We recently connected with Jeff Bogle and have shared our conversation below.

Jeff, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Oof, such a tough question because, in large part, how does one even define ‘success’? I think that’s the starting point for each of us, the need to envision success, not in the Hollywood or antiquated 2.5 kids and a picket fence ‘American Dream’ sense of the word, but what being successful means to us as individuals. For me, I don’t yet know if I’ve achieved success on my terms because I’m not yet in a home, on a plot of green land, with a community of hospice rescue cats living out their lives outside in the most idyllic way imaginable, while also running a used book store, record shop, and community space to fulfill my goal of being part of the social infrastructure that all towns, cities, and communities need to truly be whole. So yeah, hah, I’m not quite there yet.

That said, I think many onlookers may see me, a 49-year-old guy with no college degree and no special skills per se, who has a literary agent and who got a Big 5 book deal, who is happily married and comfortable in a nice apartment, who has two kids who love him, who runs a literary magazine and small book press, and who often gets to travel to some remarkable places because he’s managed to find himself as a freelance travel writer, as something resembling a success. And I will admit that, while I have always struggled with the concept of contentment and therefore am always going on to the next thing and the next thing (and therefore often struggling to be in the present), they are not totally wrong. I regularly say that I am the luckiest guy in the world, but I often need to be reminded of this fact. And to that end, to your question, I think it takes a few intangible things to be successful in this life, no matter how we define it, things we all pretty much, I think, can have and do. But first, a little story.

When I was a child, the youngest boy in an upper-middle-class suburban family, I tried my best to reject help and money and, well, anything that I didn’t do and earn on my own. I was, and still am in a way, a punk rock kid who wanted to be an individual, to stand alone. I started booking hardcore punk concerts in basements and I founded an indie rock record label, all in an effort to try to make something that was wholly mine from scratch, using my own money, creativity, and effort. I was also a sports fan who didn’t idolize superstars, but rather, looked up to players who, if based on talent alone, would maybe never have risen above the crowd. These specific people realized that their skills weren’t any greater than their peers, so they needed to outthink, outwork, out hustle, and just plain try harder all the time if they were going to find success as a professional athlete. I see myself in the same light: not an athlete, but a creative person who can do some things—take a photo, edit it well, see the world in a certain way, write a story, design a book or magazine cover—but not inherently do any of these things brilliantly. I don’t have any ‘god-given’ talent. So I knew that I would need to outthink, outwork, and try harder, all while being kind, caring, genuine, on time, and considerate of others. That’s the formula, I think, the crux of it all for me. These are the attributes that have set me on a path toward success years ago. Things you don’t need a degree or certificate for.

Another story. Once, when I was a dad blogger just starting to get offered press trips and fun things like that, Toyota flew my whole family from Philadelphia to the Big Island of Hawaii to experience their new Sienna minivan. We were one of four families chosen for this trip, the other three journalists representing publications far more popular and well-read than mine. I asked the VP of Corporate Communications for all of Toyota why I was there, because I couldn’t understand it. Surely there were other qualified writers and photographers who could give them more return on their investment (oh yeah, I suffered from serious imposter syndrome back then!). His reply was something along the lines of: because you’re kind and good to work with, you respond to emails promptly and in a professional way, and because we like you. It was the first time I heard that not all business and success is about numbers on a spreadsheet, that humanity and effort may be rewarded, too.

Fast forward many years, and I found myself on a cruise writing a story for Good Housekeeping about aging. I’m really proud of that one, but the best thing to actually come out of it was hanging out with so many street cats in Greece and Istanbul. What a dream for this cat dad! I returned home and sent a cat-related tweet that was comprised with every ounce of geeky, awkward, earnest passion that I possess. In short, I was being very true to myself in public, something I’ve been doing for my whole life. Many people seem to be turned off exuberant and earnest passion, but I’ve found that the right people, the people who you’re truly meant to be around/your community, will eventually find you. And boy was that true in the summer of 2023. Folks started to see my silly tweet and respond to it, including a cat-loving literary agent I’d later sign with. I frantically wrote a proposal for a book called Street Cats and Where to Find Them, after Googling how to write a proposal for a non-fiction book, and we sold it quickly, four months to the day of that tweet. This is the best professional success story of my life and I owe it to a good idea, yes, but mainly, I think, to me being genuine and true in a public setting (Twitter) and to me working incredibly hard to write a proposal, be kind and authentic on a series of calls and emails with the publisher, traveling the world with wide, curious, and caring eyes to make the book, and infusing it with much love and passion.

To make a long story short (too late) I think the things that make us successful are the effort and care and the authenticity we put into what we do and who we interact with along the way. I owe everything I’ve managed to do and have in this life to the work ethic I possess, the kindness I try to exhibit, and the massive amount of love with which I do each and every big and small thing.

My book Street Cats and Where to Find Them will be published by Running Press on August 19, 2025. It’s available to pre-order now, from wherever you buy books. And the first Street Cats cruise I will be hosting is scheduled to set sail in Europe in October 2026!

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jeff-bogle/street-cats-where-to-find-them/9780762489145/

http://streetcatcruises.com/

My literary magazine and small book press: https://www.stanchionzine.com/

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a doting dad of two human teenage children and a clowder of cats who left the corporate workplace for a stay-at-home dad life when my kids were toddlers and started documenting his new life at home on my dad blog, Out with the Kids.

For the past decade, I have been a freelance travel, lifestyle, and parenting writer garnering prestigious bylines in The Washington Post, Reader’s Digest, Real Simple, Fodor’s, Good Housekeeping, Travel + Leisure, USA Today, Food and Wine, Wine Enthusiast, and more. In addition to my writing credits, I’m an award-winning photographer and philanthropist, the author of two guided journals for dads and kids, a podcast host and guest, and the founder of Stanchion, a thriving quarterly print literary magazine. I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia with my wife, daughters, and cats, Pecan, Toffee, Fig, and Dorian Gray.

There’s a photo I took of my youngest daughter in the rain, with arms spread wide, wearing a shirt that says “Do Small Things With Great Love” and I think that sums up my approach to life. While I sometimes still battle the existential dread that nothing matters, I strongly do believe it is the opposite, that everything matters, every small thing can impact ourselves, the ones we love, our community, and the world at large. So obviously, we should do everything we love and care and respect. That’s how I am in life and in business, as a creative person, publisher, dad, husband, son, and so on. I fail often, but I try always.

Any advice for managing a team?

Kindness and transparency are my two pieces of advice. I don’t manage a team, per se, but I have a roster of writers and authors whom I support, champion, work with, and pay under my Stanchion Magazine and Book Publishing umbrella. What I have found is that being kind and open about what you do and how you do it will create a culture and a community that supports you as a person and business owner.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

For all my business, I started with my own money, and a little bit of it, then created products worth buying. I don’t believe in donations or crowdsourcing, preferring to do it all alone, start small, and give audiences products that they will want to purchase instead of a person they want to simply give money to.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.stanchionzine.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/owtk/
• Twitter: https://x.com/owtk
• Other: https://x.com/StanchionZine
  http://streetcatcruises.com/

Image Credits

All photos and images created by Jeff Bogle