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Profile
on Walt Goodridge
President of Passion Profit.com and Author of Turn Your
Passion into Profit.
Bio~> WALT GOODRIDGE with Interview to Follow.
A graduate of Columbia University, Walt is a former civil
engineer who walked away from his career to follow his passion for music,
writing, and helping others. He has been an artist manager, radio DJ,
record label owner, inventor, poet, network marketer and consultant.
He is the author of 10 books including Turn Your Passion
Into Profit (A Step-by-Step Guide for Turning ANY hobby, talent, interest
or idea into a money-making venture!), and owns and operates several profitable
websites.
He is the creator of "Walt's Friday Inspirations",
a popular weekly email of "the thoughts that create success"
that he sends to the thousands who subscribe.
Walt writes for Entrepreneur Magazine and Black Enterprise,
has been featured in Time Magazine, Wall Street Journal Online, the Dallas
Morning News, The Kip Business Report and numerous publications and websites.
Walt offers personalized coaching and conducts workshops
around the country and through the Learning Annex™ to help others
make money doing what they love!
Walt's workshops are ALWAYS interactive, solution-focused,
fact-filled, process oriented, "How To, What To, and When To"
events. If you leave without a solution to the SPECIFIC challenge you're
facing in turning your passion into profit, it'll only be because you
didn't ask for one!
I am glad Walt took time from his busy schedule and coaching
practice to do an Interview with me.
The Interview
GOODRIDGE: Hi Kamau,
Thanks for the opportunity to speak with your readers.
KAMAU: It is my pleasure and honor Walt, and thank
you. What is a "passionpreneur", and how did you come up with
the concept?
GOODRIDGE: Simply,
a passionpreneur is someone who is turning their passion into profit.
They've launched a passion-centered business making money doing something
they love. They've found the hidden value in a natural talent, hobby,
gift, interest or calling, created a product or service that best captures
that value and are offering it to the world.
The concept has always been around. But recent growth
represents a trend, in fact, that researchers are just now becoming aware
of (remember where you heard it first!). As far as where it came from,
some of "my" best ideas come from conversations with friends
or strangers. I'm always listening to what they say, how they say it,
any random thoughts or made-up words (I have weird friends). If I'm not
mistaken, I think that one came from a good friend, Afron Raymond, who
also helped me to secure the Learning Annex engagements I did in NY a
while back.
KAMAU: Walt, why did you write Turn Your Passion
Into Profit?
GOODRIDGE: First of
all, here's what I believe. I call it The Passion Profit Philosophy: (Walt
breaks into his trademark poetry).
Your PASSION is part of your life's purpose
HAPPINESS in life starts when you pursue it
EVERYONE has a passion
ALL passions have value
ANY passion can be turned into profit
Here's my goal in writing Turn Your Passion into Profit
as excerpted from the book: "I am proud to offer the world a philosophy
and formula for turning one's passion into profit. I encourage its use
by parents, teachers, coaches, as well as within institutions of higher
learning. It is my hope that it will foster a greater understanding and
appreciation of our inherent value as spiritual beings, and the expression
of that value within the physical marketplace. It is my wish that these
ideas lead a revolution in thought and in deed, and usher in a new era
of entrepreneurial expression, financial independence, and personal freedom."
I also believe that the reason anyone can be successful
as a passionpreneur is because every passion-centered business has something
I call: Value No One Can Steal.
"If you create and market a product or service through
a business that is in alignment with your personality, capitalizes on
your history, incorporates your experiences, harnesses your talents, optimizes
your strengths, complements your weaknesses, honors your life's purpose,
and moves you towards the conquest of your own fears, there is ABSOLUTELY
NO WAY that anyone in this or any other universe can offer the same value
that you do!"
KAMAU: Where did you grow up and go to school?
GOODRIDGE: I spent
the first 9 years of my life in Jamaica, West Indies. There after I Went
to high school (Springfield Gardens HS, NY) and college (Columbia University,
NY) here in the states.
KAMAU: Is there anyone in your life that was a good
role model or mentor for your business success?
GOODRIDGE: My grandfather,
with whom I lived with for a while in Jamaica, had his own general store
. My grandmother, to whom I dedicate all my books, introduced me to a
mindset of abundance when serving others. On my journey, I credit increasingly
longer lists of people from whom I received guidance, support, insights,
and ideas to take the next step. I hate to choose just one, but I'd have
to say my Grandmother taught me the most about business, indirectly.
From her I learned how to give a little more. That's a
business practice I picked up while living with her in Jamaica. I watched
and often helped her as people in town came by her farm to buy fruits
and vegetables. If someone bought a dozen mangos, she would always throw
in a few more (sometimes 3 or 4) in the basket. She never told me exactly
why she started doing it, but I've since figured out why, and have always
done the same thing in my own business. Just something a little extra
to inspire others to grow. Who knows, the solutions to your problems and
the key to success may be found in those "extra fruits" of your
labor.
