This week Megan interviewed Nailah Blades of Lift Off 4. It was tons of fun — they attended the same Lift Off group, after all!

Have a listen to this 18-minute audio — stream it, download it to your iPod, share it with friends and colleagues, and enjoy!

Links:

• Visit Nailah’s website at PolkaDotCoaching.com
• You can connect with Nailah on Twitter here: @NailahBlades

The following is part of a series wherein Megan Elizabeth Morris relates her experience of the Lift Off Retreat in autumn of 2011. Got questions you want to ask? Comment or email her here. Want to start at the beginning? Click here.

One of my privileges while working for Productive Flourishing has been to coordinate Lift Off alumni interviews, so it was brilliantly easy for me to learn more about Lift Off from an attendee’s perspective when I started to seek out information. What I found was very strange, though: Nobody was saying anything bad. Or even *neutral*.

That’s weird, I thought.

I talked to Rachael Acklin and Heidi Dobbs, of course. And in between, I reached out to others not in the interview queue. I thought I’d get more varied perspectives that way, but all they did was gush. It really mattered, they said. It blew them away. They were delighted and surprised. They returned with raised energy, a sense that they weren’t alone, and tools to build. At some point, I gave up looking for negative viewpoints; Megan M, I said to myself, this is as close as you’re going to get to a sure thing. Most of the time, I don’t even believe in “a sure thing”.

But I signed up anyway.

About that time, I realized that I had no idea how to prepare for this experience. I ironed out the flight arrangements and made plans to stay with friends before and after the retreat so I could fly in earlier and fly out later — to get cheaper fare. I filled out a questionnaire that made me think hard about what was going on with Ideaschema and what I wanted to accomplish. It boggled my mind to try and answer the questions on it, but Charlie and Angela both reassured me that the feeling was totally normal. (A few weeks later, I realized my answers were all wrong. They told me that was normal, too!)

I waffled and whiffled and couldn’t shake my nervous. I wasn’t looking for a silver bullet — I don’t believe in silver bullets — but I felt like I badly needed a tipping point. I wanted Lift Off to be my tipping point, and I had no idea if I was hoping in the right direction.

I don’t remember the days leading up to my trip. I packed. I tried to let go of my worries.

My biggest fears: I was afraid they’d make me relax. I was afraid my plan wasn’t strong enough for anyone to help me with. I was afraid no one would know a damn thing about authors or publishing, and I’d be dead in the water, unable to USE the fantastic resource I’d paid for.

Could any of these things happen? Could all of them happen?

Up until I set foot on Lift Off Ground Zero — and honestly, probably not for another day and a half after I arrived — I had no idea what the impact of my decision might be.

This week Megan interviewed Cheryl Dolan of Lift Off 4 — the Lift Off group they attended together! The following is less than 20 minutes of video all about their experience, and it’s tons of fun. Take a look:

Links:

• Visit Cheryl’s website at CherylDolan.com
• You can connect with Cheryl on Twitter here: @CherylDolan_
• And here are a few links to other Lift Off 4 alumni Cheryl mentioned: Abe Cajudo, Ericka Hines
• Two of Cheryl’s great posts on Voice and Power: 1, 2

The following is part of a series wherein Megan Elizabeth Morris relates her experience of the Lift Off Retreat in autumn of 2011. Got questions you want to ask? Comment or email her here. This is the beginning.

Before I set foot on Lift Off Retreat territory — the territory was beautiful, by the way — I didn’t know much about it.

I coached with Charlie for nearly 2 years before Lift Off really made my radar, but when it did, it boomed. My business footing had been uncertain for long enough to make me nervous. When was all of this hard work going to pan out? Was I supposed to just keep doing what I was doing until it did?

And what if it didn’t?

Let me tell you about Ideaschema for a moment.

Ideaschema’s my primary project, even considering the other wonderful projects I have my hands in. Ideaschema was created to be whatever I needed it to be: An umbrella company to help me accomplish my Great Work, to help as many people as possible, and to express myself creatively to the universe. We were doing creative work for great clients — some community-oriented marketing, lots of illustrated materials and promotions. But Ideaschema was still supposed to be a reflection of everything going on inside my head, and that was… a lot.

You might have already concluded that Ideaschema’s messaging was suffering a bout of extreme vagueness. I’d long made peace with no one knowing what I did for a living, and we were sputtering along okay. But the vagueness wasn’t clearing up on its own the way I’d hoped. I was about to make a break for what appeared to be a clearing up ahead: Book promotions for authors and publishers.

And I only knew a few of those.

This was an initiative based mostly on hypothetical string & sealing wax. We’d done a few projects (for free) to test the waters. Our community seemed to love them. The whole thing sounded okay when I told myself about it.

That’s all the feedback I had, however.

