Meet Doug Snelson

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Doug Snelson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Doug , thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

I have been blessed to wake up every day with a sense of joy and new possibilities. The joy I feel gets me through those days where I have no control over an unhappy situation or a poor choice I have made.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I write books in rhyming formats. I am a former healthcare publishing and communications executive in the pharmaceutical industry. I created and launched controlled circulation, peer reviewed journals for medical specialties. I also was part owner of a medical closed circuit cable TV company.

As my healthcare career wound down I decided to write, to publish and to communicate what is in my heart, mind and soul. I chose to create children’s books reflecting the joy I shared with my children when they were young. To date, I have three children’s books published. I also published a compilation of poems reflecting 50 years of writing poetry, “Laughter Includes the Word: Revealed, A Life of Poetry”. The book received two awards and an excellent review by an internationally known, US based poet, Neeli Cherkovski. My most recent book of poetry about pickleball, “Pickleball Poetry: Fun and Whimsical Verses to Dink About”, received an award for sports poetry and was reviewed by Writer’s Digest.

I am most excited when my published words connect with a child or adult in a meaningful and positive way.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Early in my healthcare publishing journey, three skills stood out among the professionals I learned from:
1. the skill to communicate my ideas on the phone in a succinct, confident, persuasive, articulate, and trustworthy way
2. the skill to communicate those same ideas on paper and the internet
3. the skill to communicate those ideas in a presentation to groups from 1 to 100 people.
I would add a fourth skill: learning the exact meanings of words. I emphasize this idea when I read my books at schools and libraries.

I highly recommend to folks who are early in their journey to watch, listen, reflect, and mimic the above skills from colleagues, competitors, and professionals from within and outside their industry.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

There are a number of books written by authors, philosophers, poets and professional communicators that continue to influence me with valuable wisdom. Here are a few of them.

“Cyrano de Bergerac” by Edmund Rostand “But who fights ever for success? I fought for lost cause and fruitless quest.”
“The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron “It is audacity, and not talent, that moves an artist to center stage.” “When we move out on faith into the act of creation, the universe is able to advance.”
“The Greatest Salesman” in the World by Og Mandino “I will persist until I succeed. Always will I take another step.”
“Walden” by Henry David Thoreau – “Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.” “The mass of men live quiet lives of desperation.”

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where does your optimism come from?

Optimism is the invisible ingredient that powers so much of the incredible progress in society

Confidence
Stories of Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Learning from one another is what BoldJourney is all about. Below, we’ve shared stories and

Resilience
The Power of Persistence: Overcoming Haters and Doubters

Having hates is an inevitable part of any bold journey – everyone who has made