We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christian René Wold. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christian René below.
Christian René, appreciate you joining us today. Too often the media represents innovation as something magical that only high-flying tech billionaires and upstarts engage in – but the truth is almost every business owner has to regularly innovate in small and big ways in order for their businesses to survive and thrive. Can you share a story that highlights something innovative you’ve done over the course of your career?
16 years ago, I went from living a life involved in substance abuse and crime to completely turning my life around within a few years. After serving a sentence and being released in 2008, I started a bachelor’s degree in social work and completed the program in 2013. I secured a job within the Oslo municipality, working in preventative youth work, and excelled in this role. I then discovered my passion for writing books about my experiences in criminal environments and went on to publish two books with one of the country’s leading publishers. However, that wasn’t enough – in 2019, a close friend and his mother and I started our own publishing company, and four years later, we have published over 20 books, some of which have become national bestsellers. So, one could say that the adversity I faced in the past has inspired me to look forward in a completely different way. I am now interested in building solid foundations that make a difference in community work. That’s why I travel around Scandinavia giving lectures to people of all ages, spreading the message that anything is possible as long as you want it badly enough.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I entered the book industry as an author and quickly realized that the competition to stand out was so massive that I had to focus on self-promotion in order for bookstores to even consider stocking my books. Therefore, I started doing rounds of author visits in different cities, visiting those who place orders. A method i`m still using with our other authors. At the same time, I began giving lectures on crime prevention and lifestyle changes. This combination proved to be very successful, and so far in 2023, I have given over 30 lectures nationwide and sold out a couple of editions of my books along the way. I realized that this approach could be further boosted through the use of social media, and quickly gained over 100k followers with targeted updates that do not always revolve around books, but instead cover relevant societal topics that interest people. One could say that I became an influencer who was not interested in profiting from helping others with valuable messages. I have also been completely open in the media and on TV, further strengthening my credibility.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
When it comes to building followers on social media, it is quite complex, and it takes a lot to build and maintain engaging content. I spent a lot of time studying other accounts and quickly realized that one should not focus too much on hype and advertising, but rather let the promotion of what you want to promote happen naturally. For example, when I am giving a lecture, it is natural for me to post a scene of signing books for the audience, which generates interest on its own. Instead of just posting about the book costing $35 and where to order it, those who watch the video will have to find it themselves if they want to read it. This approach actually worked well for me.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
A big part of life is to not give up when things get tough. This was also the case for me when I decided to leave a big publishing house and start on my own. I used my credit card and bought the remaining stock of over 2000 books, deciding to sell them myself. This was in the spring, and I reached out to alternative venues such as cafes, bars, clothing stores, dry cleaners, and tattoo parlors. After three weeks, I had 40 outlets and promoted them on social media. So it was a win-win situation. At the same time, I announced that I would deliver signed books on rollerblades, which took off after the media covered it with a story. In total, I skated 2709 kilometers that year and sold enough books to pay off my credit card. It was a tough period, but later that fall, we were able to start our own publishing house and released three books that did really well.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.skamlost-forlag.no
- Instagram: kiranwashere
- Facebook: Christian Rene Wold
- Linkedin: Christian René Wold
- Other: IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3890573/booking-agent-public-speeches: https://www.athenas.no/flx/foredragsholdere/christian-rene-wold/
Image Credits
Victorya Lunde, Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen, own photos Photocredit: Karl Lindqvist – Photocredit headshot: Victorya Lunde All other photos are my own