In the fall of 2020, in anticipation of my planned January 2021 book launch for The Joy of Writing Journal, I hired a publicist who landed me some TV opportunities, where I spoke on 8 creativity-oriented evidence-based mood boosters that one can apply during a pandemic.
The topic of creative mood-boosters related to what Gay Hendricks, author of The Genius Zone and The Big Leap, calls my “zone of genius” but it wasn’t fully in my zone of genius.
I practiced and role played a number of times with my friend and colleague, media trainer Portland Helmich, as well as with my husband.
I did okay. But I wasn’t the most inspiring guest they ever had on the shows I appeared on.
The deeper truth is, I felt stressed and I didn’t have fun. I wanted to give my best to their audience, but I was trying too hard. And I didn’t know how to change it. Maybe I just wasn’t made for TV…
The PR I Love
I love podcasts. I love teaching. These ways of reaching potential readers are more relaxed. Podcasts and teaching tap directly into my natural skills. In both instances, one can go into greater depth. There’s more room for spontaneity and variety.
And so, I thought, I’ll just stick to podcasts, teaching, guest posting. These strategies work for me.
I put aside the TV idea as “not bloody likely.” Or maybe even “never again.”
Life’s too short to do things you don’t love, right?
Well…maybe. But I would soon learn that TV wasn’t the problem.
What changed my mind? Read the next post to discover the impetus to my mind-shift and how I got to speak to (and pitch to) a producer at the top morning show in America.
