Me: How many talks have you done at this point?
Seth: Over 10,000.
Me: Do you still get nervous?
Seth: No, not really.
Me: How many talks did it take to stop being nervous?
Seth. About 200.
Me: How long did it take you to do 200 talks?
Seth: 2 years.
Me: So freaking cool.
I was nervous to photograph Seth Godin. Let’s be honest, he’s a legend in the thought leadership space. He’s written over 19 best-selling books, including many that have changed my life. Based on his massive success, I assumed Seth would be difficult to work with.
The exact opposite was true. He was kind, funny and generous. Also very sincere and grounded. My whole team had a blast working with Seth. We got to asked him all sorts of questions. He did not hold back; I was surprised by his openness and candor.
After the photoshoot Seth stuck around for a while to talk about life and told us some amazing stories about his childhood. Before he left, Seth asked for all of our mailing addresses and promised to ship the entire team one of his newest books, which is currently not available to the public.
Before I met Seth, a part of me still held on to the belief that the people at the top of their fields didn’t have time for people like me. But in the end, we all walked away thinking what a remarkable dude.
After that experience, I realized that these people are just like me.
It turns out you don’t have to give up your goodness to be great.
