All Roads Lead to Rome.
Once upon a time I had big audacious dreams.
“ Build it, and they will come…”
— Film: Field of Dreams
My online life didn’t work out like I had hoped it would. I got a little fame but no fortune. Fame and fortune, are not even related. They don’t know each other and don’t hang out at the same clubs.
I’ve had over twenty websites in my time. The first one cost me $500 in 1999. It took 2-3 minutes to load. It was created by a person with a Master’s degree in HTML. I didn’t use it to the fullest. I didn’t understand what we now call search engine optimization, bread crumbs, sales funnels and internet marketing. Social media didn’t exist yet and I failed at adopting it when it came.
Looking back over my life and what I have done seems fictious. I have failed at doing more things than most have even thought about. My only regrets are that I didn’t focus on one course of action until I had exhausted all. I quit too soon. My list of almost is larger than I’d like to own up to.
Failure is not final.
I am a risk taker. You get wisdom when you retain what you learned from making mistakes or the mistakes of others. For me, I learn from each experience. I only wish I could have skipped the learning on some of it. No blind luck here.
Why am I so fearless? I believe that everything is relative. My what if is: What is the worst thing that could happen? If it is not death or serious bodily harm, I’m going for it. I have learned to ratchet my pride down and dismiss my ego. When I screw up, I just accept it. At the worse, I will have a story from it.
You don’t fall from a high place when you are close to the ground.
In business, you count the money. I almost made a million dollars designing a tee shirt. I blew the opportunity because I didn’t believe the offer. With your family, you count the amount of trust you have, as well as the finances and love. In a career, it is often the amount of confidence others have in you, or the potential they think you are worth. I wasn’t hungry enough to do what I thought it would take to be on TV. I didn’t trust the process. I didn’t trust the people behind the scenes. Things didn’t feel right. When I was close, I let it go.
I was considered for a sports show, a reality show, and was on a short list to host Americas Most Wanted. I have shared a stage with Donald Trump, Charlton Heston, and Rev. Al Sharpton. I have been associated with Larry Elder, Tavis Smiley, Tucker Carlson, Dick Gregory, and Ted Nugent.
Podcasting was my jam though. Love that medium. Was again too early to cash in. When I learned what was “paying” I didn’t change. I have done a lot of self-sabotage over the years to protect myself or my family. I will abase myself but I do have a line, I don’t cross.
Blanchard Network
Indian Motorcycle Radio Podcast and facebook site
Home of Don’t Fry Bacon Naked
Speak Life Church Podcast
Guns and Cornbread podcast
If I Died Tonight – Suicide Prevention Podcast
Black Man With A Gun – long running pro-gun, pro rights, 2A community podcast
Kenn Blanchard.com -Voice overs and Kenns blog.
WarriorCast – My sons Martial Art Podcast
And more…
