The GRP Book Two Wants You

Blair Kaplan Venables: 00:00:00

trigger warning, the Resilience Project provides an open space for people to share their personal experiences. Some content in this podcast may include topics that you may find difficult, the listeners discretion is advised.

Blair Kaplan Venables: 00:00:19

Hello friends, welcome to radical resilience, a weekly show where I Blair Kaplan Venables have inspirational conversations with people who have survived life's most challenging times. We all have the ability to be resilient and bounce forward from a difficult experience. And these conversations prove just that, get ready to dive into these life changing moments while strengthening your resilience muscle and getting raw and real. Welcome back to another episode of radical resilience.

Blair Kaplan Venables: 00:00:53

It's me, Blair Kaplan Venables, and I am super excited today, because we have fun updates to share. Alanna couldn't be with me today. Sometimes it's hard to record with her because we live in different parts of the country. And our schedules are very different. And we were supposed to record on the weekend. But I ended up spending a whole day sleeping like it felt like I was in my 20s again, but, you know, I guess my body really needed it. And it's because I've been working really hard. In the back end, I've been really, really focused on getting ready for this week. And so what happened this week. So on February 8, we officially opened doors to be in the second global Resilience Project book, super exciting. I'm going to talk about that in a second. We also did a sneaky peeky of our merch line. This is spearheaded by Atlanta, but we're gonna be launching a few different shirts to start, I'm going to talk about that. And, you know, this is to help us make money to fund this project. And yeah, and then we talked about a couple other tools that we are launching. So I'm just going to use this episode to give you some exciting updates. So the first book, The Global Resilience Project book came out in June 2022. It launched a few months after we lost our father a year and a bit after we lost our mother and my father in law, and we have our miscarriage, I was literally in survival mode the entire time I was putting together this book. And the first book started, the whole community, in fact started because of the legacy that I wanted to leave for me and my father, just as a reminder, like we had a very bumpy relationship, and he lived with addiction. So obviously, there was a lot of issues when I was younger. But in my 20s I forgave him and decided to accept whatever relationship I could, you know, he was able to give me and we started to develop a very beautiful relationship. And we got really close, you know, and he lived in Winnipeg, and I lived in BC, and he would come visit me a couple times a year. And it was amazing. But at the end of 2018, we learned he was terminally ill he had lung cancer and COPD. And he was given a year and a half to two years left to live. And I started sharing our story of his addiction, my forgiveness of him and our resilience with anyone who would listen friends over coffee friends over the phone, on the radio. And what was happening was people were saying, while Blair, your story inspired me to fix things with my mom or my dad before they passed away. Or, you know, I listened to you. And I actually wouldn't go to a therapist or, you know, I heard what you said about your father and how you wish you would have known he loved you no matter what and that he was just sick. And I use that with one of my students whose father lives with addiction. And I said, Dad, like we're changing lives, our stories, changing lives. Why don't we write a book, and we'll gather stories of resilience from around the world. And then we'll bookend it with your story in the beginning and my story at the end. He's like, Sure. And so it started. It started as a website and social media. And then we started collecting stories of resilience from around the world. Alanna came on board and early 2019. We launched March 2019. So we're about to come up to our four year anniversary. So when we launched the project, I you know, I was like, wow, like, I am going to be writing a book, took the book writing course, I wrote a practice book, but this whole time between launching the project in 2019 and June 2022. We suffered an extreme amount of loss, right? So we weren't my dad was gonna die or grandfather died. I got a brain injury from a car accident. My husband had a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery. So he almost died. He's fine now. He actually went blind after my mom died. But he's also fine now like he it was really scary. He has type one diabetic and he lost vision in one of his eyes. And now he has most of his vision back. But you know, and then we had all that other loss, the miscarriage my father in law, my mom, my dad, and so holding space for you, my resilient community. You know, I want to Make sure that I had the capacity to hold space. And so when I was hit with trauma after trauma, I had to pause the project so I can focus on myself. So once we got the book out, I felt like I was limping through the finish line, you know, compound grief, deep grief, but also like, so accomplish that we did this. You know, we have had such a great team, we had to change members of our team a few times. And, you know, I am so proud of the work we did. And we launched it and we became a best seller. And we have authors from around the world. This book honors my father in law, my mom and my father, my sister, and I poured our blood, sweat and tears into this literally knocking on virtual doors to ask people to share their stories, by messaging people we saw that had interesting stories on social media, me speaking at events around the world, and we did it. And so what's really beautiful about this book is that we launched it, we got a bunch of press, I ended up on a billboard in Times Square, our story was featured in other books, lots of media around the world, different podcasts, and radio shows, it was all very exciting, it still is very exciting. And I didn't know if I was going to put out a second book. And I felt really drained. And it wasn't the book or the project, it was the grief. Also, I'm an entrepreneur, and I run a business. So you know, like juggling all of that, while losing that many people was very challenging. And so I was in Hawaii on vacation with my husband. And we took a week off. And I haven't had time off like that. Four plus years, like I haven't, probably since our honeymoon, didn't have my computer didn't have any work, I needed time to heal. And like a week is not long enough. But it's a great place to start. And so, one of the nights towards the end of the vacation in my dreams, my mom came to me and and she came to me and I was just telling me how proud she was of me. And I was just getting ready to launch the second book. And I woke up feeling ready, and woke up feeling ready and inspired. So we started putting the balls in motion, we updated our logo, which is super awesome. I love our new logo. And it's soon to be updated on our everywhere on our website on our podcast graphics. It's already updated on our social media. We updated our website, and then we started to create some cool tools. So let's dive in. Oh, yeah, so let me talk about the timeline. So applications are now open. The goal is to have 125 stories, the first book had 70. So that's the goal. But you know, if we do it with 20, or 30, or 50, that's fine, too. I want to create a safe space for you to share your stories of resilience. We have our podcast, you can submit stories to be published on our website and social media. And now we have our book, and I speak around the world. So let's talk about the book. So

