Several years ago, I was waiting to board a plane in Baltimore and passed the time reading a galley copy of Erika Napoletano’s soon-to-be-released book The Power of Unpopular: A Guide to Building Your Brand for the Audience Who Will Love You (and Why No One Else Matters). A few chapters in, I found myself having to stop because the writing was good enough that it made me a bit jealous. After texting her to congratulate her on making me feel this way, I dove back in and finished it before landing at home. One look at Erika’s timeline will showcase that she is far from the stereotypical reclusive writer. She spent over eight years as an award-winning author, columnist, journalist, speaker, and business consultant before throwing most of it away in 2014 to return to a career in the performing arts. Erika has been known to speak her mind and isn’t afraid to use adult language when sharing her thoughts. As you’ll hear on the podcast, she has lived an interesting life and no matter what obstacles she has faced, words and writing have always played a major role. To get a taste of her honest writing style, here is a piece of her official bio: Now, you can find her in Chicago living with one dog, one cat, and one man who happens to look like Clark Kent, eschewing the struggling artist life for one that’s fueled by a fierce fire for and communing with others who find their joy in the arts. Her favorite part of her life is that she spends more time doing things she loves than things she loathes. Learn more about her, preferably on an internet connection without a firewall (and her extensive tattoo collection) at erikanapoletano.com.