PopUp Business School In Longmont (Come On Out!)

This post is a long winded article to convince you to attend PopUp Business School, a 2 week course that teaches you how to start a business the right way. It’s a completely free and wildly fun event here in Longmont Colorado next month. If you’d like to get right to PopUp and skip my gibberish, click here.

Sometimes, people come into your lives and change it. Some for the better and some for worse. This is a story about someone who changed my life for the better. First, we must take a trip down Memory Lane.

Four-Year-Old Me

When I started talking, well, I couldn’t. At least not very well. I stuttered. Sometimes, I couldn’t even get the word out of my mouth. It would appear in my brain and then get stuck there. The harder I tried, the more it stuck. I also couldn’t pronounce certain words. For some reason, any word with “sh” in it was a major issue.

After years of speech therapy, I overcame most of the issues, but the damage was done. Kids make fun of you. You feel like an outcast. You turn inward and keep your mouth shut. Deep, forced introversion.

This caused me to hate public speaking more than most. After a mandatory speaking course in college, I swore that I’d never give a speech again. However, 20 years later, I decided that I wanted to push my comfort boundary, so submitted a talk at a conference with another blogger. To my relief, the talk was rejected. My thought at the time was this:

Fantastic! Now, I really never have to give another talk. I tried and was turned down. Game over.

Not So Fast

In Ecuador, I met Alan Donegan, the head of PopUp Business School. At first, I was intimidated by his gregarious ways, but about halfway through the week, we started talking. I greatly enjoyed our conversation. Later in the week, he gave a spontaneous presentation and it was pretty great.

Alan is a person who knows how to give a talk. I was blown away by his skills. And, it made me realize something:

I wasn’t taught how to give a presentation correctly.

In my college course, we stood behind a podium, gave an introduction, delivered our three main points, and gave a conclusion. Everything was about the content, not about the delivery. Some of the speeches could have been very interesting, but they were delivered in such a bland fashion that they were sleep-inducing.

Alan’s style is the opposite. He could give a speech about toilet paper and hold your attention for an hour.

Anyway, the thought I had was this:

I need to give it another try, Alan style.

So I did.

Reborn

The first talk I gave was at Colorado State University. A counselor wanted me to talk about finances to students. When the big day came, I started freaking out:

What had I signed myself up for?

I was almost shaking during the drive there, but then the talk started and went pretty well. I had survived. And, I wanted to do it again.

• My second talk came at Camp FI in Florida. I was still nervous, but this one was a blast.
• The third talk was at a local meetup group.
• I’ll tell you about my fourth talk in a moment.
• My fifth will be at Camp FI in Minnesota later this month.
• My sixth will be in Greece at Chautauqua in October.

Instead of cowering in fear when asked to give a speech, I now look forward to it. It’s an incredible feeling.

You may be asking yourself this:

So now you enjoy speaking in public. So what?

I’m a better person. I’m more confident. I’ve made awesome connections. Now, others are asking me to talk too.

And this sounds so cliche and like such bullshit, but I’ll say it anyway; if I can make a difference in someone’s life by giving a talk, just one person, it’s all worth it.

I feel like a different person than I was just two years ago. All because I met Alan.

PopUp Business School In Longmont

But, this post isn’t supposed to be about me. This is actually about you. I want you to meet Alan yourself and I want you to do it on Longmont. Alan runs the PopUp Business School which teaches folks how to start a business the right way, lean and fast. No 50-page business plans. No second mortgages. Get customers in weeks and start making money.

And, the event is free. There are no upsells. Alan won’t ask you to buy anything. This isn’t a come-on for a pyramid scheme. The event is supported by sponsors. That’s it. I attended last year, so I know firsthand.

This is a seriously great event. Besides the incredible course, you’ll get to hang out with an incredible bunch of folks over the course of the two weeks. I hope to see you there: https://www.popupbusinessschool.co.uk/longmont.html

And oh yeah, I’ll be talking at this one too.

Thank you, Alan.