In High School, I played in a rock band, performed in several plays, and
got suspended once for smoking on school grounds. This was at a time
when the teachers were still allowed to smoke in the classroom. I was
confused.
An Actor...
By the time I was in college I was completely drawn to theater… for some
odd reason. I had some wonderful experiences with great teachers, and
amazing opportunities like working with Robin Reed, (one of the last true
marionette puppeteers in the country), living and working on the Navajo
Indian Reservation, and studying and performing in Yugoslavia.
Then I decided to become a Mime. Don’t ask. Well, maybe I should
explain… This was the time of Shields and Yarnell, (remember their TV
show?). Suddenly, there was a great deal of interest and respect for
physical theater in general. And I got to spend hours making goofy faces
in the mirror.
After studying with people like Reid Gilbert, Leonard Pitt, Bob Berkey and
Paul Sills, I performed for schools and taught movement for actors at
several universities. It was very exciting, and very undependable. As an
“Adjunct Faculty” member I had no rights, no support, no benefits, and no
parking space. But I had a lot of freedom and again worked with a lot of
great people. I considered it a good trade-off.
After fifteen years of teaching and performing in three different states, I
found myself in Austin, Texas with two children, another on the way, and a
consistently undependable income. My father “tipped me off” about a
corporate training job with a large computer company in Minneapolis, and
suggested, (read: insisted), that I apply. As he was the legal advisor for
the company, I think he may have counseled them that it would be in their
best interest to hire me. For legal reasons. And so they did. I became a
part-time instructor for Presentation Skills, and that was the beginning of
my second work life: Corporate Trainer.
A Corporate Trainer...
So, for the next fifteen years, I received an extensive education in the
machinations of the corporate world of work. My first job, which developed
into a full time position as a Senior Training Specialist, involved a lot of
certification in various training methodologies and an initiation into the
mysteries of working in a cubicle.
Simultaneously and ironically, I was also being contacted by various
businesses to give presentations on Humor in the Workplace. I soon
found out that it was a result of an interview that I did for a local paper
in Austin just before I started my new work life. It seems the title of the
article, which was picked up by the wire service and published in
newspapers all over the country, was, “Company Hires Corporate Clown”.
(My new employer didn’t think it was the least bit funny… hence the irony.)
So several people assumed that I could speak about Humor in the Workplace.
I told them I didn’t have a presentation on Humor in the Workplace. Then
they told me how much they would pay me for such a presentation, and I
said, “Ohhh… Humor in the Workplace! Yes, I do that!” And so, I became
a Professional Speaker.
A Government Agent??
After five years with the computer company, and speaking professionally on
the side, I moved on to work for State Government. (With even more irony,
the public speaking presentations --- which were always a source of concern
and discomfort for my first job --- were directly responsible for getting my
second job with the State!) This job was another kind of initiation into a very
political atmosphere, with a lingering Union mentality and a collection of people
who often just wanted to be left alone. My experience there was a mix of working
with pockets of terrific people who really cared and wanted to make a difference,
and the government system that often held them back. At the peak of our success
as a highly effective and respected service, the department of eight professional
trainers was abruptly shut down by forces ‘unknown’. And that was that.
I worked my way through three more corporate training jobs over the
following eight years. My experiences ranged from having total control
and responsibility for all internal training with huge, diverse pools of people,
and being suddenly unemployed. I alternated between being afforded the
respect and autonomy to do the job the way I knew it could be done best,
and being micro-managed by complete maniacs.
Throughout my tenure, I designed and delivered over 25 personal and
professional development classes, developed in-house “Universities”,
created new hire orientation programs, purchased and tailored on-line
performance management systems, designed sales training “Boot Camps”.
It’s a bit mind numbing to think about this body of work as a whole.
And a Professional Speaker???
Through all of this I continued to give presentations on Humor, Creativity
and Managing Change as a side bar to my career. I have never done any
serious solicitation or marketing, yet I have worked consistently for over
12 years! I enjoyed my “real-life” corporate training work, but all the while
the presentations were what I enjoyed the most. They allowed me to mesh
the best elements of both my adult careers -- performing and training -- in
a fun and unique way.
And here I am, still presenting and loving it, and thinking that this will
be my third work life. Either that, or I could be a cowboy.
