Synopsis

Experience: The Revolution looks at how transformational experiences such as travel and festivals are shaping the next generation of leaders and may be the key to solving humanity's greatest challenges.

World traveler and adventure podcaster Derek Loudermilk argues that embracing unconventional means of leadership development, curiosity and a bit of weirdness are the best means to get out of our comfort zones. Derek highlights certain leadership traits, values, big visions, and personal characteristics that directly result from seeking and achieving transformational experiences.

Luckily, the timing is perfect. Now more than ever, people are seeking experiences rather than material possessions. They already understand that fulfillment lies on the other side of experiences. This book will use the lens of the mythological "Hero's Journey" to understand how transformational experiences build leaders.

The time for this book is NOW. Our next wave of leaders must think and be different than leaders of the last 200 years. The global social and economic systems of the industrial age have left us with a slew of unintended problems: Anxiety, depression, disengagement, for workers. Pollution, global warming, ecological collapse make our planet fragile. Famine, human migration, disease threaten billions. 

If we are to solve these problems, we must solve them in entirely new ways, and it will take our leaders BECOMING a new type of leader.  We hear stories about someone who went into the jungle confused and then came out and started a billion dollar company.

Derek draws on hundreds of interviews from the Art of Adventure with leaders like Emily Utter, Tyler Gage, Antesa Jensen, Chase Boeringer, Estela Kun, Johan Ernst Nilson, Dave and Amy Freeman, Colin O'Brady, Sean Conway, and many more. He will distill the lessons from these people and their experiences, so you can use them in your own life as a leader.

He takes you to some of the most dramatic transformational festivals and events from around the world: Burning Man, Bali Spirit Fest, Tony Robbin's Unleash the Power Within, Yestival, and Freedom X Fest. I'll show you how these experiences are created, curated, and delivered for maximum effect.

This book will be your guide to become the leader that you need to become, and understanding how these experiences are shaping our future. If you are starting your hero's journey, this book will help guide you to what types of experiences might be the best for you.

This is also a call to those who have been on a long journey of transformational experiences to step out of the wilderness and come back with your knowledge and start being a leader.

Outline

1. Introduction 
   1. My personal journey including travel, retreats and festivals
   2. supplement to Superconductors - my previous book on building value for careers of the future
2. Three main arguments
   1. The need to build leadership qualities through lived experiences
   2. The need to embrace our uniqueness and an unconventional self actualization process
   3. The need for a new type of leader to solve our global problems
3. Your personal Hero's journey as a leader
   1. introducing the concept of the Hero's journey
4. Which experience is right for you
   1. quiz to assess what type of leader you want to be and which experience matches that
   2. Overview of transformative travel and transformational festivals
5. Overview of leadership, psychology, self actualization, global context
6. Key Leadership trait 1 - Empathy - stories of how leaders developed empathy
7. Key Leadership trait 2- Communicating a compelling vision - stories of how leaders developed empathy.
8. Key Leadership trait 3 - creating culture and unity - stories of how leaders developed this inclusivity ability. 
9. Case Studies: Retreats
   1. AdventureQuest 
   2. Adventure Awake
   3. Adventure Academy
   4. Vipassana
   5. Vision Quests
   6. Bio-Leadership
10.  Case Studies: Festivals and Events
    1. Burning man
    2. Bali Spirit Festival
    3. Unleash the Power Within
    4. World Domination Summit
    5. Awesomeness Festival
    6. Freedom X Fest
    7. Yestival 
11. Case Studies: Travel
    1. Costa Rica Ayahuasca center
    2. Shipibo tribes in the Amazon
    3. Polar Exploration
    4. Expedition 1000
12. Leadership Bios: Emily Utter, Tyler Gage, Antesa Jensen, Chase Boeringer, Estela Kun, Johan Ernst Nilson, Dave and Amy Freeman, Colin O'Brady, Sean Conway
13. A call to Adventure
    1. Guide for sustainable practice
    2. guide for inclusion and diversity in transformational experiences
    3. Predicted impacts on culture and economics
    4. Personal challenge for leaders 

Audience

This book is for people who see things a little differently (they probably always have). They are already or want to be in a position of leadership. They have had an experience that’s created a "positive, awakened” vision for the future that they want to see manifested, but they don’t know how to take the energy from the experience and create change in themselves, their organizations, communities, or the world.

Derek Loudermilk practices curating transformational experience for his clients on AdventureQuest trips. He has been traveling full time for that last 5 years on a Hero's journey. He’s experienced visiting remote tribespeople, attended events like Bali Spirit Festival and Freedom X Fest, participated in plant medicine journeys with Peruvian shamans, done week-long fasts and vision quests.  

His clients list includes young, digitally-savvy entrepreneurs and employees who are looking to expand or acquire the experiential knowledge that will separate them from the rest of their techie-brained cohort. They are adventures and influencers themselves with subscribers, podcasts and exposure to a similar audience. As some of their stories are mentioned in the books they will help this book reach thousands of more hands.

