From Michael Van Osch's www.TheFreedomaire.com
Talking With Bruce Brown – A Freedomaire
by Michael Van Osch on February 17, 2011
Read this great Interview with Bruce Brown and learn his insights into living large and the happiness that comes from following your curiosities and passions. He is clearly a man who loves his life. Cheers to you Bruce!
Michael Van Osch: We’re on the Freedomaire website, so tell us about how you came to work for yourself and be a Freedomaire?
Bruce Brown: Just to set the context, I’m 64 years old. I have been a full time working adult since the fall of 1969. So that means I’ve worked 41+ years. I’ve been self-employed for 27 of those years. So I’d say that for 42% of my entire life and 66% of my adult working life I’ve been a Freedomaire.
By the time I graduated college I had a wide variety of work experiences: farm laborer, librarian, warehouse work, interstate truck driver, machinist, waiter, fast food window guy, appliance sales, and probably a few others I don’t recall. I expected that I’d work in a profession and certainly didn’t grow up thinking I’d be in business for myself. One venture my parents tried was a total disaster so my dad scooted back to his profession (at which he excelled) working for large institutions and organizations. So the whole Freedomaire thing certainly was not in my family.
For the first fourteen years out of college I taught high school English, but I was constantly trying new and different ventures and checking out various fields. The list goes on and on, and I was sort of aware that I was taking a dim sum approach. During this period and after I left full time teaching I learned to prefer setting it up when possible that I would work as a contactor rather than an employee and grew to like having multiple professional gigs (for a few years I was teaching graduate courses in four different disciplines in three different Connecticut colleges and universities, for example, and I loved that).
M: What did you do prior to this?
B: As above, I was an educator and had many work and professional experiences. The most significant time and success was as a high school teacher, college professor, therapist, computer consultant, freelance writer (for computer publications), coach, Realtor, and now back to coaching.
M: What drove you to become an entrepreneur?
B: Restless curiosity, a desire to learn and try new approaches, a desire to follow creative impulses, impatience with taking direction, a bit of rebelliousness, craving for risk, and a preference for compensation and reward based on my efforts and results rather than on a locked pay scale. I also realized fully that the only job security is when you work for yourself. I fire myself from some ‘jobs’ when I or they don’t work out, but don’t hold that against myself when I decide to ‘hire myself’ for something else.
M: What were and are the biggest challenges you face as a Freedomaire?
B: Focus, clarity, containing my enthusiasm, and cash flow.
M: What you love about being an entrepreneur/Freedomaire?
B: The adventure, the totally open opportunities, being in control of how I spend my life, the chance to meet anyone. Overall, I’d say the overall freedom to create me life.
M: What do you recommend to others who want to follow their passions?
B: Get as clear as you can as quickly as you can and then take action. Look for and learn from your failures – if you don’t have any you aren’t really living as large as you could. Learn to use your emotional barometer and your intuition and always choose in favor of your passions to the extent you are able at the moment. Living in the NOW is huge for following your passions, so practice that, too.
M: Can you leave us with one major thought for those who want to be Freedomaires and those who are on their way?
B: Your greatest challenges and your greatest competition will always come from within. Until you really get that and live it, you will deny your own power to be and to live an extraordinary life.
M: What new things are you working on that we should know about?
B: Wow. Well, THIS YEAR (lol) we have rounded out the service and product mix in our coaching practice (Quantum Results Coaching). We’ve also decided what 4-6 books we will publish this year. The ‘we’ refers to myself and my wife and business partner, Marge. I personally am focusing on ways to assist and empower people to recognize, accept, and allow their extraordinary personal power and potential. It’s one thing to know your passions, but living them to your best ability requires playing full out in the knowledge that you can do and be more than you can ever imagine. So I love to explore and learn about that while at the same time in my daily coaching business I juggle many interests and activities that I have discovered and chosen in the pursuit of my own power, passion, and potential.
