Chip Hiden - Build Your Dreams: How To Make a Living Doing What You Love

BUILD YOUR

DREAMS

HOW TO MAKE A LIVING

DOING WHAT YOU LOVE

Alexis Irvin & Chip Hiden

RUNNING PRESS

PHILADELPHIA LONDON

2013 by Alexis Irvin and Chip Hiden

Published by Running Press,

A Member of the Perseus Books Group

Cover art Gina Triplett and Matt Curtius

Interior art Gina Triplett

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013935894

E-book ISBN 978-0-7624-5058-9

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

Designed by Joshua McDonnell

Edited by Cindy De La Hoz

Typography: Archer and Avenir

Running Press Book Publishers

2300 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103-4371

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www.runningpress.com

To anyone with a big idea and a little

voice inside them saying, Go!

CONTENTS

What do you want to do with your life? That was the question burning in our minds after college graduation in 2009. Armed with two liberal arts degrees (Chip in history and Alexis in journalism), we faced an economic slump, a crushed job market, and the medias endless predictions of doom and gloom for young workers. The future loomed before us, foggy and uncertain. The pressure to get a job, earn money, and make our parents happy was intense. So, we did what we were supposed to do. We stuck to the traditional path and sent dozens of rsums out. We felt incredibly lucky when we found desk jobs after a month or so of searching.

The first few months on the job were exciting. We were young professionalscommuting to an office every morning, drinking coffee, having meetings, and most importantly, getting paid. But, after almost a year of pencil-pushing, it started to feel like something was missing. The initial excitement about work and the transition into adulthood faded. Work became a routine, an obligation. We were living for the weekends and working only for a paycheck.

We started to dread each workdaysitting in traffic for hours to go to a place we didnt really want to be, and being told we were too young for any meaningful responsibilities. As time dragged on, we tried to convince ourselves that the salary was worth it. But in the back of our minds, questions and doubts began to surface: Is this how some people feel every day when they wake up? Is this all there is to life?

We felt like we were on a path to a life we didnt want: working in the same office for forty years, building up a stack of worrisome bills, and putting off our dreams until retirement. For many, a steady, secure office job may be a dream come true. It just wasnt ours. We knew that we were lucky to even have jobs. But, for some reason life felt empty. We were cogs in a machine with no sense of calling or higher purpose. We wanted to leverage our privilege and our talents to do some good for the world, not languish our best years away in jobs we felt no passion for.

So, we came up with the plan.

Hatching Plans

One night out, we started talking about how we could bust out of our office-induced comas to figure out what we cared about. We decided to go on an epic U.S. road trip.

Our trek would take us from our hometown of Washington D.C., to the Great Lakes, through the Wild West, to the beaches of California, to roadhouses in Texas, to jazz clubs in New Orleans, and back home through the South. The road trip was the start of a good plan. But we realized that taking a vacation was not going to solve our problems with the office jobs. So, we made an addition to the road trip agenda. Along the way, we would film interviews with successful people who had chased their dreams and found work that they loved. We would collect their advice and anecdotes about discovering a passion, overcoming challenges, finding happiness, and making money. The goal was to make a movie that would compile the stories and encourage young people to chase their dreams.

THE ROAD TRIP

Equipped with a bare-bones budget, rations of Ramen Noodles, and a tiny red tent, we took the plunge. With just enough money for our trip, we left our jobs and hit the road. Our three-month journey took us coast-to-coast and introduced us to thirty different entrepreneurs, artists, activists, writers, nonprofit founders, producers, and athletes. These were people who were passionate, committed, and successful.