Josh Nobles, The Music Behind Pride's Hollow

Motivational Speakers know that loose lips sink ships. So don’t get in my boat. I’m never good at sitting on exciting news. Don’t give me a secret or by the end of the day there will be three hundred people I made promise not to tell. So I was going to wait to tell you. But I just can’t stand it one more minute. So I’m going to tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anybody.

No, I’m not pregnant. Good grief. This isn’t Jerusalem. I’m almost fifty for gosh sakes.

I have a new project. And it’s BIG. Okay, so maybe I think everything is big. Call me over dramatic. But even when I sleep on it, chew on it, throw darts at it, let the devil loose on it – it is still big. And it’s a radical jump for me and my career. Talk about different! But then again, it’s EXACTLY what I should be doing – and is EXACTLY where my heart wanted to take this all along. Isn’t it amazing how God pushes the pieces into place in His own time. And it makes so much sense! Much better than my plan. Or I would have done this a long time ago and fallen flat on my fanny.

Many of you who knew me in the days of my professional storytelling career, know that this all started with my town and my cast of characters. I became a speaker because I wanted to take people to my town, to meet the quirky southern folks who teach me about life and business. It was my gift. Always had been. So I did what I was so good at doing, I became a speaker, looked around and saw that nobody else was doing this, and I buried my characters. I set out on a quest to blend in. (I wasn’t kidding when I said that I have spent most of my life trying to blend in.) And I have finally learned that blending in is the kiss of death. At least in my business.

So enough is enough. I’m done. It’s time to be me, and do what brung me. I know, I’ve been saying that for years, but this time I really mean it. And no more small steps. It’s time to JUMP.

Enter in Josh. Some day I will tell you the fantastic story of how Josh and I fell into this collaboration. It wasn’t planned – at least not by our hands. But we are convinced it was meant to be.

So here’s how this is going to work. I’m going to start taking my audiences to Pride’s Hollow – and Josh will set Pride’s Hollow to music. Josh will become part of my act. Shoot, he’s already part of the act. And when you meet him, you’ll see that he’s not just another guy in the background on the piano. He’s my side kick. He’s the other half of my comedy team. He’s part comedian, part concert pianist. And it’s obvious he’s part writer. He doesn’t just love Pride’s Hollow – he is Pride’s Hollow.

And not just that – he’s real and he’s likeable and he believes in changing hearts just like I do. I can’t WAIT for you to meet him. And it won’t be long. So stay tuned for the rest of the story…

Love,
Your busting-at-the-seams motivational speaker who  just had a taste of a dream coming true,
Kelly Swanson

Motivate This!

Hop on over to this blog and meet my hilarious friend Vinny. You should really check out his cooking with Vinny show! He ROCKS!

http://motivational-speakers-review.com/2012/02/10/humor/motivational-speakers-shout-out-to-vinny-verelli

These are the words I see on some websites describing motivational speakers. And I wonder, number one, if they are true – and, number two, do they work? You see, I happen to have this theory that if a place of business calls themselves “quality” or “best” or “world’s leading” – that usually the opposite is true. I don’t want to stay in a hotel that puts “quality” as part of their title. Maybe it’s just me. But I think that if you are an expert – a leader in your industry – America’s most sought after – the funniest, sharpest, most thought-provoking – that it should be someone else determining that – someone else calling you that. And if you give yourself that title. Well, it’s just a little sad. Or maybe it’s just me.

Now I’m all for tooting your horn, and creating promotional content that sells yourself like a rock star – as long as you are truthful, and don’t give yourself titles you didn’t earn. But I think you walk a dangerous road if you start giving yourself titles like “most sought after” – because even if you are, I’m suddenly not sure I believe you. Suddenly I, your consumer, feel that you are lying and bragging. I want to know that my hair dresser is the most in-demand hair dresser in the state. But I don’t want them to tell me that – I want my neighbors to tell me that. Fine to put it in a testimonial – but not fine to put it in the description they give to themselves.

