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recent
I was at dinner tonight with a client and her friend. The Friend has had a long time dream to make greeting cards. She's a writer and loves cards. The client is a marketing / promotion / licensing guru. I bought a camera a month or so ago. The client introduced us after I showed her a few of my stellar photos with the new camera, so now we are in the process of making dreams come true. I'm gonna take pictures, and she's gonna write sappy cards, and the client is gonna help us license/promote them (right *****-san?).
I often have crazy ideas, but tonight I had a really crazy good one. The client, while working in the marketing / promotion department of a multinational, has come to see how much the little guy, the artist (her main interest is music) with no business sense, gets screwed when large agencies buy their work for pennies and make bundles off of it. She has the know how to help them to at least get more of what they deserve. I guess this is what a manager, or an agent is, but in her case I see a bigger role.
Tonight she introduced me, a guy who has an unclear idea of what he would like to do, to a woman who has been talking for years about how much she would like to make greeting cards. Take each of us alone, not much will happen. Put us together, still a good chance that not much will happen. With the help of an awesome project manager like the client (the best I've ever worked with), giving us guidance and pushing us when we need it, although it's far from a sure thing, the chances that something will happen are greatly increased.
The obvious dawned on me. Just as a good project manager can make cr#p happen in the office, a good project manager can help to make, not just cr$p, but people's dreams come true outside the office too. Everyone needs a hand, everyone needs support and a push. At work we have people (hopefully management), outside work, were lucky if we find someone that can share the passion or the has a stake in the success of a crazy idea. Most people we are closest to have the same reservations about encouraging us to "fulfill a dream" as we do ourselves. It's scary and they have a higher stake in us playing it safe. What if we fail and are poor. Is a significant other the most objective place to look for encouragement in this situation?
I suggested to her that she would be a great freelance project manager. The job would entail finding individuals with promise, and guiding them and pushing them to go ahead. It also calls for her to use her expertise in marketing, because whatever the dream is, we have to market ourselves. Her kick-arse project management skills would come in handy when we need a schedule and someone to make us stick to it.
When it comes to fitness, there are personal trainers for this very reason. Staying on a strict exercise regiment is hard for some people. A personal trainer is there to bust your balls. I have seen "life coaches" in movies, but don't know what they do... maybe it's the same thing as what I am talking about, but somehow it always comes across to me as just a paid confidant who give advice.
I am really intrigued about this concept. The idea of someone's job being to help other people follow their dreams.... A venture capitalist sounds similar, but that is a much bigger scale. This would be foe people who need more organization and encouragement rather than cash...
Hmmn...
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