It’s funny how this World Wide Web works (thanks Al Gore!). You meet people out here in various locations and they all begin to blur and you don’t remember a) how you met your new BFF or b) how you haven’t know them your entire life.
That’s how it is with Joey Strawn. I’m pretty sure we first “met” on Danny Brown’s blog through the comments. But now a day doesn’t go by without our talking…and while I’m about to give you several reasons why, they don’t touch the tip of the iceberg. But you’ll find out for yourself, once you begin to get to know him.Joey has a company called Empty Jar Marketing (clever story!) and he has a blog named after himself. But don’t let that fool you. He is one of the smartest, yet most humble people I’ve ever met. I mean, check out the self-deprecating photos on his blog. My favorite is the one I’ve used for this post. It cracks me up every time I see it!
He is a contributor to For Bloggers, By Bloggers, a fairly new initiative by Bonsai Interactive. And, while I don’t know it for gospel, I’m pretty sure the reason my favorite Scottish man living in Canada asked Joey to be part of that initiative is because he has incredible storytelling skills that I’ve had the pleasure of watching evolve in the past year.
Take, for instance, his recent post about the chameleon and the coalmine. He tells a story of how a chameleon stops changing colors and frets he’s lost his value to the town where he lives and then transfers that story to how we need to learn to be comfortable with ourselves and show our own unique colors. From where I sit, it’s one of his most powerful storytelling blog posts to date.
But the one that really got me was this week…A Prayer for MeMe. He claims up front the post isn’t for everyone; he’s written it as a tribute to his grandmother who just passed away. I’m sorry, Joey. I disagree. This post IS written for everyone and it made me cry (like real tears) because it’s so moving, gentle, and kind.
So check him out. Follow him on Twitter. Subscribe to his blog. Get to know him. You won’t regret one second of it.