Corporate Dropout Rediscovers Self... and Life

Having recently transitioned out of a 9 to 5 corporate job, Mike has been aggressively reinventing himself, not only career-wise but also in how he approaches life (and work) in general. The metamorphosis drove him to write the following piece, aptly titled "Caution: Adults At Play", which sums up his opinion about what a work environment should truly be. Enjoy...

Caution: Adults At Play

By Mike Lauterborn

© 2010. All Rights Reserved.

3/17/10

A marketing, advertising and promotion executive for the past 25 years working 9 to 5 posts at various agencies, Mike Lauterborn decided it was high time for a change and to pursue some of his own interests and passions. On February 23, 2010 – a date that Lauterborn now refers to as his own personal “Independence Day” – the beaten, dissatisfied 45-year-old professional quite suddenly made up his mind and walked away from a VP job with the goal of reinventing himself.

The decision was tough at first and doubts that he'd made the right decision lingered -- particularly with an unsteady economy and a nationwide unemployment rate hovering at over 10%.

As a first step, Lauterborn busied himself with home projects he’d long neglected and had had no energy for after the daily grind. Then he began cleaning, and turfing out, and carting away, all the old clutter of life that had accumulated throughout his house. And then he began to write... and write... and write… returning to a craft that he had begun at a very early age and honed and polished through teachers and creative writing classes and early employers and his father… but had set aside like an old favorite plaything, figuring that writing would never earn him the money he needed to start a family and one day have a house.

And as Lauterborn looked at this outpouring of writing, this unleashed creativity, a flame was rekindled… and a new direction and beginning of a plan determined. Lauterborn decided to officially become a full-time “Freelance Writer.”

His writing was freehand thought flow at first, then very defined typed pieces as his creative synapses started to reconnect and spark, like a cold engine turning over. And as this mental engine started to heat up, thoughts flowed like oil through his system and filled pages and pages of writing tablets and Xerox paper. Ideas began to come so fast and frequently that he began to carry a pad around and keep one beside the bed as middle-of-the-night inspiration visited.

Then the thought: could he gather these mental offspring into some defined assemblage of thought on a current event or topic for which a magazine and/or newspaper would be willing to pay? And so he started pitching to editors… and getting hits… that resulted in checks.

But what about all his marketing skills? Would those just go dormant? Why not offer those out there, too. So he designed a website, hired a web designer to bring it to life and sent a flurry of emails to agencies and accounts… and hits and appointments started to happen there, too.

What about teaching writing? Folks had always told Lauterborn he had the right personality and patience and interest to pursue the profession… so another, different batch of emails and calls went to that set… and appointments and plans were made and Lauterborn created an 8-week course plan to present to deans at local universities.

What of that old biz idea to run a local tour service? And why did it just have to be local? It could be franchised. Meetings and calls and one-sheet designs and financial discussions followed with great expression of interest all around.

Of course, there was the book project and manuscript that had long slept in a binder on Lauterborn’s coffee table. Back in 2003, Lauterborn had been inspired by John Steinbeck’s 1960 “Travels with Charley” road trip around the U.S. to replicate the journey, see what the author had seen, follow his path and write about it. The result – after spending 66 days traveling solo over 16,000 miles of road, interviewing 225 people, snapping 665 photos, visiting 35 states and four provinces of Canada, securing the support of 10 national sponsors and self-promoting himself to newspapers and magazines to get press pick-up all over the country – was “Chasing Charley”, a 250-page manuscript. But the publishing houses Lauterborn approached either didn’t have time for a first-time author, took eons to respond (as Lauterborn’s funds dwindled) or had stringent requirements for manuscript submission. All had been for naught it seemed and he limply surrendered to the call of the corporate promotion world, taking the plunge back into the agency world.

In the intervening years, friends, neighbors and local residents who knew about Lauterborn’s trip would repeatedly ask, “Is the book out? Did you write it? Can I get a copy? I always thought it was a good idea.” All Lauterborn could do was hang his head and make excuses, bewildered about how all the initial fanfare had withered and been muted.

It seemed too good a project and too much of an investment of time and money to just let it go. An agent, it seemed to Lauterborn, was just what was needed to resuscitate the book and the buzz.

