Dream Chasing. Nothing like a 3:55 am wake up to get the blood moving enroute to Portland, Oregon, chasing dreams. I couldn’t have been more excited about the two days of big meetings scheduled with my agent, publisher and editor. With my November 1st deadline brewing, I knew it would be an intense two days of vision/strategic planning, reviewing the cover art for my first book, getting coached up by my editor and finally, pitching my next book project, a three part series. Via social media, I asked the Be Audacious ohana to, “So send your boy some smoke signals in P-Town, I’m going to need all the good vibes and mojo I can muster.” And the BA nation came through.
I awoke on day two of my Portland sojourn riding so high! I was overwhelmed by all of the inspiring the texts, calls and Facebook love that the BA family showered me with! The smoke signals most definitely reached P-Town. I awoke on day one chasing a dream. I awoke on day two exhausted from the high of living the dream for 24 hours. It’s going to take much hard work, discipline and resiliency to pull it off, but I’m in the game. After a five hour meeting with my literary/speaking agent we walked into Ingram’s Graphic Arts offices to meet their team, and we killed it! I was as high after our six hour meeting as I’ve ever been. The folks at Graphic Arts are amazing. The last words of the Bossman who has over 34 years in the publishing industry after we pitched our next project were,” It’s going to take a massive amount of work, but you have no ceiling Michael. Think as big as you can. The sky’s the limit. ” Isn’t that the stuff dreams are made of? These weren’t dream stealers, but dream builders. The meetings couldn’t have gone better on any level. My agent and I were like little kids, juiced, laughing, dancing, slapping hands and celebrating a big day.
The final words from my agent, the one and only Alan Centofante–who calls me his 401k:)– before heading to bed after an exhausting day of SHOWTIME meetings were, “401k. You fu**ing NAILED it today. Awesome, awesome stuff.” During the challenges of 2013, there were many days I wondered if this dream of mine could become a reality, but a cadre of my supporters never wavered in their confidence, they built me up, and helped me find the courage from within to keep dreaming. So in the words of Mark Twain, “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
It was a 48 hour whirlwind of hope, positivity and so much possibility. As I’ve shared with thousands of young adults over the years, the sky is the limit, or perhaps–as a friend of BA nation–recently alluded, there is no limit to what we can achieve. Much mahalo Portland for the hurricane of goodness. It was REAL!
With nothin’ but love,
Michael Leach aka Montana Mamba