Tell me about your vision.
Um, I, you know, I don't really love books that, um, tell you what to do, right? That sort of,
uh, I like things that are prescriptive, but I don't necessarily like, I don't think any of
us likes being told what to do. Um, but I wanted to, so I, you know, I always say, I don't have
answers. I have experiences. And so my vision was to share my experience, to share the process that
I went through to share the details of that process as intimately as I could. Um, so that
people walked away with a, uh, I really like a map or a guide book or a, um, a field guide, if you
will, for if they want to do this themselves, you know, this is a way to do it. It's not the only way,
but it is a way to create great change. So, um, yeah, the vision I think has been, uh, pretty
fulfilled and pretty, you know, pretty much came to fruition. I'm really proud of the book. Um,
it's been the Barnes and Noble pick of the month. It's, uh, being published in five countries, um,
or at least five languages. And, um, yeah, it's doing very well. So the vision has been pretty
clear, pretty, um, fulfilled, which is, feels great. Yes, I bet. And, and I know that it says,
it's a, it's a spin off. Is that correct? Of you writing in medium? Yeah, it's a followup, really.
It's, it's, so I wrote an essay during the pandemic called prepare for the ultimate gaslighting,
which was, um, on medium.com. It went around the world. It was a very, um, popular viral essay
and, um, which I'm always very proud of, right? Cause it wasn't like a sex tape or something.
Right. Right. Right. Right. That's good. I'm glad that's, that is what went viral. Um, it's, um,
you know, the, the essay was, I wrote the essay about three or four weeks into
the height of the pandemic. And the essay was really a call for all of us to think deeply about
what we want to go back to. What is normal? How is normal presented to us by big business and by our
government? Um, and how badly do we want to get back to it? And if we want to make changes,
shouldn't we do it now? Um, so the book is really a followup. The book is really kind of the answer
to the question now what, um, we find ourselves five years later, we kind of remember that there
were lessons to be learned. We remember that we wanted to make some changes. Yeah. Excuse me.
Individually, collectively. Um, where do we start? How do we do that? So, um, the book is, uh, my
proposal. Yes. So during the pandemic, which is, I've always said, and so much, so many of our
audiences will be like, she said it over and over again. I felt like those moments would make you
or break you. And it, you know, just sitting down and being just closed in, truly thinking about life
and then you choosing to write this. How long did it take? That's one question. And what was
your mindset when you decided to write this? So it took a long time. And I say that because we
went through about a year of the proposal when it landed with a publisher, it was probably another
six to nine months of heavy writing, um, and then editing. So it's about a three year process, really.
Um, yeah, it was a good three year process before it hit bookshelves, um, or, or bookstores. And, um,
yeah, my mindset very much fluctuated, meaning that we just went through so many different,
well, first of all, the creative process is an up and down process anyway, right? You,
you believe in yourself, you hate yourself, you believe in your work, you hate your work. I mean,
you sort of are all over the map emotionally as the creator. Um, and then the book, um, is not
directly political and it's not directly necessarily about the pandemic, but so many things were
changing in that period. Uh, the political landscape was changing the, the, you know, our
willingness to talk about the pandemic was changing. Um, and so the book kept changing and
shifting. And so my mindset kept changing and shifting with respect to sort of, you know, what
is this need to be, to be something that people will buy, that people will read, that people will
appreciate that will be meaningful for people. Um, so yeah, but specifically to mindset, I,
I think that's always my focus with my creative projects. Like what is the audience going to,
what is this going to do for the audience? Um, you know, I'm a movie maker in the rest of my life.
And so I think about the audience all the time. Um, and the same is true for a book, right? What
is the reader going to experience? What is the reader going to do with this information? How is
it going to affect their life or not affect their life? Um, and so you have to be really careful
with respect to all those things because you want to be thoughtful and considerate and bold, but you
also want to be, um, like I said earlier, just sharing experiences so that people can make their
own decisions about, you know, the actions they want to take. Yeah. Yeah. And I, that, that, that
's a lot to think about, which tells me why it was a three year process. Um, and what eight to nine
months, you said just complete writing. And I'm sure, um, since I guess you were used to shutting
down, you were already there and in that place of mine and be like, Hey, let's make this work. You
know, it's such a good point because I went from the shutdown into the essay, into the, into the
essay, into the writing of the book. So for me, I was kind of shut down for about three years. Um,
and when I sort of came out of that haze and out of that tunnel, you know, friends and family and
colleagues were a little surprised that I had been shut down that long because they had been back to
life. Um, but I had taken, you know, this extra time to write about it. So, um, I was a little out
at a sink with the people around me and it took a little while to get back in the sink.