KAMAU: When did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
GOODRIDGE: Within the
first fifteen minutes of my first assignment on my first day of work at
my first job, I realized beyond the shadow of a single doubt that I hated
being there. What I saw on that day scared me to the core, and haunted
me until I left seven years later. I saw mostly men, and a few women,
who were living lives of quiet desperation. People who, at age fifty and
above, had spent their lives allowing their dreams, and thus their spirits,
to stagnate. I met men who long ago had given up dreaming about doing
more, and who had resigned themselves to live out their most productive
years in the claustrophobic confines of cubicles engaged in personally
unfulfilling work just for the sake of a paycheck.
I met others who, at my young age of twenty-one, were
already planning their retirement. I met people who had bought into someone
else's roles and expectations and were acting out the script without question
or concern that there was something more. They reminded me of the characters
in Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott, a book I read in high school geometry
class. The inhabitants of Flatland are paper-thin geometric shapes living
on a flat surface, who think only in one dimension since the concept of
height is one that has no meaning in their world.
I felt like that lone inhabitant who discovers the existence
of a third physical dimension. He is met with resistance, ridicule and
scorn, but perhaps, most frustratingly of all, there was simply no one
else he could relate to or who could understand him. As I met more and
more of my co-workers, I felt more and more alone, for I had less and
less in common with them. They all relished the comfort of working at
what veteran employees called "the country club": a worker's
paradise known for its great benefits, little real stress, and which rarely,
if ever, laid people off.
Many felt they had truly made it, and that all there was
left to do was fit in, make as few waves as possible, draw a steady paycheck,
earn their yearly 2% raise, and enjoy the ride. They were one-dimensional
figures living in a mental flatland, unaware or unwilling to conceive
of more. My soul felt imprisoned, and I was determined to set it free.
Unlike most of my "flatland" coworkers, I dreamed of more. I
dreamed of doing something that I could really get excited about.
I dreamed of a lifestyle where, instead of being locked
away from the world for a third of my life during the daylight hours of
every day, I would have the freedom to decide when to rise, when to have
lunch, when to work and when to relax. One of my fantasies was simply
having the freedom to go see a movie in the middle of the day. I spent
the next 7 years doing everything within my power to realize that dream!
KAMAU: At what time did you decide that using the
Internet would be a good environment to do business?
GOODRIDGE: In 1997
my friend, Pascal Antoine, introduced me to the Internet. It was so exciting,
I went on a domain buying spree! And if I might add, quite proudly, I
reserved nichemarket.com since I immediately grasped that the entire Internet
was based on catering to niche markets.
KAMAU: Who inspired you to become a writer?
GOODRIDGE: A stranger.
It was in 1992. I was running my record label. One day, a friend called
with someone on the line who was in need of business information and guidance.
I had always found myself sharing my music industry knowledge and experience
to help others do what I was doing. So this call was no different.
What was unique about this call was that after talking
for about an hour, this particular individual thanked me and said, "I
really appreciate the information you gave me, Mr. Goodridge. I would
have been willing to pay you for it." I jokingly asked him how much
he would have paid. He said (and I remember this figure), "About
$179." At that moment, a light bulb went on in my head, and I became
inspired. At that time, no books existed that showed young Hip Hop entrepreneurs
how to start their own record label and release and promote their own
music. I decided to write one! And the rest is my story!
KAMAU: When did you decide to expand into the business
coaching field?
GOODRIDGE: I guess
it's a natural progression from writing "how to" books. Some
people would rather speak and interact with the expert than read his/her
words. So there was simply a demand that I responded to.
KAMAU: What kind of personal issues could hold passionpreneur's
back from business success?
GOODRIDGE: Wow! That's
what this whole thing is about! At the risk of sounding like an ongoing
infomercial, I devote an entire chapter to "Thinking Differently."
The quintessential challenge for success in ANY endeavor from running
a business to building a relationship is how NOT to let your expectations,
judgments, experience, low-self-esteem, and self-sabotaging thoughts get
in the way of acting in your own best interest.
There are the usual suspects like fear, procrastination,
bad spending habits, a lack mentality, but here's one people may not be
conscious of. I call it the reconstruction crisis. And, it simply refers
to your inability to recognize that we live in a friendly universe that
is always supporting you. Once you set a goal for greatness in your life,
the universe goes about creating that reality for you. But, in the process,
certain existing things in your life may need to be reconstructed.
You may find yourself at war with your spouse, you may
experience increased tension in your job relationships, your house may
burn down (really!). It's all part of a divine plan to reconstruct your
life so that it gets you where and with whom you need to be in order to
make your goals real.
The personal issue that could hold a passionpreneur back is the failure
to recognize these gifts for what they really are, and misinterpret them
as doom and gloom and obstacles that are hindering them. The challenge
with answering great interview questions like this, is that I could find
myself writing a book in response! So, I'll stop there just to tease your
readers!
KAMAU: Can you give our readers some good tips for
becoming successful in on-line businesses.
GOODRIDGE: Keyword
advertising! It works!
KAMAU: You also do something quite unique called
"Walt's Life Rhymes?" What are they, and how did it get started?
