Real Words | Confessions Of A Bohemian Changemaker

Brand New Podcast! Read Notes

New podcast ! The Clarity Maestro. Search your favorite podcast platform and join me there! Here is the intro: Clarity Coach Bob Olmstead brings focus and fire to the thinkers and creators of the world- one clarifying episode at a time. When was the last time you felt truly seen? You'll find the clarity you seek in the deeper truths that inform your life. There are no quick fixes, no magic; there is just you, the human being, and the things that move you to act.

Rebel Branding

Branding a small business or scaling a personal brand is my superpower. You supply the passion; I supply the roadmap. Our focus? Thinking outside the box.  The key to branding yourself is shattering the status quo. I’ll help your small business or personal brand rise above the noise. But how, you ask? I've been helping brand builders like you for over (25) years as an ad agency owner, management consultant, and professional creative. Curious? Check out RebelBrandConsulting.com

My Heartfelt Hiatus Message

Disruptive Innovation And The Creative Mind

You know when you’re in the presence of a credible innovator. Outgoing, introverted, a disruptive innovator’s personality type does not matter. The key to their magic as an innovator is in how they see the world.  The creative mind of a disruptive innovator is tad obsessive but in an effective way. Well, usually. There are a handful of things that deeply matter to them, and for that reason, they challenge convention.  CHAPTER ONE: TAKE RISKS CHAPTER TWO: CHALLENGE CONVENTION CHAPTER THREE:...

Soulful Success & Effective Leadership | (3) Questions To Master

Every potential customer, employee, love interest, collaborator, and many others, ask themselves three things when first meeting you. For most, its a subconscious framework. Most people don’t realize this internal framework exists.  I call it, The (3) Questions Of Truth. I compare this framework to a long, narrow hallway. Until you successfully answer the first question from the framework, you cannot move through to the door, into the next room.  PREWORK CHAPTER ONE: CAN I TRUST YOU? CHAP...

Build An Epic Purpose-Driven Brand | (3) Key Concepts

Patagonia. Warby Parker. Virgin America (bought out by Alaska). The size of your business does not matter. A one-person business, a small boutique firm, a multimillion-dollar family-owned business, EVERYONE can benefit from the Secret Sauce that drives these firms.  Today, in less than (30) minutes, I will teach you that Secret Sauce.  These concepts anchor both the third expedition of my Maestro program and my True North branding intensive. At the end of both, participants create a “Chang...

All The Feels | Your True North Compass

Wiki on EQ: “Emotional intelligence is the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt to environments or achieve one's goal(s).” The most qualified person to know your truth and chart your course is the person in the mirror. Ok, so you already know that but how to make that happen? The key to...

The Progress Not Perfection Life Philosophy

Perfectionism. Isolation. Armor. We all have our “go to” swords when we’re feeling inadequate, insecure, or afraid. And for a moment, it works, we feel more in control. But a sword is a weapon, and weapons always do damage.  Embracing progress, not perfection as a philosophy towards life gives you room to breathe. Rather than walking on eggshells and making others walk on eggshells, you allow for the unknown. You stop taking yourself and life so seriously.  CHAPTER ONE: THE SWORD  CHAPTER ...

Successful But Not Happy? Explore Your Options.

How do you define success? Successful but unhappy is both a symptom and a result. Wake-up calls come in many forms, but in all in cases, we need to be willing to hear the screaming sounds of caution.  Successful but unhappy is a byproduct of things we’ve been ignoring for some time. It’s not a random event. It’s not a moment in time. And no, that moment will not pass. We need to pay attention to our emotions. We need to be fully present with the fact that success, as we once defined it, is ...

Passion Driven Success | Are You Feeding People Emotions?

Passion driven success sounds incredible! But here’s the thing, passion-driven success takes as much if not more work than traditional success. Initially, when you’re trying to find your voice in a given space, there are many unknowns.  Thankfully, there are things you can do to speed up the process. One of those is to clarify the emotional impact you need to have in people’s lives as a brand. Need to have? Emotion fuels a brand built on purpose and passions: no emotional impact, no brand. ...

MM #2 | Brand Your Purpose & Passions In (5) Steps

The idea of branding your purpose is very intoxicating. Aligning your greatest passions with your profession may feel as natural as breathing air. But in the real world, that can be an incredibly difficult journey. You don’t want to jump into that ocean sight unseen.  As I talked about in my first Monthly Malbec, many of you are starting what I call a White Space Brand. Meaning, a brand with minimal context, you’re starting from scratch, you’re charting new territory. Which, again, sounds c...

Monthly Malbec #2 Preview

This Wednesday, my second deep dive monthly teleseminar, The Monthly Malbec will drop– Brand Your Purpose & Passions In (5) Steps.It’s a heartfelt examination of the mental shifts and big picture actions necessary to effectively branding your purpose & passions. My deep dive format is very popular and I think the reason for that is clarity. People are able to rapidly get their arms around complex issues.  Talk to you Wednesday!  Bob

Walk Into The Light Of Being Imperfectly Awesome

When this specific person walks into a room, you know they’ve arrived. They’re completely comfortable in their skin. The good. The not so good. They don’t seem to get caught up in approval seeking. They are who they are, take it, or leave it.  CHAPTER ONE: IT’S COMPLICATED  CHAPTER TWO: SUNNY DAYS CHAPTER THREE: SKIN It’s tricky. Being who you are without apology is a vulnerable thing to do. But life is short, why be someone other than who you are? When we stop seeking external validation,...

