Library of Manuscripts & Creators

Teaching people to be authors has made me realize how to help people discover the creator inside each of us.

Eighteen months ago, Shane Mac and I texted “Let’s make them write books.” From there, a whirlwind happened:

1. Over 150 of my student-authors have or will publish books by end of 2018;
2. I have worked with student-authors from 25+ different colleges and universities; and
3. Our Creator Institute course at Georgetown University was awarded the ‘Most Innovative Course’ by USASBE (an organization dedicated to teaching entrepreneurship).

But the best and most amazing part of all of this for me is helping my authors discover and deepen their passions, and then to demonstrate it via a book that they are proud of and will open some unique and awesome doors for them. I’d nearly quit teaching because I felt I wasn’t making a *real* impact in the lives of my students. It sounds crazy, but I wanted to help them change their trajectories. This has done that — for me and every author — in spades

And over the past year I’ve seen incredible things and seen the power a book can offer to incredible young people:

• Jaclyn DiGregorio launching her own business, completing a $20,000 kickstarter and finding her voice
• William McDonald landing his dream job in venture capital and going on to expand his book
• Place Wilson sharing her struggles about mental health as a way to inspire others that there’s hope and possibilities
• Brian Bies learning how to create his own book to now help dozens (and eventually thousands) of authors through the new world of publishing creators
• Beatriz Perret finding her career path as an ex patriate and discovering a life she never new was possible
• Ricky Paredes sharing his story as an immigrant and discovering others need to hear it in a time of such negativity
• Shiv Jhangiani finding a way to get back into the business side of soccer after a knee injury prematurely ended his promising playing career
• Divine Mutoni detailing the power of the internet for a young girl from Rwanda and the need to make it a human right
• Nick Wareham finding a way to share his love of music with an up-and-coming artist to build the next Chance
• Antonia Liu using her book to decide *not* to drop out, and sharing her stories with the inspiration for her book Tim Ferriss
• Franklin Sooho Lee finding the entrepreneur inside himself NOW rather than waiting a decade to find that time
• Matthew Busel breaking into the technology world with gusto after door after door was shut — and being a new voice for a new field in Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
• Julia Hyman found that the “family business” she never wanted to be a part of, was much more attractive once she wrote about the future of real estate and housing
• Cody Backer reconnecting with his Military family and sharing his lessons to help other veterans find their way after their service
• Adrian Abrams opening up about his challenges with homelessness growing up, and inspiring others that there is hope
• Monica Fritz writing about beer because she loves beer — and using her book to land her dream job with the largest beer distributor on the East Coast
• Maryn Cannon writing about an industry she loves and inspiring other young women to follow their hearts into the outdoor industry
• Yasmeen Sharara writing a love story to her future career — and using it to uncover the next step in her journey in Europe
• Esra Ozturk and Haley Hoffman Smith for inspiring other young women to the power of entrepreneurship and following your dreams
• Jimmy Vassello rediscovering himself through laughs and a little improv to teach others how to sell with a smile
• Leah Snider opening up about moments of panic to inspire others that it’s okay and the sun will shine tomorrow
• Daniel Lysak trusting the process to become a creator and continue the journey into visuals
• And dozens more…

It’s easy to think about this as a “helping students write books” thing — but the truth is this is about helping Brian, Maryn, Shiv, Molly and each individual author create their book that helps them achieve the outcome *they* hope to find. I love helping people publish their work, but that’s only the beginning as these people will go onto use their book for so much more.

I feel fortunate to get to work with so many incredible people to create their books, podcasts, video series and more. And by helping them create something they are proud of, I get to see them transformed before my eyes. And to think, this April we’ll have 40 authors publishing… that’s something I never imagined was possible. And it wouldn’t have been possible without support from Jeff Reid, Tucker Max, Jason Nellis and dozens more.

If you want to learn more about why this works — what we’ve learned from our research into today’s successful young people and from working with dozens and dozens of students, watch the video below that shares why Creators are thriving today.

You can learn more at www.Creator.Institute