A Harebrained Scheme Comes to Life
In episode 12, the finale of Season One, we find ourselves reminiscing - and remembering the 1978 Little River Band song of that name!! A good memory! And we are thinking back on a phrase coined by Nancy’s oldest child, “harebrained scheme,” and some of our past ideas.
First of all, is it HARE or HAIR, when talking about schemes? Let’s check the dictionary:
harebrained
adjective
hare·brained ˈher-ˈbrānd
Synonyms of harebrained:
1
: FOOLISH sense 1
2
: ABSURD, RIDICULOUS*
Nancy and I both tend to operate on the creative side and talk! Plans in the past for harebrained schemes have included party planning, radio shows, and book outlines. A family camp is an idea that even mapped out an organizational chart with various responsibilities!
At an old family cottage, with interior walls that doubled exterior walls, we talked about redoing old cottages pre-HGTV. We would find the old ones and rent them out. Ahead of Airbnb and of our time! These old cabins and cottages came with shiplap. All we had to do was paint them white!
We spent a lot of time as pre-Pinterest parents on themed birthday parties. One of Nancy’s best was a “007” spy party complete with file folder dossiers! So we talked about creating guides to creative parties for parents. We were both Vacation Bible School creators, with curriculum ideas and even tested those at our respective churches.
I distinctly remember Nancy’s son coming into the room during one of these creative bursts of conversations. He was late elementary or middle school age at the time, and he issued a challenge: “When are you guys going to actually do one of your hare-brained schemes?”
It turns out the answer is 2022!
We started the podcast. We listened to many and found we enjoyed different types. So one day we got on Zoom and recorded a sample together. Funny enough, Nancy’s son, the same one who issued the challenge a decade or two earlier, overheard the whole thing. We were chatting about it and hit record and did a sample. Afterward, he admitted to eavesdropping and complimented our efforts. “You should really do that!” We took that to heart.
After that step, we were encouraged enough to send it to my brother. Now I have two brothers, both I would consider geniuses in different areas of life. One is a farmer and heavy equipment operator, but the other has deep roots in radio and radio production. Early in his career, he won tons of awards for audio projects he produced. So we sent our rough recording off to my brother, Tim. He put it together in a way that made us believe we could do it!
With his encouragement, we went ahead and recorded the first three episodes. He produced them for us and we pitched them to a network. We found out we weren’t really ready for that, but with their kind of encouragement, we kept going! We still strongly believe in the market for podcasts for women of a certain age, and have produced a year’s worth of episodes, 40 strong, all available where you listen!
POINTS OF GRATITUDE
Actually doing it! Having a hare-brained scheme and following through!
Thanks also to Dave, Tim and our test group, and our producer Mariah. Lots of family and friends who encouraged us!
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:
Have you ever acted on a crazy idea?
Who encourages you when you need it?
What are you creating right now?