And so he reached out to Weston agent Bob Diforio. A seasoned exec and clever marketer, Bob had an associate agent read Lauterborn’s manuscript. “This is absolutely beautiful prose, and recreating Steinbeck’s journey was a brilliant idea, well executed. You definitely want to read this one,” she trumpeted. In turn, Diforio relayed this to any and all publishing execs for which he thought the book would be an appropriate fit… and they’ve started to bite… and bite… and bite.

And as these publishing empires chew on Lauterborn’s manuscript, the writer/marketing consultant/entrepreneur is busy developing a second book that involves a journey to Jamaica, an excursion that he (and this time his wife, boys and even father-in-law) will make in late June, spending 2 ½ weeks combing the lush island and uncovering both its sweet treasures and painful, violent past.

And Lauterborn will work to develop yet another business concept to support other entrepreneurs… all the while continuing to reinvent his life, approach to work and guiding mantras. As he remarked recently to his new personal assistant, Cynthia “C.C.” (like “Chasing Charley”) Licenziato, “I want to have fun doing what I do. I never want it to seem like work. I want to go out for ice cream in the middle of the day, or take a dip in the ocean, or take the day off completely, whenever I feel like it… and not be bullied and pushed and held back by anyone ever again… No day should be average. No two days should be alike. THIS IS A REBELLION OF THE MIND AND SPIRIT!! Are you with me comrade?!!!”

Mulligan Stew A Rival of Egg Phooey

Foregoing a local parade and puttering in the kitchen trying to decide what to have for lunch on a beautiful St. Patrick's Day, Mike fondly recalled a dish called Egg Phooey that his Grandad Lauterborn liked to whip together. This was typically scrambled eggs as a base, with last night's leftovers mixed in. Often, the additive was spaghetti. With some cheese sprinkled in as well, this was hearty fare.

Inspired by the memory, Mike rummaged in the refrigerator extracting a potpourri of leftovers with which to "build" a stew. The latter included ziti, a chopped up yellow onion, diced potatoes, brown rice from a Chinese take-out order, the contents of a can of chicken noodle soup, a small portion of some other leftover soup and water to thin it out a little. The result? In honor of the day, he called it Mulligan Stew. The mish-mash of ingredients, incidentally, was often how the writer often ate on the road during his "Chasing Charley" adventure. Simply delicious.

A Toast to Julia Marie O'Brien

The toast that Mike had planned to make later in the day to his dear grandmother "Julie" was moved up in scheduling, to first thing in the morning on St. Pat's Day, around 6:30am. After brewing up a pot of good strong coffee and being joined in the kitchen by his elder son Evan, Mike decided the moment was right to pay tribute to the departed matriarch. He and his son filled their mugs (green in color of course) with java and tipped in a little splash of spirits. Ideally, this should have been some Jameson's, but some Warre's Warrior Special Reserve Port would have to do -- and added a nice raisin-y flavor to the concoction to boot. So it was that they raised their mugs, clinked them together and toasted, "To Julia Marie O'Brien, wherever you are. Happy St. Patrick's Day."

Mike reaching out personally to each of the 225 people he interviewed on the road

In an ambitious endeavor and great desire to reconnect with old acquaintances, Mike is reaching out by email and phone to each of the 225 people he met and interviewed during the course of his "Chasing Charley" travels back in Fall 2003. With the passage of 6 1/2 years between the time when he took his trip and now, Mike is letting people know that the project is not dead and, in fact, is far from it, as blog sites, social networking pages, websites, articles of renewed interest, phone calls and recent interviews attest. He hopes to hear back from all of his contacts and expects their replies to be quite surprised and, at the same time, eager for the appearance of a finally printed hard copy of Mike's book. With luck, Mike hopes that his path will again meet up with these people, who so kindly accommodated him during his journey, and that they will enjoy the travelogue that he so thoughtfully penned with respect to Steinbeck.

Mike tapped by Fairfield County Weekly for article

Fairfield County Weekly Editor Nick Keppler recently contracted Mike to develop an 800-word article regarding the long-standing battle between physicians and the courts over assisted suicide. The courts say that providing "aid in dying" is essentially second-degree manslaughter and that physicians that provide such assistance can be prosecuted. Physicians believe there should be no penalty for providing this assistance, if the terminally ill person is of sound mind and judgement and has requested help to this regard.

