I was one year out of undergrad and I had zero direction on what I wanted to do. After watching the world economy fall apart during the Great Recession, my finance degree made me feel a little shitty for some reason. I knew I wanted to travel, but everyone needs a job. So I said, “Fuck it, I’ll create a travel show!”
In my head, the goal was simple: I would create a super small production company, (myself being the only employee). As soon as I recorded enough footage traveling through a foreign country, I would head back to my home base (USA) and put the pieces together. The grand plan was to do the following:
1) Buy the equipment necessary for filming and editing
2) Buy a one way ticket to Indonesia
3) Film for a few weeks
4) Return home to edit the footage
5) Create a website and produce a few short webisodes
6) Gather a following and then sell to either Amazon, Netflix, or Hulu
7) Travel the world and get paid
8) EASY!
What the fuck was I thinking? I had ZERO experience in all the above. I had never before even edited a single frame of footage. I never worked in the entertainment industry. I had zero contacts. I did not know the first thing about videography. How was I supposed to even sell it to Netflix when I didn’t know anyone who worked there?
I won’t lie; I realized the venture could have easily failed. I am not one of those overly optimistic people who can do anything and overcome all obstacles (I call these people the “true entrepreneurs”). I’m more of the realist type.
For some reason, the thought and potential of success pulled me closer toward the risk, rather than fearing it. I thought that there was a slight chance that all of my plans would come true. So, I wrote a business plan, figured out a budget, and bought a one-way ticket to Bali.
Fast forward after the crazy journey of filming in Bali and Java, while adopting a pug who traveled with me and whom I had to smuggle out of Bali, while standing a top of an active volcano while locals threw live chickens in as sacrifices to the gods, while visiting palaces centuries old, (the list goes on), the business conventionally failed.
And here lies the point of this article. Whether it’s a business, a relationship, a trip, school, or just life in general, very few things end the way we hope it will. This theory should not paralyze us, but rather ignite a deeper passion and drive to move forward into the unknown.
The Silver Linings
The following are a few things that I gained from my experience. I believe that from a holistic viewpoint, these lessons can be applied to other areas of risk taking. If you are thinking about launching a business, taking a trip yourself in a foreign country, moving to another city with zero prospects, or going back to school, just do it! If you plan carefully enough, the positives (directly and indirectly) will far outweigh the negatives.
1) Before my venture, I had absolutely no experience in the realm of video production. I did not have the budget to hire an editor. The next best thing I could think of was to just bootstrap it and do it myself. I read a few books and dove into the software. With the emergence of online education and of course YouTube tutorials, I taught myself Adobe Premiere and After Effects, two of the most widely used and demanded software programs in the industry. In addition, I had to learn how to build a computer from scratch.
This taught me how to learn new skills beyond the traditional route of institutional learning. As long as you have the Internet, you can learn almost any computer skill; this is so powerful and exciting. It kills me when people say that they are done learning after college. Learning is a lifelong adventure, embrace it!
2) Traveling broadened my outlook. I shared some of the most amazing moments with people I would have never met. Standing atop an active volcano while sulfur smoke poured toward the sky, I observed men grabbing the money and food in the volcano that other natives were sacrificing to the gods. What a experience! These will be ideal stories to share with my grandkids.
Of course, in addition to the crazy experiences, there were crazy problems. Traveling in a country with limited funds while I didn’t speak the language added to the difficulty of figuring out how to get my pug, Coconut, out of Bali. There was a rabies outbreak at the time, forcing the government to stop any and all import/exports of canines from the island. Problem solving is essential to one’s future success.
3) The biggest gain from my venture was my best friend. Coconut has been a gift to me. I know that some say, “It’s just a dog,” but that dog has given me more happiness and value to my life than almost anything I have ever received. Value and worth comes from utility that we derive from something, whether living or not. Coconut has not just added to my life, but as of today, she is a fully trained Therapy Dog, bringing happiness to other lives through patience and love.
You never know the type of new connections you will make with your future endeavors. Whether it’s a new friend or future life partner, going down an unknown road may lead to a new connection.
Failure sucks—there is no denying it. I didn’t even come close to selling the TV show. But with most failures, there is always something that we can learn and take away from it. These failures, one day, will lead to our success. The key is to not stand still. Even if you don’t know what you are doing or how to get to the next step, just fucking move. You can learn from the mistakes and move faster and smarter the next time.
