I met Kevin Clash

“If everybody else your age is doing something very different than what you’re doing, there’s always going to be someone saying to you you might not succeed with it, you might not make any money with that… there’s always going to be some type of obstacle in the way. All of those things will go away if you really focus on what makes you happy.”
― Kevin Clash

Anyone who has ever seen me speak, knows that I believe that you need to do something you truly love. Life is too short to go into a career that doesn’t make you happy, that fuels your passion and makes you want to get up every morning in excitement.

There is one person that personifies this personal rule of mine; Kevin Clash, the person that brought Sesame Street’s Elmo to life.

If you haven’t seen his documentary do yourself a favor and watch it. (It’s on Netflix) At 10 years old Kevin knew he wanted to be a puppeteer and he followed his dream, relentlessly, with the support of his parents. No documentary has ever touched me as much as Being Elmo. (Have a box of tissues next to you)

Yesterday, thanks to Louis Mitchell, I got to visit the set of Sesame Street and watch a taping.

!!!

I can’t remember when I last was this excited and giddy. My heart started racing when I spotted Kevin Clash on set. And when Louis introduced me to Kevin, I was speechless, just smiling ear to ear. Here’s proof:

Now my dream is to have Kevin speak at a CreativeMornings.

(And yes, I live a charmed life.)