So you said you were an actor director.
So I'm a, I'm a film director outside of this. Yeah. So, um, I might actually, my first feature
film came out during the pandemic. Uh, it's a family film called team Marco, which is on stars
now. And, um, yeah, it was an Apple and Hulu and a whole bunch of other places, but it's, um, yeah,
it was, it was, life was very different before this. So this is my first book. Um, and they're
two very different creative processes, but both pretty, absolutely. And interesting enough,
I sort of feel like they, they match the, I mean, you know, you're directing usually a story or
a skit or, you know, something, but you just did it for yourself. You know what I mean? You do it
for others and you see how it plays out. So you just went ahead and just exchanged. It was like,
you know what, I'll do it for myself. How about that? Yeah. It's interesting because I always,
I tell close friends this all the time, you know, what I loved about the book was it was just me.
Yeah. Like writing, right. It was just, and I'm, I have, I think I was born an introvert and learned
how to be an extrovert. So I'm always sort of fighting myself about how public or private I
want to be. And, um, and this was wonderful because it was just me in a laptop and an editor
and an agent and all the other people that come into play to make it happen. But of course,
the actual process is just me and a laptop. And that's very different than a film, right? A film
you are dealing with managing, orchestrating, you know, hundreds of people every day for months,
and months and months. So, um, this was a different process and I really enjoyed it.
Yeah. Yeah. And I think it almost sounds like it was therapeutic for you.
No, I'm glad to hear that it was. Thanks.
Yeah. You know, it's, it's like, uh, you know, during the pandemic, I think everyone was just
a bit all over the place. Uh, and I'm sure you weren't alone, Julio, is the fact that we were
just all over the place, but I love how you decided to take something that felt so different and
didn't feel good and make it into something that was good, you know? And I truly, uh, I applaud you
for that because some didn't choose to do anything. Like I said, it either made you or broke you. And,
uh, it actually made you to do something completely different. And I did see the,
the essay on media and I was like, look at all of these people. You never knew that this was
going to blow up like that. Please share a little bit about the essay for me.
Sure. It was surreal. Um, you know, all of us, you're, you're a digital creator. Uh, you know,
the drill, right? It's, it's like, you, you, you make these pieces of content, which is always
an offensive word to me as an artist, right? But you make these pieces of content and you never
know where they're going to land or how far they're going to go or what they're going to do in the
world. And, um, and so I had been used to writing essays. I mean, I was writing about the 2016
election. I was writing about a number of things on medium.com and then I would post it to Facebook
or I would post it to, you know, and like, you know, a hundred people would read it and I'd be
so excited and like, whatever. And that's great. Um, this was very different. This was, uh, me
alone, pretty angry and despondent in my apartment in Manhattan. Um, uh, I was single at the time.
And so I was living in this, you know, 600 square foot apartment or whatever it was. Um, and, uh,
and, and I wrote this essay and I posted it and like, you know, two or three hours later,
I, you know, saw people liking it and sharing it, but two or three hours later, like,
it was like this bizarre, like slot machine at a casino, right? We're just like,
you're just watching these things spin. And I was just watching the number of people that were
watching the number of shares go up and go up and go up. And like by six hours later, eight hours
later, it had reached into the hundred hundreds of thousands. And then I got a phone call from
or an email from medium.com saying like, this is kind of blowing up our circuits. Like what is this?
And then they read the essay and then once it sort of broke through a threshold over there,
they start promoting it. Um, and within a 24 hours, it had gone to 15 million people around the world.
Um, and then, you know, to this day, it's, it's gone to about 21, 22 million. And,
and it was wild. It was totally surreal. It was totally unexpected. And, and you know, like I said,
like this wasn't just like some silly, stupid, you know, like dance video or something. It was
a 2000 word essay about the state of our lives and our society. So I was really touched proud all of
the above that it had done what it had done. Um, and, uh, and I was getting emails and phone calls
from all over the world. Some, most of which were like very supportive, like priests and rabbis
saying like, can I read this at Easter mass? Can I read this for, you know, um, services like, um,
and then of course I got emails that just said like, F you, you know, like, like you get those.
