One scene in particular, and forgive me if I am a little foggy, when Howard and his wife, Alison, played by Mary McCormack, are sitting in a café (I think) discussing his career path. He says something along the lines of (paraphrased) – "This is it – this could be the big time -- but I have to go all in. I have to give them everything."
Ok – maybe I am way off with my reference here – I am usually pretty bad with recalling movie sequences. But it, no matter how it was said, was a big part of the movie for me. This is what I took away.
Now, I do not want to draw parallels too deeply between myself and Stern. Do I think my little business idea has the potential to “blow up”, become viral, move me to satellite radio, and make me lots of money? No, no I don’t. But that is not my personal goal.
You might point out too that Howard’s efforts in breaking down barriers between his professional and personal life created friction in his marriage, and ultimately lead to its disintegration. Personally, I don’t want that. And as he grew in popularity, I do believe he did recoil from this – separating a very distinct personal life from his public brand.
His story -- in whole however, I have to think – depicts a path down which most small businesspersons, professionals, must go. A seeking of something I call fluidity. For me – it’s got to be all in, and I hope it is always fluid.
Built on an Idea
Not sure exactly when this idea, for a business, came into being. But a couple years back, right around 2002 to be exact, my mother-in-law (a guru in her own right), sent me an audio book. It was called 48 Days to Work You Love written by Dan Miller. I had a long commute at the time.
Honestly, I really didn't know what to think. I mean I was happy enough (for me) in my job, and I felt like I had some direction. And to be quite frank, I thought to myself, "Self-help. I don't need that." So I stuffed the disc under the seat in my truck.
Well, as things go, I did eventually pop it in. For the most part, there wasn't much there for me. Except, maybe, one simple idea: I am not sure how he phrased it, but his premise basically goes something like this: Find out what you love to do, and if what you love to do happens to be something you love to do in your free time, then figure out a way to do it full time.
Now, I am not saying that this was incredibly earth shattering, world changing or even enough for me to consciously consider the notion of changing my career. The concept itself is fairly elementary. But props to Mr. Miller, I do believe sometimes the most obvious things must be stated.
I am also not saying (aka build it and they will come)
I didn't sit down and start drafting the business plan the next day. It certainly didn't have a name in the beginning. But I did, eventually, embark on writing a formal business plan, which, truth be told, is still being written today.
Now, the process of writing a business plan has, at least for me, been incredibly cathartic. I had to look at myself, at what people might want, and I had to answer some simple questions. What would I, and can I, do for others -- if I had the opportunity to start my own business?
Over the years, I guess I had already figured that answer: I am happiest when I am thinking, communicating about, or working on houses. And in there lies the point from which I started. I am passionate about these things, and I love communing with others (not only in the online alternate reality); if only I could combine the two, then maybe I could make a modest living doing something that I actually really care about.
And now, as I am executing this plan, I think back to Mr Miller’s notion. I, at the time, and whether I knew it or not, was Building Moxie.
Click here for part 2
More Moxie:
Though it certainly takes longer than 48 days: http://www.48days.com/
Howard Stern's Private Parts: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119951/
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