Promotion

He has already pre-sold 500+ copies in less than 30 days on Publishizer. In the first year, with his partners, channels, speaking and endorsers he will sell at least 5,000 copies.

Derek is committed to this book becoming a global phenomenon. His multi-pillared marketing platform is in place:

The Art of Adventure is one of the top rated Adventure + Business podcasts in the world. Over 200,000 downloads, and about 5,000 per month

We also have 20,000+ engaged followers across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Our email list is around 10,000 subscribers

Derek is a regular public speaker at events and corporations, including about topics from 'Experience the Revolution'. We will do large bulk book orders for organizations.

He will be hosting a virtual summit on this topic as community building and research. We will promote the book to 5-25K expected attendees

Derek has a proven track record as a quality guest on other podcasts and YouTube channels, and has been featured on TV and newspapers around the world.

There will be a video series for YouTube and IGTV documenting Derek's experience researching and attending some of the featured transformational events.

I had great conversations with leading thinkers and theorists about transformative experiences: Nathaniel Boyle - founder of Holocene, Jake Haupert - cofounder of the Transformative Travel Council, and Andres Roberts, Founder of Bio-Leadership, and Antesa Jensen of Adventure Awake

We propose a national book tour (RV trip around the US), traditional radio and newspaper interviews, combined with podcast guest appearances (25-50), and regular social media and email updates to our community.

During the campaign, we were really pleased that so many influencers shared the project with their audiences. Lots of people did live FB posts and videos talking about their own transformational experiences, including: Matt Bailey, Natalie Sisson, Halley Bass, Courtney Loechl, Antesa Jensen, Beth Weinstein, and Andy Austin to name a few.

Competition

1. Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work by Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal. Published February 21st 2017 by Dey Street Books. CNBC and Strategy + Business Best Business Book of 2017. It’s the biggest revolution you’ve never heard of, and it’s hiding in plain sight. Over the past decade, Silicon Valley executives like Eric Schmidt and Elon Musk, Special Operators like the Navy SEALs and the Green Berets, and maverick scientists like Sasha Shulgin and Amy Cuddy have turned everything we thought we knew about high performance upside down. Instead of grit, better habits, or 10,000 hours, these trailblazers have found a surprising short cut. They're harnessing rare and controversial states of consciousness to solve critical challenges and outperform the competition.
2. How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan. Published May 2018 by Allen Lane. Could psychedelic drugs change our worldview? One of America's most admired writers takes us on a mind-altering journey to the frontiers of human consciousness
3. Transformative Experience by L. A. Paul. Published January 6th 2015 by Oxford University Press, USA.  As we live our lives, we repeatedly make decisions that shape our future circumstances and affect the sort of person we will be. When choosing whether to start a family, or deciding on a career, we often think we can assess the options by imagining what different experiences would be like for us. L. A. Paul argues that, for choices involving dramatically new experiences, we are confronted by the brute fact that we can know very little about our subjective futures. This has serious implications for our decisions.
4. Fully Alive: Using the Lessons of the Amazon to Live Your Mission in Business and Life by Tyler Gage. Published August 1st 2017 by Atria Books. Tyler Gage shares his spiritual adventures and the business savvy that helped him create RUNA, a pioneering organization that weaves together the seemingly divergent worlds of Amazonian traditions and modern business, demonstrating how we can dig deeper to bring greater meaning and purpose to our personal and professional pursuits.
5. The Alchemist –by Paolo Coelho. Published May 1st 1993 by HarperCollins. Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations

1. The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker's Guide to Making Travel Sacred by Phil Cousineau. Published April 30th 2000 by Conari Press. For the intrepid traveler, there are more resources than ever before. But what about the traveler who is at a crossroads in life, longing for something else, neither diversion nor distraction, beyond escape and mere entertainment? What about those eager for a journey that is personally meaningful? For millennia this cry has been answered by pilgrimage, the transformative journey to a sacred center. The ancients referred to this path as the Way of the Pilgrim, an acknowledgement of travel for the sake of devotion, commitment, even penance to a holy site, a destination that blazes with meaning -- in short, a journey of risk and renewal. 
2. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. Published August 29th 2006 by Plume. In "A New Earth," Tolle shows how transcending our ego-based state of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world. 
3. Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brené Brown. Published October 11th 2018 by Ebury Digital. Leadership is not about titles, status and power over people. Leaders are people who hold themselves accountable for recognising the potential in people and ideas, and developing that potential. This is a book for everyone who is ready to choose courage over comfort, make a difference and lead. How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders? And, how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? 
4. Destination Earth: A New Philosophy of Travel by a World-Traveler by Nicos Hadjicostis. Published June 8th 2016 by Bamboo Leaf Press. More a guide to travel than a travel guide, Destination Earth transforms how you view travel and its relation to Life. It also provides a philosophical framework for embarking on more meaningful and purposeful travels, whether it is an around the world journey, or an exploration of a region, or even a city.