Our guest in this edition of Making Oregon is Charlie Gilkey, founder and owner of Productive Flourishing (http://www.productiveflourishing.com/) Charlie calls his company “A community for the doers with the vision to see how the world could be, the smarts to figure out how to make it happen, and the grit to do the work.”. We’ll find out more about what’s underneath the hood of that statement, and more, including: - How his service in the US military and deployment to Iraq shaped his life and business practices- How his starting a blog about academic personal development morphed into a real business- The key influencer who pushed him along (see http://ittybiz.com/about-naomi/)- The book that influenced his eventual move to Portland (http://www.creativeclass.com/richard_florida/books/the_rise_of_the_creative_class)- The benefits of living in a "long-tail" state and community - The importance of email marketing (yes, it still is!)- Going beyond the "how" and to the "why", and why it's better not to go it alone- The key element of business greatness

One more thing before you dive into the podcast – Charlie describes himself this way – “If a mad scientist were to do a freaky Friday experiment and cross an entrepreneur, Army officer, and philosopher, I’d be what popped out of the tube”.

Listen, learn, and enjoy!