Y Crazy Mind

Today I had the opportunity to interview successful entrepreneur and business leader Ernie Bray of ACD. ACD is a technology and services provider for the auto insurance industry. He built his company into a fast growing firm that has gained awards such as multiple year rankings on Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5000 and Deloitte’s Tech Fast 500.  What I wanted to find out for readers is what is it like to bootstrap and build a company without any outside investment and actually grow it successfully. We all hear about start ups receiving funding and burning through cash but this was a different approach and here’s what I found out. How did you get your idea? Well, I had worked in the auto insurance sector for about eight years prior to ACD. I saw an industry that was so behind in technology and ripe for innovation. The claims process was very paper centric and vast amounts of valuable data wasn’t even being captured. As we all know today, data have tremendous value. With that i...

Tyrrell Parker from Sacramento, CA is a musician artist, beatmaker, recording/mixing engineer, model, and hobby tattooist. He is the founder of Gud Ppls with the motto: Spreading Gud Vibes Gud Music Gud Smoke= Gud Ppls! We have conducted an interview with him. Which are your most prized talents as an artist and for which instruments do you play? Most prized talents as an artist well I do everything from lyrics to recording myself to mixing including the mastering all taking more time that an average artist just hitting the studio I do it all. Instruments I play are saxophone the drums and a lil piano. How long have you been recording and mixing music? What will be a 'beatmaking' tip you will give to a newbie? I've been recording and mixing music since I was 16 and currently 23 so years of trial and error! For a beatmaking tip, don't focus on trying to create a hit same as writing let your emotions speak the creating comes from within don't force ...

Lehman Riley is a children's book author from Minneapolis, MN. He has written a series book titled " The Adventures of Papa Lemon's Little Wanderers ". We have conducted an interview with him. How long have you been a children's book author and what drawn you to this profession? 23 yrs as an author. When I was a child in elementary school I enjoyed history, but I wanted to experience it my way. Not the way I was being taught. It needed to be fun, and with characters that looked like me. Little did I know this was my assignment in life. What were the most memorable twists or turns while you were writing the book series? What have you learnt? Traveling across the country was great & working in classrooms sharing my story with children. I couldn't ask for a better job. How kids see themselves with my characters & the kids learn the importance of their family history. In your children's book series " The Adventures of Papa ...

Our guest tonight is Debbi Mack from Columbia, MD, USA. She has published one mystery, one YA novel and several short stories. On her " I Found it at the Movies " blog she also writes reviews. What makes you want to write about domestic abuse and identity theft in the "Sam McRae Mystery Series"? The book Identity Crisis is less about domestic abuse than it is about false and mistaken identities. But the domestic abuse angle strengthened the client's motive for murder. Identity theft has become a growing problem. Also, so much psychological baggage is wrapped up in how we identify ourselves. Crooks use false identity to hide from authorities. Which is the most mysterious plot you've ever seen/read/heard? In film/books/podcasts? Probably "The Usual Suspects". What is your role at 'The Crime Cafe'? I interview other crime, suspense, and thriller authors. Which element or effect in filmmaking do you think is best at port...

When it comes to performing, Knik Bentley is no stranger to the stage. His passion and excitement is undeniable when seeing him perform live or in the studio. He hopes to become the true bridge between Hip Hop and R&B world. We have conducted a short interview with him. What three metaphors are your favourite and how much do you use this literary figure of speech as an image or story in your music? "call my boys 79th they get to Andre Drummond" "They hit the jumper or they fade away" "She looked good on the gram hit her up called a Uber" I try to use this as much as possible in my music. Rap is also poetry in its own form so I try to use as many literally devices as possible to tell my story as clear as possible What kind of challenges did you face while producing LA Watts, your latest single? What the lyrics should be. J Louis did a incredible making the beat itself, I didn't want to go in the studio and the lyrics do...

Los Angeles-based Wyndotte Street is an experiment in monetizing online content. They have a library of self produced sketches, series, live music and standup comedy videos. Early next year they will come out with their new comedy and dramatic series. We have conducted an interview with  Adam Fike from Wyndotte Street. Who are involved in the production of your library of self produced sketches, series, live music and standup comedy videos? Christian Monzon founded Wyndotte Street and wrote the Clocking Out series, which I edited and did the post on. We got to talking and found we have similar goals, to make good stuff and also make a business out of it. Next we did the Naked Man series and it went on from there. The performers are the important part. Los Angeles is overflowing with talented people looking for a way to show what they can do. We just happen to be friends with some of the best of them. A major reason we're doing this is to showcase the amazing peo...

