A theater major who studied mime in Paris. A would-be French professor who found 300 applications on file for a single job opening. Two layoffs, a cross-country move, and nearly fifty years in publishing later, Rick Benzel has a clear view of how one door leads to the next. His path never ran in a straight line, and that's what makes his story worth hearing.
In today's guest episode, I talk with writer, editor, and publisher Rick Benzel about his life as seen through Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey. Rick traces his calling from the stage to French literature to the publishing business, where he has worked since the late 1970s. He describes the moment he realized a career in academia was a dead end, the corporate mergers that cost him two jobs, and the move to Los Angeles that brought him into trade publishing.
Tune in and listen to the fifty-fifth episode of I Can Do This, Show Me How! Picture walking into a house that looks like a single room, then finding several doors inside. Open one, and a new room appears that wasn't there before. Rick and I use this imagery to talk about career changes, the people who shape our choices, stand-up comedy classes, and the "serendipity days" Rick builds into every trip.
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