The Friday Spark -Creating Credibility
This week’s sparker from Humble Beginnings by Melanie Keveles
How DID they start? Big success can come from amazingly humble beginnings. May their evolution to success inspire you to start your special dream … now!
Creating Credibility
After 9/11, Mike Shiley, 39, quit his corporate sales job and went to Iraq to create a film that he says, "would give a greater understanding [of] the war." He convinced his local ABC affiliate to take him on as a freelance reporter, but was refused media credentials. With the station’s permission, Shiley created a fake press pass at Kinko’s. He rented a used bulletproof vest and equipment, cashed in frequent-flier miles, and left for Iraq.
Shiley filmed the war in Iraq over a two month period. He briefly embedded himself with a National Guard unit where he became a tank gunner and received a civilian combat award. He made income providing newspapers and ABC stations with stories and footage. Shiley says, "I [went] in a nobody, and came out a bona fide journalist."
Shiley’s documentary, Inside Iraq: The Untold Stories, was released in October 2004 and is now in its fifth edition. The film won best documentary at three film festivals and has earned more than $500,000 in sales. His company, Shidog Films in Portland, Oregon has projected sales of $205,000 in 2006.
Whether you believe in what someone is doing rightly or wrongly, you’ve got to admire their ability to follow their dream!
What credibility can you create by just doing what you’re yearning to do?
Read more inspiring success Sparkers by Melanie at www.coachingtoys.com/humblebeginnings.html
Sparkers – Humble Beginnings © 2006 Melanie Keveles for Coaching Toys Inc – Sparkers, all rights reserved.
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