Am I right here? Maybe not. I’m usually wrong more than I’m right. I can only speak from my perspective. I guess I’m just curious what it looks like from where you sit. How do YOU feel when you look up a vendor on the internet and see “world’s greatest” “america’s funniest” “the leading expert in” ?  Do you immediately believe, or do you cross your arms and say prove it?

I spend a lot of time wondering how I can connect with people in a positive way – on and off the platform. I’m sure I get it wrong way more than I get it right. But one of the things I have noticed is that people like real more than they like perfect. People crave authenticity, not shiny and polished. And people want honest – not slick.  And when we start throwing around words about how we are the best – what emotional impact does that have on them? I think it’s negative. But I’m not sure.

Help me out. I would love to know your thoughts. I don’t care if you are a branding expert. I care if you get on the internet and go to websites and buy stuff. What sells, and what doesn’t?

Another deep post from your favorite only, world’s leading will do in a pinch, funniest at least funnier than my mother motivational speaker,
Kelly Swanson

Once my hair is done, I will call myself the World's Most Sought After Red-Head.

And by the way…if your love note involves a lipstick kiss, pictures of you in your underwear, or involves you hanging out in the bushes by their front door –  you’ve gone too far.

Happy Valentine’s Day from your wacky motivational speaker trying to find a way to get noticed in a crowded market,

Kelly Swanson

http://empireavenue.com/?t=wjnmnbog

Here’s the link…

http://empireavenue.com/?t=wjnmnbog

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Location:The internet

Take a moment to remember. For some of us, it’s a long way back. Remember the feelings. Look at how those feelings affected the choices you made. Remember how you wished others would treat you.

Now come back to today. Do you still carry around those feelings? Are you still walking around feeling like you don’t fit in? Do you believe things about yourself that you believed as a kid, that just aren’t true? Are you still making decisions based on those feelings you had as a kid? Is that kid on the playground keeping you trapped – keeping you from being the person you know you could be?

It’s time to tell that kid on the playground good-bye. It’s time to appreciate and even celebrate that every experience in your life, even the painful ones, have made you who you are today, and you are stronger because of it. It’s time to step into the bold confident people we were created to be, and stop making decisions to please that kid on the playground.

I’m ready. Are you?

Love,
Your Wacky Motivational Speaker Who Just Said Good-Bye To Her Childhood – Kelly Swanson

I have done plenty of whining in my life – sometimes for good reason. But good reason doesn’t factor into whining. No matter what your reason or excuse, whining does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help fix the problem, reframe your perspective, and charge you forward. The only thing whining does is annoy people. And it becomes your tool to stay stuck – the warm blanket thrown over you in your comfort zone – as you go out and cry for all those who will hear and comfort you and tell you for the hundredth time that it will be okay.

So to those of you out there who are wringing your hands and quitting on your dream because you’re just not good enough – because the business isn’t jumping into your lap – because you aren’t as popular as someone else – because they are getting business and you aren’t – it’s time for a little tough love. Get over it. The choice is yours. Make it or not. Your friends won’t make it for you, and your motivational speaker won’t show up on your door step every day to light the fire. Quit hiding behind your excuse of the day – and MOVE. Take action. I can already hear you saying, “But I don’t know what to do.”  Figure it out! My second favorite three words. And if you choose to take your ball and go home – then take your ball and go home, and quit standing on the sidelines crying because you can’t play. You’re distracting the rest of us who are willing to take the steps and climb over our fear.

I know this is mean. I feel like a bully for even saying it. But sometimes the nicest thing you can do is to tell someone what they don’t want to hear.

So to those out there who needed to hear this – hear it. Make a choice. And if you decide to stay in the race and put your excuses and blame behind you, then I will be with you every step of the way. On that, you can count on.

Your tough love motivational speaker with the best intentions,

Kelly Swanson

"Why does he get the cool tricycle, and I don't?"