audiobook | The Barefoot Spirit

Silicon Review: Improve Customer and Employee Engagement with a Gripping Story: Business Audio Theatre

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 23:44:15 +0000

The Silicon Review

50 Best Companies to Watch Article

Audio, in any form (podcast, audiobook, and music), allows people to escape some of the mundane tasks in life, and absorb knowledge while being active. It is not only the most widely used medium, but it has proven to be more effective than reading a book or watching a video. As audio fits into any mobile device and can reach a large audience quickly, businesses have an opportunity to communicate with their customers in an easy and relevant way.

A well-scripted, fully casted, entertaining, and professionally performed audio play in audiobook form is the best channel to reach your employees and target audience as it is highly measurable.

To read the complete article, please visit The Silicon Review

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Holing Up at Home (Sheltering in Place)

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 17:00:45 +0000

In the past year, we have been evacuated, repopulated, and now confined. In an attempt to blunt the spread of COVID19, health officials have ordered us (along with most everybody else) to shelter in place, which means to stay home. It’s enough to cause anyone anxiety and confusion. How do you keep your wits in times like these?

Here’s some suggestions we have found that may be of value to help us all get through this:

Realize It’s Temporary

This is not the “new normal”. It will end, some things will have a long lasting effect, such as the blow to the economy and the way we shop. But we will get through this, and faster if we all pitch in and stop the virus from spreading. Just that realization alone provides us with the hope and encouragement to persist in the short term.

Clean Up and Organize

Aside from a positive attitude, now is the time to get ready for getting back into the action. We are systematically going through our stuff and making decisions about how to be more efficient and better organized. We want our immediate physical environment to reinforce a sense of order and preparedness, even though the world around us may be in chaos. This is productive, rewarding, and calming.

Reboot Your Body and Spirit

We are getting into nature as much as possible (while, of course, practicing social distancing). Walking in nature reminds us of the natural balances and beauty all around us. The physical exercise necessary to take a hike keeps our circulation up and our anxiety down. Natural sights, smells, and sounds reboot our attitude, give us a healthier perspective, and provide a needed break from “cabin fever.”

Learn Something New

This is an excellent time to learn something new. Never before has there been so many great things to learn online. Whether it’s taking a course or just researching what you are interested in, this is a perfect opportunity to expand your mind and your skill set. The more you know the better prepared you will be for the economy that will follow this crisis. Or maybe you can just finally learn that new language you’ve been talking about wanting to master for way too long.

Socialize Online

Take some time every day to call your friends and loved ones. People are lonely and feel deprived of social contact. It’s time to check in on them, find out how they are doing, and show them that you care. Your encouragement and support can raise their spirits and remind them that they are not alone and that you care. This “contact” can mean the world to them and improve their attitude, which most doctor’s will tell you is the foundation of mental health. Plus it makes you feel good as well!

Enjoy a Good Laugh

Get away from the constant drumbeat of the news. Watch a good movie, preferably something uplifting or humorous. It’s time for a good distraction and perhaps a good laugh! We particularly like some of the old movies like “The Thin Man,” a classic 1930’s detective film starring William Powell and Myrna Loy who with wit, flirtatious banter, and sarcasm solve mysteries with their dog Aster.

Find a Need

How can you pitch in? Our friend and neighbor, who is a Dr. and a researcher, has put his energy into researching and communicating the latest scientific information on COVID19. He is selflessly communicating his findings in plain English to his friends and neighbors and all who will listen. Another friend, a nurse, is not only on the front lines but is delivering food to those who are not able or at great risk to do so on their own.

Plant a Garden

We are fortunate to have enough space to have a garden. We have started veggies and flowers inside and out. We will grow enough food for our friends and neighbors. Watching plants break ground and grow reminds us that life is strong and will endure. Planting a garden is an investment in a bountiful future. It’s fun, rewarding and delicious! Gardens grow more than edibles. As Bonnie’s mom used to point out, “They grow sanity!“ Every day you see some progress. Just what we need right now!

