The Working Experience Podcast Book: Excerpt #1

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Matty Kerr is co-creator with John Brancaccio of The Working Experience. He is also a filmmaker and published author. Listen to full episodes on iTunes and Spotify and visit our website: theworkingexperience.com for videos, merchandise and more. You can also find us on Facebook, Linked In, Instagram, and Twitter.

We are trying to get a book about the podcast published. The working title is: The Working Experience: A Work in Progress. It’s about how we started the podcast, how we came up with the concept and the format, the technical issues involved, marketing, selling merch, etc.

“I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, not yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.”

Ecclesiastes 9:11

Hopefully that is true. Because we are most definitely not the swiftest nor the wisest nor the strongest, not by a long shot. But the wisdom of the ages tells us that all is not lost. Time and chance. Put in the time, and you will get the chance. Sometimes the rest of us do win.

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This book is not about the swiftest and the strongest. It is not a rags to riches story. This is not a story of winning after years of hard work and defeat. This is not for people who aspire to be Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates. You will find no secret of success nor a key that opens the door to wealth and fame. By that measure, we have not become successful, not by a long shot. The Working Experience Podcast loses money. Over the last four years advertisers have paid us less than $400. So if you are looking for a path to riches you will have to read someone else’s story.

This is not about finding your true self or inner peace or unlocking your inner strength. This is not a story of self-actualization. If you want that bullshit go to the self-help section at Barnes and Noble.

This is not a how-to manual for producing a podcast. Anyone with even limited technical knowledge can launch a podcast. Literally anyone. You can go on You Tube and learn how to do it in about fifteen minutes. It’s not like you have to set up a studio and buy thousands of dollars-worth of equipment. It is totally accessible to anyone and everyone which, some people say, is not necessarily a good thing.

It is not any of these things.

So what is it then?

This is a book about process, about the joys and frustrations of creating something that had not existed. This is about what we have learned from that process. This is a story of sticking with something and seeing it grow and become something we never thought it would be. While the outcome remains uncertain, it is a story of remembering to not lose the joy of creation, whatever that outcome may be. As much as creativity is about creating something, it is just as much about learning.

So, at its core, this is a story about learning.