Scott Ginsberg: The Boldness to Reinvent (Ep. 6)
On a random day in 2001, my friend got on a bus to get to his part-time gig in Portland. It was a day like most others in Portlandia — gray and dreary. And as he found his spot on the bus, he was approached by another passenger who had a curious look on his face. This happened to my friend often. It had become an almost daily thing.
The other passenger walks up to him and says, “Hey man, what is with the nametag?”
My friend tells the guy that he never takes off his nametag. Nope. Not even then. Naturally, the passenger wants to know why. Again, something my friend is used to hearing.
“Oh, I wear this all the time to create a more approachable sort of space. It makes people more willing to open up and share. I actually just wrote a book about it.”
And the fellow passenger is compelled by this reasoning. He is really interested in the book. He hands my friend his business card. And my friend never sees that man again.
But weeks later, my friend receives a phone call from the lifestyle editor of the Portland Tribune. It turns out that the passenger on the bus was her boyfriend. She wants to ask my friend a few questions.
Within a week, my friend’s smiling face is on the cover of the Lifestyle portion of the Tribune. There he is. A twenty-something wearing his nametag.
Fast forward a few years, he is on 20/20, the Today Show and NPR. He is highlighted in Entrepreneur Magazine and USA Today. As the days go by, he is making his living… essentially wearing a nametag.
He goes on to publish multiple books across personal and professional development topics, speaks to hundreds of thousands of people in corporate and organizational leadership. He has a TED talk.
He writes, creates and performs rock operas, publishes meditative guides, counsels entrepreneurs on their inventions and launches a multimedia onslaught. All from wearing a damn nametag.
But something fundamental to understand about my friend, Scott, is that by putting his name out there — he essentially put himself out there. And that has accelerated his life in ways that would otherwise be invisible. As the result of a silly decision he made as a college student, he has gathered an understanding of human beings that is as complex and layered as his artistic expression. He has tested out what it really means to be human.
This episode outlines the ways in which Scott’s decision created the platform on which he was able to constantly evaluate and reinvent his life. By living boldly and being vulnerable enough to create an emotional space, he was able to explore depths that are not as visible to most humans. It is helpful if you are exploring principles of reinvention for yourself or a group of humans.
Who is in this episode:
Background:
Extra Goodies:
Eyes Full of Dreams Documentary Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1HvW6hQtEo
Head Up, Heart Higher Animated Folk Rock Opera Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMBI5DKPUCI
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Music Credits:
Shofunkan by Snarky Puppy
Night Owl by Broke for Free, Creative Commons
Feathersoft by Blue Dot Sessions, Creative Commons
Heliotrope by Blue Dot Sessions, Creative Commons
