• FALL 2016

The Business of Living the Life of Your Dreams

“What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” That’s the fridge door quote that sits on my Kenmore next to Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous suggestion, “Do one thing every day that scares you.”

I find that these daily reminders to be brave are essential to staying buoyant and focused as an entrepreneur. After all, when dealing with the uncertainty of business, it’s not always easy to keep small-business dreams alive.

That’s why this month we are excited to feature entrepreneurs Chris Smith and Scott Doherty, the creators and producers of Rockin’ Road to Dublin. The hit Irish dance and rock show embarked on a 60-city tour on Sept. 22, which is taking them around the country.

In this issue of Be Inkandescent magazine, you’ll learn how they are making their dream of bringing the new generation of Irish dance to audiences nationwide. You’ll meet some of the 34 members of the cast and crew — including Broadway director Jeff Whiting and three-time world Irish dance champion Ashley Smith.

What’s it like to be in a bus traveling the country from show to show? You’ll get an inside glimpse thanks to Irish dancer and cast member Billy Kanaly. He is also a professional videographer, and on the tour he is creating a weekly webTV series that takes us behind the scenes. Click here to watch.

Are you living your dream? If not, take a tip from entertainer and entrepreneur extraordinaire Walt Disney, who said: “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

Here’s to embracing your courage! — Hope Katz Gibbs, publisher, Be Inkandescent magazine • Inkandescent PR

Are You Ready to Take on the Rockin' Road to Dublin?

On Thursday, Sept. 22, the new generation of Irish rock and dance began when ROCKINROAD TO DUBLIN inaugurated its 60-city national tour with a performance at the McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center in Henderson, NC. The entrepreneurs and co-creators who brought the show to life are Celtic rocker CHRIS SMITH and Irish Dance World Champion SCOTT DOHERTY.

“We bring a wee bit of Dublin with a rockin’ edge to the stage,” explains Smith, who has gathered an elite class of musicians to perform in the ROCKINROAD TO DUBLIN band:

  • JOHN BALDWIN (bass player, The American Rogues),
  • KEVEN EKNES (an award-winning guitarist from Norway),
  • MARITA MAY (classically trained on violin since age 5; Celtic Fyre),
  • KELLY MILLS (five-time winner of the Drum Corps and Percussion World Championships),
  • MIKE MOORE (Busch Gardens and Kings Dominion),
  • JOE SCHERMANN (“Guys and Dolls,” “White Christmas,” “Grease,” “Smokey Joe’s Café,” and “Shout”),
  • COREY WALDEN (The American Rogues, and founder of The Suzuki School of Milford).

“It’s truly the music that gets the audience on their feet,” insists Doherty (“Riverdance” and “Lord of the Dance”), who has worked his own magic choreographing the critically acclaimed show. The 2009 Men’s World Champion of Irish Dance, Doherty made his professional debut in 2005 with the North American tour of Michael Flatley’s “Riverdance,” and also has toured the world with “Lord of the Dance.”

The show’s star power continues with ROCKINROAD TO DUBLIN’s two lead vocalistsMEGAN LYNN BROWNING (Harley Boone) and BRETT BENOWITZ (Born Blue).

“The lyrics of the songs tell a love story that weaves together the music and dance,” explains the show’s director, Broadway choreographer JEFF WHITING (“The Producers,” and “Bullets Over Broadway”). “Our goal is to have the audience walk away having had an experience that is entertaining, uplifting, and inspirational.”

Music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations are by BRENT FREDERICK; original costume design is by SARAH COFFEY and ASHLEY WILSON; lighting is by CAROLYN WONG; scenic design is by BRIAN BARKER; and sound consultation is by TREY SMITH.

Of course, ROCKINROAD TO DUBLIN wouldn’t be the show it is without the Irish dancing. For the cast, choreographer Doherty chose three-time international Irish dance champion ASHLEY SMITH to be his lead female dancer. On stage since the age of 3, at 16, Smith (no relation to Chris) was crowned the World Irish Step Dancing Champion in Belfast in 2004 — making her the youngest American female ever to win the world title at that time. A top-30 female finalist on the hit TV show “So You Think You Can Dance,” Smith was a featured dancer on the Oscar-nominated film “Silver Linings Playbook.”

Rounding out the cast are other well-known Irish dancers:

