Jesse S. Smith's Linkedin Analytics

Hi, I'm Jesse. These days I'm basically just a stay-at-home Dad. Everything else I do is on the side. Taking care of my family is my real job. My wife is a brilliant, successful professional and I'm very proud of her. In 2022 I was my district's Democratic candidate for the Oregon State House of Representatives; and in 2023 I ran for the local School Board. I believe in equality, I believe in freedom, I believe in science. I have a couple of degrees that you don't care about. As of November 2023, I have published 11 books (4 under a pen name) in a variety of genres. I have written well over a hundred songs, also in a variety of genres. And last month I had the incredible opportunity to work on a movie production! Decades ago, I taught overseas for a year. After I moved back to Portland, I started my own production company from a rented bedroom in 2003. In the mid-aughts I was reading programming textbooks while I rode the city bus to my day job in the print industry. I got into web development; and maybe someday I'll build an app and sell it for a few billion dollars: but not this year. (I wouldn't want anyone to accuse me of being "JJ" from "Muppets Mayhem.") I hit my own personal rock bottom after my business collapsed in 2016; and I stayed down for many years. I resurfaced largely thanks to the power of self-help. Without self-help, I would have stayed stuck. Self-help encouraged me to stand up for myself, to take action, to imagine what I want in life, and to go for it! But powerful anti-self-help forces find frequent expression in our popular media: from blogs to books, television, and movies. For example, New York Times bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell has built a successful career on arguing against hope. And it's the "villain of the week" in the latest Marvel movie "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" who speaks the line: "I'm on a journey of self-improvement." That's intentional. Marvel is leveraging its tremendous wealth and power to tarnish the reputation of self-help, by associating #selfimprovement with a cartoon villain. So I'm here to stand up for self-help. I believe in self-help. Self-help saved me. Perhaps it can save you, as well. Take some action to improve your life every day. Read. Exercise. Meditate. Work. Forgive yourself for your mistakes. Mistakes and setbacks are inevitable! The only way to avoid them is to avoid life itself. So rejoice in this life, my friends! Be thankful for the opportunity to be alive on this glorious day.