In 2010, after I got dumped from my 20 year job at a company I had lost belief in, it was like I was shot out of a velvet cannon into everything I was meant to be.  Without the chaos and self-sabotage of a daily toxic environment, I was able to gain elevation and see things from a different view, a higher open view.  Not being in a cage unlocked my knees and legs and I feel like I’m running, full speed, toward who I am meant to be and doing what I am meant to do.  When I read the Holstee Manifesto, I felt like it had been etched in my bones a million years ago.  It felt like whatever that ineffable thing is that’s truer than truth.  It reminded me that all those years at a job that flattened my heart served the fine purpose of reminding me over and over and over that I am an expert at having a flattened heart! —- so know I will be an expert at open, huge, lively heart!  xoxo

- Amy Shouse

I first came across Holstee in 2011. A friend emailed me the Holstee Manifesto and it felt like I’d come home!  And thinking back on the decisions I’d made over the years of my life until that point, I’d been living it, too.

In 2005 I started retraining as a personal trainer.  I’d realized that I loved to be active, outside, not in an office and instead helping people feel energized, confident and good about themselves!  And by 2007 I was brave enough to quit my job as an investment banker.  I really didn’t like my investment banking job and more importantly I didn’t like who I was as an investment banker – I wasn’t Sammy, Sam, ME!

But then by 2010 after 15 years of living and working in London I had lost myself. So I sold my house and I went travelling, hoping to find myself!  Over the next few years, I did get lost but I did find myself. And I did fall in love - I was doing the things I loved!

And now I’m embarking on a whole new chapter of my life, hoping to create something with some of the amazing and inspiring people I’ve met.

I heard something yesterday: “We all have the choice to change our stories, to step up from the caves of our lives and choose our own adventures. And when we decide to lead our own narratives, we become true heroes in our own life stories.”

Life is short.  Live your dream and share your passion.

- Sammy Sam

Classes taken out of a need to shake the tree, as it were, have become a life path and a channel for the creative bug I always new was inside of me.

I spent many years in advertising, managing creative folks, watching great, smart ideas make their way into the world and I wondered what my contribution to the creative picture would be.

Several floral design classes, years and amazing clients later and I am now the proud CEO of The Blissful Bloom! We are a small, bespoke floral design studio based in NY. I’m grateful for the courage to walk away from a fulfilling career to start a new one. For me, by me. Most importantly, I’m surrounded by other awesome entrepreneurs in varied stages of their businesses and we all see how important it is to inspire and encourage one another. Paying it forward, if you will.

I’ve never been more free, excited and anxious in my life. I think it means I’m doing something right.  That’s My Life and I love it!

- Tara J. Maldonado

I quit my job as a graphic designer in 2005, in the hope that I could one day become proud of the answer to the question, “What do you do?”

A few years later, once I’d made true on my promise, I was approached by a production company who wanted to make a small video about my life choices. I’ll admit, up until then I hadn’t heard of the Holstee Manifesto and when they sent over a script for me to narrate for the video I thought, “These guys have written this just for me, and they nailed it!”

Your Manifesto stands for everyone good, true and worthwhile in life. It’s a reminder not to take time for granted, and that allowing passion to flourish is integral to happiness.

Thank you for making the world a better place. 

- Dave Cornthwaite

Before I knew what it was, The Holstee Manifesto manifested inside me in 2008 when I bought a new journal. On the first page a started somewhat subconsciously to draw a picture. It was a picture of what I wanted my life to look like. I am no artist so it was pretty abstract but I knew what it was meant to represent and that is all that mattered.

In this sketch I depicted a very alive person with a hugely open heart, expanding mind and well-established roots. This person is me. And from the image of me I drew some lines that opened up into a large spherical shape: sharing joy and knowledge I believe. I drew a table under the open sky full of food and drink and friends. And I included some lines and dots from one side of the page to another, which symbolized movement back and forth between two places. Other elements included water and gardens.

For those of you not inside my own brain, I will translate. I wanted to build on the work life I had created in the food and wine industry and incorporate it more into my day-to-day life by living in Italy. I wanted share beautiful food with people I loved and in this process I wanted to gain a certain level of physical and emotional health that opened up my heart and mind. I wanted to be able to share this experience with others and help them on the road to fulfillment and wellness. And I wanted to bounce back and forth between Italy and my home in New England, although I didn’t know exactly where that was. I wanted roots in both places.