Mike has created an initial draft of the article and plans to speak later this week with the two physicians that recently filed a lawsuit challenging the legislation. The working title of Mike's article is "Physicians and Courts Go Toe-to-Toe in the Assisted Suicide Debate."

Mike pens 500-word article on commuting for Fairfield Magazine

Mike recently contracted with Fairfield magazine (5x/yr), a lifestyle magazine for and about the town of Fairfield, CT, to pen an article with vignettes about local commuting experiences. For the article, Mike e-blasted all of his known local commuter friends to dig deep for their best stories. The resulting article featured the three best submissions, which Mike finessed for both fit and content, as well as supplied creative subheadings. The article will appear in the May/June 2010 issue. See below for an advance peek:

No Ordinary Commute

By Mike Lauterborn

© 2010. All rights reserved.

3/5/10

FAIRFIELD MAGAZINE

May/June 2010 issue

For many of us who ride the train to and from Fairfield, the trip is uneventful – even mundane. Then, there are those other times…

Musical Muppets

It was mid-morning on Halloween and Fran, her husband and their two elementary school-aged girls were bound for a football game at Fordham University. They were running late and a little on edge knowing that they’d need to get home quickly afterwards for trick-or-treating. Initially unable to find four seats together, they started to move to the next car. Coming the other direction, a band of young adults dressed as Sesame Street muppets -- Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, Elmo, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch -- quite suddenly burst into the show’s theme song, "Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?" Everyone in the car was immediately elevated to a different place and a cheery Sesame Street vibe resulted.

Tunnel Vision

It was August 2003. Maryann had been in the city all morning and was returning home. Five minutes in, while still underground, the train lost power and came to a halt. She thought little about it as this was common and expected the ride to resume shortly.

“Ladies and gentlemen. There’s been a major power outage along the East coast,” the conductor announced.

The immediate thought was terrorism, though passengers just busied themselves chatting, awaiting further word. Ultimately everyone filed from the idle train to an emergency exit and the street.

They were in the East 80’s. With cell lines jammed, Maryann phoned her husband from a pay phone. He arranged an overnight at a friend’s apartment on the West side. In high heels, she made the 20-block trek to the 9^th floor flat. Other stranded friends joined them and soon they were enjoying melting ice cream on a terrace and surveying the dark city, only the indomitable Trump “T” visible in the distance.

Snakes On A Train

It was the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. The 4:54 out of Stamford was packed. Shortly after Amy boarded, two men and a young woman with a 'dog' in tow stepped on.

The woman was very pregnant. Amy offered her seat. They were headed from Maine to Colorado to tell relatives the joyous news.

Amy noticed the ‘dog’ looked stressed and offered some water. “He’s fine,” the woman said, “just edgy from the train and an elevator ride at the station.” She continued, “We’re saving him from being put down… as he’s half-wolf. And if you think the dog’s hot and bothered, that’s nothing compared to what the python in my bag is feeling.”

The ENTIRE car fell silent. “Did you say you had a snake in your bag?” Amy asked. “Yes, it’s a Ball Python. But don't worry, my bag is zipped… it can't get out.”

Amy recalled another commute wherein she saw a young man throwing up into a baseball cap while holding a bouquet of roses… but that’s a story for another day.

Mike to be VIP Guest at 3/17 Fairfield Book Signing & Cheese Tasting

After pouring himself a black & tan and toasting his dear departed grandmother Julia Marie O'Brien, Mike will enjoy part of St. Patrick's Day as a VIP Guest at a Book Signing & Cheese Tasting with Allison Hooper of Vermont Butter & Cheese Company. The event will be held from 5-7p.m. at Fairfield Cheese Company, 2090 Post Road (Harry's Corner), Fairfield, CT 06824. For info: 203-292-8194.

Mike initially reached out to Laura Downey, the event organizer, to propose that he cover the event and describe the experience in an article he would pen and submit for publication to local newspapers. Laura embraced the idea and granted Mike special access for the evening. Harry's spirits shop, adjacent to the cheese shop, will supply fine wines to accompany the assorted cheeses, which are of an "artisan" variety. Ms. Hooper pioneered this type of small batch, handcrafted cheese in the early 1980s and is essentially known as a master -- or you might say "Head Cheese" -- in this area.

A cheese lover spawned from a long line of cheese lovers, Mike plans to attend with an eager pallette and do his share of sampling -- all in the interest of investigative journalism, of course!