Welcome Aboard!
 Let’s Get this Ship Sailing! Hello, I’m Geno Church your host on the Shared Ship.

You may know me from a few things. I’ve co-authored a couple of business books, maybe you’ve heard me speak. You might be part of my family or a friend. Or you could be here because. You saw or heard 
something about PIRATES and thought what’s that about? I can’t blame you!

I started working on this podcast over two years ago. After eighty plus takes - I thought I had that first episode. Then this happened. Our world has turned upside down! We’re all living and coping in the midst of a pandemic.

I recently did a webinar for Amplifique and the good people of Brazil. I struggled to prepare for the webinar - what’s going around the world challenged me. And I questioned what if any value am I providing to those watching. I asked myself "what can I do to help people right now?”

This is Captain’s Journal Entry One Welcome to The Shared Ship

You would think feeling like crap, 
being unhappy — would tell ya something. 
Well — I was really comfortable with denial!  And I was afraid to know the truth. 

I’d been running from a looming health crisis for about a year. Every day was a journey!  That safe little world of denial I created. Came tumbling down at a speaking gig at Walt Disney World. 
Next thing I know I’m sitting on a bench at Disney Studios with an attendee at the conference. I spilled my guts. In return — 
I got some much needed tough-love advice. Go to the doctor. When my doctor told me I was a diabetic, 
it was like waiting for molasses to drip. 


I’ve spent most of my adult life believing I’m an empathetic person. 
I’ve worked on a lot of social causes; 
child abuse, literacy, addiction, teen pregnancy, teen tobacco prevention, fighting sex trafficking, 
minority community empowerment. Give me a badge, right? The truth is it doesn’t work that way. Just putting in the work doesn’t grant you an empathy badge. All that work — 
gave me an excuse to not put in the real work on myself. I used my work to make myself feel good. 
I let my work shift who I was.
 That is the problem - it was work - not life work. I believed putting in the work - made me empathic!

Thanks to the people who love me, and the care of empathic strangers. I picked myself up - and started to find… My Pirate Way again!

My diabetic diagnosis came a month before a trip to Melbourne, Australia. 
I was going to Melbourne to do some pro bono work for
 the Australian Childhood Foundation an organization 
I’d met a few years earlier — during a speaking gig in Sydney. 

I prepped for the trip — with a plan; explore the alleys of Melbourne, chat it up with the people I met. I also gave myself a job-to-do. Find that Pirate again!

Reflecting as I prepped for the TRIP —  It was obvious — I’d become a Lost Pirate. I packed two books ‘Under the Black Flag’ by David Cordingly 
and ‘Blue Latitudes’ by Tony Horwitz a book-
on James Cook and his adventures.

I first read Under the Black Flag fifteen years earlier with Spike Jones. Spike is a dear friend and was a co-worker at Brains on Fire at the time. Spike and I caught a vision inspired by Pirate Codes. Inspiring us to rally a Pirate Culture at Brains. That had been a long time ago!

I wanted to feel that sense of purpose again… doing 
meaningful work and more importantly, I needed to live a more meaningful balanced life.

I made the decision to blow up the insight models I’ve used on all my previous work. ACF agreed — to me using some new unorthodox ideas as insight methods. We explored what is ACF’s fight. As an organization what do we always value? What are the stories we tell ourselves and others?

The passion I witnessed in the people of ACF, stirred my soul and shook me out of my personal pity party. The thing about work like this — it sparks reflection. I came back home from my journey down under inspired… It’s time for a Mutiny!

I left Australia on a path of Mutiny! I felt the birth of something, I came back home with a fire in my bones—driven to see this PIRATE thing through.

It started as a child… daydreaming about Pirates. Far away places, the folklore of Carolina Pirates like Blackbeard. The clothes, the eye-patch, the ships, the black flag.

I came back home hell-bent to read anything I could on Pirates; Pirate injustice, Pirate democracy, Pirate economics, Pirate social-networking, Pirate branding.

I started doing Shared Ship talks, and workshops. I started applying Pirate methodologies on pro bono projects. Thanks for trusting me — ACF!

It took over three years — but here I am. In August of 2019, I jumped — and Brian Passon and I set sail on the Shared Ship.

The Fight (Finding Your Inspired Purpose)

We often feel a call of purpose — but, lots of things get in the way. A podcast is a public platform (station) and that scares the hell out of me. That doesn’t make a lot of sense - I’ll jump on a stage in Bogota in front of 5000 people and not think a thing about it. But this (a podcast) scares the hell out of me. I have a clear purpose now — "what can I do to help people right now?”

If you’re a builder, a searcher, an explorer, a rebel, a misfit, a pirate, a seeker of building community with people… I want to build a ship for us. 

A vessel to explore meaningful work and life. A safe space for us to put our values and beliefs on the table. Let’s raise our spyglass, to look at things with fresh eyes. Together we’ll explore and witness the power of community. To have the courage to Walk the Plank of the Unknown. To occasional Punch a One Way Ticket, and Think Like A Pirate!

Last week I got a twitter alert I was mentioned on a post from my friend Terry Andryo. Terry posted: https://twitter.com/TerryAndryo/status/1243682488993468416

Well, that made me ponder. Do I have a Pirates of Good playbook? Kinda, well, maybe!

My conversation with Terry led me to some Pirate jujitsu. The Shared Ship was built for a group activity. The roots of the Shared Ship activities came from the early days of my own personal realignment. I conceived five sails for exploring my own journey. The Fight, the Code, the Flag, the Crew, the Yarn. These sails are the bedrock of the Shared Ship. I’ve made the decision to kick off the Shared Ship Podcast with the Pirates For Good Field Guide episodes.

I have no idea what’s going on in your life in these challenging times. The Shared Ship and its small band of Pirates want to help you get to the heart of whatever it is you believe in and embrace the power of your community to inspire, empower and embolden others to join you on your mission. 

Right now we’re all facing uncertainty but we’re going to come out this — and I feel it in my bones that we will need some Pirates. Pirates for Good that want to help our communities heal and move forward for the good of humankind. I believe in US!

On the next episode of the Shared Ship — we’ll dive into the first exploration of the Pirate Field Guide — What is your Fight?

If you have an itch to get started now— Hit me up with an email at geno@the sharedship.com.

A quote:

“Every generation welcomes the pirates from the last.” by Lawrence Lessig

Until next time… Be safe, Be bold, Be courageous! This is your Captain, and Pirate Geno Church