It was my last day at SXSW Interactive and I had a gap between sessions and heading to the airport, so I headed up to the one of the best kept secrets of the conference to power up, the Samsung Blogger Lounge (SBL). The SBL is hosted by Brian Solis and Stephanie Agresta every year and is packed with ample tables and outlets to recharge, food and the latest Samsung technology. It is also a place to connect with an awesomely diverse crowd and the site of book signings and interviews with weblebrities, authors, athletes, musicians and celebrities. To my delight, I not only found an outlet but Portlandia and SNL star Fred Armisen wrapping up an interview and Q+A with Shira Lazar of What’s Trending. Catch her interview here.

As expected, Fred was uber cool. Chill, personable and engaged in answering any and every question that came his way. A young woman asked advice on behalf of her husband who lives in a rural area and has high hopes of breaking into comedy, but because he’s not near Second City or a well-known comedy shop is struggling. Fred said, “Tell him to stop thinking about what already exists. Invent something else; make your own thing.” While totally unrelated to me, his answer resonated with me set some interesting introspective thought into motion (watch the short clip below for his complete answer).

Rewire your thinking
We live in structures and confines, most of which we are blissfully unaware of unless you’ve studied them. Grow up, go to school, go to college, get a job, get married, have kids… the list goes on, and this is one of many examples of paths we can take. There is nothing wrong with this path, but what can become problematic is if we never stop and ask why or if the things we’re doing are in fact the things we truly want. While I have no idea what that chick’s dude has going on, I wondered why  he automatically thinks that because he’s not near the epicenter of comedy that he can’t make it? I get the obvious concern, but what’s stopping him from turning on his webcam or iPhone and producing his own comedy content and sharing it with the world on YouTube or starting a local comedy shop? Because that’s not what most of us are taught to do. We’re taught to move within the borders of systems around us. In this case, in order to become a successful comedian one must go to Second City, The Comedy Store (whatever), do standup, go to SNL, etc., etc. I wonder where Justin Bieber would be had he not reimagined music production and promotion. While I am acutely aware of the confines I live in, I still fall prey to thinking within them instead of recognizing the choices I have and the ability to create something new. As of late, I’ve been focused on “the way other people do things” instead of building what’s in my mind due to fear and doubt. This was a great reminder for me to keep building new things and inroads.

I want to keep this post more interpersonal than marcomm focused, but this is obviously extremely applicable to corporate structures and creative processes. Don’t accept the structures around you. Pick something small, build something new and get results so you can build more new things:-) Don’t sit around and think how you can be like other brands or companies. Define your own way, your own structure for operating and the creative processes that drive you purpose and objectives.

Belief + Faith = Courage 
I made a choice a really long time ago that I want to do great things, make a contribution to humanity and learn how to be a better human wherever I am. This motivates me and is always core to my actions and decision-making processes. That said, I’ve gone through tremendous changes professionally in the last year. Some expected, and some totally out of left field. At times, I’ve doubted the choices I’ve made and  lacked faith in the future because things didn’t turn out as I thought they would. Sometimes, and most often in my life, things don’t turn out the way I envision they will. They turn out to be far more amazing than anything I could have imagined, but when walking down a road I less traveled there’s always trepidation and varying degrees of fear and doubt. Fred’s message reminded me that if and when I lead with my passion and beliefs about them I always land exactly where I’m supposed to and it’s usually not until later − until I’ve walked through and tackled a bunch of scary, challenging and unclear things − that it all makes sense and I’ve built a new road for myself that makes all the other scary and uncertain stuff ahead seem easier to tackle. Courage is born from believing in what we can’t see. Building new things requires it.

Build something new
So, if you’re like me. Passionate about something, looking to make some change or just leave your stamp on something – go do it. Especially if it’s outside of the conventional bounds of how things are done.

Who knew all this crazy introspection would take place randomly on Tuesday in a one-minute answer from Fred Armisen to some chick asking about her dude breaking into comedy:-). I’m grateful that it prompted reflection on some things that had been bouncing around in my head. Life is cool that way.

His handlers stress level rose as he walked through the room for almost a half hour after he was scheduled to leave saying hi to everyone and posing for photos. I totally lucked out:-)