By Jillian Broaddus and Chuck Cusumano
If you’ve followed The Joshua Group’s blog for the past few years, you know we’ve been on a journey to publish the life story of one of the most incredible leaders we’ve ever known: Coach Bill Thorn.
However, like all journeys worth pursuing, the path wasn’t a walk in the park. In fact, it wasn’t even a 95%-humidity-Peachtree-10k-level “run” in the park.
Also like all journeys worth pursuing, though, there were valuable lessons learned. And while we’re SO excited that 2025 will be the year THORN will reach your bookshelf, we’re also excited to share some of those teachings gathered along the way:
Consistency Pays Off: When initially faced with this project, The Joshua Group’s team quickly learned the depth of the treasure trove of information available about the man, the myth, and the legend of Bill Thorn. Bill’s long list of accolades didn’t even begin to cover the infinite number of stories available about him, from the thousands of lives he’s touched throughout his own. However, rather than succumb to the overwhelming mountain (literally, of data) ahead of us, we chipped away at the stories, bit by bit by bit. And, ultimately, we’re proud to say not a single submission was overlooked, nor a story ignored in the retelling of Coach’s life.
Being Resilient is the Only Way to Be: Getting to the finish line wasn’t about consistency alone. It was – perhaps more than anything – about overcoming the hiccups along the way. Speaking of…
When Hurdles Arise, Find a Way Around Them: Sometimes it isn’t about how high we could jump to overcome the hurdle; it was about coming together to discuss the possible other avenues we could pursue to side-step the obstacle, instead. When team members had to leave, or when the initial publishers fell through, we banded together to brainstorm alternative plan Bs, Cs… and even Zs.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Never was this more true than in the final legs of the publication of THORN. We could not have completed this without the amazing team members at The Joshua Group, as well as those in Coach’s family tree!
Come to think of it, the lessons we learned in publishing THORN pretty much mirror the lessons we learned from Coach himself! Funny how that worked…
Stay tuned for more information on the official release date of THORN, coming 2025. Thank you for sticking with us throughout this journey, and feel free to reach out to hello@thejoshuagroup.net for more information or to sign up for presales!
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