AROinterview with Colin Wright

NAKED MAN ALERT!

I know. You don’t expect to see a naked man on THIS blog. Naked Maggie Gyllenhaal is far more likely but I’m a bit enamored with Colin Wright (and Adam Lambert) so here he is.

Colin is living life, both on and off line, the ARO way: authentic, relevant and organic. He’s the man behind Colinismy.name sustainable design studio and Exile Lifestyle, his vagabonding, location-independent lifestyle blog.

I’m a whore for people who live non-traditionally. If they can mix it with business, it is an ARO moment.

Some things Colin and I share:

1. He whittled down his possessions to 50! (I want to!)
2. He lets his readers vote every 4 months on his next travel location. (I have readers!)
3. He’s a Capitalist and a Humanist (caps his), and more. (I’m a humanist!)
4. He loves sustainable design (me too!).
5. He also runs an e-publishing design firm called ebookling (I LOVE THAT NAME) that he has big dreams for.
6. Clearly he likes to be naked. And so do I.

Here’s the interview:

Where’d your fearlessness come from? Especially in business?

Part philosophy and part experience.

I’ve got a good deal of Stoic in my personal philosophy, so the idea of lows being just as valuable as highs plays a big role in my decision-making.

On that same note, I’ve had several businesses fail in a very epic fashion, and after you’ve been on starvation rations and had your name dragged through the mud a few times for your failures, there’s not a lot left that’s too terrifying; just different degrees of uncomfortable.

I guess in a way I’m comforted by the fact that I know I can make a 6-figure income, and no one and nothing can take that away. So what if I make a huge miscalculation and lose everything? I’ve worked my way up from $4/hour before, and I can do it again.

What’s the worst that could happen?

What are your thoughts about online authenticity? How naked do you want to be?

I’m all about authenticity online, though I’m a brander so that should be expected.

The ideal brand is all you, not a fabrication. Branding merely organizes what’s important about you so that you can communicate your ideology to others faster. To NOT be authentic is just bad practice (and unfortunately all too common, online and off) and results in a confusing message and less impact.

I’m willing to be as naked as I need to be (in some cases, quite literally) in order to surround myself with the most brilliant, ambitious, game-changing people possible. This is why I started my blog, and to do otherwise would really be shooting myself in the foot.

And, to be perfectly honest, I’ve tried doing it otherwise and I just can’t…it’s not how I operate. I can’t get excited about projects that my name doesn’t have a stake in. I like the idea of constantly investing in my personal brand so that whatever I want to do in the future I’ll always have a head start. To not be transparent in my dealings and activities online would be to not reap the benefits of my actions as completely as I could be.

What makes you and your work relevant?

I think that’s a question for my readers!

That sounds flippant, but it’s really true. To me, my work is something I do for fun and in order to improve myself; to expand my horizons and gain new insight and to have an excuse to do crazy stuff that I would have trouble explaining to people otherwise.

I’ve had readers email me and say that I’ve helped them change the course of their lives, while others have insisted that I’ve expanded THEIR horizons and opened up some new path they didn’t even know was there.

I personally think that the role I play is the same role so many people have played for me: a catalyst. Just knowing that I’m doing what I’m doing has led people to make decisions and changes in their lives that they’ve known they should make all along (or opened their eyes to options they didn’t realize were there, but needed a kick to notice), and I’m thrilled to play that small part in their lives. I’m honored, actually. Every single email I get like that makes my day.

Who are your online/offline heroes?

Let’s see….

My parents have played a huge part, of course. They’ve always encouraged me and made sure that I knew if the worst should happen I’d have a place to come home to, not to mention the fact that my love of reading was instilled by them.

There are numerous philosophers and writers who have influenced me; way too many to list here, but books in general have taught me so much.

Seth Godin’s work has definitely helped me come to the realization that you don’t have to play dirty to succeed in marketing and branding.

Richard Branson’s entrepreneurial methods are inspiring. As someone who delves into different industries with each new business, I am absolutely fascinated by his overarching business methods.

I also tend to surround myself with these really brilliant people. Some are bloggers, some are entrepreneurs, some are just really brilliant folks living normal 9 to 5 lives. Regardless, though, they all keep me on my toes, keep me thinking and questioning, and keep me sane, knowing that there are other people out there who care as much about having a life worth living as I do (whatever they might do with that life).

What’s a book that changed your life?

Atlas Shrugged. The Objectivist philosophy that’s being conveyed is imperfect (as philosophies tend to be), but through this book Ayn Rand put into words so many things that I’ve always felt but didn’t know how to convey. A big part of who I am now came to be after reading this book.