ANYTHING BUT ORDINARY
by Michael McCleary

I would like to welcome all of the readers to my new column! It is an amazing thought in one hand that I have been provided the opportunity to share my thoughts with you in this publication, while on the other it feels like I'm sliding on an old pair of shoes that I haven't worn in a number of years. In college, I was the editor of the student newspaper, Kettering University's, The Technician. In the process of putting my thoughts on paper; or as I type on my laptop, "the digital canvas", I'm brought back to those younger idealistic years of being in college. At that time I hoped to make a positive impact at the university that would in some way improve the life of every student. Now, almost 10 years later, I hope that my words can offer you, the reader, some ideas to ponder and consider.

I recently began a new teleclass and an associate of mine wrote me today and said he had listened to the audio recording of the first class and his mental wheels were turning. I don't believe he realized when he wrote the email to me that his comments were a humbling experience for me to read. My goal in life is to share the discoveries I make on this personal journey with whoever might listen, so that if I'm lucky enough they may take the time to ask a simple question: "Why?" "Why am I making the choices I do?" "Why do I choose to live my life in this way?" "Why do I often reject patience for temptation?" "Why do I choose judgment over acceptance?" Even, "Why is the world round?" Honestly, so many of us fail to ask even the simplest questions of ourselves. I know my life has gone through long periods without asking even the most basic questions of life. I would simply float along the river of life without any direction, without a rudder, allowing the river to take me where it did without asking myself the most basic question: "Where do I really want to go?"

With all of these questions I pose, I'm sure you are probably wondering who in the world is this guy and why is he trying to get me to think? Who does he think he is? Well, I believe a brief introduction is in order. My name, of course, is Michael (or Mike to many of my friends) McCleary. I'm a resident of the Thumb area of Michigan and I originally grew up in the metro Detroit region. I attended Kettering University in Flint, Michigan, and went on to work for a variety of financial institutions including Citizens Bank, Jackson National Life Insurance Company and most recently, Bay Port State Bank. What I found with all of the businesses I worked for was that I always ended up unhappy and unsatisfied, not because there was a problem with the company, but because my spirit yearned for something more, for something different.

That "something different" came in the form of co-founding a business called Beacon Media. At Beacon Media we offer a variety of services from video production to Web site design, branding and marketing. A number of people thought I was crazy for starting such a company in the middle of the Thumb, better known for soybeans and corn then DVDs and disk drives. At the time of Beacon's founding, though, I asked myself a simple yet profound question, "Why not?" There are many advantages to the Thumb when you take a moment to actually look around and dig deep into the community. In fact, what many people found as weaknesses, I found was a great strength. For example, the Thumb is centrally located to a variety of cities including Flint, Saginaw, Bay City, Lapeer, Port Huron and even Detroit. Second, while the population density is low in the Thumb region, there is little competition for video production, web and marketing services. Third, due to that lack of competition there is an increased interest and notoriety for what we do (which can be a blessing and a curse). Finally, the quality of people in this region is superb, exceedingly friendly and for the most part trustworthy to a fault. So, when I was often posed the question by the doubters, "Why the Thumb?" my thought was, "Why not?"

Recently I began walking down a path that has been a life long dream of mine. I have created, hosted and produced my own TV series entitled, Anything But Ordinary, which is of course, also the title of this column. The series is based loosely on the Bravo series, Inside The Actor's Studio hosted by James Lipton, but instead of interviewing celebrity actors and directors, we interview ordinary people living extraordinary lives. In the process of filming the series (we have filmed four episodes as of this writing) I have begun to meet a tremendous variety of successful people. All with their own unique yet shared story to tell. I realized early on that there was so much I could share about these people's lives with the public and hopefully add a little touch of my own journey as well. Thus this column and a number of other writing projects were born.

I had originally considered writing this column with essentially a basic write up on each person I interviewed and what they had shared with me in each episode. I seriously considered that approach and then decided after a lot of reflection that there are going to be a variety of ways for you to find out about their outward lives and our interviews, whether it be from the TV series, to my blog and audio podcasts, to their own Web sites, or from a book I will be writing as a companion to the series. As I said, there will be a lot of information shared about each person and episode! Because of these considerations my thoughts moved toward sharing my personal journey of creating the series and sharing with you what I have learned from meeting these wonderful and amazing people. Hopefully you will find our intertwined journey both thought provoking and inspiring.

My goal in future columns is to give you a glimpse behind the scenes and behind my guests' outward lives. To demonstrate to all of us that underneath all of the clothes, the hype and the outward appearances, that we really are all more alike than we often care to admit. We all have an amazing story to tell. The question is, "When will we start telling yours?"

Michael McCleary is the co-founder and CEO of Beacon Media, LLC, a video production, web design and new media company located in Bay Port, Michigan. He is also the creator and executive producer of the new TV series, Anything But Ordinary, coming to PBS and online in the summer of 2006. To find out more about Michael and his projects you can visit his Web site at www.beaconmediaonline.com, his blog at www.blogitorium.com/anythingbutordinary, by stopping by his biweekly Vision teleclass at www.beaconmediaonline.com/teleclass.htm or look for his audio podcast on iTunes (www.itunes.com) by searching under the title "Anything But Ordinary". You can also contact him directly by sending an e-mail to: column@beaconmediaonline.com.