About five years ago, June of 2017, I was relatively new to the podcasting game. I had just finished year number one of the trumpet dynamics podcast, which is still going strong. And I was just, you know, I was trying to make a name for myself as a entrepreneur online content producer. It's just, you're always looking for opportunities to just get your name out there, you know? And so I was fortunate enough to be selected to present at the 2017 international trumpet Guild conference. That year was held at Hershey, Pennsylvania at, uh, one of the hotels there in Hershey. I can remember getting a chocolate bar when I checked in to the hotel. Anyway, uh, I was, I was just looking on, I can't remember how I came to know of this need, but I, I know of this fellow named Adam rapper and Adam is if you're not a trumpet player, he's, uh, he's really, well-known, he's a fantastic player. Just a really dynamic, dynamic performer, a virtuoso, and he can just play the tar out of anything. And so he's, he's well known in, in that circle, that small pond called trumpet that I like to call it. And, uh, I just, I can't remember how I got to know of this, but I just reached out to him or I think I had interviewed him for a little project that I was doing called secrets of the musical mind. So I was in touch with him and we sort of knew each other. We were familiar. And I think it must've been that I just reached out to him on Facebook or something. And he said that he was coming in from Europe, where he lives, where he lived at the time. I don't know where he lives now, but, uh, he, he was starting a new trumpet company called Lotus trumpets. And he was bringing in a bunch of stuff from, Denmark. I just gathered that he had a need to get some assistance with transportation, transporting his instruments, that he was going to be showcasing at the event. And I, he didn't, he didn't ask specifically, James, can you help me out? I just kind of, kind of put two and two together and realize, you know, this guy, he needs some help. So I just reached out to him and I said, Hey man, can I, uh, can I be of any assistance? I'm going to be driving up to, uh, Pennsylvania from North Carolina where I lived at the time. And so I th I think they were scheduled to fly into Baltimore, which wasn't too far out the way I was, I didn't mind going just a little, little, a side venture from off of I 95. And so I went and picked him up. What ended up happening was Adam Rapa himself got delayed. He ended up flying into Philadelphia, but his assistant Henrik, he flew into Baltimore as scheduled and I ended up picking him up. And I was basically Adam Rapa’s chauffer for a couple of days. And they were putting the finishing touches on their website. I mean, Lotus trumpets is going from what I can see. It seems to be going relatively well five years later, but it felt exciting to be a part of this brand new venture, but I was just happy to see what assistance I could provide. I wasn't doing anything other than preparing for my presentation. I had nothing to do. I suppose I could have been around the hotel milling around and networking meeting people, but I realized that I could, I could really be of some help to this person. Who's pretty well known. And, uh, five years later, Adam, I can honestly say, as a legitimate friend, we have stayed in touch and we've just kind of shared war stories of about this and that just, just hanging out, I guess you just say we're we're friends. We were, we've become friendly. And it's because I just made myself useful to someone who needed legitimately needed help. So if you're looking for a way to, uh, get your name out, make yourself useful to someone who needs help. You don't want to be that guy. That's just where that guy or that girl who's just, you know, just shunt, trying to leech off of people's time, trying to you don't want to be needy. What I'm trying to say. You don't want to come across as I want to. Uh, you ha you...
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18 mins