Count Your Blessings

Sometimes it’s hard to focus on the 9 good fingers when you have a sore thumb. But that’s exactly what we have to do at times like this. Count your blessings (chin up; help others who need consoling; enjoy your good health and do the things that make you feel good; hug your significant other and the folks you are sharing your household with). We will get through this! We wish you all safe and healthy times while we wait for this threat to pass.

PS: Our Canadian colleague who runs the Canadian National Library for the Blind said she binged on our new business audio theatre style audiobook, The Barefoot Spirit over the weekend. She said she found it “uplifting and inspirational.” It will be converted to a format designed for the blind and offered through the library, free of charge. You can enjoy listening to Chapter 1 here. It’s free, a great distraction, and it’s edutainment at its best. So, we hope this is valuable to you. We are here to help you get through this and we will be here when it has passed. Feel free to give us a call (our phone sometimes works), but our internet and online social media are unavailable to us at this time. Guess they got the virus, too.

Below is Bonnie’s shortlist:

Clean up your own backyard (or closet, or garage, or attic)

Educate yourself (improve your skills; take on-line courses)

Socialize (using video calls and phone calls) NOTE: folks need to connect, and when they do, they will talk longer than usual, so be prepared! Everyone needs assurances these days that, together, we can get through this.

Recreate (get into nature – the parks remain open)

Play nice with others (face it – we are stuck with our roommates, significant others, kids and relatives. It might take some getting used to, but it seems like we have the time required to adjust to living 24-7 under the same roof. Luckily for us, we (Bonnie & Michael) have had decades to build up a tolerance to each other, and therefore have already adjusted each other’s shortcomings; when discussions come up, stick to matters you agree on; now is not the time for strife!)

Distractions are your friend (old, feel-good movies; your fav series; our audiobook, which the director of the National Library for the Blind, said she “binged” on.

Find a need and fill it (Dr. Brad is doing research on this virus and sharing it with friends, family, and neighbors; discover needs your community has, such as a personal shopper and home delivery services)

Plant a veg garden (we plan on tilling up a grassy area in our fruit orchard, and planting enough veggies for our neighbors and our workers; consider sprouting seeds indoors and planting the starts once you are convinced there will be no more freezing temperatures – good luck guessing when that may be)

Count your blessings (chin up; help others who need consoling; enjoy your good health and do the things that make you feel good; hug your significant other and the folks you are sharing your household with)

Keep the Spirit alive!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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The Barefoot Spirit is an Audie Award Finalist!

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 18:00:14 +0000

FORESTVILLE, Calif., Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Audiobook Publishers Association announced today that The Barefoot Spirit Audiobook is a Finalist for the 2020 Business/Personal Development Audiobook of the Year Award. The original paperback version of The Barefoot Spirit, How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand was a New York Times Bestseller and chronicles the humble beginnings of the now ubiquitous Barefoot Wine brand.

The audiobook was nominated based on its content as well as its original audio theatre approach to storytelling. Bonnie Harvey, Barefoot Wine cofounder and coauthor said, “We wanted our message to reach more people, so we presented it in a radio theatre audio play complete with a full cast of actors, scenes, sound effects, and music.”

Michael Houlihan, Barefoot Wine cofounder and coauthor added, “We are thrilled to be recognized by the Audiobook Publishers Association. It gives credibility to this new genre which we call Business Audio Theatre. The best way to communicate business concepts is through story and the best way to communicate story is through theatrical performance.”

Houlihan & Harvey’s company, Business Audio Theatre is looking to attract other founders who want to preserve their legacy and keep their entrepreneurial spirit alive through creative storytelling performed as audio cinema, using their experienced team of professionals.

The audiobook launched on all audiobook retail platforms on September 3^rd, 2019 and has been garnering positive reviews from throughout the business community.

