There’s never been a better time in human history to be a storyteller…

More of us on the planet. More ways to connect.

More ways to share our stories.

I’ve been fortunate to spend the past 11 years earning my living telling stories. Now I want to help you tell yours.

13 years ago, after graduating from Dartmouth, I returned home to Chicago to work for the summer and save up some cash. Finished my first solo screenplay then packed my car and drove to LA with a heart full of dreams, bound with a clear goal—to make a movie in Chicago one day.

I worked as a driver for a director of E.R. then as an assistant at Creative Artists Agency, making close to minimum wage and writing at night and on weekends. Sold my first script to Warner Bros. in November 1999, based on summers clerking for my Dad on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade. Write what you know. I spent the next 5 years riding the ups-and-downs of being a screenwriter in Hollywood. Kept writing, found some great teammates and experienced the thrill of getting a movie made. Sat next to my Mom at the premiere, surrounded by family and friends, in the theater I used to walk alone to when I first moved to LA and hardly knew anyone.

I walked out of that theater knowing I’d earned a golden key that could open the doors to rooms I wanted to explore.

I’d been fascinated by how technology was changing entertainment since spending 2000 writing a script set against Silicon Valley. I wanted to be part of shaping that change. As gratifying as it was to work in Hollywood, it was often a slow process from idea to movie screen. Seeing the speed with which people were taking ideas to the computer screen, I wanted to try and use new technologies to tell stories in additional ways.

From the time I sold my first script I’d get frequent calls and emails from friends-family-neighbors-and-acquaintances, “I wrote a script”, “My Uncle wrote a book,” “My boss directed a short film.” But my favorite calls were always the ones that started simply, “I have an amazing story for you.”

Hearing those words always reminded me of the weekly ritual I shared with so many others when Sports Illustrated came in the mail…flipping to the back page to read Rick Reilly’s inspiring columns about people overcoming the odds to do something wonderful. I wanted to tell those stories too. They reminded me of a saying I’d once heard that stuck with me…

If you inspire someone to believe, you can inspire them to achieve.

I condensed the message to meet the 7-character limit for California License Plates and turned it into 2NSPYR2. Figured with all the time I spent driving around L.A., if one person noticed it and had a better day, it’d be worth it.

Emboldened with the satisfaction of accomplishing a goal that was 9 years in the making, I walked out of the premiere with my family believing I could create NSPYR.

My parents, Harold & Judith, raised my sister, Meredith, and me to work hard and stick together while passing on their love of reading, movies, music, sports and games. They taught us to treat everyone with respect telling us, simply, “Be nice to people.” And they encouraged us to dream big…then set goals to turn our dreams into reality.

We moved 6 times before I was 12 and I went to 7 schools between 1st and 9th grades so I learned how to meet people, adapt, and get along. The resulting wanderlust never faded and I’ve since been to 49 states and every continent except Antarctica. Throughout my travels, experiencing being the new kid in the room over-and-over, I learned a universal truth.

No matter how different people are, certain types of extraordinary stories connect us.

Stories that capture the human spirit…that celebrate those who overcome great obstacles, persevere and use teamwork and love to bring out the best in themselves and others. Stories about underdogs winning and happy endings earned through struggle. We seem to find common ground when the core of a story is about redemption. Triumph. Survival. Something innate causes our heads to nod, our hearts to swell.

Good for them. They deserve it.

I set out to learn as much as I could about social media while figuring where I might fit in as a storyteller. I spent the past 4 years reading, writing, thinking, learning, listening and traveling towards that goal. I continued writing screenplays while testing other ways of telling stories. I co-produced a series of shorts for a clothing brand, directed a call-to-action for a bipartisan congressional commission, blogged up Kilimanjaro for a social cause then wrote about it for a magazine.

Everywhere I went, I met wonderful people. And everywhere I went something else kept happening…

Whether on a plane, train or in an automobile…whether sitting in a theater or standing at a concert…hiking up a trail or walking down a fairway…when people discovered I was a writer, they opened up to me. Trusted me with their stories. Brought out their personal greatest hits. And the more I wandered, the more incredible stories I heard…

But the question remained…What’s the best way for me to tell them?

Thankfully, in the course of my wandering and exploring, I found some friends who shared this curiosity.

We’ve joined together to start NSPYR.

I met Brian Mulvaney in December 2002 when we were randomly paired together for a round of golf at The Palms Golf Club in La Quinta, CA. Over the past 8 years, Brian’s become a close friend and mentor. He brings his wisdom from a successful run in corporate America to guide us as we grow.

I met Uyen Le in 2003 when she was handling corporate formations at Barnes Morris (now Morris Yorn), the entertainment law firm that represented me. For the past 5 years, Uyen’s helped me with trademarks and strategy.

In August 2008, I went up to Palo Alto for a day of meetings that lead to me meeting Barrett Garese back in LA where we lived minutes from each other. We’ve spent the past two years brainstorming the implications of living in our modern digital world. He brings his passion for technology and entertainment to help us share our stories with you.

I met my girlfriend, Dickie Morris, in September 2009 when I was the best man for a lifelong friend at his wedding in Charlottesville, Virginia. From our first conversation when she said she loved writing, photography and planning events that connected people, I knew I’d found my teammate. Her creativity and organization will keep us on track and help us create our stories.

And there’s never been a better time in human history to be a storyteller…

While I was criss-crossing the country, brilliant entrepreneurs created the magical tech companies and innovations that shot us into the future…Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube…Final Draft, Lightroom, Scrivener and Skype…the BlackBerry, Canon Mark II 5D, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Kindle, Macbook Pro and Olympus Digital Voice Recorder.

Everything we need to create and capture stories can fit in a backpack.

So we’ve decided to try and answer some questions…

What if we sought out people who had great inspiring stories and asked them to be our Story Partners?

What if our brainstorming sessions and creative conversations were off-the-record? If our Story Partners could retain their right to privacy and decide what to share? What if we gave them final approval so that when they read the story of their life they could nod their heads, “Yeah, that’s how it happened.”

And what if we shared those stories in a way that you could harness social media and the power of our interconnected world to share them with your family and friends, fans and followers?

What might happen if we ran with those stories as far as we could, utilizing our collective experience and relationships in business, technology, advertising and entertainment? And what if we created a way for you to join us and tell your stories while sharing in success with NSPYR either as a Story Partner or Creative Team?

We have big dreams and goals, but are starting simply today with this Tumblr site to connect with our audience. We’ll share our first few stories in the coming weeks to set the tone and see what they spark. Our stories will vary in length depending on what it takes to do each one justice. They’ll each have a special kick to help fuel your day by giving you some motivation to tackle the task at hand or prepare for the mountain looming in the distance.

You might want to continue one of the stories in a book, another in-person hearing someone speak. And hopefully one day, we’ll be sitting in a movie theater surrounded by our family and friends watching one of your stories come to life on the big screen!

It’s time to shine a light on the touch-points that unite us…on everyday heroes who’ve achieved the extraordinary, overcome the impossible and pulled off the improbable. Time to shine a light on those stories that cause us to reach out to someone we love and pass it on, saying simply, “I have a great story for you!”

We begin with one of those stories.

One I started working on 10 years ago that took a triumphant turn 3 months ago…

THE VASSEGHI FAMILY STORY: Love, Luck and a 175 Million-to-1 Jackpot.

Welcome to NSPYR.com!

Jay Lavender
10/29/10