  • COLIN BARKELL has earned three regional titles, a fourth-place finish at the North American Championships, and an eighth-place finish at the World Championships. He has been the lead dancer in Rhythm of the Dance and Celtic Fyre and is also a member of the Hammerstep Dance Crew.
  • MARK CHICHESTER won the All England Tap Championship, All England National Championship, and was crowned UK’s Young Tap Dancer of the Year. He went on to join the cast of “Excalibur: The Celtic Rock Opera,” “Gaelforce Dance,” “Dance Masters,” “Celtic Dream,” and “Rhythm of the Dance,” as well as Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance.”
  • DECLAN CROWLEY is an eight-time Mid-Atlantic, two-time National, and All-Ireland champion. He also won the coveted Minor Belt National Championship in 2005, and has placed within the top three in the world times over. Crowley’s filmography credits include “Feet of Flames RAW” (2010), “Irish Celtic Generations — Live in Paris” (2016), and “West Side Story: Mashup” (HBO, 2012).
  • BERNADETTE DEVEREAUX has won multiple titles during her competitive career, including winning first place at her Regional Championships five times, placing in the top five at the National Championships, and placing at the World Championships. She toured with Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance” and achieved her dream of dancing the lead, performing alongside Flatley.
  • MEGAN KIRK DRAKE first began touring with Celtic Legends and has since performed with Atlantic Steps, A Gaelic Gathering, Raglan Road at Disney World, and in “Rhythm of the Dance,” where she performed as principal female dancer. She has competed at the World Championship level and placed in the top five in the Western US Region multiple times.
  • PATRICK HOLLAND, a two-time Mid-American champion, has placed as high as fourth in the North American Championships, and 10th in the World Championships. Holland has performed with various productions, including Cherish the Ladies, Michael Londra’s Celtic Fire, and The Chieftains.
  • BILLY KANALY has been a professional Irish dancer for eight years, performing around the world, including four years as a cast member of “Riverdance.”
  • EMILY MACCONNELL has achieved competitive career highs of eighth in the world, third nationally, and first in her own and Southern England regions. She has danced and toured both nationally and internationally with “Magic of the Dance,” and “An Irish Christmas.”
  • ERIKA NIELSEN has competitively achieved Southern Region Oireachtas Champion three times, top five at the North American Nationals, and medaled at the All Ireland and World Championships. She also performed in Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games.”
  • TYLER SCHWARTZ has won many dance titles, including the Midwest Regional Championship, the All-Ireland Championship, All-Scotland Championship, North American Championship, and Great-Britain Championship, and he won the Senior Men’s World Championship in 2013. He has been principal lead dancer for the Magic of the Dance, and “Gaelforce Dance.”
  • CIARA STILLSON has performed with renowned Irish music acts, including Solas, Eileen Ivers, and Cherish the Ladies. For three years she danced in Celtic Fyre at Busch Gardens and recently graduated magna cum laude from Gorham High School.
  • MAIRÉAD STILLSON has spent the last seven years as a principal dancer and dance captain of Busch Gardens’ Celtic Fyre. She recently performed the lead role of Morrighan in Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games.”

Learn more about the musicians and creative team here. Click here to see when the show is coming to your city. Be sure to read our Q&A with the creators and producers of the show, Scott Doherty and Chris Smith.

Our deepest wishes are whispers of our authentic selves. We must learn to respect them. We must learn to listen.”

– Sarah Ban Breathnach

We need to learn to set our course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship.”

– General Omar Bradley

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try going to sleep with a mosquito in your room.”

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We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”

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Success is the necessary misfortune of life, but it is only to the very unfortunate that it comes early.”

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They who give have all things. They who withhold have nothing.”

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Remove those ‘I want you to like me’ stickers from your forehead
and, instead, place them where they truly will do the most good—on your mirror.”

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‎That which grows fast withers as rapidly; that which grows slowly endures.”

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It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

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If it really was a no-brainer to make it on your own in business there’d be millions of no-brained, harebrained individuals quitting their day jobs.”

– Bill Rancic, "The Apprentice"

Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity.”

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The world I believed in, back in my most innocent, uninformed, childish mind—is real.”

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It is only with the heart that one can see rightly,
 what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something.”

– Nolan Bushnell, founder, Chuck E. Cheese's

It is possible to fail in many ways…while to succeed is possible only in one way.”

– Aristotle

Letting go of expectations is a ticket to peace. It allows us to ride over every crisis—small or large—like a beach ball on water.”

– Martha Beck

Ambition is the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds.”

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Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.”

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You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it.”

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A people who mean to be their Governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

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A person who learns to juggle six balls will be more skilled than the person who never tries to juggle more than three.”

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I may not be able to change what takes place, but I can always choose to change my thinking.”

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What is the point of having free will if one cannot occasionally spit in the eye of destiny?”

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When I dare to be powerful—to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”

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Spend the afternoon. You can’t take it with you.”

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Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.”

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Things don’t change. You change your way of looking, that’s all.”

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We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”

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Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.”

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The best hobbies are the ones that take us furthest from our primary occupation.”

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We need to learn to set our course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship.”

– General Omar Bradley

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

– Seneca

The great use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.”

– William James

I don’t do very well without fear. There needs to be a part of me saying, ‘That’s going to fail,’ so I can prove myself wrong.”

– Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe

The follow-your-gut mentality of the entrepreneur has the potential to take you anywhere you want to go or run you right out of business.”

– Bill Rancic, "The Apprentice"

‎No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another.”

– Charles Dickens

If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.”

– Joseph Addison

The journey is the reward.”

– Greg Norman

There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be…”

– John Lennon

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”

– Abraham Lincoln

The music is all around us. All you have to do is listen.”

– August Rush

The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.”

– Bruce Lee

The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.”

– Andrew Carnegie

Almost anyone can start a community, but it takes real talent and commitment to get people to show up and keep coming back.”

– Andy Sernovitz

Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.”

– Albert Einstein

Never never never never give up.”

– Winston Churchill

Of course there is no formula for success except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings.”

– Arthur Rubinstein

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”

– Carl Rogers

Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another.”

– Charles Dickens

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