An Interview With Chad Silverstein
GO OUTSIDE. Nature is restorative. I find that taking my lunch outside and watching people, boats, and water birds along the river, or walking to the post office or the library, can turn around even the worst day. You never know who you might meet, what you might hear.
Growth is an essential part of life, both personally and professionally. Every day presents an opportunity to learn, evolve, and become better versions of ourselves. But how do we seize these opportunities? How do successful writers, leaders, and influencers ensure they are constantly growing and improving? What daily habits, practices, or mindsets contribute to their continual growth? In this interview series, we would like to talk to authors, leaders, influencers, and anyone who is an authority about “What We Can Do To Grow Every Day”. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Leslie Rindoks.
Originally from the Midwest, Leslie Rindoks now lives in the Carolinas, and is the founder of WayWord Books, a subscription-based publisher. She holds MFAs in design and creative writing and writes both fiction and nonfiction.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us your “Origin Story”? Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I was born in Lake Forest, Illinois, just north of Chicago. I had a ridiculously stable and uneventful childhood, with two professional parents and one sister. My sister and I shared a poodle, a playhouse, and piano lessons. While our parents had unspoken, yet clearly high, expectations, they let us make our own decisions. I was reading before kindergarten and taught myself how to write in cursive. My family listened to classical music and went to the theatre instead of sporting events. So no surprise here: I was a good student, and a horrible athlete. I loved to draw and ride my bike, often with my dog in the basket attached to my handlebars. But most of all, I loved to read. I read so much that once my parents hid all my books, thinking if I read less, I’d somehow be more popular. (Their experiment failed; I found my books in pretty short order, and remained distinctly uncool.)
Can you tell us a bit about what you do professionally, and what brought you to this specific career path?
Freshly armed with an MFA in design, I freelanced for a while in the Charlotte, NC area. I secured a fulltime position with a firm that designed trade show exhibits and parade floats for Macy’s in Atlanta. The week after closing on my first house and three months pregnant, I was fired. Not working was not an option; we needed my paycheck. I had always wanted to work in advertising, but no agencies were interested in hiring a pregnant graphic designer. So, I took two advertising classes at a local community college and started my own firm, funded initially by my unemployment checks. I grew the studio to a team of eleven people, and also started a sister company, the first incorporated web design company in North Carolina. I soon became head copywriter because, at the time, while designers were a dime a dozen, good writers were gainfully employed at newspapers and magazines. I grew to really love writing, and after the birth of my third child, decided to leave advertising to write full time. My key employees bought me out.
Almost immediately, a former client asked me to write their institutional history and suddenly I was not only a writer, but a book designer, and a publisher as well. For many years, I have continued to do both, to write (under the pseudonym Avery Caswell) and publish books, first as Lorimer Press and now as WayWord Books.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion about Personal Growth. To make sure that we are all on the same page, let’s begin with a simple definition. What does “Personal Growth” mean to you?
For me, personal growth means choosing to be in control of my destiny, and not be a victim of circumstances.
To grow means to continue to learn. Henry Ford said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
Why do you believe that it’s important to commit to growing every day?
I like the idea of staying young! And as with so many things, it’s “use it or lose it.” To stop growing means you atrophy, you shrink, you become less of yourself, less capable, less productive, and ultimately, less happy.
What are the key upsides for those who mindfully engage in a journey of personal evolution?
You have a reason to get out of bed every morning and something positive to look forward to. Setting goals and then reaching them is the biggest rush! You’ll find yourself in the company of others who are on similar journeys. Energy begets energy.
When we stop evolving in intentional ways, what do you think are the biggest downsides?
When we stop learning and growing, at the very least, we become bored (and boring) and at the worst, we get depressed, which can lead to counterproductive behavior.
What specific practices, if any, do you have in place to ensure that you don’t become stagnant in life?
READ. I read a variety of things, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and good old-fashioned newspapers. I love learning new things, from odd bits of trivia (today I learned that vodka is the best deodorizer) to history (I’m currently reading Book Makers, the history of the printed book by Adam Smith), to more complex things like the biography of brain surgery (Gray Matters by Theodore Schwartz is next up on my reading list), along with a silly rom-com or a good mystery.
EXERCISE! I never regret a trip to the gym and try to go at least twice a week. Moving your body releases endorphins and achieving interim fitness goals is empowering.
STEP OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE! This is the most difficult, but probably the most critical step when it comes to personal growth. I can’t even write about what I’m committing to next. It’s too frightening! But I will do it.
Many years ago, when I started my first publishing company, I felt so intimidated by “important” people in big cities up North. I’d put off calling them for weeks, too afraid to dial their numbers. But you know what? You make one call, realize you’re still alive at the end of it, and make another call. Then you look back and wonder what you were so freaked out about.
Is there any particular area of your life where you are most committed to growth (e.g., spiritually, professionally, socially, internally, relationally)?
