Your Story Ep 6 : Juan Mann, Free Hugs & Oprah is a Career

Welcome To Episode Six of Your Story.

To listen to the podcast please go to Your Story

Today we talk with Juan Mann of Free Hugs fame. You have probably seen the video, if not here it is.

A runaway viral success that has lead onto things greater than anyone could have imagined

It all started for me when I saw on Twitter that Richard Giles had gone to visit Juan and I thought well there is a story in that! So I found his Welcome To My Home site and asked if I could drop in, seeing how I was in Sydney. Generously, he agreed.

We talk about the runaway success that the video has become for him and what it has lead on to, including appearing on Oprah and Andrew Dentons Enough Rope along with opportunities that you would never write into a business plan.
Surprisingly this has lead to him developing a career as a public speaker enabling him to continue to get his message out there and to motivate others to follow their passion.

Your Story Ep 0.00 : Welcome to Your Story and why I’m doing this Podcast

Welcome to the first but not quite episode of Your Story. To listen to the podcast go to Your Story.Thanks for dropping by.In this episode I explain my motivation and what I’m hoping to achieve in producing this podcast.On this blog I’ve referenced many times to the importance of understanding the ways of life that others live. By appreciating that we are all wanting a good life, a life of community and communication where we are both adding to our society and our own lives we develop a sense that we have purpose. This podcast is about exploring the different ways in which people live their lives and achieve the things that they have done in their lives to get them to the place that they are today.In this first episode I explain why I’m motivated to achieve what I’m doing and the hopes that I have for you the listener.To automatically receive this podcast freely to you, click on one of the links to the left or search in iTunes for “Your Story.”Subscribe freely in iTunes by Clicking here.If you use another Podcast software Get the feed here.

This is the Most Peaceful Time in History?

It’s around us everywhere. Violence, destruction, mans inhumanity to man. We’re told not to go out, to barricade ourselves like a medieval fort from the barbaric hordes that are about to descend onto us. But sorry I don’t see that around me. Sure it’s on the box and in the papers but I live in a peaceful community where everyone I know isn’t threatened or harmed. Am I naive?

Well it looks like I may be right just check out this TED presentation by Steven Pinker and you may get why I don’t feel fearful. It’s just not there. The points that Steven makes at the end of his talk about empathy rings profoundly true for me.

I’ve always thought that we probably don’t live in particularly violent times but there is still some violence going on and I feel that the lack of empathy is why we continue to allow it.

As I mentioned in a previous post it is my goal with this podcast to allow people to develop some empathy with others through their stories so that we can see that we are not that different from them.