Blair Kaplan Venables: 00:07:58

you're officially invited to share your story. So do you have a story of overcoming a challenge? Probably. So basically, your story is going to be published in our 2023 book, share it online social media, with our community on our podcast. And what's really cool about all of this is that our story of this community is going to be featured on an Amazon Prime show, which I'm filming in March, it should err on the summer, which means your story and our community is going to get a lot of eyeballs on us, which I think is amazing. And as a marketing public relations person like let's like gold. So as a reminder, the global Resilience Project is a collection of stories of resilience from around the world. Telling your story can be extremely powerful and a powerful part of your healing journey. And when we create a safe space for people to share, read and listen to stories of resilience. We help not only you heal, but other people heal. Once you've bounced forward from a challenging experience. sharing your story can be healing and not just for you. But again, anyone reading your story. When going through a tough time it's helpful to read other people's stories of resilience because they can inspire you to move through your challenge and feel less alone. And I know when I've gone through challenges sometimes I feel very alone. It's hard to navigate hard stuff. The global Resilience Project is empowering the world to heal through our books online community community this podcast and sharing our message with everyone and anyone who will listen. You know it's okay to not be okay. But remember, you are not alone. We are here for you. This is why we exist. So why would you want to share your story? Well, you can share your story to help yourself heal, helping part of your healing journey but also to help others be resilient. You know, sharing your story may help you heal further. Your story may help someone who's going through a similar challenge to navigate their way through it. The way our stories are laid out is not only do you share your challenge and your story, but you provide advice. We asked you to share a piece of advice for some One who is going through something similar. And that is key. Why else well to become a published author, maybe you have dreams of writing a book, or maybe you never thought of it, let me tell you writing a book is a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of energy. I've published two of my own books. And I've done that. And I, I love the process, and but it's hard. And so if you ever dreamed of writing a book or becoming a published author, being a co author, which is what you would be if you shared your story is a great way to get your inspirational words and name out into the world. And this is a great experience for you to see if this is the path you want to explore, if you'd like to being a co author if you want to explore writing a book on your own. And also, when you become an author, you get to be part of the co author collective. And you get to get a back, you know, you get back backstage pass a front row seat into watching me and Alanna build this book. And I teach you everything I do step by step. So if you want to go forward and put out a book, you're going to know how to do it. And you also I'll talk a bit more about that in a bit. But you get basically access to me and everything I'm doing and Alanna. So why else? Well, we are becoming a global movement, people around the world are buying our book, coming to our events. I'm speaking around the world, like even coming up in the next couple of months besides ship. Speaking on amazon prime on a new TV show, I'm going to be speaking in Winnipeg, two different organizations, I'm going to be speaking in Ghana. And then there's a bunch of other things that are in the works. Yes, that's right. Gonna like I'm going from Manitoba. Speaking in Manitoba speaking in Africa. And I would say that's pretty worldwide. That's a pretty big reach. But what started as a legacy project has turned into a global global movement. With story submissions from around the world, we have this worldwide reach of empowerment and inspiration. And it takes only one person to hear your story to make a difference. So what if your story can change the trajectory of someone's life? What What if you could be that person? What if your story can be that story, the GRP that's what we also abbreviate to the GRP team not only sells our book around the world, but we speak around the world, we record our podcasts around the world. In fact, Alanna and I are recording a podcast live in front of an audience. This march in Winnipeg added Jewish learning weekend called Lee mood, and this is gonna be the first time we've ever done it, and like you're gonna get to hear it, and it's hopefully going to work out really well. So why else? Well, there's other amazing bonuses. So you're gonna get two copies of the global Resilience Project book, a printed PDF of your beautifully designed story, because this is a coffee table book. It's not just words, beautiful images and graphics, you're gonna get a spot on this radical resilience podcast. And let me tell