I feel lucky and grateful that I had the courage to at least try. And everyday I get to wake up to this….
In my head, the goal was simple: I would create a super small production company, (myself being the only employee). As soon as I recorded enough footage traveling through a foreign country, I would head back to my home base (USA) and put the pieces together. The grand plan was to do the following:
1) Buy the equipment necessary for filming and editing
2) Buy a one way ticket to Indonesia
3) Film for a few weeks
4) Return home to edit the footage
5) Create a website and produce a few short webisodes
6) Gather a following and then sell to either Amazon, Netflix, or Hulu
7) Travel the world and get paid
8) EASY!
What the fuck was I thinking? I had ZERO experience in all the above. I had never before even edited a single frame of footage. I never worked in the entertainment industry. I had zero contacts. I did not know the first thing about videography. How was I supposed to even sell it to Netflix when I didn’t know anyone who worked there?
I won’t lie; I realized the venture could have easily failed. I am not one of those overly optimistic people who can do anything and overcome all obstacles (I call these people the “true entrepreneurs”). I’m more of the realist type.
For some reason, the thought and potential of success pulled me closer toward the risk, rather than fearing it. I thought that there was a slight chance that all of my plans would come true. So, I wrote a business plan, figured out a budget, and bought a one-way ticket to Bali.
Fast forward after the crazy journey of filming in Bali and Java, while adopting a pug who traveled with me and whom I had to smuggle out of Bali, while standing a top of an active volcano while locals threw live chickens in as sacrifices to the gods, while visiting palaces centuries old, (the list goes on), the business conventionally failed.
And here lies the point of this article. Whether it’s a business, a relationship, a trip, school, or just life in general, very few things end the way we hope it will. This theory should not paralyze us, but rather ignite a deeper passion and drive to move forward into the unknown.
The Silver Linings
The following are a few things that I gained from my experience. I believe that from a holistic viewpoint, these lessons can be applied to other areas of risk taking. If you are thinking about launching a business, taking a trip yourself in a foreign country, moving to another city with zero prospects, or going back to school, just do it! If you plan carefully enough, the positives (directly and indirectly) will far outweigh the negatives.
1) Before my venture, I had absolutely no experience in the realm of video production. I did not have the budget to hire an editor. The next best thing I could think of was to just bootstrap it and do it myself. I read a few books and dove into the software. With the emergence of online education and of course YouTube tutorials, I taught myself Adobe Premiere and After Effects, two of the most widely used and demanded software programs in the industry. In addition, I had to learn how to build a computer from scratch.
This taught me how to learn new skills beyond the traditional route of institutional learning. As long as you have the Internet, you can learn almost any computer skill; this is so powerful and exciting. It kills me when people say that they are done learning after college. Learning is a lifelong adventure, embrace it!
2) Traveling broadened my outlook. I shared some of the most amazing moments with people I would have never met. Standing atop an active volcano while sulfur smoke poured toward the sky, I observed men grabbing the money and food in the volcano that other natives were sacrificing to the gods. What a experience! These will be ideal stories to share with my grandkids.
Of course, in addition to the crazy experiences, there were crazy problems. Traveling in a country with limited funds while I didn’t speak the language added to the difficulty of figuring out how to get my pug, Coconut, out of Bali. There was a rabies outbreak at the time, forcing the government to stop any and all import/exports of canines from the island. Problem solving is essential to one’s future success.
3) The biggest gain from my venture was my best friend. Coconut has been a gift to me. I know that some say, “It’s just a dog,” but that dog has given me more happiness and value to my life than almost anything I have ever received. Value and worth comes from utility that we derive from something, whether living or not. Coconut has not just added to my life, but as of today, she is a fully trained Therapy Dog, bringing happiness to other lives through patience and love.
You never know the type of new connections you will make with your future endeavors. Whether it’s a new friend or future life partner, going down an unknown road may lead to a new connection.
Failure sucks—there is no denying it. I didn’t even come close to selling the TV show. But with most failures, there is always something that we can learn and take away from it. These failures, one day, will lead to our success. The key is to not stand still. Even if you don’t know what you are doing or how to get to the next step, just fucking move. You can learn from the mistakes and move faster and smarter the next time.
I feel lucky and grateful that I had the courage to at least try. And everyday I get to wake up to this….
Coconut The Pug
Now how is that failure?
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