Michael Luchies is on a passionate quest to help others. He's the founder of TrepRep, a content strategy and creation agency for small businesses and entrepreneurs. He uses his background and education in the field of entrepreneurship to help bring life and viability into the ideas of others, and can often be heard from several rooms away due to his unmuted and unfiltered enthusiasm. He gave a talk at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. We have conducted an interview with him. In your opinion and experience, was it more difficult to craft or deliver a speech? Why They are both difficult, but crafting the speech is the hardest aspect and the most important, partly because it will also determine the delivery of the speech as well. With my TEDx talk, I had eight months to prepare the speech. Now, you’d think all of that time would allow me to create a masterful and brilliant talk, but having too much time to pre...

Hoppy Rogers is a Horror Movie Writer & Director. He is working on his new horror movie "Love, Mother Fraunfi" . We have conducted an interview with him. What got you into Horror Films? Well, I've always been a Horror Fan, and I've also always been that Horror Fan that winds up wishing for more. I found myself dumped by a woman I loved and instead of sulking, I decided to put all my energy in writing. I just took all that angst and put into a script. I created something instead of destroying myself. Now we are on the road to bringing that script to life. What is this horror film about? "Love, Mother Fraunfi" is both a love story and a tale of possible redemption. We all know someone who has a horrible past, but ends up in that decisive moment where they could become worse than ever or completely start a new way of life. Mother Fraunfi has found that moment as a Voodoo Priestess. Of course our film includes everything from Rappers to Porn ...

Tonight our guest is Glen L. Loveland, an American HR manager, who have lived in Beijing for almost 9 years. We have conducted an interview with him. Economies are recovering more and more from the crisis and good talent is getting harder to find, what is your opinion about this? The best candidates always have options, even during an economic downturn. There’s one question that every single interviewer at a company should know the answer to: “Why should I choose you over other companies?” In today’s talent market where candidates have the upper hand, it takes serious differentiation to compete. If you can’t articulate your employee value proposition to candidates, you’ll never attract or close top talent. How important is branding the company as an employer of choice in a highly competitive market that hunts for talented people? What are the ways? A strong employer brand attracts and retains top talent, reducing both recruiting costs and turnover rates. What you say a...

Melissa Martineau Alexander is a writer from Texas, US. She published her second novel, The Healing Of Lily Wentworth: Part II . We have conducted an interview with her. In your second novel, The Healing of Lily Wentworth, who is Lily? Why did you choose to write about her, is she someone close (in proximity and personality) to you in real life? Lily Wentworth is a woman in her early forties who grew up the daughter of a seventies rock legend. She’s grown up having a privileged life, but her parents were diligent in not spoiling her, which allowed Lily to avoid the pitfalls of growing up the child of a celebrity. She’s a woman who, initially, has been sheltered and experiences difficulty in expressing her opinions or feelings. Eventually, Lily learns to think for herself and have a voice. These books are written in first-person, as Lily’s way of revealing her life and the choices she’s made to the reader. I chose to write about a person who’s damaged and makes decisions...

Tonight our guest is Liane Moonraven, Writer/Producer of Moonraven Films, LLC the creator of The Carmen Online Theater Group. We have conducted an interview with her. What leads you to become a writer and how different is being a producer, telling a same story? I have enjoyed writing stories since I was old enough to hold a pen. I grew up before the Internet so as a kid and teenager, I had worldwide pen pals back then. Yup, we actually wrote and paid postage to mail letters. Lol, I wrote stories for school projects and extra credit and my teachers encouraged me. When I went to college I noticed I always got A’s on my papers. A few years ago I joined some writers’ groups and that’s when the real valuable learning came. I learned to write drabbles (precision writing) and started role play writing with a group of amazing writers. I did that for years. Then my mentor, a Hollywood producer and director, took me under his wing and taught me how to write scripts. All of that combined...

Chelsea Walker Flagg  is a writer in Boulder, Colorado and just self-published her first book. It's a funny memoir about finding her way through her 20s, trying her hardest to become a "strong" woman, and ultimately discovering that there's more than one right way to be a strong woman. We have conducted an interview with her. Amongst so many different genres, why did you choose to write your first book as a funny memoir? Writing a humor book was a no-brainer for me. For starters, I've always been drawn toward comedic writing—the challenge of hitting a phrase just right so it's funny instead of stupid, hearing people laugh out loud while reading my words...it's just fun for me. The message laced throughout the book is a serious one: demonstrating that there is no right way to be a strong girl. A strong girl is born when she is true to herself. As the mother to three young daughters, it’s an important message to me. But, I didn’t want it to be...