you, I have about 70 guests waiting in the wings to be on this podcast. So you get bumped to the front. So if you ever had a dream of sharing your story, in this podcast, and with our book, you get to be front of the line, you get a membership to the global Resilience Project, co author collective, and that is a private community where we have monthly calls, ongoing trainings, a place to support one another. And then, you know, not only that, but I'm going to be teaching you where you know how to do all this supporting you with public relations and social media giving you templates, giving you social media graphics to promote your story for your community, my job is to help you amplify your message. And, you know, I've been doing this for 15 years. So this is my specialty. And you're going to have other trainings as well. I'm hoping to bring in an expert to help us with story writing. And you don't need to be a professional story writer, we ask you to share your story. And then our editors put it together. So we make it shine. And then you get access to me, you get support around the book launch leading up to the book, launch the book, launch and beyond. And you get to be part of this co author collective for as long as we exist. So if you're part of this book, last book, or future books, if you're co author, you're part of the collective, and the most important reason is to help give back. So a portion of the proceeds of book sales go to helping various organizations and groups around the world. And it's not just book sales, but also merch sales and part of our proceeds. So I'm going to talk a bit more about that. So if you want to share your story, I invite you to go to the global resilience project.com, you can hit the button that says be in our book, or at the top it says submit your story, or halfway down it says submit submit your story or at the very bottom, it says submit your story. Click on that. And it's going to take you to a landing page where you can click a big green button that says I want to share my story. We have a bunch of frequently asked questions there. And at the very bottom if you're like well Blair I have questions is this right for me? Scroll right to the very bottom and it says book a call. It's a blue bar blue wording, click that and you can book a call with me and we can talk about it. And there is an option there to share your story for free and what that means is that there is a cost associated with this book. The book costs a lot of time and money and resources. And I learned that the first and second book I did. So the cost of being in the book is $888, you can pay that all at once, you can pay that over six months for $150 a month, or you can pay that for 12 months at $85 a month. And you know, you're getting a lot of value added, you're not just sharing your story and giving it to me, you get a lot of extra support, and I amplify you this money goes towards funding the project paying my team marketing and publicity, uncovering wages. So you know, I'm not really making any money from the book, it's about how to use the book and your story to, you know, generate visibility, which generates awareness and potentially income and I teach you how to do all that. But the main message here is to help people heal. So you can go to the global resilience project.com. And then again, hit anything that says submit your story, be in our book, and we'll take you to the page where you can learn more here. Basically, everything I just said you can read about it, there's a video there, you can book a call with me, or you can just if you're like I am and you can hit one of those buttons, secure your spot, and we'll make it happen. We launched officially on February 8, but not but and we have about 15 spots already spoken for which is super cool. And we have a whole bunch of other calls in the wings. So I'm really excited about this. So what else what else is super exciting so our merch so if you follow us on social media, we're global resilience community on Instagram and Facebook. We decided to launch some merch so you know as Kaplan sisters are known for our wet and dry humor. So what better way to share that with the world than making merch to help fund this project? So we have right now three sneaky peek is available. We don't know when they're officially going to be live. We're meeting next week. And we're gonna do get some photos and talk about it. But as soon as it's available, trust us, you will see it. So we have a one. One shirt. It's called the Dead parent society. crewneck. Yes, that's right dead parents society. It's the club that no one wants to join. Losing a parent is one of the hardest things you'll go through in life. Sometimes it can be helpful to know that you are not alone. The dead parents society collection aims to bring awareness to the pain and experience. Its goal is to bring grief to the forefront and normalize that conversation. And of course, sometimes a little dark humor can help. We don't want you to join the Club. But it's a club that we are all going to join. And it's a very hard place to be. And if you aren't part of this club yet. Well, first of all, I'm jealous. And so as Alanna,

