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Becky Blanton

Becky Blanton is a former journalist with 22 + years experience as an award-winning reporter, photojournalist and editor. She’s currently traveling around the USA in her 1975 Chevy Van with her aging Rottweiler and a big grin on her face. Life is good. She takes advantage of being “totally mobile” to meet with clients, to see the country and to interview people for her book, “Stay Hungry, The Official Guidebook For Never Settling For What Life Puts On Your Plate.“
She is also a ghost and copy-writer, helping individuals and businesses discover and “tell their story.”

A TED Global 2009 speaker, Becky spoke about her year of being homeless to a standing room only crowd at TED University in Oxford, England July 21st, 2009. The video of her talk may be viewed at: http://www.ted.com/talks/becky_blanton_the_year_i_was_homeless.html

Her first book, Stay Hungry, the Official Guide for Never Settling for What Life Puts on Your Plate, is both how-to and biography, filled with inspirational stories of the journeys of others and herself, but also with the nuts and bolts of how people get out of life’s tough times.

“Staying Hungry” is the name of the winning entry in Daniel Pink’s contest to name the “seventh lesson” of Johnny Bunko in Pink’s book, “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, the last career guide you’ll ever need.” The book expands on the talk she will give at TED Global 2009 on July 21st in Oxford, England. Daniel Pink, former speech writer for Al Gore, and best selling author of ”The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, the Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need,“ and ”A Whole New Mind,“ recently finished writing ”DRIVE,“ a book about what really motivates us.

Becky’s essay, “The Monster,” was one of 60,000 entries selected for publication in Tim Russert’s best-selling book, “Wisdom of Our Fathers.” Russert told interviewers the essay was the reason he chose to include a chapter on “forgiveness,” in the book.

She makes a “cameo appearance” in Pamela Slim’s book, “Escape from Cubicle Nation,” (page 25)

Her story about how her dog saved her life during a year of living in her van, will be coming out in a book to be published by Penguin Books this fall. Proceeds from the book, tentatively entitled, “Every Dog is a Gift,” will help benefit the Humane Society.

She’s been featured or mentioned in several national stories about homelessness, the TED Talks and about careers, including:

AOL: Seven Ways to Sell Your Experience

Becky is one of the original members of Seth Godin’s social media site, “Triiibes.com.”

Six Minutes: How to Give the (TED) Talk of Your Life

Mashable: Five People Who Broke The Rules of Social Media and Succeeded

AOL: Cars, the Latest Form of Affordable Housing

The Women’s Empowerment Hour (UPCOMING March 17, 2010)

Other stuff:

Three words that describe me….. Curious, Opinionated, Authentic.

My heroes are Irena Sendler, a 97-year-old Polish woman who saved 2,500 Jewish children from certain death in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II, but lost the Nobel peace Prize to Al Gore, a “wealthy American liberal who made a movie containing egregious scientific falsehoods,” about global warming.

I also admire Steven Speilburg; Thomas Jeffersonn; Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein.

Sleeping in two extra hours and then spending an extra hour at the gym makes me smile on Saturday mornings. I prefer buttermilk pancakes with real maple syrup and a side of bacon – limp, not crisp.

I think the common “When I’m thin….” fantasy should be kicked to the curb along with the “When I’m rich….When I have more time….When the kids are grown….When I finally meet my soul mate….When I find my dream job….” fantasies. There will never be a “When.” There is only NOW. So, fat as I am, I am doing the things I want to do “When I’m thin,” NOW. When I am thin I’ll already be kayaking, camping, loving, traveling. After all, it’s not the “thin, rich, retired, married” fantasy we want. It’s the feelings we imagine we’ll have when we are those things.

  • Aaron
    Becky, I enjoyed your TED presentation. I'm living that in just a small, small way now, having lost my job, etc. When you know what CAN be, yet find yourself far from that, you can feel it quite intensely. Yes, you notice that your child isn't as well-dressed, that your vehicle isn't up to par, your haircut is out of date, etc. But like you said, hope is so vital. Long ago, in a past episode of a brokenheart and so forth, I learned that "grace" is not some sudden relief from your problem, some immediate victory...rather, it is the oh, so slow, just-enough-to-go-on, doesn't-feel-like-grace thing that we typically only see once we've come through. I'd get a dash of hope one day...the dashed hopes the next. Some word from the Lord on Sunday...then bitterness on Tuesday. But at the end, I saw that I was getting just enough spiritual strength to outlast the difficulty. I'm so glad you came through and took the time to share it with us!
  • beckyblanton
    Aaron, Thanks for posting....and for watching the video. Hope IS vital. I'm living in my van again - by choice - so I can gather the information, stories and lessons for all of us who have lost hope at some time. It can come and go for sure! Grace isn't some sudden relief - you're right! It's the quiet, steady voice of faith within that "knows" things will be okay, even if they aren't okay now. God said He would give us enough - not an overage we couldn't use, but He does provide. Coming through is a day-to-day thing. I still struggle - with health issues, with financial things, with work. It never "gets easy," but we do get better at dealing with it.

    You KNOW what you can be, what you are. Don't forget that. Don't believe that you are your circumstances. You're not. You are intelligent, capable, perfect (in God's eyes) and loved. Look around you and see who is worse off. When I shivered under a sleeping bag in the back of my van I thanked God it wasn't a wet coat in a cardboard box. Gratitude is being grateful for what we have, no matter what that is. You have computer access obviously. You have a child, a future, faith, hope and God. That's more than most. You WILL come out of this. Don't forget that.

    Everyone has challenges. Just because we can't see them, doesn't mean they're not there. Absence of evidence doesn't mean evidence of absence. Hang in there. Hope ALWAYS finds a way and you have hope!
  • jamiefoster
    Becky, I watched your video at Ted.com. Inspirational talk and I totally identified with the depression after the death of a parent--my Mother's death almost did me in! As I listened to what you said about the whole notion of homelessness, I remembered a trip to Washington, DC as a teacher sponsor (20 or years ago) taking graduating high school seniors on a trip. We had told our children NOT to disturb the homeless adults and one of my curious HS girls stopped to talk to a man lying on a sleeping bag and engaged him in conversation. I stopped and listened to what they were saying and noticed how very apparent it was that he was well-educated...I listened and heard him say that he was an engineer who had been laid off--lost his home and family. And this young lady innocently asked him why and he replied that his company went bankrupt and he couldn't find a job so he turned to alcohol. They engaged in several minutes of conversation, which concluded with her trying to give him a $10 bill and he declined it. I won't ever forget that. He was dirty, in a sleeping bag, laying on the grass near the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and he told her he didn't need her money. I think my eyes were opened that day. BUT I had forgotten. Thanks for reminding me how close we all might be to where you were...
  • Suei Huang
    Hello Becky,

    I am Suei. I am a writer, who has published 15 books in Taiwan. I am also a free-lancer of newspapers and magazines in Taiwan. One of my jobs is introduce new books to the National New Book Magazine in Taiwan. I am interesting in your story about homeless and your book publish. Please let me know when your book has come out.

    Thank you

    Suei Huang
  • beckyblanton
    Hi Sue,
    Thank you! 15 Books! Wow! Yes, I will be happy to send information on my
    book to you when it comes out. Thank you very much for writing!

    Becky
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