Meeting John Herman

I really enjoyed John Herman's visit to class last Monday and I think it was really helpful and encouraging to hear his story. The whole time he was talking though I couldn't tell if he was inspiring because he showed that I could do the same thing, or if he was depressing because I realized that I will never be that successful. By the end I decided that he was inspiring. At the time it was very overwhelming though and I was just trying to take in everything he was saying.

I think that John shared a lot of really useful information with us that could be applied to anything that you wanted to do. He didn't really give advice or tips though, he just told his story of how he jumped from one thing to the next but that was advice in a way. It showed us through example how to be successful and make a name for yourself. I like that this type of advice can be applied to any type of business venture, whether it's a magazine like I wanted to do, or Allie's Asian culture site, or Catie's graphic novel. It could even be applied to something completely different, like a coffee shop or a delivery service. John said one thing about the way he works that I wrote down and I think that any business or person could use it to improve themselves. He said, "I take things people use, flip them, and give them back to them in unique ways."

Now, I need to think of how I can take a magazine, flip it, and give it back to people in a unique way. I know that the fact that it'll have more of a focus is a good thing, but I'll probably need more than that. I'm just not sure what that is yet though. I guess I'll just have to do as John does and just jump into things and see where it takes me.