Fast forward to 2013: I am writing from my home in Providence, Rhode Island. I am a wellness coach and personal cartographer (mapper of your life) and am running yoga, coaching and culinary retreats in Italy in the region where I spent the last two years living. The place where my second car lives along with several of my things and friends. My yoga and meditation practice is stronger than it’s ever been and I am starting yoga therapy training soon. I am surrounded by friends, the sea and am making plans for a spring garden.

It did not all come easily and often it was quite a slog actually. Difficult decision, financial woes, set backs, challenging people. But a whole lot of joy and fun, too. Somewhere along the line I did read the Holstee Manifesto and every step of the way I kept both that and my sketch with me and used them to guide me as I plodded along. Today the drawing has been revised to make room for the version of me that I’ve created and I imagine it will always be this way.

- Leigh Vincola

I am a Marriage and Family Therapist in Philadelphia. When I first saw the Manifesto, I was struck by how one poster could capture so many important ideas. I bought one to display in the waiting room of my office. Recently, I bought one for my daughter, who is a Special Education middle school teacher. She can’t decide whether to display it in her classroom or in her apartment. I may have to buy another one!

- Richard Brewer

I was laid off in the summer of 2011, after nearly a decade working in higher ed.  I had become increasingly frustrated and unhappy in my career and embraced the layoff as the universe’s way of telling me that it was finally time for a change. I went back to school for a second Masters Degree in Information Systems (a far cry from my first degree in counseling). 18 months, 36 credits, countless Code Academy hours and a graduate research assistantship later - I am happily ensconced in both a new job and career path. I’m working on projects I want to be working on, for a company I’m proud to work for, with a group of people I’m learning from every day.  

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to say that I do what I love and love what I do.  It feels so good to be able to say that - and mean it - every single day!

- Rachel Yudell

As an artist, I find it almost impossible to come to an end with a piece of my work. Patty Smith shared in “Just Kids” what someone told her: “When I mourned my inability to finish any of my poems, he quoted Paul Valéry to me: ‘Poets don’t finish poems, they abandon them.’”

Dave, Fabian and Mike did it. There must have been many open questions to every single sentence in the Manifesto, but they “abandoned” a final version, Rachael did a beautiful layout and they shared their values with the world.

This single fact, that a Manifesto is pinned to the wall of my studio as it is in so many other studios, kitchens, livingrooms and, hopefully, classrooms around the world, is very inspiring. Even more so, as these guys really are living up to it since 2009!

- Rownak Bose

Hi there, my name is Lee Malone and I’m a Film-Maker from the UK. Funnily enough, I actually made a Film for Holstee earlier this year.

I actually found the Manifesto years ago before I ever knew what Holstee was. All I knew was that everything in it made sense.

My Father is a Train Engineer, as was his Father and his before him. My Uncle’s are engineers, Builders, Plumbers, Electricians. I’m the first person in my family to chase a passion to the point that I could make a career from it.

I started making films when I was 16. I got a new cellphone with a great camera and filmed me and some friends recreating Jackass-esque stunts and I taught myself to edit since I was always the one with the footage. My Father ignored it, thinking it was a phase, and continued to bring home applications for internships as an Engineer. But by that point, I was hungry for more.

As the years rolled by, I moved into Music Video, Documentary, took the Jackass stunts into Sketch Comedy and started gaining hired work for organisations and Sports Teams. I got a job and saved up for my first real Camera. There’s a saying that it takes ten thousand hours to be a master of anything and I wanted to chalk up my hours as fast as I could.

I look at the Manifesto and I don’t just see words on a page, I see the hard work I’ve had to put in to get to where I am. I see all the times I’ve been dead broke after having to buy new equipment, I see the weeks on end spent researching techniques, I see 5 hours a night I’ve slept routinely for the past year or so. It’s hard, but I’ve loved every second because it’s what I’ve always wanted to do.

This year I made a film for Holstee to give back what they gave to me and they were kind enough to put it on their page because they’re AWESOME. If you’re reading this then hear me out - Take the leap and follow your passion. Live the life you want to live, no excuses or exceptions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFKImF5UcJI&hd=1

Thanks Holstee!

/Lee Malone

www.LeeMaloneTV.Tumblr.com