Day 58: Joyce Schwarz

November 27, 2009 at 12:01 am, Category: Featured, Inspiration

“I’m always looking for that opportunity to share something and to learn something from the other person so that then we can work on a project together.  And I always say … never underestimate the person’s title, their age, their sex, their race, how well they speak the language that you speak, or whatever, because you don’t know.”

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Toni Reece: Thank you so much for agreeing to do the project interview today, and before we go into the questions, can you please introduce yourself?

Joyce Schwarz: I’m Joyce Schwarz, and I’m an author, producer, and I guess serial entrepreneur.  My most recent book is the bestselling book, The Vision Board:  The Secret to an Extraordinary Life.

Toni: Fantastic!  Well thank you so much for being with us, and the first question that we ask in this project is, when you think about inspiration, Joyce, who do you inspire, and how do you do that?

Joyce: Who do I inspire?  That’s interesting, because when I first think about inspiration, I think about getting inspiration from others or from the world itself, or from travel.  But when I actually think about who do I inspire … well, you know, I like to inspire everybody.  I was thinking about that when I got a couple of your sample questions.

My whole thing is that I was raised in a housing project in Cleveland, Ohio, and my dream was to get on a Greyhound bus and go somewhere.  And I always figure there’s somebody else like that somewhere, and maybe probably everywhere, that I meet them throughout the day.  And so if I see somebody in a parking lot that I see has a cute dress on or has something that’s interesting, or I read something online, or I see a little video or whatever, I’ll just pick up the phone and give you a call.  So I think I did that with you …

Toni: You did!

Joyce: … or an email.  And sometimes it’s of benefit to me professionally, but a lot of times I figure, “Well, I could use that little jolt of extra energy or input or inspiration from somebody else”, and so I actually do it more of an admiration kind of thing; and then out of the admiration comes inspiration.

Toni: Oh, that’s fantastic!  So, the way that you inspire others is really just to kind of notice the small or the big things that other people are doing and to send that admiration their way in the form of whatever.

Joyce: Right, right!  Because one, it inspires me that, you know, when I read about your project; I thought “Oh, this lady’s doing this – this is fabulous!  Why didn’t I think about doing this before?”  And what was so fascinating is you found the perfect way to do it which was the blog format … of course, every day, right?  Rather than a calendar format or a flip book or, you know, a calendar – well, you could still do that, you’ve got all these merchandising opportunities.

Toni: Well thank you for that.  With the work that you do, Joyce, and how you go about it and approach inspiring others, how do you, in the work, help people to explore their potential?

Joyce: Well, one of the things that I do certainly in the book, The Vision Board book, and also in my private coaching and in my … I put about 50,000 hours of private coaching, and that’s not just one-on-one, it’s with groups of people and with companies that have started new start-ups — as we call them out here in California and in Silicon Valley — venture-funded start-ups or some start-ups that have what’s called “Angel Funding.”  And so it’s entrepreneurship in a more progressive kind of way of actually getting capital rather than … Most of us own our own business, but we don’t — or many of us own our own business — but what we go to is actually turn it into a business; we make it into a living.

And so, that’s the thing that I’ve really inspired women to do and people of all cultures and backgrounds was to actually create revenue and capital — and that’s the American system — and out of that also to tie in social entrepreneurship, which is something for something, doing some goodwill.  Obviously we know about Ben & Jerry or some of the other wonderful projects that Starbucks has done, to outreach to the community.

I’m probably best known for working with Ralph’s grocery stores as a consultant to launch the missing kids on the milk carton campaign nationally.  I’m quick to say that this wasn’t my idea — the concept itself — and it was a small dairy in Michigan.  And I think that’s part of what we do when we inspire people is we look at what they’ve done, and then they inspired me.  And in turn, Patrick Collins, who was the President of Ralph’s grocery stores, had heard about the same project; and next thing you know, we were taking this nationally.

And so that’s where inspiration really grows.  It’s kind of like a tree in us; if it’s got some strong roots, then it grows onto different branches.

Toni: And so basically what I’m hearing that you do is that you help to not only maybe plant so the roots are there, but also if the roots are there, to keep them strong.

Joyce: Right.  And also I suppose my greatest analogy is a butterfly one of finding people that maybe are old, tired butterflies … maybe they’ve been flying around by themselves, and maybe it’s just been a heck of a time out there, a lot of windy storms.  And what I’m doing is to revitalize them and have them probably come back again as new, fresh butterflies with little caterpillar stages and all of that, and the idea is to encourage them to fly.  You know, the old “teach people to fish” kind of thing.

Oftentimes I will throw people in a pool a bit, but I always figure the most important part of this inspiration kind of concept is not necessarily to be loved and to be adored and to be a guru or an expert, but to really inspire people to reach their own personal potential.

Toni: Well, let’s go with that.  As far as inspiration for you, Joyce, what do you need to be inspired?  What do you reach for when you know, “You know what, I need to fill myself up a bit”, or just something that inspires you on a daily basis?  What is that?

Joyce: Well, part of it is I do look for these other things that are unusual or different.  And I started my career at the magazines in New York, and I remember I used to read 10 or 12 different magazines or 6 or 8 newspapers — and obviously that used to be kind of the rich person’s prerogative, but now of course with the internet, we all have that option — is to get out of our own lives and to look at something different.  And that’s one of the things that I constantly have to remind myself to do is to get out.

