You don’t have to jump out of an airplane to be courageous, but sometimes it can help.
When my wife Penny and I packed up our dogs, cat, and moms in the Summer of 2023, we were acting on a long-running dream to live in a business-friendly state with four distinct yet not too brutal seasons. Boise, Idaho was somewhere I’d visited many years previously but couldn’t for the life of me remember. On our first scouting mission in early February, my initial impression was to go back to the drawing board and find some other City of Trees. But it only took a couple of days of exploration and adventure to decide, okay, this is it!
I’ve owned Technolene Inc, a managed IT services provider, for nearly 23 years. That’s a long time to do anything. I picked up other passions along the way: photography, writing, standup comedy. The hardest thing about me and my passions, is that inevitably, I want to go pro. I’m at a point in my life where I can take a courageous leap into something new. But what?
The original plan was to keep Technolene running in LA, develop some tech clients in Boise, and make a big push to move businesses into the cloud. I could do that from anywhere, between me and my boots on the ground in LA.
The problem with the original plan, is that my vision for Technolene required the energy, enthusiasm, and capital of a startup.
The other problem with the plan was that I didn’t want to do it.
Deliberating on Choices
What should I do instead? Standup? Have you studied the path to glory of our most beloved comics? It’s brutal. Long stretches on the road. Hecklers. Poverty. No thank you! In the fourteen months we’ve been up here, I’ve worked a grand total of ten minutes in comedy. I’m just not that good yet.
Didn’t really want to go all in on photography, either, even though I arranged an ongoing gig with one of the local magazines before I even got here. That job included both photography and writing, and I got to come up with my own story ideas.
There was still money to burn through, so I didn’t want to sweat things too much. But I was getting nervous. Sixty-three years old, what am I going to be when I grow up?
New Concept Leads to Courage
Then, as if by magic, while attending a book launch event, I discovered the concept of speaking to sell. I explored. And upon further exploration, I learned that you don’t HAVE to speak to sell. Some people speak to speak. I could do that! God gave me this big, beautiful mouth, and it would be A CRIME (!) not to use it. Now all I had to do was find a topic. Every speaker has a topic. But not all topics are fundable, as David Avrin, my speaking business coach, told me on our very first call. I like to tell people that David saved me at least $250k from the get-go. I would’ve poured money into who-knows-what. My initial ideas wouldn’t fly. Nobody wants to pay somebody to come tell their workers to quit their job and pursue their dream. Well, what about courage? What about courage? Something like FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD: A More Courageous Company, A More Courageous You! Oh yeah, that’s great! It’s got passion, and it’s FUNDABLE!
Keynote Credibility
What the heck do I know about delivering a keynote? Well, I’ve been doing standup comedy for a year and a half, does that count? Turns out it does! I’ve been up on stage many times, whether at open mic or in shows. I love being up there, the center of attention!
But let’s face facts, you don’t just suddenly one day become a keynote speaker. You have to build credibility over time. How? By putting yourself out there. For instance, writing LinkedIn articles about courageous companies where employees feel empowered to speak up. I started writing articles DAILY. With unique art to go along with it. Nobody was doing LinkedIn like me. Nobody!
I was working with TWO coaches: David Avrin (on the business side) and Megan McCaleb (on the speaking side). Megan’s got an improv background. Between the two of them, they ripped my keynote to shreds three days before I was set to deliver it for the first time. Yikes! They were right. I’d structured my keynote along the lines of my past standup failures. I was doing what my comedy coach, Corey Martin Craig, described as “Louis Land.” It’s where I’d make up crazy stories that are only funny to me.
Real Stories
Megan wanted me to tell my real stories. What a concept! And tell them in a way that makes my audience feel like they’re there, up at 10,000 feet with me and the US Army Parachute Team, the Golden Knights, with the wind howling and the engines roaring, and the guys laughing and singing before jumping out of the plane. COURAGE!
I pulled off a big win at that first keynote. My client didn’t even realize it was my first one. They gave me terrific testimonials, which you can see on my site. I WAS BORN TO DO THIS!
A Literal Leap
I’m excited about the future, and I’m going to bring my message of EVERYDAY COURAGE to as many audiences as I can. I’ve launched a LEAP OF COURAGE adventure, too. That’s where I’m going to take a group of courageous individuals skydiving over the Grand Canyon in the middle of winter. I don’t want to wait, I’m afraid I might change my mind! True, you don’t have to jump out of an airplane to be courageous, unless you’re me. I MUST do it to maintain my credibility. Aren’t you glad you’re not me?
My ultimate goal is to sell out Madison Square Garden within the next fifteen years. There’ll be pyrotechnics and music, and I’ll be making a grand entrance, like a rock star. I’ll blow the roof off the joint getting all those people to step out of their comfort zone. Doesn’t take much. Just a little EVERYDAY COURAGE.
See more at thecourageinside.com
Louis Katz is best known as a speaker who inspires courage, as well as a writer and photographer. He is a best-selling author, and the owner of Technolene, Inc.