Blair Kaplan Venables: 00:17:32

but you don't understand until you go through it so it's it's the club that no one wants to join. So that's the dead parents society. crewneck we have the Good grief. crewneck grief is an emotion experience that we all experience in our lifetime and nothing really prepares us for that. And while it can be painful, it can show how much you had love for someone. So wearing the Good grief. crewneck can remind you and others of this, a portion of the good grief crew net proceeds will go to Camp Aaron. Camp Aaron is a collection of bereavement camps throughout North America for children and teens. Through donations these camps offer free experiences to children and teens who have lost someone they loved Alanna, and I really believe in this cause and proceeds from this specific shirt are going to get donated to camp Erin. And number three is our resilient AF crewneck. You know, resilient as fuck, you've gone through a challenge this shirts for you. Basically, resilience is when you bounce forward from a challenging experience. Life can be beautiful, and it can be hard at times. The resilient AF crewneck is like a gold star that keeps you warm. Remember gold stars you know you did a good job you got a gold star friend, you survived a difficult and shitty experience. So you deserve a reward because you are resilient as fuck. So these designs are unisex, there's going to be a few color options per design. The prices are to be announced the launch date is going to be soon. You know, we're excited to show this you know to you we're not clothing designers, but we are visionaries and we are innovators. And we are also looking for creative ways to help fund this project. We also have a workbook a free workbook and soon you'll be able to get it on our website and social media and what it is it is the five secrets to strengthening your resilience muscle. And so this is going to be a free workbook that you can download. And it helps you build out a routine and helping you become more resilient and we're really excited about that. So I am so excited to do this with you to walk alongside you for book two. We're gonna keep you updated this whole journey you're gonna get live, you know, front row action, you know, updates on how this is going as we are building this. So it's really, really exciting. You know, there are other books out there you could write a book you can write a blog but with us what's really special is that we have momentum from our first book and we have the visibility you know we've been in Forbes Thrive global CBC, Yahoo News influence of entrepreneur and we have a bunch of cool things lined up for the next you know, year and a bit So I am so excited to have this opportunity to lead you through this to be that lighthouse in the storm to provide you a safe space to share your story through our book, our website, our podcast, social media, maybe at future events, which we are planning, there's events coming up that are going to be free for you. So, if you're thinking of being in the next book, I would love to meet you. book a call with me all the links are going to be in the show notes. Remember, it is okay to not be okay. Life is fucking hard. And sometimes we feel so alone but you're not alone. You have us. Let us be the lighthouse in the storm and the light at that end of the tunnel. Remember, you're going to get through this you my friends are resilient.