Bold Journey

Bold Journeys are the BEST!

Bold Journey with Jan Levie

We were lucky to catch up with Jan Levie recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jan, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

Keeping Creativity Alive

Doing, making, trying, staying curious and generous of heart keep creativity alive for me. Taking notes all the time is something that helps me figure things out. I believe that expanding your horizons while focusing on the part you can do, launch, and improve are the keys to getting better.

It’s really not about where you go, what you attend, or who you know, but about being present in those moments. Teaching and mentoring others plays a huge role role in how I learn; clarity comes from sharing ideas and listening to what others have to say. Always Be Leaning.

What we do

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

We create and produce interactive entertainment for select groups of people. Whether for social, film, trade shows, corporate, or fundraiser events, we bring people together, connect them, and turn them into disciples of you, your brand, business, event, or product. We do analog for Luddites, create meaning, and make people remember you for all the right reasons.

Our Giving Skirt has been reconfigured and now is accompanied by an entertainer (or entertainers) instead of being worn. It can share love song snippets, prizes, wedding escort cards, candy, ideas, or raffles…for starters.

We provide Event Consultation Services for people tasked alone with planning an event in Atlanta and who want to save time, money, and anguish.

Our Language Concierge Services protect and coddle your VIPs at live events. We currently offer interpretation services in German and French (along with English). Help your special guests understand nuance and ensure that they are understood,

A couple of pet projects: waiting to book: our ‘Concessional’–our booth with your choice of ‘clergy’ (entertainers) combined with a nosh or an insight; Butt Readings (an international design firm is interested in this), and Gold & Chocolate Lip Print Analysis (currently in discussion for a magazine re-launch extravaganza).

I’m sure something else will come up soon!

Three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey…

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Be Curious + Listen + Be generous of heart

Three qualities and skills I would encourage everybody to develop are insatiable curiosity and the ability to do something that you love really well. The other one: be generous of heart. For me, curiosity is a love of learning, a desire to understand, to find different ways of doing things. This doesn’t have to be about traveling, it doesn’t mean you have to study esoteric subjects. Get dirty, stretch yourself, and try to do something in a new and different way, ask questions and LISTEN!

There are so many things I love to do, but writing (and reading) are among my absolute favorites. By reading all the time, I learn how to write; writing teaches me to be a better reader. For someone else it could be mastering the organization of things, maybe developing or building devices, maybe your special love is cartooning. It doesn’t matter WHAT it is, just make time to do it. You’ll notice that that one special skill will touch other areas and lead you to new domains of expertise.

‘Being generous of heart’ is a way of being that supersedes all societal, religious, or political belief systems. By living with a generous heart, you are practicing and thereby creating abundance. An abundance mentality, like any other mindset or trait, is something we can cultivate. Abundance wins over scarcity, over fear, and cancels out jealousy.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Partners

I am always interested in connecting with folks who like to do different things or maybe just do something in a different way. People who look at possibilities, who are ethical, kind, and maybe outrageous.

One project near and dear to my heart is to continue to find, train, and hire people with disabilities; give them meaningful work and pay them well. I want more light shone on the fact that corporations use a legal loophole to pay people with disabilities a sub-minimum wage. The pay is not necessarily commensurate with the person’s productivity or skill.

Another project I would love to see take off: creating live events that acknowledge and support people with disabilities.

Save lives

And…if every venue, producer, restaurant, bar, hotel, etc. had Narcan on hand, made their staff aware of it and how to use it, we could drastically reduce fatal opioid overdoses.