Last week I invited you to my first Periscope interview. My goal is to share with you examples of people who have boldly pursued their passions and the advice they have for others hoping to do the same. In case you missed it, below is the first interview in full with the owner of Paddle Up Nashville, Neil Newton.
In this interview, Neil discusses how he and his partner Cindy have taken the things that are core to their lives and their passions and turned them into a business for profit. In doing so, he shares the process he went through, including re-framing fear as simply a challenge to overcome, and how past failures made it less intimidating to take present risks.
“When you sell for a living, you experience enough failures to go, ‘Okay, that didn’t work. I’ll go do something else.'”
Neil also discusses how he’s never let age be a factor in the pursuit of his passions, and talks about how the key to happiness in business is figuring out what you love to do and then getting someone to pay you to do it.
Some questions I ask:
- Tell the story of how you decided to pursue your passion as a business.
- What fears did you have and how did you overcome them?
- How did your past experience prepare you?
- How does your work help others?
- What advice do you have regarding pursuing your passions later in life?
- What advice do you have for someone contemplating a career change or starting a business related to a lifelong passion?
In this interview you will learn:
- How to apply what is core in your life to your work. (3:06)
- How to take risks without having all the knowledge upfront. (3:35)
- How to re-frame fear and instead view it as a challenge. (4:09)
- How to gain knowledge about your passions. (4:54)
- The importance of following your gut and the joy of sharing your passions with others. (5:47)
- How failure gives you the courage to try something new. (7:05)
- How helping others can be a joy. (7:31)
- How to not let age to be a factor. (9:12)
- The definition of success. (10:11)
- How to pursue passions outside of work. (10:51)
- Advice for others wanting to turn their passion into a business. (13:19)
Some of my upcoming interviews will include Katie Gonzalez, a bookbinder who creates meaningful handmade books and teaches others to make their own journals, photo albums, etc., and Joel Anderson, “Spirit of Nashville” artist and owner of Anderson Design Group. To receive notifications about upcoming interviews, follow me on Periscope (@paNASHcoaching) and subscribe to my newsletter!
