Storyteller Steps into Business Land

Is life like Groundhog Day, the same day repeated with slight variations as you live almost on autopilot? Is life like a Robert Rankin novel, where characters evolve and sudden plot twists spin everything on it's ear?
It's somewhere in between. Chaos mixed with routine.
One year telling stories on stage, the next behind the scenes researching products, price points, managing inventories and employees, focusing on sales rather than the impact of words.
It's different when you're used to direct interaction to step back and be responsible for the sales folk you select, wanting the people who have the skill and talent to connect with patrons. Why?
Because the highest quality interactions involve connecting. Finding the people with a knack for connecting with other people, who brighten other people's experience is possibly the hardest challenge whether you're creating a sales force or casting a show.
In a disconnected world, connection is valuable. It enhances our mood and gets us out of our heads.
Running five businesses that rotate products based on venue and season is a challenge. Keeping numbers and the mental to do list straight, tracking sales and inventory to make better ordering decisions. Figuring out how to display and sell overstock and taking care of back stock so it retains full value when it finally hits the shelves. Watching sales trends and price points. Figuring out how to communicate with employees to keep their morale up and to keep them focused on doing a good job. Expressing gratitude when jobs are well done. Addressing issues as neutral problems to solve rather than accusations or issues of blame. Accountability. Accepting mistakes are a part of life, and are going to happen, so document them: address them and go forward.
Plan ahead. Make a list of goals and work toward them. Without a  long term goal it's Groundhog Day, eventually your mood and attitude will tank.
Take the time to take care of you, which means taking care of your environment too. Nutrition, sleep, play, socialization, light, and laughter. Are you getting enough?
When you're a boss with employees: are they getting enough? Enough support, communication, information, products, guidance and stability outside the workplace- even though that's not boss responsibility, a person's outside life does impact their performance at work. The goal is for that impact to be positive or neutral.
Managing employees who do sales can be like the telephone game if your communication isn't stellar- their communication will be muted or mixed up. It can also be awesome, when an employee or team picks up communication well and exceeds expectations.
The costume shop team at Halloween naming outfits like "inflatable Uber driver" and making punny outfits; or Jess in the Halloween shop keeping product clean, organized with working batteries- teaching patrons to use the try me buttons rather than breaking products to see if they work. She spent hours testing and labeling what worked and what was just for decor. The patron may not have a concept of how much time and effort we put into setting that one shop up, but we know, and I appreciate the hours we spent together working on silly Halloween animated toys.
It's a year of learning, applying knowledge and experience. A crash course exam at a masters degree level in real life running businesses. Inventory, sales techniques, and marketing are as critical in sales as they are in storytelling. What do you have? How do you communicate and who are your characters?
Story versus Sale.
Story is sale. Sale is story.
I used to teach drama and acting to kids as sales. A volunteer would try to sell the rest of the class anything. The class would vote on how convincing the seller was. Anything could be a prop. One boy sold the rock climbing wall. Being a character is selling a role. Being a manager is selling employees in roles, products, shops and venues. Having pirates run the pirate shop, a Zen guru sell tapestries, playful characters in costumes, and light saber lovers showing of their favorites in the Light Up Shop.
A year of lessons to apply to bring next year to a higher level.
Not Groundhog Day. Not Far Fetched Fiction. Life with strategy.

Follow The Money

Strife shakes the ground, beliefs create barriers to understanding. Violence rocks our world. Excuses and blame pile up. This group, that group, because- because- because... Because of the wonderful things it does.

Money.

Set aside Saints, Sinners, Prophets, Saviors, even Gods. We'll get back to them.

Money. Greed. Profit motivates war. Profit motivates underpaying workers, choosing substandard materials and shoddy workmanship.

Greed and money motivates advertisers and politicians. Corporations overshadow society. Shaping our rituals and manipulating our emotions into sales. Diamonds are? Stones. Hard rocks used to cut rocks that aren't as hard. You are aware that the diamond industry wanted higher sales, so they invested in Hollywood. Marilyn Monroe sang the advertising into our hearts. A new ritual was created, diamond engagement rings. It's a gimmick. Did you fall for it?
Lithium? Powers your electronics. Where is lithium found? Afghanistan.
Middle east? Oil. If I wanted to incite you to violence oil wouldn't do it, but slashing at your religion or culture that's different.

Before you start foaming at the mouth, rising to a media sound bite or meme catch phrase pause.

Follow the money. Drop the feelings. Facts only.

Everything changes.

We each have the power to vote. We vote everyday with our spending.

Media argues and pushes topics at us, while filtering out topics that might negatively impact sales for the highest bidders. Others buy our information, that we freely shared, bored and lonely and curious on Facebook. The ads become tailored to you. You're stalked by virtual profit hunters, political manipulators.

They'll use what you've given them against you. Your interests, insecurities, deep seated fears are the weapons they use. They let you pick your poison, even earn you of the risks. They let you pick what you sentence yourself to. Twenty years in this cubicle or that production line. Sign yourself into indentured servitude with loans.

Educate yourself. Find your own freedom, follow your passion and face down fear. Shit happens, pain too, deal and go on.

Follow the money. Be aware the more alarmist the news gets, or the more superficial that there's a reason it's being shoveled out the way it is.

What are you missing? Why do you hate who you hate? Life is too short to waste being poisoned by spite and rhetoric.

Remember, the choice really is yours. If you choose to have it.