Movers and Shakers in Denver

August 12, 2010
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Well, it looks like the journey has officially started. I have a plan, or at least, a bunch of independent dreams in life to start stringing together into one.

First stop on my leg out of the house is in Denver. For my readership outside of the United States, Denver is a megalopolis of about 4 million people halfway between San Francisco and Chicago. The city is known to be a great springboard into the rocky mountains and boasts a simply fantastic quality of life. I also know it as a city that made me put my teeth onto the cement and kicked me in the back of the head when I lived there. Well, not literally, but financially.

I graduated college in 2004. I went to school at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona and got a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. At the time, completely ignorant of the workings of the world and how useless a Bachelors Degree is these days, I left Flagstaff and moved to Denver about three days after I graduated. I moved in with a close friend I had, without a solid job lined up at the time. I figured that Denver was a big city, and I would be able to find steady employment when I moved into Colorado.

A few months passed by. Weeks of looking turned into months. I saw my savings start to disappear and my debt load started to soar. I fell behind on my rent. I started running out of cash for basic commodities. I called my parents and relatives for money. I networked with every person that I knew - I simply wasn't able to find a steady job that provided the funds I needed to subsist. After a bitter, drawn out, four month fight with a personal balance sheet devastated from both college and a failed job search, I returned to New Mexico to live with my parents and I have been here ever since.

The lessons I learned in Denver have made me extremely gun-shy about moving into a new city without a strong balance sheet. It's also made me realize just how stupid I can sometimes be. I know enough about the world to know that having a Rolodex full of powerful and influential people is the strongest asset you can have. Surrounding yourself with people who have a can-do attitude, who work hard and are willing to take risks makes. It also helps if you know people with some cash in their pocket, people who won't stab you in the back every chance they get, and people with some talent that you simply cannot easily articulate at a school or by reading a single book at a chain bookstore/Nicer public library ("McKnowledge" centers).

All of the above seems like a great place to start, but it doesn't really tell me how I go about 'doing' a city. It doesn't tell me how to learn how those people are. It doesn't help me develop the social skills I need to land in a city and obtain an income. It doesn't tell me how to work within "hard business talk" situations and make them effective. It doesn't tell me how to make good friends.

Knowing all of the above, I know I need to articulate this skill set. But how do I do this? Where do I go? Who do I talk to? When do I talk to them? What should I know before walking in the room with these people? What should I wear?

I do have a small hunch on how to get started. The basic idea should be that I need to be interesting to talk to. I need to be able to add social and personal value to these people. I must learn to create interesting spectacles that lead to business and personal relationships. I need to have sex with hot dudes to get their attention. I wonder if Neil Strauss' words of wisdom will work here. If you haven't already checked out this book, you need to stop doing what you are doing this second and read it right now!

Sounds like I have more lessons to learn. Let's see what happens.

- Brad