And maybe it’s just, you know, you’re going to actually look at a motorcycle magazine if you’re totally working into the fashion industry.  Or if you’re going to be climbing mountains, you’re going to be looking at an underwater video or something.  So that it’s really almost the opposite of what you’re doing.  So this is part of really following your own path and doing it your own way.  Then, searching and looking for what’s innovative, different, and also with old, because you know, the cycle returns.

Toni: So the way that you stay inspired is to continuously seek something different to bring to your attention, to bring something else to life by looking at different mediums and so forth?

Joyce: Right.  Every three months, I like to do something totally different with my career or with my income streams and so I know this sounds a little outrageous.  But I challenge myself every three months to take on some new project that’s totally different and hopefully maybe even in a different area.  Like right now, I’ve spent the last three months working a lot on speaking and being out there and speaking with my book, The Vision Board, and sharing that at the Body-Mind-Spirit Expo and elsewhere.

And now I’ve just taken on a new project which is to work with the Show Biz Expo in New York and in Los Angeles and to open doors for new filmmakers in the show business arena.  And so It’s just one of the many paths that I’ll have that will bring income in, but it will also keep me fresh and keep me inspired, and I think that I’m looking …

I’m very visual, very kind of multisensory kind of person, kind of very multimedia.  That whole world opened up to me in the early 90s, and I realized that I did have film, I did have video, I did have the writing background, and the moving image and all of that, I felt, was crucial to our futures.  So I’m always looking for something that’s quite a bit different to do and challenge myself within every three-month period.

Toni: So when you are going through all of this, then how does that … I think you’ve explained it in a bit here … but how does that also then help you to continue to explore your own potential in other areas?  Is that what you do when you try these different things and you go down these different paths?  Does that also help you to dig down and continuously explore this potential within yourself?

Joyce: Well, I think it’s not only exploring it, but developing it.  It’s kind of like developing new neural pathways in our brain, or talking a walk, or drive, as they often say, you know just drive home a different way or drive to work a different way, or whatever it is, or eat dessert first.  It’s that sense of surprise, that sense of wonder, that “Aahh!”  And I think that’s what really encourages me.

The other thing, of course, is to bring out the kid in me.  When I went to Bogotá, Columbia, I actually went to the Children’s Museum, and the cab driver was just having almost a little fit because he goes “No, no, it’s for ninos, ninos, for kids!”  And I go “No, no, I’m going, I’m going!”  And I went over there, and I just had a ball with the interactive kind of things and watching the kids and playing and sitting down and coloring, and whatever.  I’m going like, “Well, I’m sure some people think I’m probably nuts.”

But one, I think it’s, you know, the next generation of education, of who more than … who better to bring us inspiration than children and who better for us to inspire than is children.

Toni: So Joyce, when you go through this to not only explore but then to experience — as you’ve said, to develop your talents and keep moving in these different directions and go through all of this — how does all of the inspiration you receive plus the way that you translate that into your work in the different revenue streams you said that you generate, how does that then translate into how you inspire?

Joyce: Well, I think that, one, it gives me a broad background in a lot of different industries.  And that’s one of the great opportunities that I’ve had is to work with, I must say, I’ve worked with people with 82 different professions, I once counted up, from astrologers and astronomers to zoologists.  I’ve actually worked with people at the San Diego Zoo.

So, one, it’s giving me a commonality with that and, of course, we’ve all learned that from social media; and we should have learned it from life, too, of always looking for something that’s in common with the other person so that you can begin to relate.  Because if they can’t relate to you, they can’t be inspired by you, and so I think the important part is to be able to give, but to be able to share, and I’m always looking for that opportunity to share something and to learn something from the other person so that then we can work on a project together.  And I always say that, you know, never underestimate the person’s title, their age, their sex, their race, how well they speak the language that you speak, or whatever, because you don’t know.

I mean, when I was in the advertising business and a big mucky-muck Vice President for big international advertising agencies, I’d often find that my greatest ideas would come from the guard at the front desk downstairs in the building, or a secretary, or a receptionist, or someone else, because it was very different.  They didn’t have all of the facts, all the figures; and what they had though, was a sense of wonder or awe, and I’m always looking for that; and I’m always looking to perhaps open that up to other people.

Now that doesn’t mean that everybody kind of goes “Oh, Joyce is so inspirational all the time!” – they might go “Joyce is like really tough sometimes.  She wants us to do things differently.  She wants us to do it our way.”

When I teach my certified vision board counselor classes around the world, I go “Well, you have to have your own spin.”  And people go “What do you mean?  Can’t we just teach the way you teach?”  “No!  I want you to add something special to it.”  And they go like “Wow, that’s interesting.”  And so I’m not for the cookie-cutter kind of person, the person that wants to stay the same.  They are going to be more than inspired by me; they are going to be challenged.

Toni: Which also drives personal control, which sounds absolutely very powerful, not only in what you create but what you do.  And the people who have listened to you today and are reading your interview, you’ve given such a wealth of information nuggets, I think, that when you string all that together, what a great value and gift that you’ve given the people who come to the Get Inspired! Project.  And I know that we will post how to reach you and how to learn more about you, but Joyce, I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve given today in this snapshot of time for the Get Inspired! Project.  We are so grateful to you for that.

Joyce: Oh, well I’m so grateful for the opportunity.  And I guess, you know, if I’d end with anything, it’s “of the people, by the people, for the people”, and the whole idea is we’re working together.  No man, no woman is an island.

Toni: Thank you so very much.

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For more information about Joyce Schwarz:  www.ihaveavision.org, www.hollywood2020.blogs.com

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