Someone once said, 'delayed obedience is not obedience'. It was his way of simply saying that when your asked to do something, you should do it now. I think there is a power to living in the now moment of our lives. Many of us are struggling with issues from our past, feelings of failure and embarrassment.
So when Tracey heard that we should start a publishing company, it may have seemed strange to many. But she searched for the domain name for "Olive Tree Publishing" and the dot.com was available. Interesting. Upon telling me about this my immediate thought was, lets get a business license. After all that's what you do when your about to start a new business. But wait a second, we were struggling along with our design firm we had just opened (The Marco Polo Group), why start a second company, we didn't even have enough customers for one, let along two companies, and what did we know about publishing anyhow?
Well, we just did it. Registered the company that day and that's when I remembered a friend in a city not far away that produced books. His little book printing company was doing ok and I thought to myself that perhaps my friend Shy, (East Indian name... I am sure it is short for something I can't pronounce), may know someone who is publishing now so we could talk to him about how to do this.
So we took the 90 minute drive down to Victoria to talk with Shy. At the restaurant over lunch Shy is expressing what he is really needing for his business. Online book layout software. Hmmm, I recall I know a guy who owns a software company. Just a second, I say to Shy, let me call my friend Rob. As I am sitting there at the table on the phone with Rob, (whom I hadn't talked to in a year), he says, Mark - your timing is amazing. I just got off the plane from Portugal and I have signed a deal for North America to promote and distribute this online book layout software. I need a full time graphics and marketing team. How would you and Tracey like to come on board?
And like that, we had a contract and were working full time. One client, but we were working. I would
not have called Rob, unless I had seen Shy. I would not have seen Shy unless we had opened a publishing company. Strange connections.
The next part of the story will be stranger still.
I suppose the lesson to learn here is that even when your down, have an ear to hear what is coming your way. The key to overcoming your circumstances is often standing at the door and knocking. It's the stress of life and the chaos that keeps us from hearing our solution some times.
I'd be interested in hearing if anyone relates to this. Have you been roughed up by life and thought, 'This is bottom', only to find a beautiful way out that you never would have thought possible?
Saturday, February 2, 2013
VW Camper Magazine
Hello All,
Well, due to popular demand, and perhaps more so to the 4 page spread recently published in VW Camper - http://www.volkswagencamper.co.uk/ --- we have decided to elaborate on the adventures we have had, and on the adventures we are still on.
It is now February 2013, which would make for almost 2 years traveling in the bus, but to be perfectly honest we have been stationary for some time now, while we attending Bethel School here in Redding. So we can't drive south to avoid the cold, and with no heater in the bus the frosty nights can be too much. Reminds me of our times in the desert of New Mexico when we woke to snow covered cacti.
So many times people have asked us to write down our stories in a book, and I suppose that may be a good idea. Had we been a couple that had a large bank roll to back us up while we traveled that would have been nice. But that was not the case. We had just both gone through a hellish season in our personal lives as well as our professional lives. Bankrupt and broke, we had just started our design firm without any clients. There is quite a back story to that part of our story and I won't get into that right at the moment, suffice to say, it was a stormy season. A divorce of mine that went on and on, did not help matters either.
But it was prior to this storm and a year after my divorce began that Tracey and I met. I don't think many times in life you meet someone that you can connect with in such a special way. I suppose evidence of that strong connection is the fact that we have been by each others side now, day and night, for nearly 6 years. It has to be love, for two people to share a VW Bus, and call it home, for as long as we have. It helps that she has two black belts in Karate, arguments are settled rather quickly. lol. Actually we never argue. I know that sounds ridiculous to some reading this, but it's true. We simply communicate very well about anything. I guess that's the key.
Back to our pre-story story. Without any clients and maintaining a 3000 sq ft home overlooking Georgia Strait on Vancouver Island, with three, nearly adult, kids living with us - the monthly bills and financial demand was straining. Having just gone through a lawsuit by a embittered ex-employer who did not want us in the same business, yet had deeper pockets than we did - we were drained financially.
Now the strangest things can happen when you feel your down and out. As the referee is making his count to 10, you can get a second wind. As we lay there, we recognized we were also on a journey of the spiritual kind. So listening, Tracey felt like we should do something - start a publishing company. That's what she heard. So she thought about that and wondered, what would it be called. And just like that (snap your fingers).... ok... just like that, she felt it should be called "Olive Tree Publishing".
So immediate action is required when this kind of thing happens to you.
Shall I continue this story... do you want to hear the amazing things that happened next? Let me know.
Yes... more to come indeed.
Well, due to popular demand, and perhaps more so to the 4 page spread recently published in VW Camper - http://www.volkswagencamper.co.uk/ --- we have decided to elaborate on the adventures we have had, and on the adventures we are still on.
It is now February 2013, which would make for almost 2 years traveling in the bus, but to be perfectly honest we have been stationary for some time now, while we attending Bethel School here in Redding. So we can't drive south to avoid the cold, and with no heater in the bus the frosty nights can be too much. Reminds me of our times in the desert of New Mexico when we woke to snow covered cacti.
So many times people have asked us to write down our stories in a book, and I suppose that may be a good idea. Had we been a couple that had a large bank roll to back us up while we traveled that would have been nice. But that was not the case. We had just both gone through a hellish season in our personal lives as well as our professional lives. Bankrupt and broke, we had just started our design firm without any clients. There is quite a back story to that part of our story and I won't get into that right at the moment, suffice to say, it was a stormy season. A divorce of mine that went on and on, did not help matters either.
But it was prior to this storm and a year after my divorce began that Tracey and I met. I don't think many times in life you meet someone that you can connect with in such a special way. I suppose evidence of that strong connection is the fact that we have been by each others side now, day and night, for nearly 6 years. It has to be love, for two people to share a VW Bus, and call it home, for as long as we have. It helps that she has two black belts in Karate, arguments are settled rather quickly. lol. Actually we never argue. I know that sounds ridiculous to some reading this, but it's true. We simply communicate very well about anything. I guess that's the key.
Back to our pre-story story. Without any clients and maintaining a 3000 sq ft home overlooking Georgia Strait on Vancouver Island, with three, nearly adult, kids living with us - the monthly bills and financial demand was straining. Having just gone through a lawsuit by a embittered ex-employer who did not want us in the same business, yet had deeper pockets than we did - we were drained financially.
Now the strangest things can happen when you feel your down and out. As the referee is making his count to 10, you can get a second wind. As we lay there, we recognized we were also on a journey of the spiritual kind. So listening, Tracey felt like we should do something - start a publishing company. That's what she heard. So she thought about that and wondered, what would it be called. And just like that (snap your fingers).... ok... just like that, she felt it should be called "Olive Tree Publishing".
So immediate action is required when this kind of thing happens to you.
Shall I continue this story... do you want to hear the amazing things that happened next? Let me know.
Yes... more to come indeed.
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