Soon after I lost my (one and only fulltime, salaried) job, someone turned me on to Dennis Waitley. He recommended an exercise called the “life balance wheel” where you draw eight spokes, each one representing an area of your life: Financial, Spiritual, Health, Relationships, etc. You evaluate each area on a scale of 1–10, and extend each spoke accordingly. If you’re a 10 in your financial realm, that spoke will extend the farthest from the center hub; if you’re a three in your spiritual life, that spoke is much shorter and ends closer to the hub. When you have all eight areas plotted, you go around and connect the ends of your spokes. You quickly see why the wheel of your life may not be rolling smoothly and you know what areas require your attention.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. If you could offer five tips to readers on how to stimulate and perpetuate self-growth, what would they be? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.
1. FIRST ASK WHAT. Spend time figuring out what you want. And be specific. I sold my agency because I wanted to write. I said I was done writing advertising copy; I wanted to write books. The universe heard me. I received three commissions in pretty short order — writing nonfiction, niche histories. But what I had really wanted was to write fiction. I learned to be more specific when articulating my goals.
2. THEN ASK WHY. After you determine WHAT you want, then ask why. Try asking “why” five times. This helps you get past the symptoms of the problem and to the root of the problem. Understanding the cause helps you adjust your goals and remain more committed to achieving them.
3. DARE. After I sold my agency and was trying to become a legitimate writer, I read a piece in the Charlotte Observer about a writer I admired. She credited attending Iowa Writers’ Workshop for making her a great writer. I’d never heard of the place, but I wanted to be a great writer so I applied and asked a friend to write me a letter of recommendation. Due, I’m sure, to the letter my friend, a professor at Davidson College, wrote on my behalf, and not my fledgling talent, I was accepted. If I had known how prestigious the Workshop was, I’d never have applied. My naiveté allowed me to attempt the impossible and it changed my life.
4. SET INTERIM GOALS. You may not be able to run a full mile today, but maybe you can walk around the block. Tomorrow, you may be able to jog to the stop sign. Everyday, add a bit more. It’s true what they say about how to eat an elephant — one bite at a time.
Make a vision board to represent your goals. I often make quick little sketches to illustrate mine. For some reason, even at the height of real estate frenzy, our house just wasn’t selling. We went through multiple realtors Finally, I drew our house keys as if they had sprouted wings and were flying to the new owners, next to a bottle of champagne, along with the price we wanted for the house, and the date we wanted to move. It all came to pass.
With equal parts resilience, tenacity, and faith, you can achieve just about anything.
5. GO OUTSIDE. Nature is restorative. I find that taking my lunch outside and watching people, boats, and water birds along the river, or walking to the post office or the library, can turn around even the worst day. You never know who you might meet, what you might hear.
What advice would you give to someone who feels stuck and unsure of how to start their personal growth journey?
Life’s too short to sit on the side of the road complaining that you’re lost.
In the midst of the Great Depression, FDR said, “Above all try something.” If you’re feeling stuck, get moving. If your life is going nowhere, forge a different path. Choose the right travel companions — people who can help you get to where you want to go and who aren’t just along for the ride.
Are there any books, podcasts, or other resources that have significantly contributed to your personal growth?
My first brush with motivational material was Dennis Waitley’s The Psychology of Winning. More recently, I’ve read and re-read Jen Sincero’s You Are a Badass. James Doty’s Into the Magic Shop and Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act are also high on my list of great motivational reads. Dan Pliszka has a humorous but effective take in his book, Life Is Great, (Even if Your Boat Flips Over).
Watch Ted Lasso. Then watch it again. Make your own “BELIEVE” sign and tape it over your door.
Make a good playlist and include “I Believe I Can Fly,” play it often, and sing along until you believe it!
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
As a result of changes in the industry over the past 10–15 years, it has become increasingly difficult for authors to succeed. Published writers earn on average less than $7,000 per year, and that includes income from teaching and speaking engagements.
Inspired to change this paradigm, I launched WayWord Books in 2023. As a subscription-based publisher, we are breaking the mold by delivering quality, first-edition books directly to readers, eliminating the need for distributors, many of which earn far more than authors, and sometimes even more than publishers.
We venture off the beaten path to find new work by topnotch writers, and combine beautifully designed books with carefully curated gifts that complement the authors’ work.
We believe writers are worth more than warehouses and are working toward paying authors royalties that make them feel like royalty.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein, a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience as the Founder and CEO of multiple companies. He launched Choice Recovery, Inc., a healthcare collection agency, while going to The Ohio State University, His team earned national recognition, twice being ranked as the #1 business to work for in Central Ohio. In 2018, Chad launched [re]start, a career development platform connecting thousands of individuals in collections with meaningful employment opportunities, He sold Choice Recovery on his 25th anniversary and in 2023, sold the majority interest in [re]start so he can focus his transition to Built to Lead as an Executive Leadership Coach. Learn more at www.chadsilverstein.com
Growing Every Day: Leslie Rindoks Of WayWord Books On What We Can Do To Grow Every Day was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.