Who the F%$& Are you?

I inadvertently took some time off from my newsletter to run some rapids and replace motor mounts on my Landcruiser, did you know the Land Cruiser was classified as a station wagon?? Anyway, I didn’t do rapids and auto work at exactly the same time, there was time between for each. The river run on the Grande Ronde in Oregon was a much needed exhilarating and fun adventure. Apparently I was smiling the whole time, even after capsizing, except in this picture apparently.?

For a moment I paused to ponder metaphorical kayaking, but even kayaking has more options than mountain biking and greater breaks in physical demands. Albeit at times greater risk to life and breath requiring fierce focus and attention. There may have been some moments where I talked to myself to stay focused and not look at the holes in the river or the bigger drop offs. All in all a fine time had by all. Upon my return I continued to work on the ‘station wagon’ and complete that motor mount task, which has been all consuming of the 'fix and task' oriented side of my brain. I am happy to say, the vehicle is reassembled nary a spare bolt, yet a squeak from a belt that is yet to be quelled. ?

So why am I blabbing on about this?? More recently I have engaged with a career coach. Prior to our first meeting, I endeavored in a lot of prep, including two zooms with other mentor types willing to offer me some of their time. What came of these prep meetings is? Well first: prep is a wonderful thing, in prep we set ourselves up for some modicum of success, not guaranteed but certainly increased odds. In both my auto maintenance and kayaking there was plenty of prep involved, I won’t bore you with details, let’s just say some included a solid coach, another included a few Youtube videos. ?

Now I return to the mentors and career coaches:

All seemed to delve into and focusing on the message at hand.?

What is your message??

Meaning: Me Jimmy! What is your brand??

One of first tasks I tackled by a recommendation from Lawrence and Sister Christian at https://www.producershappyhour.com/ podcast was to revamp one of my websites to deliver a clear message and a picture of the work I have done www.jimmymatlosz.com . This was quickly followed by a fresh new approach to #instagram. Turns out, after some 10 years of posting on IG I forgot it’s real purpose, at least relative to me. Recognizing my old IG was a muddled mess, Blame it on the Pandemic ;-) I launched https://www.instagram.com/jimmymatlosz/

The next mentor offering their time was screenwriter/career coach Brooks Elms, https://www.brookselms-coaching.com/ who was very much focused on how to turn this medium or whatever medium I was using into the voice of my brand. His philosophy is a bit quantum in it’s approach, like you can see and hear what he is saying, but there is another level of the message in between the message that yet needed to be explored. With the help of these folks I was set off on my river, tools in hand, ready to embrace the more intense and focused reality of a month long career coaching engagement.?

This is an investment in my future as a filmmaker in the TV commercial space, a place I have proven myself in the past and plan to gain ground once again!

After all, us entrepreneurs needs to make a living.?

I pause here to take note of what I am writing. Wonder to myself is this too black and white? Is it boring? Is it? Is it? What is it? Am I just trying to be creative with my writing now…? The truth is I am exploring, as all entrepreneurs need to do, trying new things, mixing ideas and strategies up, throwing caution and a few dollars to the wind. Sharing the journey and knowledge. I then contemplate the title of this piece which started as something clever regarding the moral to the story, which will be left for another day. For even though this story has a moral the straight and narrow is really about branding. And so you get what you get...

Who the F$%& are you?!