I was standing by the bar in Soho theatre after our 2010 Social Media Week #techForGood event.
'You need to find your WHY Bernie', Julie says.
Julie tells me about a new TED talk with over 200k views by Simon Sinek.
Simon says we should start with 'our WHY'.
I ponder and reply, "Maybe my WHY is ‘find your voice and help others find theirs, like in Covey's 8th Habit."
“Is an outcome or a WHY?” asks Julie.
I stare into my drink, is it a WHY or an outcome?
If my voice came up and punched me in the face, I would not recognise it, let alone know if it was my WHY.
Over nine years later, a lot of trial, error testing and even a few triumphs here I am watching it all 'suddenly come together.
The slow evolution of the podcast that is now the
Coalescent Networkhas become the tool to connect all the threads of voice finding.
As a 'freelancer committed to making a ruckus', I've run workshops, events, coworking communities, blogs and podcasts.
They are disguised as 'businesses', they are a quest to stop people from living in fear and say their thing without being suckered by unscrupulous people who make human things like communication over complicated and inaccessible dark art.
Each week I'm invigorated with this feeling at our Bloggers Meet Up and #Writeclub in London.
People gather in our coworking space, write for two hours and talk about their work.
I love to watching industry communities unfold. I have seen coworking, sharing economy, social media, personal branding and content marketing rise and fall.
These projects connected me with a large cross-section of employees, freelancers and innocent bystanders across Europe.
I've been armed with a phone, blog, mic and camera to document the process.
As apps advanced, I outran dyslexia that made itself painfully known during my degree in Literature and Education.
Audiobooks and apps saved my degree by giving me the ability to piece together my own words that had been stuck in my head.
When Twitter reached me in 2008, it brought me blogs, podcasts, and on-line learning.
By focusing just on Authority by Copyblogger and the Fizzle community, I got even more out of the learning experience.
Had I found my voice?
No, I'd just learnt HOW to find my voice, and helping other people find theirs is where the kick for me is.
