When Dan Wulfman and his wife Sheri Ballard met on a bus in rural Spain during respective
career escapes in 1989, little did they know that their love of travel would eventually lead
them to ditch their corporate lives behind and build a business helping families have fun and
easy adventures on the road. Married a year after they met, they say:
“After working for big companies like IBM, McCann-Erickson, Deere & Co., Playtex, Mattel Toys and the American Red Cross, we eventually decided that two weeks’ vacation just wasn’t enough. We had an enormous yard sale, bought a nifty little travel trailer to go behind our SUV, and set off to explore our two countries together.”
Their extended road trip took them from the Arctic Circle to Guatemala. They came home and decided to ditch corporate life altogether, founding their travel company Tracks & Trails.
I first learned about their company through an article in Fortune Small Business, and of course was intrigued about how they worked up the courage to bail from their corporate jobs and start their own company. So I asked if they would like to be interviewed on my radio show, and Dan agreed.
I often get questions like:
- If I build a business around a great passion or hobby, will it lose its appeal?
- How can I know if my passion in something is strong enough to sustain a business?
- If I care too much about something, will that hinder my business judgment?
I look forward to talking with Dan about his perspective on these things, since after 13 years in business, he should have an opinion or two on the subject!
Join our conversation live tomorrow, Friday June 29.
And remember … you can call in with questions! Just call 866-472-5790 during the hour of the live show. Last show we had two callers, and it really added some spice and realism to the interview. I do my best to think of questions that you would want answers to, but there is nothing like you asking them yourselves!
Show details:
Date: Friday, June 29
Time: 11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic: From cube to the open road: You CAN turn a passion into a business
To listen: Click here
If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above. To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the “download as Mp3” option.
Suppose I have a passion and a talent for some specialized skill (e.g. configuration management), but have no talent for business.
Would it then be wise to start my own business?