Verity's Blog

Homeless songs need shelter...

ADOPT A SONG TODAY!

www.hello-africa.co.za

R100 ENSURES THESE SONGS FIND A LOVING HOME IN OUR NEXT ALBUM & YOU GET CELEBRATED AS ONE OF THE PEOPLE HELPING TO GET THEM OFF THE STREET AND INTO THE WORLD!

We need YOU...

www.hello-africa.co.za

Maybe I'm Crazy???

I took the plunge and put it out there! Yip, I am selling an "album that doesn't exist".. AGAIN!

I would be lying if I said I am not a little daunted and nervous now that it is out there. The first newsletter is sent, the intention laid out and now the void of 'what happens now...?' I have been yo-yo'ing since pressing send, asking myself if maybe I'm crazy to do it all over again. But the truth be told, we have another album to share with the world and why not invite family, friends and fans to help us to do it? As terrified as I may be of failing, I would hate far more to be left with the question of 'what if?'.

So, crazy or not, the request is out there yet again - "Will you join us and buy our next album BEFORE we record it? Will you help us get our music & message out the world and also give back to causes we believe in? Will you say YES to us again?"

Now to wait and see how it all turns out... At least we have taken a step in the direction that will take us closer to studio, closer to the next album, closer to seeing what can be done when you just get down and do it! 

Looking back - going forward....

If I had been told it would take 3 years to finish the Lucky Packet Project there is a good chance I would never have started.  I have learned the humbling lesson of patience and now understand that anything worth doing well takes time.  I discovered that patience and persistence always pay off - sometimes in ways you cant expect.

The project has led to me talking on stages around the world and sharing with people what is possible when we say yes to an idea and take the risk of seeing where it leads us and  I would never have known the incredible generosity that I would experience from people and get to see just how much support is out there when we take a chance and ask for it.

I got to award 40 Bursaries to South Africans in need of furthering their education and have had the incredible the opportunity to significantly contribute to people's dreams and our first Live Your Dreams artist Mimi Ntenjwa went on to land a record deal and then win Best Young Jazz Artist at the MetroFM awards last year.

The project was embraced by the media & was featured on Carte Blanche, Journey To The Core and Power Within amongst others and is now being used as a case study on viral marketing for MBA students at WITS University - something I could never have anticipated.

The biggest suprise of  all was that an idea that was born over a cup of coffee using Edward De Bono's '6 Thinking Hats' somehow reached the ears of his South African team and in December I was certified as a Six Thinking Hats Trainer - able to help people find creative solutions to the problems they face!

As a result of this journey I can always look back and rejoice that 2000 extraordinary people helped me create an album out of nothing and we had a hell of a ride!"

GOING FORWARD...

There have been many queries as to when the 'next album' is coming out, so I am excited to share with you that the first 50 future copies were bought by participants at my talks in Belgium and London last year! It appears that this is wonderful way to make music together, so the journey will certainly continue and I hope to have you join me as the new songs unfold.  I hope to have the website up and running for pre-sales very soon and would love to have you join me on the next part of this journey so please watch this space...

Showbiz Report... footage from my first TV interview

I finally dug up this footage of the first time I was interviewed on TV about the Lucky Packet Project! Just posting it as a memory of how far I've come since then with so many awsome people joining me along the way! Thanks guys - you rock!!!

Edward DeBono Creative - 6 Thinking Hats

Here is the chapter from Journey to the Core (SABC3) that looked at the 6 Thinking Hats & how I used them to come up with my business model using crowd-funding for my album 'Journey'. Enjoy xxx

Women empowerment & helpful life tools...

Here's the final part of the Journey to the Core (SABC3) episode they did for me. Hope you have enjoyed it. Please visit their website to learn about the other people they featured on the show! xxx

Coming full circle... Edward De Bono gets my album

Four years ago when my siser & I sat down to brainstorm how I could raise the funds for my first album, and she introduced me to Edward De Bono's "6 Thinking Hats" system, I had no idea where that coffee would lead me. By the end of it, having considered the objectives, pros, cons, facts & feelings, we finally donned our 'green' hats of lateral thinking & had come up with the Lucky Packet Project alternative album funding model. That simple exercise of scribbling down a crazy idea to 'sell an album that did not exist' has sent me on a journey that has resulted in my becoming a speaker on innovation.

When Journey To The Core decided to feature me in May this year, they asked that I include skills I have learned along the way. It felt fitting to share 6 Thinking Hats as an invaluable tool in creative thinking, and we had a fun day dramatising the process. After the show flighted I was inundated with emails about the hats and how helpful people had found the insert. One of the people who had loved the concept got hold the De Bono Institute of South Africa, and when they discovered I had given them such great free publicity they naturally got in touch to find out more.

After sharing my story with them, Zander Powell arranged for me to speak at the Innovation Summit in Maropeng (which led to me being chosen for the cover of SA Innovator Magazine for November) and at the end of my talk, Nicola Tyler (founder of De Bono Business Solutions), bought two of my albums & asked that I sign one for Edward De Bono himself!!! Last week she handed the CD over to him with my thanks for his amazing book, and he and his entire team then watched the Journey to the Core episode about my project & how the hats had made it possible!

I could never have known that a coffee with my sister (who by the way just qualified as a De Bono Lateral Thinking faciliator), would result in me not only innovating in the music industry but also one day having a copy of that album being handed to the very man who had inspired the project!!! If all goes well I will be training to become a 6 Thinking Hats facilitator in December and next year I should be teaching people around the country on how to use this exceptional approach to problem solve!!! 

Incredible to consider the unexpected things that result from following through on an idea. That is the real magic of saying "YES" to life - you never know where that 'yes' will lead you - so just go for it!!

Arriving home from work on a Monday at midday, (I start work at 2am)is normally as good as Mondays get! But hey! what a surprise! Your CD is awaiting me...

After a miserable summer with the weather over here in the UK... Today The Sun is Shinning, Your beautiful voice is echoing around my room & i am on the center fold of a magazine! OK it's only my name in the middle of your CD booklet, but that makes me feel more than proud... what else can i say?
HAPPY DAYS are here again!

Well i always knew the songs would be great, you must be very pleased? & i am honored to say i had a small part in making your dream a true reality.

Of coarse i will send you a pic & report as soon as i can, in the meantime i think you deserve a rest from your long Journey.. me I'll just play it & enjoy it! Thanks & good luck in the future.
Adie.
x

Special Special Special Girl, I received your CD yesterday ... and just listened to it for the first time (made it all the way to "Forever in Me" before bursting into tears ;). I am celebrating with you and for you ... and would have happily waited another 3 years.

Congratulations on living your dream and THANK YOU for sharing it with us (and inspiring us along the way). It has been such a privilege and pleasure to join you on your "Journey". xx

Darden Lotz (Future Owner #615)