Culture is shaped in many ways by creativity. Each generation gobbles up the ideas that the world has built over the course of the last few decades, sometimes even centuries, whether they realize it or not. Mark Twain had some too true words to say about this.

“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely, but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”

―Mark Twain,Mark Twain's Own Autobiography: The Chapters from the North American Review

A kaleidoscope creates something new out of old things with every turn of the lens. So too, do we create new things out of the old structures, concepts and ideas from previous generations. We are handed down traditions and inspiration from yesteryear to create something bold and visionary within this new day and age.

This blog of mine will celebrate the different turns of the kaleidoscope lens found today within the media industry, from publishing (Read) to creative and professional writing (Write) to film and music (Play). More specifically, I hope to uncover the technological forces that are driving the new combinations of creativity being developed today.

I’m hoping to have a blog post every other week to start off with and then go from there. These first few blogs will dive deeper into the industries I’ll cover within Read. Write. Play.

So, here’s the part where I spew bits and pieces of my life and what led me to this decision.

The running joke among my peers and friends is that I’m a small town girl with big city ambitions. You can read about the resume stuff here. Long story short, I love learning new things. My family calls me a walking encyclopedia because I have random knowledge in my head all the time. I love sharing what I know in hopes that someone may find it useful or at the very least interesting.

Because of this, I know a lot about the publishing industry and for a while in high school I considered being an international subsidiary rights agent, which is the person who helps negotiate things like the film rights with studios and translation rights with foreign publishing houses. I ended up writing a book, which hopefully won’t be my last.

I took my natural inclination toward writing, public speaking, asking tons of questions and eventual love for contract negotiations to earn a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations with a minor in Journalism. The curriculum taught me how to write scripts for advertising and PSAs. I also learned how to do legal research, especially for first amendment and intellectual property law. Other joyous things that I am mediocre at but still good in a pinch for is shooting and editing video, creating podcasts and basic graphic design work.

So, basically what I’m saying is I’m not just the ring master, I’m the whole circus.

Adding to my crazy amount of interests, as if I don’t have enough to juggle, is my family has always loved watching Shark Tank. I have been fascinated with venture capitalists and the start up world for a long time. I’m entrepreneurial and have the skills to build my own business if I wanted, but the sweet spot for me is to eventually get into strategy, venture capital and business consulting where I can work alongside the entrepreneurs, build them up and send them off into the world with a social mission in mind to change culture as we know it.

Which leads me to why I am doing this Read. Write. Play. blog. There is a threefold purpose to it:

1) it’ll help me keep my creative skills sharp because I do enjoy PR and journalism things

2) it’ll keep me accountable for my own goals to keep a pulse on the forces shaping culture, which is all things creative and all things technology

3) it’ll help me to understand the venture capital space so that in the future I can build up those culture-shaping forces

So, basically, this blog is a part-time hobby to fuel a long-term vision.

I’m currently working on my MBA with a focus in marketing because reasons. I want to be at the helm of business strategy, which means understanding all aspects of a business, which an MBA offers. I can learn all aspects of a business without it, but without it many people won’t necessarily believe I know what I’m doing. It’s a credibility thing. What is credibility except the perception of trustworthiness from a targeted audience?

Whatever.

Now we’ve reached the part of the introduction where I seduce all of you who have made it this far into subscribing to my monthly email newsletter and offering suggestions for topics and creative tech start-ups to highlight.

If you would like to receive a monthly email with updates on the latest blogs and what I’m up to, sign up for the newsletter! That’d be super cool.

If you would like to suggest a topic of discussion, then let me know. I’m always up for learning new things!

As this blog grows, I really do want to hear feedback from anyone who reads it. So, keep an eye out for the next few blog posts, which will dive a little deeper into what this blog will be about.

Until next time,

Rochele