Saying "No" By Speaking Your Personal Truth

Learning to say “no” is learning how to honor and speak your truth. It has nothing to do with being an extrovert or an introvert. You are a sacred and valuable human being — your truth matters. Your time and how you choose to spend it, your life, and how you want to live it needs to be protected.  CHAPTER ONE: BEING SMALL  CHAPTER TWO: SPEAKING TRUTH CHAPTER THREE: BEING EFFECTIVE OR BEING RIGHT? So it’s FINALLY time to unload on that ONE PERSON that has been driving you batty? Wrong! Sayi...

Full Throttle You | The BEST Medicine For Your Life & Brand!

Ever walked barefoot on a beach? If so, you’ve seen your footprints in the sand. Has anyone ever told you that your footprints didn’t belong? If you didn’t make so many mistakes, spent more time in school, were male or female, then your footprints would be ok.  CHAPTER ONE: BELIEVE  CHAPTER TWO: TRUTH - FIRE - MAGIC CHAPTER THREE: FOOTPRINTS OF THE HERE & NOW It’s easy to spend your entire life looking but never finding. When approval, solutions, breakthroughs, fame, and on the list goes …...

Stop Publishing Good Content, Preach Your Gospel!

Ring the bell, and the dog salivates. Welcome to vanity metrics, content hacks, and perfect blog titles! In most cases, such devices do little for your bottom line. The road to success is far more about preaching truth than publishing perfection.  CHAPTER ONE: EPIC VANILLA CHAPTER TWO: EPIC IMPACT CHAPTER THREE: THE BIG (3) What do you have to say to the world relative to your niche? Even better, what are you the most passionate about?  Don’t package, water down, make perfect, sterilize, o...

Elevator Pitch Or Meaningful Connections?

The audience is made up of about 25-30 business owners. It’s time for introductions with a 3-4 minute time limit. The parade of C Suite this, mid-sized that begins. After a mind-numbing half hour, watching paint dry, in comparison, feels like going to Disneyland.  House Of Mouse - Take me away!  But then, the second to last person bravely rises above the noise. Her pitch doesn’t sound or feel like a pitch. The things she said hit home. Who was this wild woman speaking her truth? The answer...

The Unbearable Violence Of Creativity– True Love!

The Universal Creative is intrusive. It demands everything and promises nothing in return. It takes a lot to keep showing up. It takes a lot to continually surrender your core being to an unseen force in that hope that one day, you’ll get your shot. CHAPTER ONE: THE POTTER’S WHEEL CHAPTER TWO: THE KILN CHAPTER THREE: TRANSCENDENCE  While every artist I have ever met is creative, not all creatives are artistic. For me, the two very different things. Impoverished parents who put their kids t...

Coaches, Writers, & Creatives - Mine Your Gold

Most changemakers are fully aware of the fact they are talented beings. That's not the problem. The challenge is getting past a superficial assessment of talent to get to the big stuff, the magical mojo that could become a life changer.  I am Maestro level good at finding the gold. Clients to companies, it is one of my most potent superpowers.  And yet, my ability to find my gold is nada. I suck at seeing my gold.  Chapter One: The Great Treasure Hunt Chapter Two: LEGOS Chapter Three: No T...

The (3) Defining Characteristics Of Soulful Success

Our lives are chalked full of defining moments.  At first glance, there is little rhyme or reason to it all. Life happens. But then we slow a bit and see things with a new set of eyes. The events of our lives impact our lives. Some stick with the status quo. Others choose a different path.  When a successful business owner or creative burns out and feels lost, it can be a challenging time. But for most people, such a state goes unnoticed. Successful, good-hearted people typically enjoy goo...

Are You Teachable?

Being porous, open, and teachable is both a philosophy toward life and a state of mind. As changemaker that is trying to make a difference, being teachable is an absolute must. How else to scale your level of impact? To grow, we must be lifetime learners.  Two filters get in the way of our growth. Common among all people, these filters armor us up and keep us stuck. A hardened rock never moves but an ancient tree sways with the wind. The rock is dead but the ancient tree is fully alive.  C...

MM #1 | The Changemaker Blues - (5) Questions To Save Time, Money, And Heartache

About (5) years ago, I walked away from a six-figure career to start an Avant-garde training and development program for the changemakers of the world. Being totally honest, I was very naive. I have helped many a client build million dollar companies. I scaled my own ad agency to almost 2M in media billing in under a year. And I worked for myself as a six-figure management consultant for (12) years. How hard could launching a changemaker brand be? After losing years of my life, bushels of...