I had no idea if it would really work, and I had gone too long without respite. I needed stable footing fast if I was going to maintain my sanity and stay the solopreneurial path. I needed this thing to work. I needed support, and some (small) degree of certainty.

I was thinking about hoofing it alone (as usual). But I’d done that for a decade, and I had to admit I was tired of just sticking it out. I was afraid, and I still felt alone. I needed something big, something new, and something that was highly likely to work.

What the hell was that going to be?

Heidi thought she’d never be able to attend Lift Off. But then… she made it happen anyway. Want to know how she did it?

Megan Morris has nabbed herself another alum interviewee, and this week she chatted with Heidi Dobbs about Lift Off 2 — and the obstacles she had to overcome in order to attend.

They recorded 41 minutes of juicy discussion on how to overcome entrepreneurship’s practical and emotional challenges, and what it means to pursue meaningful changes in your business. When you know it’s right, but you think you just “can’t”… what do you do?

Below is an mp3 of the interview, just for you. Stream it, download it to your iPod, share it with friends and colleagues, whatever your fancy:

Heidi says, “There is no such thing as can’t.” And she wasn’t kidding about emailing her, either.

PS from Megan: We had a bit of a microphone snafu, so the sound is a bit odd on this one. Everything is clear and audible, though, so we hope you’ll enjoy it regardless!

Links:

• Heidi hangs her coaching hat at HeidiDobbs.com.
• You can connect with Heidi on Twitter here: @heididobbs
• You can see all the beautiful photos from Lift Off #2 right here.
• And here are a few links to some of Heidi’s fellow attendees: Pamela Quinn (clip), Jeff Moriarty (clip), David Billings (clip) — plus she mentioned Chrissy Scivicque, Tzaddi Gordon, Andre Blackman, Carol Ross. Check them out, too!
• Heidi also posted on her site about the interview — with more thoughts and details — right here.

Lift Off 1 alumnus Karen Yaeger is an expert in producing top-notch video. (Did we mention that she’s got two Emmy Awards on her shelf for her work? I mean… just sayin’.)

Karen shared with us that one of her latest projects has been producing video for new website Ruzuku.com, which helps people create online courses & learning communities, and which sounds mighty useful.

Keep up the great work, Karen!

Carol Ross (Lift Off 2 alum) recently got in touch and let us know that her company, My Alumni Link, has a new production in the works–one that will be featuring a couple of other Lift Off folks for its inaugural episode!


Carol said:

As part of building My Alumni Link’s brand in the marketplace, I’m creating a “virtual talk show” where you can learn tips for career management, by watching live Internet interviews of accomplished professionals with interesting careers. Pam Slim and Willie Jackson are my first interviewees in July.

Love this fun (& info-valuable) idea. Can’t wait to check out the “talk show!” Congratulations to Carol on My Alumni Link’s progress.

Megan Morris, the Brand Evangelist for Productive Flourishing, grabbed some time with Lift Off 1 alum Rachael Acklin this week. Megan asked Rachael about her Lift Off experience, as well as what she’s been up to since then. (Here’s a hint: the delightful Ms. Acklin has been creating & branding up a storm!)

You can check out the interview by clicking here.

And stay tuned… we’ve got more Lift Off alumni interviews in the works, which we’ll be posting right here to the Lift Off News page!

Lift Off 1 alum Lori Jordan officially took her startup out of Beta today and launched Red-Staple.com to the public.

Red Staple is an elegant solution for musicians, film makers and bloggers who want to offer their content in a packaged format, like LP and Extras on iTunes.

Congratulations, Lori!

David Billings — better known on the web as Sparky Firepants — is going global, and we couldn’t be happier for him!

The Lift Off 2 alum (who used to work for the children’s television program Blue’s Clues!) recently announced that he’s heading to Las Vegas later this month to exhibit at the Licensing International Expo.

Here’s a snippet from his press release:

Another aspect of Sparky Firepants that Billings wants to highlight at the Expo is his ability to create custom art. He’ll have hand-painted skateboard decks available as examples, and visitors will have the opportunity to place orders for their own customized products. “Since I can take my hand-painted art and reproduce it digitally in-house, it will also serve as inspiration for manufacturers to license for their products, like notebooks, t-shirts, shoes, and sporting goods,” Billings says.

In the Sparky Firepants catalog will be several new properties and illustrations, including holiday themed art, California beach-themed art, and the original series “Monsters in Love.” Also available for licensing will be “Pants!,” a new family card game featuring the Sparky Firepants unique style of illustration. Developed by David Billings and tested by real families, the game has proved simple to play yet addictive. Billings offers that, “The focus group families are still hanging onto the game and I think that’s a good indicator that it could be a hit for the right company.”

Congratulations, Mr. Pants!