloggers and thought leaders (think Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Brogan, Chris Guillebeau, & Penelope Trunk).  Don’t re-invent the wheel, learn from the masters and apply their techniques.

If you want to take your blogging game to the next level or you want your blog to be the engine that drives your business, Beyond Blogging is a must read.

I’ve secured a discount for Escape Hatch readers.  Please use the code “ehspecial” (without quotes) at checkout to receive your 25% off discount.

And you can find out more information by visiting the Escape Hatcher recommends page on the Escape Hatcher site as well.

Happy reading!

**disclosure, I am a registered affiliate of Beyond Blogging.  I am a referral enthusiast, but only rec companies I truly believe in whether I am an affiliate or not.

Hi everyone,

This PODcast episode has been revised, if you haven’t already listened, this is the one you want.

Alison MacAlpine is an award-winning writer with 12 years of experience in corporate communications and copy writing. Through her company, AM Communications (www.amcommunications.ca), she has delivered a wide range of successful articles, brochures, newsletters, speeches and web sites to clients ranging from magazines and blue-chip corporations to the government.  Alison is a sought-after communications consultant and widely published journalist with a talent for expressing complex ideas in clear, creative, compelling language.

Alison MacAlpine

Please join us as Alison takes us on her unique entrepreneurial and freelance journey sharing her “words to live by”, her 3 “top tips” and numerous other inspiring tidbits.

Alison shares with us about finding the courage to go out on her own when her job wasn’t working out and how she always knew she could make it happen even when it was slow in the beginning.  She also talks about how entrepreneurship is definitely the way to go particularly if you want to determine the lifestyle you will have.

I hope you enjoy.

Subscribe to the Escape PODcast in itunes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This past week, I made anxiety and trepidation my friends.  I curled up with adrenaline and read it a bedtime story.  I surmounted the insurmountable and overcame the overcome.

For oh, I’d say going on about twenty years, it’s been a dream of mine to do stand-up.  I’ve never wanted to make that my be-all end-all career, but I would have considered it a significant failure and counted it as an ever-lasting regret if I had never at least taken a shot.

Shot: taken.

Ask me a couple years ago and, if I’m being honest, I probably would have said that I thought it was never going to happen.  But this quitting-my-job-and-spreading-my-wings business has given me a new outlook, and a previously untapped strength.  So I did it.  It would be wonderful if I could start performing regularly, and even greater if I could actually use it to supplement my current income ($0 annually), but at this point anything else would be gravy.

It went extremely well.  Because I’m a bit OCD, I was starting off in a much better place than pretty much anyone else who is trying out open mics for the first time.  I’ve spent years writing material, tossing out material, refining, rewriting, rehearsing – and all for my first five minute set.  Even though bringing a notebook onstage is totally forgivable and quite the norm in such an environment, I held off on performing until I was confident that I was fully memorized.  Because of the OCD.

Anyway, I got a great response.  There was laughter at all the parts that were meant to be funny, and relative silence during the parts that weren’t.  A later comic even referenced one of my punchlines that he found particularly hilarious.  And the general feedback was that I looked like someone who had been doing this for years.  What do you know?  I guess hard work (and anal retentiveness) does pay off…

I’m going to be back at it this Wednesday, and am also going to start checking out some other venues so I don’t get too comfortable in one spot.  And hey – it felt so good, I just might start venturing out and doing some other things that scare the shit out of me.

Self checkout at the grocery store, here I come.

You can follow Todd and read more about his progress on his blog: www.discardthelard.blogspot.com.  You can also check out his novel ‘The Wellspring’ at www.thewellspringbook.com.

Alison MacAlpine is an award-winning writer with 12 years of experience in corporate communications and copy writing. Through her company, AM Communications (www.amcommunications.ca), she has delivered a wide range of successful articles, brochures, newsletters, speeches and web sites to clients ranging from magazines and blue-chip corporations to the government.  Alison is a sought-after communications consultant and widely published journalist with a talent for expressing complex ideas in clear, creative, compelling language.

Please join us as Alison takes us on her unique entrepreneurial and freelance journey sharing her “words to live by”, her 3 “top tips” and numerous other inspiring tidbits.

Alison shares with us about finding the courage to go out on her own when her job wasn’t working out and how she always knew she could make it happen even when it was slow in the beginning.  She also talks about how entrepreneurship is definitely the way to go particularly if you want to determine the lifestyle you will have.

I hope you enjoy.

Subscribe to the Escape PODcast in itunes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Just ask Jonathan Fields at awake@thewheel and Michael Bungay Stanier…Michael has a great new book called Do More Great Work and has created a REALLY fun and inspirational video on the 8 Irresistible Principles of Fun.

Find it here:  Jonathan Fields’ post today Doing Great Work with Michael Bungay Stanier