Julian SmitAn open letter to people visiting from LinkedIn...
Dear #LinkedInFam (as some like to call it),
I very much appreciate all the “Congrats on starting your new role at OffGriddy!” (and 50th birthday wishes) I’ve received on LinkedIn lately. That said, I’d like to shed some light and put some perspective on my recent “big move”. Yes, this does reflect a career shift for me. But this is a transition I’ve been working on for the better part of 5 years.
The move was a critical part of it, but at the end of the day folks, that’s all I’ve done. I’m a “big city” boy (mostly Montreal and Toronto) who’s gone “country”.
As far as hanging up “BIYF Media” in exchange for “OffGriddy”, if you were paying attention, you know I stopped producing content for BIYF/LinkedIn well before COVID hit (few actually noticed). I found it interesting that many other LinkedIn video content creators also disappeared after COVID hit (I guess “LinkedIn Locals” were considered too risky at the time). If you were really, really paying attention, you might have noticed that I was quietly using BIYF Media to release personal music videos (often hinting at my plans and thinking at the time – one lyric that comes to mind: “I’m just looking for a great escape to the shit they reset…”).
And what was that thinking? Well,
1) I do not actually have an entrepreneur’s temperament. I have an artist’s temperament (terrible for a career), and a producer’s temperament (a little better for a career).
2) Marketing and Media production has served me well as an industry given the above-mentioned temperaments. However, in my opinion, the party is over. Social media was already a game-changer, but that will soon appear small compared to the impact AI is just starting to have. Video production will never be the same. You either lean into AI or get out. In typical personal fashion, I’m doing a bit of both. I will continue to provide marketing consulting services and perhaps production services if suitably inspired. Otherwise, I’m going in a completely different direction and following an unrelated trend: Off-Grid Living. This time, not as an expert, not as a leader; but as a newbie and fool ready to learn. I’m also brushing up my carpentry skills, applying my design experience to gardening and landscape design, and it turns out I’m a pretty good dog trainer (or have a really smart dog). I’m also getting back into the physical arts (but can’t kill the digital artist entirely)…
3) Over the past few years I imagined a digital lifestyle magazine that would capture this journey and maybe inspire or help others to make similar adaptations in their lives. But I had to be at least part way there before I was willing to talk about it publicly. And so, here we are in the early days of this journey. The time to officially put BIYF Media to rest and launch OffGriddy Magazine is now.
I am slightly chuffed in that I imagined my plan would take 10 years, and I’ve arrived further than I would have dreamed in five. But again, putting things into perspective, I did not achieve this alone. I think prayer played a big part. Significantly, what was originally just my dream became a shared dream with my mother. The reality is that I could never have afforded this move myself (and conversely, my mother could never maintain a move like this alone). The result, however, is that we have collectively reduced our overhead by… a lot!
We have a largely self-reliant property, that can accommodate our family and guests, and we now live a far healthier lifestyle in a community that feels like a community.
I won’t tell you exactly where we are, but what I will say for now is that this is a magical place (or blessed land, whichever you prefer). It was a surprise, yet fitting discovery that this location was the original editorial headquarters for Harrowsmith Magazine. I don’t know exactly where all this will land, but for now, it feels like it was meant to be. And that is a great place for a new start.
Julian Smit
