I’m Alive - Josh Rogan - The Serendipity of Life

I’m Alive!!

I still get chills every time I listen to Josh Rogan sing this song, “I’m alive!” There’s nothing like being there, in person, listening to a one-on-one concert, but this is as close as I can get you. There were only four of us in Josh’s 1962 Airstream trailer last weekend, but wow, the acoustics and Josh’s voice were mesmerizing…this video doesn’t do it justice, but I’m sharing it with you anyway.

As an associate editor for Airstream Life Magazine I find it’s really hard to find someone in the WORLD who magazine founder and publisher Rich Luhr does not know so I can do a story on them. So I’m always asking people, “Do you know anyone with an Airstream trailer?” in hopes of finding someone he doesn’t know. Sometimes it pays off. This time it REALLY paid off!

Dominoes

Remember me talking about dominoes? How you tip one and everything connected falls in place as that one action drives another? This is a prime example. The dominoes started falling when I picked up a newspaper, one I rarely read. But for some reason, I glanced through this one before tossing it in the trash.

Serendipity One!

I’ve been getting a lot of requests from people for an audio book of “The October Abduction of Thomas Martin, Bloodline,” my first novel (400 pages). The paper I usually ignore had a feature story about a nearby recording studio named Ravensworth. It’s a drive, but it’s not like the 2-hour drive I’d have to make to Richmond to record. Plus, it’s a cool studio with cool people who do cool things to help struggling musicians while they build their own business. I called and found out that not only are they reasonably priced and professionals to boot, they help the causes I care about—serendipity! So I tipped the domino.

Serendipity Two was waiting in the wings….

I asked, “Do you know anyone with an Airstream Trailer?” and sure enough, Ravensworth co-owner Elizabeth Schoenborn did! His name was Josh Rogan, and he was one of the Rogan Brothers, one of Charlottesville’s most popular bands (The Rogan Brothers Band). His wife Eliza owns/used to own my favorite art gallery in Scottsville (The Flying Pig). But she recently sold it so they could hit the road and tour and sing. She’s a talented artist and painter and Josh, besides being a talented singer/songwriter, is also a talented stonemason. They recently bought a 1962 Airstream Safari and decided to travel, sing and work out of it. Perfect! So many stories there….I was looking forward to talking to them. I just had to wait for them to move/settle the trailer so I could go out there, finish up the interview we started on the phone, and get some photos.

Serendipity three!!!

Well, it turns out that the weekend best-selling business author Mike Michalowicz was in the area (Virginia) doing a keynote talk, was also the weekend Josh called to tell me it was a good time to come out to the trailer.

What the heck. All he can say is “No thanks,” right? So since I’m one of Mike’s biggest fan-girls and I’m on his “buzz team,” meaning I volunteer to help promote his book, The Pumpkin Plan. I called Mike, mentioned Josh was doing his music gig out of his Airstream, (since Mike’s always looking for unusual businesses, and people to blog about), and told him I was going out to interview Josh for Airstream Life Magazine, and since he was in the area anyway, would he like to come along and maybe give Josh some business tips? He said yes!!!

Serendipity Four

I met him, we drove out, ate pumpkin and ginger muffins fresh from the Airstream’s oven, drank thick, black, dark French roast coffee strong enough to float horseshoes in, and listened to Josh Rogan sing—a personal concert. Magical. Just magical. It’s why I love my job at Airstream Life. I meet the coolest people!

There’s no limit to the kind and number of serendipitous moments that can happen when you help other people, promote other people, or give generously to others with no expectation of what’s in it for you. Yes, I was on a story, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t ask questions, network, share and find ways to help/promote/connect all involved. That’s the true magic of “connecting” and the true meaning of networking, caring and involvement. I had a great Saturday, got a great article for Airstream (my original quest), met Mike and Josh and Eliza and Harley and just enjoyed the hell out of the morning. I think they had a good time too…I know they did.

And it all started with a simple question, “Do you know anyone…..?” and snowballed from there. Dale Carnegie was right. You can get whatever you want when you help others get what they want first. Try it. You’ll be surprised.