5. Curiosity As A Roadmap

As kids we start out being curious about everything. As we get older, this curiosity is tamed and we choose the known paths. When it comes to our career, we start narrowing our focus so that we can build our plan. If that plan doesn’t turn out how we imagined, we feel stuck. This episode shares how best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell’s curiosity led him down a path towards a career he couldn’t have dreamed up.  Tune in to hear why it is worth it to pay attention to your curiosity. 

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Transcript

[0:00 - 0:34]

Hello, I'm Andrea Wade, the host of Brand Gems, the podcast where I highlight a person, brand or organization and discuss the key elements that contributed to their success. I'm a marketing strategist, brand architect and an MBA who likes a little fast company and Forbes mixed in with her Netflix Binges. I'm also a consultant who enjoys discovering those rare nuggets that make a business unique. Listen to Brand Gems for ideas to leverage in your personal and professional endeavors. Now let's begin the treasure hunt. 

[0:35 - 1:16]

Hello, and thank you for tuning in to this week's episode. To start, I'm going to ask you to think back to when you were a kid and you were thinking about what you wanted to be when you grew up, you probably didn't give much thought to the path to get there. You just saw someone doing something you thought was interesting or heard about something, and you decided that's what you wanted to do. You claimed it. You could probably see it so clearly. You imagined yourself in the role. You could experience the joy as if you were actually doing what you thought it would be like. More than likely, your interest changed frequently from one day to the next, weekly, monthly, and that was okay. You just changed your mind, and you're allowed to do that.

[1:17 - 1:41]

Well, as we get older, we're forced to narrow our interests. Every decision from where we go to college, if you go to college, to where to work or what to do for work, seems to be such a monumental decision that we just can't get wrong. You have to choose a path and stick to it. Wandering or playtime is a privilege that's just reserved for kids, or at least that's the message, it seems, that society delivers. 

[1:42 - 2:07]

This episode is about curiosity as a roadmap. It's a big world, and in our personal and professional lives, there are so many things to explore. I offer that this exploration can have many benefits from offering opportunities to discover new things, to presenting surprises that you encounter along the path. Much like wandering in a new city, you might make a discovery that can trigger a smile, create a memory, or impact your life. 

[2:08 - 2:27]

In this episode, I highlight Malcolm Gladwell, world renowned best-selling author, who, in my opinion, is the patron saint of curiosity and someone who has built an incredibly successful career by questioning and connecting topics and ideas that most of us would never see as related. 

[2:28 - 2:58]

Gladwell grew up in Canada with his Jamaican psychotherapist mother and his British mathematician father. He preferred reading on his own and often skipped school. With his mother's permission, he was still able to go to college at 16, and once he graduated, like many, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. His grades weren't good enough to go to graduate school, so he thought he'd give advertising a try. Turns out he was rejected by every firm he applied to. 

[2:59 - 3:18]

Eventually, he got a job at a magazine, the American Spectator. Gladwell didn't set out to be a writer. I've heard interviews with him recently where he mentioned that he just didn't think writing was something to pursue or a way to make money, a way he could make a living. But he got this job, and that set him on his path. 

[3:19 - 3:45]

He got fired from that publication, and eventually he ended up at The Washington Post, where he covered business and science. He was there for ten years. And then in 1996, he was hired by the legendary editor Tina Brown to join The New Yorker magazine. Now, you may not remember, but I mentioned in one of my earlier episodes that I was a magazine junkie, and that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to launch a magazine. 

[3:46 - 4:20]

So for me, Tina Brown was everything. She was a celebrity. She joined Vanity Fair from 1984 to 1992, and at that time, Vanity Fair was the magazine. This was before social media. So in her time there as an editor, she managed to increase sales from 200,000 to 1.2 million. I mean, this was a big deal. Like I say, she was an editor, and if anything, I think she's the one that made it so that editors started becoming celebrities in their own rights. 

[4:21 - 4:56]

So after Vanity Fair, she joined The New Yorker in 1992, and there was a lot of hubbub around that. She'd been at The New Yorker for a couple of years when she pulled in Gladwell in 1996. Gladwell is a new writer at The New Yorker. He has a one year contract for 50,000 words, which means he has to deliver roughly one piece a month of approximately 4000 words for twelve months. And like I said, this is The New Yorker. This is the magazine where for a writer, you've essentially made it and you just don't want to screw it up. 

[4:57 - 5:17]

So he writes, he builds his muscles. More importantly, he builds his voice and his reputation. He publishes three articles, so he's still relatively early in his contract. But it seems like things are clicking, which buys him some favor with the editor. With any editor, that's what you want it's for your writers to write and for people to respond to their writing. 

[5:18 - 6:01]

In June of 1996, Gladwell writes a story for The New Yorker that would eventually turn into his first book. Magazine articles don't just turn into books, so here's where there's another twist. He meets a woman. Another Tina. This one Tina Bennett. Tina is a self described reformed academic. She's just completed a year's work towards her PhD in English when she decided that she wanted to do something else. She gets connected to a friend of a friend who is the head agent at a top literary firm. This agent recognizes how smart and talented she is, and he hires her. And within her first year at the agency, she meets Gladwell through a friend of a friend.

