Last week, I had the opportunity to Skype with Adam C. Baker, who founded manvsdebt.com in 2008 and co-founded Crank Tank Studios with Grant Peelle in 2011. Currently, Crank Tank Studios has raised over 49K on Kickstarter to fund its first documentary I’m Fine, Thanks.
I found out about I’m Fine, Thanks, which is a documentary about complacency – why people settle for a living a life they don’t love – because I saw something about it on Twitter from career coach Jana Schuberth, who I follow and have interviewed for JobTalk. The title peaked my interest, so I clicked on the link to the documentary’s Kickstarter page. I checked out the trailer, and it was a done deal. I wanted an interview!
For all of you who are wondering how to get people to interview for your blog – or whatever project you’re working on – here’s one of the ways I find my guests: when I learn about someone who has a story that I really want to find out more about and share on JobTalk, I send him/her a brief email stating what I’m doing and asking for an interview. Simple as that. Sometimes I don’t hear back. Eh, no biggy, on to the next person.
As you probably realize, I would not have found out about I’m Fine, Thanks so soon had it not been for Jana (thanks, Jana!). That is the other important point to mention about some of the interviews I’ve done – I wouldn’t have found many of my subjects, or found them as soon, had I not been utilizing social media effectively.
At 28, Adam is living life according to his own script and is motivating thousands of others to do the same. His blog, which chronicles his and his wife’s process of getting rid of debt and gives practical advice to others has 15,309 subscribers to its newsletter. He’s given a fantastic Tedx talk in Asheville, N.C. and is a speaker at this year’s BlogworldExpo conference. And he doesn’t have a college degree. In fact, he flunked out of college.
Check out my interview with Adam on Youtube and you’ll find out why he started Man Vs. Debt and why he and Grant decided to make a documentary about complacency.
On a final note, this is my first video, which means it’s my first attempt at editing as well as being in front of the lens. (This girl’s got a long way to go before she can join Charlie Rose.) I debated whether or not I should post the video, but obviously decided to go ahead with it because I really want people to hear Adam directly from video. And, well, you’ll get to see my learning curve with making and editing videos.