GOODRIDGE: According
to the official definition, life rhymes are "...positive, situational,
success-oriented, lyrical, rhyme-based poetry designed to inspire new
ways of thinking." Life Rhymes are lyrical expressions of the thoughts
that create success. They are part affirmation, part advice column, part
inspired observation, part proverb, part prayer and 100% life lesson all
rolled into one. They are meant to guide your thoughts so that you see
the world differently, interpret your situations effectively, think critically,
and then make choices and act in ways that help you reach your goals and
support your greatest aspirations. And like the lyrics of a favorite song
that stays with you for years, and which is easier recalled, these are
literally rhymes for your life.
However, the best way to describe a Life Rhyme is to give
you an example of a recent one. This is to encourage your readers to find
that thing that is their passion and use it become a passionpreneur. Life
is different when you're pursuing your passion. It's not the same as being
at a job, because it's not work if you love what you do.
Work?
It's really not work if you love it
this I've said to you time and again
As I spend my days doing the thing that I love
well...I guess I'll just say it again
It's really not work if you love it
that special thing that you cannot NOT do
for no matter how far and how long that you hide
that ol' thing seems to always find YOU
It's really not work if you enjoy it
this special calling that you ever must heed
and as much of a gift as it is to the world
within you, too, it fills a real need
It's really not work if you crave it
and can't imagine if it didn't exist
and know somehow, somewhere you'll be under its spell for its pleasure
you're not strong to resist
It's really not work if it's in you
and is the you that all others are seeing
No, don't call it work for it's much more than that
for it's really your reason for being!
Walt's Life Rhyme #262 Work?
© Walt F.J. Goodridge
"I share what I know, so that others may grow!"
They're now up to #337 (as of Feb 13, 2004). I write and
send a new one each week without fail to my subscribers. (In fact, I think
I may be in the running for the longest running Internet newsletter!)
It started out as a motivational email with other people's quotes that
I would send to friends and family. But, when I decided to write my own
version of motivational thoughts, things really took off, word spread
and more people signed on! Now I'm up to 10,000 people!
KAMAU: That's Amazing Walt! What are some of the
essentials skills and knowledge that both traditional and Internet passionpreneurs
will have to have to succeed?
GOODRIDGE: How to relate
to people. Read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by
Dale Carnegie.
KAMAU: What advice would you give to folks who are
at work reading this interview who believe that they have the talent and
the passion to succeed and make their dream come true?
GOODRIDGE: Well, after
you finish reading my book, [laughs] look around and ask yourself if this
is what it's all about. Is this why you were put on the planet? Is this
the legacy and memory of who you are that you want your children and grandchildren
to have about what you did with your life? Is your life going to be about
getting up and working for someone else for the rest of it? Anyone can
do it. It's not about education, but desire!
Here are my 3 secrets to happiness.
1.Do what you love.
2. Take risks.
3. Be willing to walk away from anything (i.e. never be so attached to
anything that you let it control you. That includes money, image, expectations)
And, if I may, one more Life Rhyme…It's called Excuses,
Excuses
Excuses, Excuses
It's not about credentials
regulations or degrees
It's not about some board
that validates your expertise
It's not about the cash flow
or that "money's kinda tight"
It's not about your rent
or getting finances just right
It's not about you needing proof
and knowing this scheme works
It's not about your pension plan
job benefits or perks
It's not about your debts
or paying back the student loan
It's not about your age
or waiting 'til the kids are grown
And NO, it's not a time thing
so just stop THAT idle chatter
We all know people find the time
for things that really matter
So what is it that stops you?
Well, the truth is that you're scared
But rather than admit it
you just say you're unprepared
When children want they're fearless
for there's nothing they want more
But as adults choose safety
the predictable and sure
And skill and time and money?
You know what I'll say is true:
You've known those who do more with less
who're not half as bright as you!
Yes, all you need's desire
forget all that other stuff
And simply ask one question:
"Do I want this bad enough?"
Kamau: Wow! Walt there are very few people that
I know of who feel so passionate about helping others make profits with
their passions. It's also amazing how you can just break into poetry...
to further make your points on life affirmations. Do you have any closing
reflections for our site visitors?
Goodridge: For people
who are reading this Interview. Are you ready to do this? When you answer,
don't tell me why you think you can't before you even commit. Don't use
your doubts and demons as the reasons why you won't try. The world's approval
isn't a requirement for your commitment. Never has been. Never will be.
If Martin Luther King, Jr. waited for this society's approval before committing
to his dream, where would we be now? Just tell me first you really, really,
really want this now. And THEN we'll worry about the how.
Inspired by Z.T.O.
Walt's Life Rhyme #316
Excuses, Excuses
(c)Walt F.J. Goodridge
The Passion Prophet
''I share what I know,
so that others may grow!''
Kamau: You may contact
Walt at P.O. Box 618 Church Street Station, New York NY 10008, or by faxing
(212) 658-9232 or calling (212) 831-1854 or via email at Walt@passionprofit.com.
Additional Contact information - The Passion Profit Company,
Inc. www.PassionProfit.com,
Everyone has a passion. Every passion has value. You CAN make money doing
what you love!" --Walt F.J. Goodridge
"The Passion Prophet"
Products, services, coaching and consulting to help
you "Turn Your Passion Into Profit"TM! Request our free 34-pg
brochure at Passion
Profit or www.WaltGoodridge.com |
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