The things that make us interesting

This is me and Simon, pictured in my local coffee shop today.

I first met Simon when he attended my ‘How To Build A Startup of One’ workshop - that I ran with The Do Lectures - in 2019. He was notable for the fact that, when I asked where everybody had travelled from to be there, he said Oslo.

Today we got together over coffee and traded stories. These days Simon is head of marketing at a tech company in Norway. But that’s only one small part of his back story and his fascinating career. He’s had stints as a courier, a removal man and even had a job packing binoculars. But the big reveal was his life inside the music industry. He’s been a prolific songwriter for other artistes and during the 1990s he played bass in a band who performed all around the world. Cool!

We all have stories ‘under the bonnet.’ And our catch up reminded me how things change when we share these stories. Our understanding and empathy deepens.

Certainly we don’t all have ‘Pop Star’ on our CVs, but all of us have interesting stories - the trajectories our lives and careers take, the ups and downs along the way. Things that we’ve done, stuff that’s happened to us.

When it comes to the things that make us interesting there is a choice: hide them away or shine a light on them. As a storyteller it’s not surprising I think we should illuminate what makes us interesting, the highs and the lows.

Before we said goodbye, Simon told me the reason he’d jumped on a plane to attend my 2019 workshop. It was because he’d watched my 2015 Do Lecture where I’d shared my real story (and got emotional in the process). He said he’d liked my openness and that he felt a connection with me.

So there’s the proof: revealing parts of ourselves that previously were hidden reaches across the divide to make strong connections with others. Even over the North Sea to Norway.