There’s an old saying that if we have the courage to leap, a net will appear.
Ten years ago, I quit my six-figure job as an executive at one of the world's largest entertainment companies. My partner and I decided to leave Southern California to escape a busy and demanding lifestyle we felt was no longer sustainable. We didn’t have a plan or hefty savings; we just knew at a gut level that the path we were on wasn't working for us, and we knew we had to change it. And so we ended up in a small town in northwestern Montana.
A lot of people thought we were crazy, but it would end up being one of the best decisions we would make in our lives.
Two years later I started my own firm, and today I service a growing roster of Hollywood clients. As it turned out, uprooting my family and taking a deep dive into the unknown didn’t just force me to reinvent myself professionally; it also gave me the independence and confidence to pursue my true passion as a current affairs blogger, activist, and author.
Looking back, I realize we made a leap in the pre-Coronavirus world that many Americans are taking now and more will be taking soon. Working remotely is giving a growing number of professionals and entrepreneurs the chance to earn income anywhere in the country — and smaller cities that are more spacious, affordable, and less hectic have become especially attractive. More often than not, however, these places are in “red” states that people in progressive bubbles may be reluctant to call home. I’ve learned that regardless of what we look like or who we vote for, we really have more in common than we may think. Our perceived differences shouldn’t stop us from laying roots in parts of the country that are outside our comfort zone.
I recently sat down with Melissa Lopez to discuss my journey and what I've learned along the way. If you have thirty minutes, check out it on Apple, Podbean, iheart, Spotify, and Pandora).
Cheers!