Monthly Malbec #1 Preview

Preview of My Teleseminar - Business Development For Changemakers - (5) Questions To Save Time, Money, And Heartache

Beautifully Imperfect Humans - The Epic CEO Or Social Entrepreneur

In our mind, everything is possible. That’s good news. The bad news is, in our minds, everything can SEEM impossible, even if that’s not the case. Maybe, one day, I’ll have the skills to become a legit CEO. Perhaps, one day, I’ll be the savvy social entrepreneur that rocks the world.  Maybe, one day. The thing is, “one day” rarely shows up randomly.  Chapter One: Maybe, One Day Chapter Two: True North  Chapter Three: Captain Of The Cause The reason we get stuck as CEOs and social entrepre...

Beautifully Imperfect Humans - The Epic Writer Or Creative

Bohemian: socially unconventional in an artistic way. Is that you? Do you view the world through a different pair of glasses? Are you different? If so, welcome to #TribeUnicorn! But there’s an unspoken downside.  Pain. The pain of being different.  Chapter One: What In The Hell Is Wrong With Me?  Chapter Two: Tribe Unicorn  Chapter Three: You Are Your Brand On the outside, sure, to HELL with the establishment! But on the inside, most creative bohemians I know have struggled. Why do I see ...

Beautifully Imperfect Humans - The Epic Coach Or Consultant

When you’re building your coaching business or your consulting practice, it’s easy to get lost in your head. It’s easy to compare your coaching business or consulting practice to other brands. When we do that, we tend to focus on our shortcomings. Or worse, we start overcompensating.  Chapter One: I’m Not Enough Chapter Two: Image Over Impact Chapter Three: You Are Your Brand When building a consultative or coaching brand, there is a strong tendency to invent a commanding presence. Doing t...

Empower Your Voice By Experiencing Your Voice

Do you feel your voice and changemaker brand is invisible to the world? If so, you’re not alone. Let’s fix that by breaking the silence.  Whether you are battling despair or surfing success, you most likely silence your voice on some level. We all do it. But the price of that silence can be high.  Little things become big things. Watering down your truth waters down your brand as a changemaker. Ignored needs become a kind of numbness. Living becomes wandering. And then the wake-up call arr...

The Golden Age Of Applied Improv Using Experience Design

Applied improv- a service to be delivered or a superpower to unleash? Many improvisational theaters offer corporate programs, but few do so in a way that indeed rises above the noise.  Which is odd, right?  I mean, they’re improvisers! They’re masters of the moment! So what gives? In my experience, the Maestros Of The Moment are far more comfortable using improv to teach, say, teamwork than unleashing its full might.  Why does this matter? If applied improvisation is your business, then ...

The Art Of Crafting Rapid Clarity Experiences

Do you handcraft learning experiences that deeply resonate? Are your programs life changing? Do you take people on an adventure? Do you approach content development as a master artisan or do you merely deliver information? Nonfiction writers effect change through the written word. Coaches facilitate transformation through the spoken word. Creative entrepreneurs break the silence through their creative projects. And changemaker CEOs change the world through their business models. But how to...

The Changemaker Manifesto - Unleash Your Magic

Marketing or message? Systems or soulfulness? Electronic money or authentic impact? I don’t work with coaches whose primary income is selling other coaches on how to make money. But wait, isn’t that what Maestro is? Not even close. I have nothing to offer in terms of wealth building systems. Nada!  And here’s a fun fact, legendary teachers like Gary V or Brene Brown did NOT get there via someone’s coaching system. The vast majority of legendary coaches, writers, and innovators achieved succ...

The Changemaker Manifesto - Feed Your Fire

What energizes you and brings meaning to your life? Personally? Creatively? Professionally? When push comes to shove, what do you need? It can be an awkward question for some. It certainly has been for me at times.  When we clarify what energizes us, and what brings deep meaning to our lives, we gain control over our lives. Rather than being fantastic in one area only to struggle in another area, we’re able to get all our needs met.  That is a really big deal but there is more.  As a chan...

The Changemaker Manifesto - Live Your Truth

Deep pain often informs the most celebrated writers, teachers, and artists. Racial or sexual pain. Childhood or divorce pain. Insecurity. The highs and lows of life. Their journey is our journey. As they speak, we feel.  We love the idea of becoming like our changemaker heroes but there is a price to be paid. We can’t be them, we must, 100%, find our voice, speak our own truth.  We cannot own our voice until we own our story. Even the chapters long hidden in the shadows? Especially those c...

So You Want To Help People For A Living?

What's the Secret Sauce to having a massive impact in people’s lives? I can tell you it isn’t found in sales funnels or coaching systems. As a writer, coach, community builder; as a creative for change or speaker; the thing the world needs most is YOU. In this podcast episode, I take on the deep dive question of, “Why me?” “What makes me qualified to help people?” Imposter syndrome. Transparency. Getting lost in the rabbit hole called content marketing. Branding above the noise.  The world...

Armor Down Podcasting

The first episode of my new podcast. Well, to be honest, the second public version of it. When I launched, I felt ON versus transparent, teaching versus sharing. It really drove me crazy. In this, my debut episode, I talk very candidly about how difficult it was to find a format that felt authentic and spoke my truth.  The whole point Real Words is to explore the life stuff, the branding stuff, messy human stuff, that comes from being a social changemaker. Writers. Coaches. Social innovator...