When I interview people on the radio, I always look for golden threads running through our conversations that tie them together somehow. Yesterday’s guests, Dr. Marianne Hill, (Senior Economist Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning) and John Evans (owner of Lemuria, one of the finest independent bookstores in the U.S.) presented me with one of those threads.
Dr. Hill is nothing short of brilliant. I’ve had the privilege of getting to know her from her participation on The Clarion-Ledger editorial board. Yesterday, we were talking about the meltdown of 2008, the Great Recession, how the economy has changed and how it has changed Mississippi. She said one thing, almost a throw-away sentence, that resonated with me. We were talking about the unemployment number (which will remain stubbornly near the 9% range in Mississippi for another couple of years) and how people who quit looking for work and start their own businesses aren’t exactly figured into that number. Hmm. I’ve read enough Seth Godin to believe we are in the middle of a transformation as drastic as the Industrial Revolution. Hearing a little evidence that people are striking out on their own in entrepreneurial ventures reinforces that notion in my mind.
John Evans has been in the book business for 37 years. And he’ll be the first to tell you that the past four years has seen more change in the publishing industry that the previous 33. Like most forms of media, digital has disrupted the status quo. Big time. E-books (read Gary Pettus’ excellent article on them for more background) have been like a bull in the Bookstore China Stop. But even in the face of change, John hasn’t quit. He and the folks at Lemuria are trying new things every day. They know that it’s about the experience of reading a book. And his staff loves books and — here’s the key, I think — has passion.
Passion.
So the thread is this: Things have changed drastically in the past four years. And we have two choices: To pine for the “good ol’ days” (which aren’t coming back) or have an passionate entrepreneurial heart and make change work for us.
I think I’m choosing choice number two.
This is so true! My wife and I both fit into this category. When I lost my “normal” job a couple of years ago I simply figured out what I’m passionate about and made that my job. The other key to this is that when people like us are doing jobs we’re truly passionate about and have ownership stakes in, we do far better work than in traditional settings — we remember the “good ole days” as being constraining and monotonous and celebrate the current climate as the obvious next step.