SagePresence

Thank you, Steven Schussler

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of hearing Steven talk at the Twin Cities' Entrepreneurs monthly meeting.

His talk was a gift.  Heck, his life is a gift...to all of us dreamers who are out there every day working to transform ether into reality.

But for me--his talk is exactly what I needed.

Okay...first I need to take a moment in the confessional.

As part of the SagePresence crew, I represent 1/3 of the Twin Cities' most requested trainers in the area of networking.  That means I've stood up in front of hundreds--no...thousands of people now and preached the gospel of how to turn networking pain into networking pleasure.  How to not only get more out of the experience AND enjoy it at the same time.

Now for the confession.  That doesn't mean I always feel like getting out there and doing it.  Last Thursday, that was certainly the case.

I'd had a long, rough day.  I was tired.  I was grumpy.  I was feeling wrung out.

I had, however, made a promise to my partner, Pete, that I would cover for him at the TCE meeting and talk a little bit about our (then) upcoming Be Connected to Effective Networking event.  And, of course, I'd made a promise to myself...to do the things I need to do to help our business grow and thrive.

I didn't want to go to the event, but I did.  And I decided to put our own teaching in practice and find something to appreciate in the experience.

That was, as it turns out, quite easy.  As soon as I got into the room, the vibe was infectious.  It was a no-brainer to appreciate these folks--who were putting it on the line every day in the name of dream harvesting.  By the time Jim got up to introduce me for my small pitch, I was feeling pretty pumped.  And it obviously made a difference because a number of people asked me later about the event and then signed up.

Yet, the "thing" inside of me was still there.  Appreciation and connection had helped me to not let it reduce or undo my presence, but it didn't make it go away.

I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.

Then Steven got up to speak.

If you've never heard Steven Schussler speak, the first thing I am going to say is find an event featuring him and get in the room.  Period.

That said, it's not his speaking, per se (though he's very good), that makes listening to him such a treat.  It's his sharing.  Of his journey.  Of his failures along the way.  Of his vulnerability.

I've heard a lot of people talk about how they "made it".  And I've heard a lot of people give lip service to the "hard times".  Whenever I listen to them, however, I usually feel like a loser because the hard times and struggles--internal as well as external--I'm experiencing must be far more dire by comparison.  And that means I must be kind of pathetic and kind of a failure because my dream chase is pretty much tearing my world apart piece by piece.  It's nearly squashing me.

When I listen to those people, my experience isn't, "Oh!  I can do this!"  It's "Oh...I am fooling myself."

That wasn't the case after I Steven's talk.  Yes, he was entertaining.  Yes, he was passionate.  Yes, he had great stories and advice.

Most important, he was candid.  As he walked us through the events leading to the launches of both Jukebox Saturday Night and Rainforest Cafe, he told us things--heck!  Celebrated them!--that I have rarely heard another entrepreneur even admit.

First off was that when he was starting Jukebox, he lost his house.  He was forced to live over the club until he was in a position to get a new place.

Second, that he almost lost his house and contended with his share of threats to turn off his electric, gas, and phone as he was launching Rainforest.  And in this case, the stakes were doubled, since he converted his house into the prototype for the restaurant!  According to Steven, the DEA once raided the place because he had the largest residential electric bill in the state of Minnesota.  You can imagine what they tought he was growing there.

My point is that he opened himself up to be completely vulnerable in sharing that information.

And the result was nothing short of inspirational.  And credible.

It's obvious that the guy's very successful--financially as well as personally and creatively.  It was the first time, however, that I'd experienced someone in his position opening up about the real-life struggles along the way.  Things that make the rest of us think we're kinda dumb or kinda crazy for the stuff we put ourselves and our families through as we play Don Quixote.

That was what had been bothering me as I walked into the room that night.  Personally, I am maintaining as the SagePresence and screenwriting rockets fire their boosters to break out of the atmosphere.  But it's rarely easy.  And the wolves...if they're not right outside the door, I constantly hear them somewhere in the distance.  It's one of the most difficult and tiring aspects of the entreprener's journey.  And it doesn't feel very fun after awhile.

In fact, it feels more-than-a-little discouraging.

But Steven gave me a whole new perspective on those old wolves.  I would even go so far as to say he gave me a new appreciation for them.

All of a sudden I realized that the problems he was talking about--the ones that I could relate to so well--were not signs of my impending failure or of my fooling myself.  They were signs of my impending success.  Or at least the possibility of it.

These difficulties were badges of honor, the likes of which I now knew were not unique to me.

Gosh, that made me feel a whole lot better.  About myself.  About my journey.

Viva la vulnerability!  It truly is the path to real strength.  And real inspiration.

And thank you, Steven Schussler.  Your generosity has made the path of this screenwriter/professional speaker a little clearer and seem a little more doable.  And that makes all the difference.

SagePresence pitch training pays off: NWSG screenwriter gets optioned!

From the Northwest Screenwriters Guild website:

"Betty Ryan and Carinn Mammen had their script, 'The Guy's Girl' optioned by Ruthe Rosaler, Head of Production at Empire Entertainment. This is their first option."

Wow.

I spend much of my day in front of the same computer screen I am writing from now.  That certainly is not a complaint because that means I am among those fortunate enough to chase my dream every day.  The downside of being a screenwriter, however, is that you have to wait months and months--and more often years and years--to see what kind of impact your work makes on people.

The rest of the time you just write--and cross your fingers.

One of the reasons I love my SagePresence life is every time I step into an event, someone walks up to me and tells me how our teaching transformed their life for the better.  How they got the job or the promotion.  How they started the business.  How they stood up for a cause.  How they were inspired to follow their heart and now had the tools and the presence to make the journey possible.

