The World is a Dream Killer: Don’t Let it Kill Yours

Abstract: 
As an art school college dropout in 1976, I quickly experienced the realities of self- sustainability. Specifically, how the heck was I going to come up with my 50% share of  the $280/month rent, let alone food, gas, other necessities? A classic case of sink or swim.

Problem #1: I also had a dream---to become a successful children’s book author and the creator of great children’s educational television shows. Problem #2: In addition to being broke, I had no idea how to become either one of them.

That was almost 50 years ago---decades before the Internet---when there were only 5 major networks on television: ABC, CBS, NBC, Nickelodeon, and the upstart newcomer, FOX. In this talk, I will share my personal journey of some of the true, crazy (and often embarrassing), things I learned and experienced along the way. At the conclusion of the talk, I will share the story about how I decided, after an agonizing year of deep introspection, to walk away from a very successful partnership in a mannequin company (yes, you read that right) to pursue my dream of writing children’s books and creating kids’ educational television shows. Along the way, because I think I had something of value to share, worked hard, and never quit (as tempting as it often was), I’m fortunate to say that today, I am a children’s book author with sales of over 2 million children’s books worldwide, have won 11 Emmys (and have the scars to prove it), and am the Creator and Executive Producer of 3 original kids’ educational television series.

I hope you enjoy the talk and find that my successes, as well as failures, help you as you set off on your path to pursue your ideas, hopes, and dreams.

Bio:
Shane DeRolf brings more than 30 years of children’s publishing, television production, and executive management to his role as founder and Chief Executive Officer of Big Word Club Plus (BWC+). His unique talent for turning ideas into successful ventures has led to a powerful track record in creating and building successful start-ups in children’s media, toys, and games. Shane’s latest venture, Big Word Club Plus, is an evidence-based, award-winning digital learning company that uses books, songs, animation and dance to improve young kids’ vocabularies. Big Word Club Plus was recently the focus of a 12-month MIT-funded randomized control trial implemented by the University of Chicago and the University of Toronto that proved its efficacy. Prior to BWC+, Shane was the founder and CEO of Big Green RabbitTM, a four-time Emmy award-winning children’s preschool television series that aired on PBS in 2008-10. Prior to Big Green Rabbit, Shane served as the president of Random House Entertainment, where he wrote the popular children’s book, The Crayon Box that Talked, which has sold 2 million copies to date, and created and produced The Crayon Box, a preschool children’s television series in national syndication. Prior to that, Shane served as co-founder and Partner of World POG™ Federation, the marketing company that transformed an idea into an international toy phenomenon with sales of more than $175 million in two years. 

Shane began his career in children’s television by creating the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed Zazoo U for Fox Kids Network in 1991. As a result of his work on Zazoo U, Shane was asked to conceive and lead the branding effort for the young network that helped it become the #1 children’s television network in the world.

In addition to his passion for building successful companies, Shane’s zeal for social justice and education has led him to produce award-winning children’s television programming and PSA’s for the Ad Council and others, including the Emmy nominated Watts On Your Mind, the largest national children’s communications campaign in the history of the Ad Council and the EPA. His extensive body of work has caught the attention of such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and U.S. News and World Report, which wrote that with Shane DeRolf, “a single, eccentric imagination is clearly at work.”

Shane is the author of six children’s books and a passel of unpublished one. Shane is an 11-time Emmy award-winning writer, producer, director and composer.
 

Shane DeRolf

shane@bigwordclubplus.com 

https://bigwordclubplus.com 

mobile: 303-550-7700

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-derolf-aa13399/