Music - A Universal Language

Since its definitely one of my favorite topics, I wanted to continue a topic that Tim had kind of started - Music.

Music has always been one of my passions and a big part of my daily existence. If I could have chosen a profession while I was still in my mother's womb, I would have chosen to be a professional musician (er, rock star preferably and not a starving professional musician, playing one in a set of two pianos, dueling in a bar attended by rowdy underage college freshman). However, despite the occasional 'mean' jam session on my battered 6 string and my somewhat feeble attempts to put together a song on music composition software, I couldn't really say that I'm a gifted musician. But I can say that I have exceptional musical taste. Or at least my ears feel I do.

Besides listening to music constantly at work, from time to time, I declare it a music day and spend at least half of my 9 to 5 work day searching for new music while being paid by the Man. My goal as far as music and this blog is concerned is to occasionally review an album that most people haven't heard. And you may occasionally reap the benefits, or of course, the detriments, depending upon your musical taste.

But I could go on and on. The real reason for this entry is really to talk about how music is a common connection, a kind of universal langauge. The kind of connection and language that Lifestyle Group is all about and was partly founded upon. It is a commonality found among all people and all cultures. It is a language that transcends boundaries of religion, race, or creed.

I'm going to steal this from Tim because I feel it is a great way to start a good conversation that can lead to a real connection with someone. He often uses this question to start a conversation with random people that we meet. The question is, "What's playing on your Ipod." We all know it can be hard to make it past the courtesies of general conversation (hi, how are you?, my name is: (insert name), the weather has been really hot in Bangkok, blah, blah, blah.) and get past the exterior shell that keeps us from really getting to know one another. 

If you are a music lover, and I would hope that you are, try to start a conversation with this question.  Generally, if a passionate conversation about music ensues, then at least the first step to a positive connection is made. The worst that could happen is that someone might say Brittany Spears or someone of the same ilk, but at least if they are passionate about it, then good conversation could still ensue and a connection could still be made (unlikely, but possible).

What's in my current rotation: The National - The Virginia EP, The Verve - Forth, MGMT - Oracular Spectacular, The Faint - Fasciination, City and Colour - Bring Me Your Love

The LifeStyle Group : Creating Connections

The LifeStyle Group
by Sheila R. Rose

In my dictionary, “networking” is a bad word. I cringe at the thought of attending a business related function where conversations feel contrived and relationships are formed out of tit-for-tat obligations.

This being said, I revel in “connecting” to people. To me, a true connection is formed when strangers relate to one another based on ideas, beliefs, backgrounds, interests and/or experiences. For a brief moment, life makes sense when you’re talking to someone and you think, “Wow, I get that.”

The LifeStyle Group is about connecting smart, creative, fun and genuine individuals who have an appetite for living life outside of what they know.

Several years ago when I lived in Arizona, I read about an avant-garde artist who saw life as his ultimate art project. Something in me knew I had to connect to him, so I did the unthinkable and e-mailed him. We started a string of e-mails back and forth until we agreed to take our virtual connection and physically meet at a hip coffeehouse called The Willow House in downtown Phoenix.

In many ways, Pete and I were completely different in how we lived life, yet we connected on how we saw life as art. Pete asked if I would like to attend a First Friday Art Walk with him, and I agreed. A few days before the event, Pete e-mailed me to tell me Friday would be my first performance art piece. He instructed me to show up to the event dressed in homeless attire. “He must be kidding,” I thought to myself. But he wasn’t, and I was willing to live out art.

That night two mere strangers walked through various art galleries to see life through the spectacles of “bums.” An open house art night is open to the public. The public includes people of all socio-economic backgrounds, including those who live on the streets. As a girl who has lived life in the upper middle class echelon, I was amazed at how people treated me that night. I was shoved around, avoided, ignored, ridiculed and mistrusted not because of my actions but all because of how I appeared.I learned something that night I will carry with me forever. All because I was willing to connect to someone based on a common interest and take a risk.

As a marketer, I am constantly looking for ways to take myself out of my box and experience life through other lenses. I feel it makes me a better marketer.

I can’t wait to meet you. Hopefully, we will “connect” on some level.

The Lifestyle Group: Founding Story Part 2

So, as a co-conspirator of the Lifestyle Group, I thought I would add my bit of how I got to this point in life and what Lifestyle Group means to me.

I moved to California six and a half years ago from St. Louis, MO, and started down the road of a "real" job. You know, the 9 to 5er gig. The kind that many of us have and many of us hate. I began that road in the printing and fulfillment industry and over the course of the next 6 and half years jumped to 3 different print and fulfillment companies, one software consulting firm, and one sales position. However, these weren't the jobs that got me to where I'm at now.

Now, If I really thought about it, I'd have to say that my years in the service industry is what really got me to this point. I spent about 7 years working in restaurants, bars, and nightclubs, trying to figure out what I was doing and where I was going. But those were not years spent in waste. Rather, they were years well spent in the study of psychology, human nature, conversation, fashion, art, and all things that people have to offer. I met anywhere from 50 to 100 people a day, had conversations of more than 5 minutes with more than 1000 different people a year, ranging from couples on a date, people on a business trip, CEOs, vacationing families, pro atheletes, artists, actors, movie stars, musicians, etc, et al. Every walk of life. And the big advantage of working in the service industry is that "people gotta eat and people gotta go out", no matter who they are in life and you will be there to meet them.

Well, I'm sure you're asking yourself where all this is going, and where I'm at now? I'll have to admit that I'm not quite where I want to be, but I know I'm traveling the right path. I still have a 9 to 5, but it's days to months before I blow that joint and am on my way to the lifestyle that I dream about. Why? Because I belive in in the idea of a lifestyle. Lifestyle is what I learned during my years of conversations and interactions with clients, customers, and and most importantly friends.

So, what is Lifestyle Group and what's it all about? It's exactly how it reads. The STYLE in which you wish to live your LIFE. Life-Style..........So what style do you want to live your life?

Every facet of a person's life makes up their lifestyle. But there's livin' life and there's livin' life. And if your like most poeple, you want to live life. What I've come to realize is that what's going to drive most of our lifestyles is our professional lives. And what's going to drive our professional lives is our connection with other people.

In meeting Tim Andren, co-founder of Lifestyle Group, I made one of those all important connections. We instantly bonded on a personal level. We found we had similar tastes in music, fashion, style, philosophies, and goals. Because of this personal connection, we found it easy to connect on a professional level and are currently working on several projects, one of which is Lifestyle Group, that we believe will set each of us free to live a lifestyle of our choosing.

And that's what Lifestyle Group is really about. Making connections with people is the reason for our founding of and commitment to the group. We want to meet people that have similar interests, similar passions, similar dreams as well as meet people that are completely different from us but can teach us something about ourselves that we could not learn on our own. It is our belief that it will be these connections that will help all of us reach the point where we can choose whatever lifestyle we wish to live.

Welcome to Lifestyle Group.

I hope to meet you soon.