Cyndy: Dean, I have watched you fight against the status quo my entire life. Can you talk a bit about what drives you to shake things up?

Dean: Most people, including myself for stretches in my life, get lulled into the groundhog day mentality. Waking up, running out the clock, going through a routine, sleeping, and repeating. The days start to go by faster and faster and we don’t stretch ourselves to grow in any meaningful way for long periods of time. This, to me, is the status quo: doing the predictable in a satisfactory way. Nothing too exciting, nothing too catastrophic. Everything is “fine”, but is it?

I’ve increasingly been driven to fight the status quo in all parts of my life because..I believe we have more influence over outcomes than we give ourselves credit for. The status quo wants to trick you into thinking otherwise. I’m on a mission to fight it along with those who will join me.

Cyndy: Who do you think will naturally gravitate towards this blog?

intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs, wantrepreneurs

Dean: The “Preneurs”: Entrepreneurs (people who come up with ideas and organize),  Wantrepreneurs (people thinking or researching being an entrepreneur), and mostly Intrapreneurs (people who have an entrepreneurial spirit and that work within organizations to constantly push the internal team to be innovative).

Cyndy: When you first had the vision for creating a space where you share Outrageously Remarkable people and Thoughts, what were you hoping to accomplish?

Dean: I want to make the assertion that all of us has the ability to be remarkable in some way. I want people to truly believe this, and commit to cutting through the noise and focusing on what is important.

Cyndy: How does this blog tie into what you do every day?

Dean: As a marketing professional, I focus every day on helping businesses differentiate and position themselves through promotions. As a volunteer mentor in the community, one of the areas that I emphasize is developing a unique approach so that you are memorable.  I’m passionate about these two things: 1) helping people stand out, and 2) building amazing things. This blog ties it all together and hopefully encapsulates some of the best lessons I’ve taught and have learned.

Cyndy: How do you think you’ve been able to stand out in your career?

Dean: I know that there is always someone smarter, more creative, but if I know that if I’m committed it’s going to be hard to find someone to outwork me.

Cyndy: Dean, statistically speaking 95% of entrepreneurs who have owned a business as long as you have failed and gone out of business. How have you survived and thrived?

I didn’t have a Plan B

Dean: Oh, believe me, in Year 2 I was very close to failing. Probably a few weeks away from having to fold up. I believe there were 3 reasons why: 1) My confidence during that time period never wavered. I still acted as if I would be around indefinitely. I didn’t hedge, I didn’t have a Plan B. 2) I stopped being a marketing person and started acting like a salesperson. Embracing the notion that ‘all entrepreneurs, at their core, have to be salespeople’ changed my mentality for the better.  3) I stopped living in my left brain (logic, linear, facts) and shifted to mostly living in my right brain (creativity, imagination, feeling). My hope is that in this blog I can expose my audience to how they can use creativity and imagination to help them in their careers as well.

Cyndy: In your opinion, what makes someone stand out?

Dean: You kind of expect people with massive talent and intelligence to do remarkable things and I enjoy learning from these people. But..  personally, I love it when someone goes out there and does something that their co-workers or friends didn’t think they were capable of. It shows grit, resourcefulness and people skills. I love feeding off of the energy from people who display those qualities.

Cyndy: What do you hope your readers take away from each interview?

amazing people have plenty of failures

Dean: The reason I picked an interview format is that it lets the readers understand that these amazing people are only human and they have plenty of failures and missteps. I think by acknowledging the humanity they will realize the potential in themselves to be able to fight the status quo in their lives!

Cyndy: One last thing, I HAVE to ask. You are wearing that 70s Brown Leather Jacket in most of the pictures for this website. Even as your sister I don’t know the whole story behind it – what’s with the jacket?

Dean: I stopped along with Marissa (my wife) at a thrift store for 5 minutes. I saw this jacket, I grabbed it and put it on. It fit me like it was tailored for me, so I guess it was meant to be. To my surprise, it was $20, so I had to buy it because I’ve always wanted a brown leather jacket. Ever since then, and this is no exaggeration, I get no less than 2 to 3 compliments or comments about this jacket every day that I wear it. Also, after further researching it, it was made the same year I was born in the 70s. It’s timeless, and well, it’s just outrageously remarkable.

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