I'll let you in on a little secret...many days, it's the most gratifying part of my day.  Even over the writing.  Because there's nothing like seeing someone else succeed.  And there's really nothing like feeling like you were even a small part of that success.

A couple of months ago, Dean and I were in Seattle to speak to the Northwest Screenwriters Guild.  We had a great time, the NWSG folks had a great time, and we feel like we really made an impact.  Everything was great.

Until this news, and suddenly "great" was taken to a whole new level.  I will turn it over to NWSG member Betty Ryan now, as the story is best told through her wonderful words:

"In December 2007, my writing partner Carinn called me and said, "My husband wants to hypnotize me into liking football...let's write about that." I said, "That's brilliant!"

"In May of 2008, Bill True & Dean Hyers gave the Northwest Screenwriters Guild an amazing presentation by SagePresence, helping us with pitching. Afterwards, they held a pitching competition and using the art of "appreciation" that Bill & Dean had taught us, I won! Not only did they help me improve my pitch, the feedback they gave me helped my writing partner and I with a final rewrite as well. They really LISTENED and told me what was lacking in my story.

"The grand prize for the pitching competition was a ticket to The Great American PitchFest. I went to the GAPF, met with Empire Entertainment, and gave them the same pitch I had told Bill & Dean just a couple weeks earlier...but this time I added what Bill and Dean told me was missing.

"Last week my partner and I were optioned by Empire Entertainment. We couldn't be more excited.

"Thanks so much to SagePresence and Bill & Dean. Without them, we would be nothing!

"Betty Kim (& Carinn Michele) : )"

I remember a conversation I had with NWSG President Aadip Desai a few weeks before Dean and I headed to Seattle.  A month or so earlier, I'd suggested that we do the pitch competition as a way to get people to take their pitches to the next level--simulate at least a measure the the "high stakes" pressure they would feel in Hollywood.

Aadip was worried that no one would participate, to which I responded that Dean and I would simply have to come up with prizes that would sufficiently entice them.  And so I made a number of phone calls, and suddenly The Great American Pitchfest, Movie Magic screenwriting software, and the Austin Film Festival were on as sponsors.

Anyway, in the conversation in question, Aadip was marveling at how far above-and-beyond we were going for them.

"Why would you do this for people you really don't even know?"

"It's simple," I told him.  "This isn't just another business for us SagePresence guys.  It's another calling.  And we're obligated to do whatever we can to set the stage for the people with whom we interact as well as we can, so they have the best chance to succeed."

Well, I have to tell you...it's sweet when it all works.  When you can be a part of helping talented people reach their potential.

Congratulations, Betty and Carinn!

Welcome to the SagePresence Blog!

Lights!

Camera!

...Type?

Sure as shootin'!

Scores of people have been asking us when we're going to take our methods and perspectives to the blogshpere, and we're happy to say that time is now.

One of the difficult things about being just three guys is that we can't be everywhere at once, and we miss so many opportunities to visit with all the great and amazing people who participate in our events and workshops.  Our hope this space can help remedy that.

This is our place to visit with you--to share our thoughts on our experiences as we grow in our SagePresence, film, and personal lives.  And it's a place where you can share back!  Where we can have cool, group conversations about the people and ideas and things that inspire us.

Our plan is to post three times each week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Each "Sage guy", as we've come to be called, will take a day, so you'll hear from each one of us at least once a week.

Also, on the sidebar, you'll start to see a growing list of people, sites, blogs, and such that catch our eye, and we think you'll probably enjoy, too.

To kick that off, allow us to introduce Lauri Flaquer, the personal branding genius behind Saltar Solutions.  Not only did she honor us by introducing us at our most recent Be Connected event, she has been an integral part of developing SagePresence's brand identity and marketing plan for the past two years.

When we met Lauri, it was just starting to dawn on us that there might just be something to this filmmakers teaching professional "stage presence" thing.  People were encouraging us to take our method and philosophy to Corporate America, as they saw it was not only a perfect fit, but greatly needed.  The trouble was, how do three guys--two of whom are juggling active movie careers--do that?

According to Lauri's website, she works "side by side with you to help you achieve your vision of success. We do this by guiding you through a series of innovative, insightful, and thought provoking exercises that culminate in a solid brand, develop a cost effective marketing strategy, and focus your attention on your business.  We identify exactly where you will best function and build your business around that.  We help you tap your inner source of power and use it to fuel your business, balance your life, and achieve your goals."

And that's exactly what she did for us!  First off, she showed us how our movie careers and our "little presentation training business" were not only NOT in competition with each other, but how they were actually dependent on each other.  That the model for success in both was to recognize that they were integral--that success in one would contribute to the success of the other.  And that both worlds--the film industry and Corporate America--would view as with an even greater level of credibility because we discovered a innovative way to leverage our art, and a unique and powerful way to help professionals realize the full extent of their potential.

Once we got that, SagePresence was truly born.  From there, as Lauri took us through her process, we began to see tons of opportunities to get the word out that we were simply blind to in the past.  Further, we began to understand how we should be talking about ourselves and our business, and we started down the path of creating the visuals, language, and media that would solidify our brand in the public's eyes.

It' s more than paid off.  In the past two years, SagePresence has more than tripled its bookings.  We're starting to speak on the national circuit, and we're getting requests from top companies like Target, Prudential, and Symantec to train their folks.  And the world is taking notice, as we're also getting requests to take our training to places like India and China!  We're about to write our first book (keep an eye out for late '08 or early '09) and begin streaming parts of our training via video over the Internet.

Oh yeah...and our movie careers are taking off at the same time.

Not bad for a "little presentation training business".

And a lot of it is due to Lauri's expert consulting and advice.

We encourage you to check out her website.  If you're looking to capitalize on the business of "you", Lauri's your winning ticket.

That's all for now.  Keep checking back