DERRICK Interview with Ghostwriter Becky Blanton

Encouragement Speaker Derrick Hayes gives a DERRICK Interview by asking 7 questions through each letter of his first name to give you an insightful perspective from other experts, entrepreneurs, celebrities and up and coming super stars.

Today’s DERRICK Interview is with Becky Blanton who is a full-time ghostwriter, one of the “invisible people” behind the scenes of people’s dreams. She first spoke about being invisible at Oxford University during her TED Global talk. The invisibility she referred to then was what it was like to be one of the “invisible homeless.”

D is for Dream. What is your dream, goals or what have you achieved?

In 2006 I was living in a 30-year Chevy van in a Walmart parking lot with my Rottweiler and house cat. In 2009 I was speaking at TED Global at Oxford University in England, courtesy of Dan Pink, a best selling author and former vice-presidential speech writer. That’s a big jump to make in three years! So I’m finally living the dream I thought I would be living when I first quit my job in 2006 and started to freelance and travel. The first time I jumped for the dream I missed and fell flat on my face. But I learned that jumping out to seize your dream isn’t a bad thing even if you fail the first time out. It can sometimes seem like the worst mistake you’ve ever made, but then God takes the lemons and makes lemonade out of them. He always has a plan for good. If I hadn’t risked, failed, risked, failed and yet kept helping others even when I was down, I’d never be where I am today. I’m certainly not rich, but I’m doing what I love.

E is for Encourage. What encourages you?

God. Definitely God. Most people think God and Christianity is about not sinning or at least not sinning more than your friends, and about going to church, being a goody-two-shoes and all that. I call BS on that. I believe in a relationship with my creator. He knows me, loves me, is a daily, hour-by-hour presence in my life, encouraging me, caring for me. It’s such a peace to have knowing he’s in control of what is happening with me. It’s weird and even stupid to people who don’t have that peace and that relationship, but if you have it, it’s awesome.

R is for Resource. What resources do you bring to the table that makes you unique or stand out?

I have an ability to get inside people’s heads and tell their stories. I have a natural ability to recognize and duplicate speech and personality patterns. When I tell someone’s story for them, in a book or article, I write so it sounds like they’re telling the story, but with a smoother, more professional quality. People will tell them, “This is the best writing you’ve ever done. It sounds like you wrote it, but I know you can’t write that well!” It’s funny. They can’t figure it out. That’s the challenge I like and the ability I bring. It’s very difficult to do, so it’s a definite advantage. Most people who hire a ghostwriter don’t want people knowing or thinking they didn’t write something.

R is for Ready. When did you realize you were ready for what you are doing now?

I was homeless and suicidal. A friend of mine called me (I did have a cellphone I won in a contest), and told me Tim Russert, the former Vice President of CBS News, was talking about me on CSPAN. There I was, living in a van in a Walmart parking lot and the most recognized and famous journalist of the last 20 years was talking about me on national television. He didn’t know I was homeless at the time. I had written an essay for his best selling book and he said it moved him so much that he decided to add an entire chapter to his book so he could include my essay. The essay was on forgiveness. When I heard that I went into a bookstore, found his book, read my essay and just stood there and wept. I wanted to scream, “Look! I’m a writer! I’m a writer!” but I didn’t. I felt it and thought it, but that was my breakthrough moment. I went back out and got in the van and just sobbed…”I’m a writer! I’m a writer!” I think realizing that I was not my circumstances was made me realize I was ready to write again.

I is for Individual. Name at least one person that you know that you feel others should learn about and why?

Jesus Christ. I know people groan and roll their eyes when I say that, but the reason I say it is because he was the rebel of his time. He was willing to die for something he believed in, and he was willing to die for the people (all of humanity) he believed in and loved. He was homeless most of his adult life, yet more people throughout history know his name more than any other person. He achieved a following through his words, his stories, his parables and his actions. More than any other person in history he shows the power of story to change a person, and to change the world. I encourage people to learn about who Jesus was by reading about him, not by listening to what a church or any group says. Find out for yourself. He was amazing. He was a craftsman (carpenter), he healed thousands, cast out demons, walked on water, teleported, went back in time (meeting Moses and Enoch on the Mount of Transfiguration) and he warned us of the return of  the Nephilim, of forces and UFOs and just some amazing stuff – stuff that’s farther out there than anything you’d find in the movies Star Wars or the Matrix. He’s just incredible.

C is for Continue. When you fail, things look bleak or are not optimistic what makes you want to continue?

I’ve failed so many times in my life and almost every time I’ve really blown it bad I’ve thought about ending it all. But I didn’t. I get a lot of hope and encouragement by trusting that God does have a plan for my life, and that nothing is an accident. NOTHING. I remind myself that I am NOT my circumstances. Things may happen TO me, but they do not define who I am. I have learned to stay focused on my core values of giving, trusting, loving and preserving. The story I think about all the time is about this rock climber who set out to solo climb a huge peak. She would have been the first female to achieve this really difficult climb. Near the end of the day she was exhausted, bloody, tired, out of water and finally decided she wasn’t going to be able to finish the climb. So she radioed for a helicopter pickup and they came and got her off the side of this mountain. As they lifted off and up she looked  down and saw she was only 50 yards from the top of the mountain! 50 yards! Another 30 minutes or so and she would have reached the summit. She begged them to put her back on the mountain, but it was too late. She gave up just before she would have reached her goal. I know in my life I’ve just hung in there, inch-by-inch and reached a goal I thought was out-of-reach simply because I didn’t give up. That’s hope. When you lose hope you lose everything. So I tell people to just get through the next minute, or hour, or day and the rest of the journey will fall in place. Look at how far you’ve come, not how far you have to go.

K is for Key. What keys to success can you leave for upcoming entrepreneurs and leaders?

Talent won’t get you where you want to go. Perseverance will. That’s why the world is full of extremely talented, gifted people who are working dead-end jobs, or who are broke and miserable. They have the talent and skills, but not the perseverance. It’s the self-discipline to keep going, keep plugging, keep doing that is what makes people succeed. You don’t achieve success by being good. You achieve success by slogging through the bad times, the hard times, the tough times and the poor and broke times. You just keep going no-matter what. If you don’t have a personal faith in God, you’d better find something to believe in, family, life, children or your passion, and focus on that when times get tough. If you don’t persist you won’t succeed, I don’t care who you are. You have to have hope in something or someone outside yourself.

Remember that you are NOT your circumstances. You may drive an old beater car, not be able to afford to eat out, even on McDonalds’ dollar menu. You may have to scrounge in the couch for change to buy groceries, but that’s just where you are, not who you are. Remind yourself that “God don’t make no junk.” And believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself I guarantee you no one else will.

Finally, keep a gratitude journal. Write down 5 things every day that you’re grateful for. You can’t repeat them. That means you have to find something every day…like, you’re grateful you’re alive, you’re grateful you have shoes to wear, you’re grateful you can walk…by the time you find five things a day to be grateful for at the end of a year you’ll feel like a billionaire. Gratitude is God, and life’s secret weapon to dispelling depression, fear, anger and hopelessness. Be grateful and watch your fortunes, your  attitude and your life begin to change.

Visit Becky Blanton for more information.