cut the canopy – alison says yes – i met a billionaire

if i had told younger jeff that in his 63rd year he would be meeting a billionaire, meeting a world renowned artist, and giving four one hour talks he’d have been surprised.

in the same week, probably very surprised.

this week i travelled to london to see and meet sir michael moritz, a cardiff born billionaire, who made his money as a venture capitalist at sequoia capital, investing in stocks in companies such as google, paypal, youtube, and airbnb.

i also had the wonderful opportunity to talk online to the amazing alison lapper, who i had scheduled to talk to last week, but she had been ill, so we rescheduled for monday lunchtime.

i was extremely excited to jump on the call with her and her assistant sally.

but before both of these events, last friday was one of the most enjoyable work experiences i’ve had for some time.

both challenging and immensely rewarding at the same time.

i had received a text message from a friend of mine, claire manson, who is a deputy headteacher at brecon high school, and she had seen and heard me speak previously when she was at a school in cardiff.

her message came through on a sunday, and she asked whether i’d be available to do a day talking to eleven to sixteen-year-olds at their school in four separate sessions.

we discussed the project a little more, and i discovered that she needed the sessions to be an hour long, which is a standard time for a full fat talk.

this, experience told me would be both physically and psychologically challenging due to the content.

buckle up.

i drove through the beautiful brecon beacons.

the backdrop painted with moody clouds, offering up what was to be a weather situation that looked like rain for most of the day, little did i know.

i carried my everest kit bag from the car, and pulled it towards the arena.

it felt like the many times that i had pulled my bag into a hockey rink, ready to adorn my uniform, and ply my trade.

i was early, met claire, and prepped my slide deck with the schools technical set up.

the room was vast, and the image projected on the wall was at least 20ft.

the seating was tiered bleachers, and the distance between the wall and the seating was easily 30ft.

i had a lot of room to walk around, prowling for dramatic effect, and getting really close to the audience, within touching distance when necessary, looking into their eyes.

i couldn’t wait.

as the children filed into the room, all shapes and sizes, their ages difficult to tell, the nerves kicked in.

talking to adults, especially professional adults who are there to listen to you and to pay you courtesy of respecting your space is one thing.

intruding upon school children’s time and space is another thing.

trying to gain respect of teenagers, i had experienced in my previous talks at schools, is quite difficult.

hopefully i was more experienced now and could get an audience’s attention immediately, and then take them on a journey.

connecting to them emotionally. and keeping them engaged. and hopefully awake!

the talk flew by, and i had added in some brecon high school relevant content, which made the teachers in the room look at each other and smile as my slides came up with their school mantra on them.

preparation is key.

sometimes in talks it’s hard to keep the attention of the room, but even though this one was my first one of the day, i felt in flow.

moose story, check.

kilimanjaro, check.

everest, check.

bigmoose, check.

and, we’re done.

the teacher encouraged the school children to applaud and ask questions. and as they filed out, i was met with a group of girls offering to fist bump me, which i found hilarious.

behind the girls a group of boys followed suit, resembling a line of ducks following their mum.

not how i had planned the day to go.

but, very enjoyable to experience nonetheless.

i spoke to the teachers that were in the room after the talk, and they gave me all the verbal signals that as humans we always strive for.

i was happy.

after every talk i ever do, i am always tired, due to the emotional story that i tell, from losing moose at the age of forty-two, to my own journey.

and today was no different.

then it hit me.

three more talks to go.

this was gonna be an epic challenge.

to keep my energy, high energy.

to present to my three more audiences with the same passion and enthusiasm as the first was going to be chall en ging.

i rehydrated. and had a snack to replenish my sugar levels.

and onto team two.

same story, same emotion, same result.

the teacher in charge of this room proceeded to tell me she had never seen the children be so quiet and engaged, and i reflected on how they had followed me as i prowled around the room.

two down, two to go.

the third session had mrs mansons class, and things went well, until my mac decide to stick on a slide, and like when you see someone in a park trying to pull a dog away from its 53rd wee of the walk, the slide wasn’t budging.

i communicated to the audience this had never happened, kept them informed for what felt like an eternity, then made the decision to, in skydiving parlance “cut the canopy”.

which is basically what you do when you skydive and pull the cord to open your chute, and it tangles, leaving you hurtling towards the ground at terminal velocity, 120 miles per hour.

you are taught to stay calm.

cut the canopy.

stabilise your body as you’re falling with no chute.

then pull your reserve chute.

drifting gently to earth, with a great bar story for the rest of your days.

i cut the canopy.

“we’ll carry on without slides” i informed class 3 with a strong voice.

no boos.

we’re winning.

30 seconds later, the school tec, fernando, informed me he had got it working.

i thanked him, and ad libbed to my audience that we all need a team, and never be afraid to ask for help, adding that life is never straightforward, and when presented with obstacles, it’s how we manage them that matters.

always stay calm.

never panic.

find a way.

claire smiled, and the third talk was done.

one more to go.

i was running on adrenaline.

and absolutely loving it.

i tell a long winded story in my talk which directs the audience towards what they think is the outcome.

i build the drama.

but then completely shift direction, presenting a comedy finish, which had the fourth group laughing and whooping, louder than any audience i’ve ever had before, leaving me intoxicated as we wrapped.

unbeknownst to me this was the naughty class, but they were brilliant, and well behaved, which their teacher waxed lyrical about.

i packed my everest down suit into my bag, exhausted but happy, and as i rolled out of the school one of teachers called out “i hope you miss the snow” which i thought weird.

as i entered the beacons, the snow fell, and by the storey arms hostel was laying thick on the ground.

i slowed my speed, and contemplated if i got stuck.

i smiled as i played scenarios through in my mind.

life’s an adventure right?

and i love the one i’m on.

take the risk, do the 4 talks, don’t miss the chance.

till next week.

blue skies.

jeff

p.s. alison lapper was wonderful and is joining the bigmoose squad, story to follow.

c