We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chris Widener. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chris below.

Hi Chris, thanks for joining us today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

The first time I ever got paid for a speaking engagement was to a youth retreat in Eastern Pennsylvania. As a youth director I had taken kids to the retreat before but had never been asked to speak. I always thought that the topics were kind of boring, or at least the titles made them seem boring. Topics like “self-esteem and you,“ didn’t really thrill the kids. One year, they asked me to speak and it generated a $500 honorarium. I decided that I was going to title my speech something that would make the kids come to the session. So I named my speech on self-esteem, “how to you feel good about yourself even with a big zit in the middle of your forehead.“ Now there is good news, and there is bad news. The good news is that 95% of all the kids chose to come to my session over any of the other sessions offered, and I would attribute that to a great marketing title. The bad news is, even though I only get pimples about once a year, you guessed it, I had a giant zit right in the middle of my forehead for that speech. I guess it was all serendipity and meant to be.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I began speaking professionally right out of college. Because of my crazy upbringing of 28 homes, 11 schools, shipped off to live with relatives twice, and starting drugs in the sixth grade, after getting my life together, many people wanted me to come and talk to their youth groups etc.

Over the course of my career it has transitioned into speaking to adult groups, particular around the ideas of success, motivation, and leadership. I have traveled all over the world, giving 2500 speeches, to crowds as large as 25,000 people. Every time I step on a stage it is a thrill to know that I am challenging and encouraging others to become their best.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

It is to help people live their best lives. My father died when he was 41 years old and I was only four years old. I’ve always had a profound understanding of the brevity of life. You only get one go round in this world and we should all make the most of it. A quote from one of my books says“you can’t determine how long you live, but you can determine how well you live..”

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Groups of speakers who get together to share best practices and encouragement.

Contact Info:

• Website: ChrisWidener.com