Our guest today is Douglas Maxwell Myer from Worcester, MA. He is a writer that has released 3 short horror stories and 2 horror poems for the Independent Author site called Scriggler.com .  “It Crept In Slowly” is an interesting title, what inspires you in horror themed stories and poetry? Whatever kind of events that are happening in the country, whether it is present or past, are certainly inspiring factors that have made their way into the stories I have written which end up getting filtered through my own imagination and perceptions. Though the world definitely has many beautiful qualities that does not always get fully incorporated into a work of written fiction, there are many horrors as well which come about in everyday life. There are fears of war, fear of someone murdering you, fear of being stricken by a deadly illness, fear of getting in a car accident, fear of a loved one leaving you, fear of losing your job, and even fears of not finding a group of people t...

Our guest tonight is Weston Meckes from Southern California. He is a 21 year young entrepreneur who wants to spread inspiration and show people what's possible in life! Who is "EntrePRO" app for? What are your aims of creating this app? To inspire the world! Plain and simple. People are extremely connected, which is a good and bad thing. It's easy to spread good information and it's easy to spread bad information. EntrePRO is there for ambitious people to connect and share valuable information and insights with like-minded people all over the globe. We can all grow from the wisdom of those around us, especially high achievers. You're a product of the people you spend the most time around, right? Birds of a feather flock together. Well if you can't get around as many ambitious folks in your daily life as you'd like to, you can exchange ideas with them at any time of the day through EntrePRO. Which were the important steps taken to valida...

S.W. Frank is a native New Yorker. A Former FDNY-EMT and writer the law school journey during a stint in law school, the novelist decided to pursue writing full-time. Growing up in a musical and artistic home, those influences remain palpable in the author's library of works. Listed in The Guardian's 2013 article, 'The Gems of Indie Publishing.' The author states, "I had to admit publicly, my long standing affair with writing." We have conducted an interview with her. As a former FDNY Emergency Medical Services, during which time you've received numerous commendations, which is the most mysterious thing that ever happened to you?  The most mysterious thing that I encountered as a member of the NYC Emergency Services, is perhaps not unusual in the profession. There have been cases where a patient has trauma, yet no recollection of how the injury occurred. But, in the emergency medical field, my job was stabilization of the patient. Which is...

Photographs; they capture a moment and sometimes even an emotion. They are so important to us because we can never regain this exact time or the people. How many of us would stop and stay present in the moment when these photos were taken in order to fully appreciate their importance? The Chinese film Father's Studio 爸爸的照相馆 is a deeply moving tale which informs and warns the viewer to not take these “snapshots” of life for granted. It’s fitting that moving pictures like this which employ sound are able to transfer a layer of emotions which are multisensory while pointing us back to how photos are deeply meaningful for the family depicted in this film as well as each of us. Father’s Studio is not really about photography; it’s about defining one’s self. Early in the film, we learn that the patriarch of this family has only days left to live. His terminal disease has become aggressive and the father’s attempts to conceal it from his family will end as soon as his own existe...

Urban fantasy novelist Pierre Roustan , author of the debut novel THE CAIN LETTERS is our guest for today. We have conducted an interview with him. What is “The Cain Letters,” book 1 of THE DIVINE COVENANT series, about? This isn’t your typical vampire novel. There are no overly romantic debutantes and European sentimentalities here, nor is there an over-abundance of blood and guts, ravenous revenants and heinous hellish harlots screeching to rip spines in the middle of a Texas or New Mexico desert. THE CAIN LETTERS takes the horror to a deeply spiritual level, balancing the scale of what we love in vampire literature, detailing the saga of a vampire hunter hailing from a long line of warriors dating back to the times of the book of Genesis. Her name is Alexandra Glade, the leader of a chapter of qualified and experienced hunters for the ‘Berith Lochem’, which is Hebrew for “Divine Covenant.” “The Cain Letters” are actually a collection of letters written by the biblica...

Linda Hannah Young is the author of a unique method of teaching the basics of music theory. Based on the book she has written and illustrated a program called A Note for Children . We have conducted a short interview with her. What are the essentials to run a foundational music program? The essentials to running a foundation music program are these: fun, imagination, integration music theory has the potential to be boring for children. Make it fun, use lots of imagination then integrate the learning What is special in your book "A Note for Children" with regards to method of teaching the basics of music theory? A Note for Children is unique in that it not only involves an imaginary story about the notes, giving them character and personality but it explains in a fun way the function of each note. It makes sense why they operate this way! Who are suitable to use this book? I have taught this method to students as young as 3 years of age and upto 12 ye...