Meet Michael Huth

 

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Huth. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Michael, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Like any bold journey the search for purpose isn’t often clear until you set off on the adventure for what you feel is just that, but not knowing yet what that actually is or could be. You sharpen your skills through experiences along the way and often, and most certainly in my case, you find that purpose along that road in which you didn’t expect to travel at all. You see it with help from guides along the way, and you create the luck you must be willing to follow up on and follow through with to find that true calling of purpose. Purpose for me is coupling passion within moments you find yourself immersed in things you care deeply about, but do not feel like work when you turn around at the end of your day and see the satisfaction of joy in what you have created.

I moved west from Wisconsin feeling my purpose was to help cultivate people’s careers within the entertainment industry and that the business of people only existed within that industry. I discovered the grandeur of landscapes a state like California has to offer each weekend through exploration and excitement when trying to check out of the industry. What I didn’t realize I was doing was checking into the industry of environment. Realizing the importance of these places and the need for protection of them. It was something that needed the business of people to help her, and I was the person who had been honing their skills in one industry, to serve what was needed most in the one I fell in love with along the path.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I like many warm-hearted midwest men am a lover of many things: Art, Sports, Nature, falling in love, and my family. I moved west to work in the entertainment industry and was a successful talent agent, business affairs manager, and producer. Somewhere in there I was taken under the wing of a few incredible guides and shown the mountains, taught to not only climb, bag peaks, and navigate tight canyons, but how to do it cleanly and respect the places I was lucky enough to enter.

Within those canyon walls I realized the generations of family I loved after me were not going to be afforded the same opportunity to see these places or reap their majesty if we did not take as seriously as I was taught the importance of preserving them. So I went back to school. I stacked functions, and procured certificates by saying yes to things that made me uncomfortable. By moving towards the fear of a hard left career turn well on the way up the ladder of success within my industry. I chose to trust myself in moving towards those unknowns of fear, that meant growth and purpose were on the other side.

I started go thirty three, a power number in my life of so many things, and began to start focusing on storytelling and environmental initiatives. I had the help of several strong female influences in my life willing to keep pushing me when the fears felt like roadblocks and that all good things have to be built from the ground up. I was still working as a studio producer for a tech start up and managing talent, but I was simultaneously getting my MBA from Lift Economy, acquiring my Permaculture Design Certificate out at Quail Springs, and eventually led me to Spirit Pine Sanctuary to learn earthen building
and who I was and needed to be from a master builder in Betty Seaman.

My brand was evolving with me, and I kept saying yes in manifesting what environmental initiatives were for me. What could be next and what role I could possibly have in helping this arena for positive change. Like any journey I continued to learn about myself and the importance of leaving an industry that is extractive for one I felt support and peace in what I was doing. I continued to move north through California building cob homes, working for regenerative farms while slipping in a few cross-country road trips through our country’s national parks system to fortify what I was fighting for next. Often working as a volunteer or having to literally and figuratively speak into existence these places and people I was willing to leave money on the table to start anew by putting my stamp and energy into working with them.

Then I came to Grass Valley and Nevada City, California. Like any lucky sailor, I was tired from a journey and a bit lost in the sea of self-doubt. So I turned to a friend who was a guiding light and said come here, there is a company and an environmental film festival you should volunteer for and I have a spot on my 33-acre farm for you to rest and make your next push. He took me to the Yuba River and showed me the South Yuba Citizens League the company who puts on Wild & Scenic Film Festival.

It was the second time in my life a canyon-lined river set my heart a blaze and sent me down the trail of what’s next. I volunteered for the festival and was filled with inspiration at not only the content of the films, but the way a community came together to support a river and the importance of environmental education. I was sold. Three weeks later through luck, willpower, and that signature follow up on the luck you create… I was managing the national tour (100 cities and counting) of Wild & Scenic Film Festival.

Now I spend every day talking to non-profit environmental organizations ranging from riverkeepers, land trusts, art councils and schools. I get to spread the same inspiration for activism that I didn’t know existed at the start of my journey to those who like me were unsure what that it is until people come together to help them find what that is for them. I am helping put together programs for California’s 30×30 push to protect 30% of the states coastal waters and land preserves by 2030. I help college students get to study abroad in life sciences, or put environmental films in front of one-stop light towns in the midwest where I grew up yearning for something like this. Through this company, I get to partner my early path of film and entertainment with the purpose of environmental protection. All the proceeds from the spreading of our festival across the country go right back into the protection of the river and watershed that freed my soul from an industry trying to take it. I love closing my laptop at the end of each day knowing what I stand for, understanding the opportunity for growth ahead, and being proud of what I did to get there.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Three qualities I have that I stand by on my journey are being willing to move towards things that scare you knowing growth is on the other side. Some people say I am lucky but I feel strongly in asking questions and asking for help, being a good listener so when those moments of luck are created and the ball is now in your court…. you are ready to answer that call and follow through on those moments.

I believe many of the answers to the questions you seek can simply be found by being a willing listener.

I see one of my biggest and brightest lights I shine is being a connector and good communicator. I love being the bridge between people and helping be the common ground on pain points so we can all feel good about forward direction and getting things done.

You can’t be afraid of getting your hands in the mud and doing the hard work. Sometimes embracing the suck and just doing the work is what is necessary to move things forward.

I love the mantra of slow is smooth and smooth is fast!

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

I could not have gotten here without the steadfast love and affirmation of the strong female role models in my life. When the waves are crashing on that sea of self-doubt, being able to turn to those strong loving individuals for that affirmational love is exactly what I personally need to go out and push harder on my journey. Just being able to talk about what is going on inside you, so that you can better show up fully in both professional and personal life is vital in becoming successful in what you do. Without a few of those key moments and strong influences telling me I am doing great, and to keep going… I very well may have just given up hope. We all really do get by with a little help from our friends…. if we are willing to ask for it.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Christi Reed @buggilove

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