“The Business Audio Theater format has a neat balance between modern technology and the charisma of the old-fashioned radio plays.” – Laura Sicola, PhD, CEO Vocal Impact Productions

“An enjoyable experience filled with the exuberance of the founders themselves.” – Audiofile Magazine

“A Transformative Idea: Business Audio Theatre from the Founders of Barefoot Wine not Just Narrated … Performed!” – Forbes

At 90 years of age, the venerable Hollywood actor Ed Asner, voices the part of the grumpy supermarket buyer who initially rejects Barefoot Wine but ultimately paves the path for its success. Asner said, “I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to be a part of this new genre of Business Audio Theatre!”

Director Matt Weinglass, and founder of Sherwood Players Productions, whose company produced the audiobook said, “I’m excited to see this innovative type of storytelling [Business Audio Theatre] catch on as we continue to bring more business stories to life using all the cinematic resources available to us in our Industry.”

Ryan Foland, Executive Producer & Communications Specialist said, “This is a whole new way to entertain, engage, and educate employees and customers by preserving the founder’s history and principles.”

The 2020 Audie Awards Ceremony will take place at New York City’s Guastavino’s on Monday, March 2^nd, 2020.

“The Barefoot Spirit” Audiobook is narrated by Alamada Karatihy and features Ed Asner and Gigi Perreau with Matt Weinglass, Hazel Paraoan, Ruffy Landayan and Tom Malloy, with original music by Tyler David Gilbert, executive produced by Michael Houlihan, Bonnie Harvey and Ryan Foland and is directed by Matt Weinglass.

For interviews please contact: info@thebarefootspirit.com or (707) 484-1600.

For more information or audiobook samples visit: www.barefootaudiobook.com

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Lessons Learned Recording The Barefoot Spirit Audiobook

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 17:00:14 +0000

We are deep into the process of recording an audiobook for our New York Times Bestseller, The Barefoot Spirit, How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. This has been great fun!

A couple weeks ago we flew to LA and joined The Sherwood Players in a “table read.” Matt Weinglass, Sherwood Players’ Director, and several actors joined us. They gave a dramatic performance of Chapter 1, “How Hard Could It Be?” The book comes alive when the dialog is acted out by real pros!

We chose The Sherwood Players to voice our book in an old-time radio show theatrical format. This independent acting troupe gave us a lively theatrical presentation, giving each character in our book his or her own voice. The listeners (us, in this case!) are entertained as they bring to life each character and story.

Making Business and Learning Fun

We think business books are generally boring. But something magical happens when you have actual players dramatically acting out the scenes! Now you’re listening to stories rather than having a book simply read to you. What a fun way to learn the lessons behind each story! And the education gained is more memorable and actionable when presented in this format.

Conversation with Bonnie and Michael

One of the innovative parts of the book is that after every chapter of stories portraying the events building the Barefoot brand, there is a short break entitled “Conversations with Bonnie and Michael.” That is where Rick Kushman, our author and friend, interviews us about the previous chapter. It provides the reader, and in this case the listener, with our insights about those stories.

Well, last Sunday, we recorded “Conversations…” in our own voices! Luckily, we had some expert coaching by Matt, and the recording session turned out to be exciting and fun!

Rick Kushman also voices himself in his “Introduction” and in “Conversations.” This gives an air of authenticity to the audiobook, but it was quite a challenge for us. Rick, on the other hand, has had loads of experience doing many radio shows over several years.

We used the Sherwood Players very talented actors to play the parts of Bonnie and Michael in the stories. And the largest role in the book is the Narrator, voiced by Alamada Karatihy. We were blown away by her ability to totally capture the excitement, high energy, and humor of Rick’s writings!

Printed vs Performed

When folks read printed words on a page or on the screen, they tend to add their own ideas of intonation, emotion, and emphasis. But when it’s performed by professional actors, there’s no mystery about how the characters feel in each sentence. Unlike the written word, the actors convey the subtleties, meanings, and dimension that would be difficult to pick up from a page.

So, this has been yet another learning experience for us, and we are totally excited to create this new type of business learning experience for you! We’re on track for a launch in the fall. Wish us luck and we will keep you posted on the progress of this exciting (and enlightening) project! You guys are going to LOVE The Barefoot Spirit audiobook!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Lessons Learned Recording The Barefoot Spirit Audiobook appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.