445 Pivot Point: Finding Your Lost Mojo featuring Thomas Lion
Summertime is hard on podcasters!
We lose a lot of our listeners this time of year and it can be difficult to be motivated to keep putting out quality content when we know people aren’t as likely to listen.
This summer I’ve been focused on brief, less than 20-minute episodes that keep a person’s attention while still offering insights and entertainment.
What you’ve been hearing, and will continue to hear in each episode, is a brief story of a pivotal moment in a person’s life, and then a thread pulled to generate insights about it. I have two goals for you:
One – to uncover your related story for you to add to your collection to practice and have ready when the opportunity presents itself.
And two – to demonstrate storytelling in a practical, approachable way. Acknowledging that small, meaningful moments make great stories.
In today’s episode you’ll hear about Thomas Lion’s recovery from the loss of his home to a wildfire. The fire took his home and everything in it, including the first draft of his book, Gridless Near Seattle.
So, what do you do when you've lost everything?
Pivotal Moment: A 2015 wildfire destroyed his home, including the 180-page hard-copy manuscript for his latest novel, Gridless Near Seattle.
He rebuilt his life over and over again in the past, but after a wildfire took out his beautiful log home along with the draft of his novel, Thomas couldn't bring himself to go back to it.
That momentum-killer of loss held him for 7 years - until the right messenger showed up to remind him he's a writer, a talented one, and that he needed to sit down and get started again.
He restarted the novel, changed the title to Osprey Gold, and incorporated real-life experiences like his loss of a newly planted vinyard, thanks to highly motivated bears, and the pivot to a legal cannabis growing farm.
Curious? Listen to the episode, and then buy the book. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Listeners, now it's your turn:
What will you get back to work on, after hearing Thomas' story of resilience and persistence?
Who are the people who advocated for you, who are the people you'll listen to when you need a champion and cheerleader?
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From Thomas Lion
I’ve lived a long, colorful life — retiring from major marijuana wholesaling at 25, followed by five fugitive years that ended in an Unsolved Mysteries capture and years incarcerated teaching GED classes. My 1998 memoir was later optioned by Lions Gate. Between Osprey Gold and the Unsolved Mysteries American Fugitive memoir arc that came before it — the long road, the phoenix rise after losing everything in the 2015 wildfires, the rebuild, and the late‑life return to the writing rodeo — I’ve got a story your Boomer audience will connect with deeply. It’s one of those rare indie author journeys that’s truly worth telling. My writing comes from lived experience and resilience, with Osprey Gold shaped by the emotional engine of a modern‑day family facing crisis and reconciliation in polarized rural western America.
Check out the reviews of Tom's book, Osprey Gold:
Amazon.com: Osprey Gold: 9781662970191: Lion, Thomas: Books
Interview with Thomas Lion, Author of Osprey Gold - Seattle Book Review
Book review of Osprey Gold - Readers' Favorite: Book Reviews and Award Contest
After more than 430 episodes of this podcast, I was recently inspired to change the format of the show.
The new format for my show aligns with what I’m learning about narrative identity (how the stories we tell about ourselves internally and externally influence our identity) and demonstrates what I’ve been teaching for years: Sharing a story to reveal who you are and what matters to you.
My hope is that future episodes will offer more clarity about great storytelling and how to find and explore pivotal moments to demonstrate who we are.
About Sarah:
Sarah is a Montana based workplace communication trainer, TEDx speaker, DisruptHR speaker, public speaking coach, professional storyteller, musician, and podcast host. Her workshops and coaching packages with teams and their leaders are known to address and reduce miscommunication – the most common cause of tension and stress in the workplace. Using the team’s results from the StrengthsFinder assessment, she guides teams in learning to speak each other’s “language”, learning to value each other’s strengths and connecting with each other through enhanced self-reflection and effective listening.
Sarah’s nearly 20 years working in government agencies inspired her to complete her MBA and to achieve her StrengthsFinder certification to improve work environments for others, guiding teams toward increased satisfaction, productivity, and happiness.
Visit her website to purchase her book, Your Stories Don't Define You in paperback or audiobook.