With my family and Jane Fonda

I have not blogged in awhile, it has been a really long summer and since I decided to leave Ketchum and build my new social media venture EVERYWHERE, I must admit my time has been limited. I took my wife to see “Julie & Julia” and though I’m known to fall asleep at a movie pretty fast her story of being a blogger who cultivates a community alongside of the amazing acting job by Meryl Streep kept me awake. The film also reminded me that though I work in social media and advise individuals and companies daily; and I’m a pretty dedicated twitter user I hardly pay much attention to my blogging. Maybe it’s because I’m so entrenched in the world and helping my clients like Jane Fonda, Sanaa Lathan, Jermaine Dupri and other brands manage their own social media strategies an I will admit that sometimes the thought of looking at the WordPress backend is so unappealing. Despite the obvious social media overload I experience daily I have decided to have a change of heart and really dedicate myself to both this blog and the blog I committed to contribute to at Fast Company. Wish me luck.

Jane Fonda who is a client invited me and my family out to “Forked Lightning” her 3,000 acre ranch outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico and I kindly accepted. Full transparency, I’m not the biggest outdoorsmen and the thought of Southwestern reptiles; most importantly Rattlesnakes had me a little spooked. Despite that aversion, I cashed in some Delta Skymiles (courtesy of traveling 40 weeks last yr for Ketchum!) and made the trek out west. In the end I had the most amazing time at Forked Lightning Ranch. I rode ATV’s, climbed rocks and ate lunch at the top overlooking the property, swam and played with the kids, rode horses for a couple of days and even participated in fly fishing. I earned my “Junior Cowboy” star and escaped without any sights of snakes (Thank you Jesus).

View of Forked Lightning Ranch

One of the highlights of my trip included being able to spend some quality time with Jane Fonda who has become a friend and a client. I started by helping her discover blogging and social media. She then became an advisor during a difficult run-in I had with racism in Memphis which catapulted into a tiny media frenzy (no better friend I could find who knew about being attacked for no reason) and now as one of EVERYWHERE first clients she continues to be an avid supporter of my business and personal vision. Jane and I took a 2 hour morning walk on the ranch where I learned more about her work ethic and what drives her, her commitment to her family and kids, her new boyfriend and her vision for the next 10 years. As we left the ranch for the top of the mountain she said, “this is going to be a lifewalk…that mountain seems really far right? We are going to tackle it one step at a time.”

The teacher teaching the legend a new trick....

I will not forget the talks we had nor the great time my family shared with Jane on the ranch. My son, who is a budding high school actor, had a real thrill being able to sing classic Broadway show tunes at dinner one night with Jane who immediately put him on the spot. Sherrelle, my wife, who looks younger and younger every year received confirmation on why she so desires a ranch when we get older; Jane’s Forked Lightning Ranch MUST be part of the reason that she looks amazing and out hikes most of the guests who come visit.

Jane is an amazing human being whose generosity and dedication to causes even outweigh her 2 Academy Awards, countless films,books, and successful workout DVD’s. I urge you to read her memoirs and visit the work she does in Atlanta via her non profit GCAPP. And of course go visit her Blog, Twitter Profile, Facebook Group and Community