And of course those were coming, right? So it was a mixed bag completely. But, um, I always choose
to focus on the, on the, on the good and the positive because the rest of it is, is kind of
nonsense. Right. So, um, uh, anyway, that was the experience. It was wild. At least they read it.
You know, it's so, it's so interesting how even the bad things become viral, right? Because now I
need to, to actually take a look at it and what else is that? And so sometimes you can't have the
good without the bad, right? That's, that's funny. And that's crazy how you was just like, you know,
I'm gonna write this essay and I'm gonna just put it on there. Now, interesting enough, I wrote
something on medium once, I don't even know what's going on with it, but I'm gonna just put it on
and on with it. But it's just a great way, you know, just to get your writing out there or whatever.
And so in 24 hours, you were all over the place. It was really wild. And it's not something that
can be repeated. You know, it's like, it's so funny because my manager for film, you know, he's like,
well, if you can do that again, I'm like, no, not again. Like, what are you talking about? Right. Or
other writers on medium saying like, Oh, how do I do that? You know, it was a once in a lifetime,
once in a moment where everyone was at home on their computers. And it was the right message at
the right time at the right, it was just, it was, it was a strike of lightning in a way I could never
have planned. And so I don't spend a lot of time trying to recreate it, because it seems like a
fool's errand. So how does when you it is a follow up, please unsubscribe. Thanks. So it is a follow
up. How have do you think that that has impacted the book to sell much quicker because of that?
I think well, I'd love 21 million people to buy the book. That would be great. It has not had the same
reach, shall we say. Yeah. But yeah, you know, I hope so. I don't think that I think the publisher
has been clear that like that doesn't always translate over, right? Giving people like a free
2000 word essay that, you know, they can read at home when they're stuck at home is very different
than them going to Barnes and Noble or even clicking to them buy a book. But, you know, it's
my hope, obviously, that the old people remember my name or remember the subject and want to read
more. So, so yeah, I'm building a readership and building an audience for my work as best I can and
you know, taking opportunities like this to talk to yourself and, and other people online about,
about what the book is. Interesting enough, as I'm going to ask you, what's your why?
What's your why? Great question. Well, in many ways,
the answer is because I would be in a ball on the couch if I didn't, right, especially for this
book and for the essay, right? You know, my mom used to say, if I don't laugh, I'll cry. Well,
I'm, I kind of live by like, if I don't write, I'll die. It's like, there really wasn't a choice.
It's like, it's kind of just the way that I express myself. And so if it wasn't this, I think I would
have taken much, much longer to come out of the pandemic. It was obviously and for so many people,
such a traumatic experience. And here in New York City, it was particularly intense. And I think it
just would have taken a lot longer to come out of it if I had not sort of processed it this way.
Yeah. And then in general, I think as an author and for readers, my why is just to share experiences
and to kind of share the, the ins and the outs of the day-to-day human experience so that people can
feel a little bit of comfort in the process. Absolutely.
What was your most significant learning experience from writing this book?
Oh, I thought you were going to say in life.
Yeah.
From writing the book. Well, interesting. Yeah, I learned sort of that, and it seems obvious,
but it's like, once it's in writing, it's in writing. And that's very different than writing
online where you have access to edit any, at any moment, right? Probably a little different for
video, but for text, excuse me. So I think if I'm being really aware and critical, I would say,
you know, maybe for the next book, I would take longer to edit longer to, and this was a long
process, but I think I would take a little bit longer because I'm a bit of a perfectionist.
And so now I read the book and I'm like, oh, that should have been this word or that should
have been a period, not an apostrophe or whatever. Right. So those are kind of beside the point.
That's just my own OCD, you know, but yeah. And I think probably more important note,
the most significant learning experience was really that, you know, words have impact. And
again, it seems obvious, but it's not real until you really experience it. But, you know,
I write this document on my computer, it goes to an editor, it goes to a publisher. X months later,
it's on a table at Barnes and Noble. People around the country read it, it's on a table,
people around the country read it. And then they get in touch and say, thank you so much,
this really, really impacted me. And not everybody does that, right? Like, yeah, but some people do.
And so you get to experience this real sense of, you know, what have you been able to impact in
the world, even if it's just for the five and 10 and 15 people who went and got in touch.
And that's really meaningful to me and really important and has been really significant.
Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward.
This is going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well. We'll invite
people to participate in the show. And thank you for giving us your time and attention.
Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.