[6:02 - 6:21]

Now, the rest is a little bit fuzzy, and I'm kind of piecing things together and recreating, but somehow they meet and they're both at particular points in their career. Bottom line is, Tina gets him. She understands Gladwell, and she sees the potential in his work, so she's able to sign him as a client. 

[6:22 - 7:05]

Gladwell, the magazine writer, now has a book agent. Now, he's far from becoming the best selling author, of course, that we know today. But Tina saw something, and when she connected with him, there likely weren't a lot of agents trying to knock down his door. Although he had solid credentials as a magazine writer, he wasn't an author yet, so she really did take a chance. I mentioned that Malcolm had written three articles and that it was this fourth article that actually got him his book deal. That article was The Tipping Point, and what's incredible is that Tina was able to negotiate a deal for his book that gives him an estimated 1 million to $1.5 million advance. 

[7:06 - 7:47]

This is a phenomenal deal. It would be a phenomenal deal today. So it was an exceptionally phenomenal deal back then. And remember, Tina is a relatively new agent, so this is a win on all sides. An amazing deal negotiated by a relatively new agent for an unproven author. Gladwell didn't have book credentials, but he had a very distinctive voice and he had a very talented agent on his team. Chances are he definitely inspired some young writers with this accomplishment alone. The book comes out in 2000, but I actually didn't become aware of The Tipping Point until two years after it was published. 

[7:48 - 8:10]

I'd say that 2002 was the book's Tipping Point, but that would be inaccurate because every time Gladwell releases a new book, it triggers sales of his previous ones. So the tipping point starts it all off. The Guardian named The Tipping point one of the one hundred best books of the 21st century, giving it the ranking of number 94. 

[8:11 - 8:35]

Since then, Gladwell has written, I believe it's seven books, five of which are New York Times bestsellers. The tipping Point in 2000, Blink in 2005, Outliers 2008, With the Dog Saw in 2009, David and Goliath in 2013, Talking to Strangers in 2019,  and the Bomber Mafia in 2021. 

[8:36 - 9:10]

Gladwell has recently expanded into audio. He has a podcast, Revisionist History, that is extremely popular. Another one, Broken Record, and he recently released a third one called The Legacy of Speed. He founded Pushkin Industries with his good friend and former editor Jason Weisberg. Pushkin also recently entered into a first look deal with the production company A24. They are behind shows like Euphoria, films like Moonlight and Ladybird. 

[9:11 - 9:43]

So under this deal, A 24 has the first right of refusal to develop film and TV projects based on Pushkin's intellectual property. Pushkin also produces a few other podcasts through A24. They're already in development on a few projects, including something based on Gladwell's recent book, The Bomber Mafia, and things do come full circle. If you remember, Gladwell was interested in advertising, and when he didn't get hired, that led him to his first job at a magazine. 

[9:44 - 10:17]

In 2020. Gladwell actually began starring in a couple of commercials. He did an ad for Audible, which makes total sense. And then in 2021, he was in a commercial for GM, which is a brand he has said he really believes in. And lesser known fact, Gladwell is actually a car fanatic. And then of course, through his podcast, he has advertisers. He records those spots and is really involved in the writing of the ad, something that Gladwell has said that he really enjoys. Full circle moment. Indeed. 

[10:18 - 10:49]

There are several brand gems in today's episode. To start, be sure to feed your curiosity and go where it takes you. Chances are you will pick up something along the way that changes the course of your life or perhaps presents an option you didn't even know was possible. Gladwell's curiosity helped him to develop a writing style that is unique, powerful and lucrative. Five New York Times best sellers, multiple million dollar book advances and book sales, an audio company, a first look deal, all because he followed his curiosity. 

[10:50 - 11:19]

Next, build real relationships. Gladwell's agent Tina really understood him and she was able to help publishers see the value and potential of this new author and got him in advance that he probably couldn't even imagine. What impresses me even more about their relationship is that 20 plus years later, she is still his agent. And of course, she's gone on to find other talent and build a phenomenal business for herself. Recently, she launched her own agency. 

[11:20 - 11:37]

And lastly, perhaps related to the Feed your Curiosity theme, keep stretching. Gladwell has entered another phase of his career with the launching of his podcast in Pushkin Industries, and he recently became a father at the age of 58. I'm sure that this development will influence the stories that we hear from him in the near future. 

[11:38 - 12:17]

So remember, we started off the episode and I ask you to think about what you wanted to be when you were a kid. Now I ask you to think about what you really want to be doing. Maybe you set out to do it and you weren't successful and so you took another path. Maybe that idea is still just been lingering in the back of your mind. Follow your curiosity. Jump into it. Remember, Gladwell couldn't get a job at an advertising firm, so he, in a sense, stumbled into writing. Then some 20 something years later, he'd end up in advertising, albeit from a different angle. Who knows what's in store for you? 

[12:18 - 12:25]

Thank you for tuning in to Brand Gems. Until next time.

[12:26 - 12:35]

You just listened to another episode of Brand Gems. Be sure to follow so you don't miss future episodes. And please share with anyone you think will find the information useful. 

[12:36 - 12:37]

Until next time.