On my most recent episode of the Pop Culture Retrospective, I was fortunate enough to interview Chris Clews, an expert on all things '80s pop culture. Chris is so passionate about this decade that he has made a career out of it. How awesome is that?! He spent about 20 years in the field of marketing and sort of woke up one day and realized that he felt a bit lost and wanted to do something different, all while watching the classic film, "The Breakfast Club." First, he started by writing some books about life and business lessons we can take from '80s movies and music, and that has evolved into a fascinating career as a keynote speaker as well. I hope you have already tuned into that episode or will soon, but in the meantime, here are some takeaways that I got from talking with Chris.
#1: It's never too late to do something different in your life. As I previously mentioned, Chris actually worked in the field of marketing for about 20 years. While watching the film "The Breakfast Club" the character of John Bender said (this is a direct excerpt from an article Chris wrote which appeared on the Medium website which you can find here). "In a classic scene, John Bender, “The Criminal,” played perfectly by Judd Nelson, removes the screws from the library door so it would shut and thus protect the group from the prying eyes of Principal Vernon. When the group is sternly asked by Principal Vernon about the door being closed, the Bender character says, “Screws fall out all the time. The world is an imperfect place.” He realized that sort of happened to him, he felt like he was an imperfect person and that some screws had fallen out, and it was time to embark on a different adventure. Thus began his shift to becoming an entrepreneur as both a talented writer and eventually as an engaging keynote speaker. I could relate a lot to Chris's story because I became an entrepreneur later in life when I left my career in education behind due to several significant life events. I am now a professional photographer and podcaster and I am so incredibly proud of my journey and I know Chris is proud of his as well!
#2: "Confident people question themselves. Arrogant people question others, " a lesson taken from "Trading Places." Go ahead and read that again and let it sink in. If you've ever experienced some conflict in the workplace or even in a personal relationship, perhaps you can relate to this quote. Or maybe if you've ventured out on your own, you can also relate to this. When Chris said this while we were talking, it really resonated with me. Chris brought up some good points about how you can improve yourself, no matter what industry you work in or what you are trying to improve on. Everyone should always strive to be better. No one is perfect and we can all benefit when we question ourselves. How can we improve? What could be done better next time?
#3: Never stop daydreaming, a lesson from the film, "The Outsiders." In Chris's second book, he refers to some lessons we can take from the '80s classic movie. He writes: "But daydreaming doesn't have to be just a dream, and it most certainly doesn't have an age limit. If you find yourself at work and at home consistently thinking about a passion project that continues to find a little space in your head whether it's 1 pm or 1 am, then it's time to make that dream a reality." I couldn't agree more.
#4: We are nostalgic for a simpler time and there's a good reason for that. I think Chris and I both bonded over the fact that there is something comforting about nostalgia and there is also something about the '80s that provides us with such distinct memories. Many of us grew up spending time with our friends all day long, from sun up to sun down. "Each day was an adventure that seemed to last forever," he said. Before we were distracted by the internet (the late 90s/early 2000s) and smartphones (present) in the '80s we were more present. If you wanted to watch your favorite TV show, you had to wait for it to come on. If you loved a music video, you had to wait for it to air on TV, and if you had your VCR ready and a blank tape perhaps you could have recorded it to watch again (for me, that was A'Ha's '80s classic, "Take on Me."). Movie releases were a big deal, successful films stayed in theatres for weeks and months at a time. The re-watch ability of older films was significant. Remember how many people went to see Star Wars several times? Do you remember how long ET was in the theatres? The answer- A LOT! We also wrote each other letters and called each other to share exciting updates with each other, the list just goes on!
#5: Dirty Dancing is not a good movie. Okay, I know this is likely an unpopular opinion but both Chris and I feel the same way about this film. For Chris, he was bombarded with the song "Time of My Life" for far too long, and as a result, despite being a huge Patrick Swayze fan, he just cannot bring himself to watch the film. I told Chris the good news: I can't stand "Dirty Dancing" either. That's right, you heard me. I find the movie to be quite boring, Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze don't have great chemistry (that's been noted for years now) and the plot/storyline of the movie just doesn't do it for me. Swayze has a ton of other excellent movies like "Roadhouse" and "Ghost." Jennifer Grey also had some other fantastic roles like those in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "American Flyers," both are movies that I absolutely love! So despite Dirty Dancing being horrible (ha!) both actors are associated with other great films!
In conclusion, it was a pleasure having Chris Clews on my show! You can learn more about his keynote speaking and books on his website.
If you enjoyed this episode of my podcast, you may be interested in checking out some of these other episodes:
Episode #14: The History of the VCR.
Episode #21: The History of the Sony Walkman.
Episode #48: The 80s Teen Films by John Hughes.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. I wanted to add here that Chris DID NOT ask me to write this or add links to his website or books. I did all of this because I really believe in what Chris is doing and that he is just an all-around cool person. I purchased a few of his books with my own money and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I have also been in attendance at MANY, MANY keynote speaker events and I would have given ANYTHING to have someone like Chris present at one of them. Seriously! Did I tell you about that one time we had to attend school (when I was a faculty member) on the day before Christmas eve and attend a mandatory presentation involving an interpretive dancer? I'm not kidding!
