MICHAEL STRICKLAND

Michael Strickland

www.michaelstricklandproductions.com

Michael Strickland is the founder of transmedia company Michael Strickland Productions and the mastermind of Oracle of Shoes. Not only is he multi-entrepreneurial, but he has built and developed his commercial empire to empower and assist others in his capacity as a Health and Wellness Consultant. Critically, he uses his abilities and skills to empower people to re-write their stories. Stories are not only what we tell other people about ourselves, but what we believe to be the truth about ourselves. Michael is someone who won’t settle for leaving the bridge between the sexes divided and his aspirations to empower and support females is worthy of admiration. Michael is quite simply an inspirational role-model for all men.

Q
During my research, I came across your LinkedIn profile and I read that you travelled the world not once, but twice! What countries did you find the most enjoyable and what was is about travelling that appealed to you?

A
I was born in a small town in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, and it was when I was 10 that my mother decided to sell everything and move across Canada to the “other’ coast to Vancouver, British Columbia. My mom felt I would have a better opportunity for career options and even within Canada we found that there are diverse cultural differences from province to province. It was when I was 24 and already on my spiritual path that I decided to travel. I travelled to India to go to an Ashram and it was then, on a bus stop, that I would meet my future mentor and teacher. She was there with her niece and before I knew it, I was on a bus with them travelling to southern Mongolia whereby I lived and learned with her for a year. I have lived in Belize, the Maldives and the big island of Hawaii. I feel travelling is very important in order to find yourself in the world. I have told my daughter many times that when she graduates from high school she is to take a year off and travel the world before she is to start her post-secondary education. I don’t fear for her because she will be prepared to go on such a journey. Until you truly know who you are in the world by seeing the world then you really don’t know how you can help others in the world.

Q
Please tell us what a Shaman is and/or does, and why you specifically sought the wisdom of this Shaman.

A
As mentioned earlier I met Misha ma on a bus stop in India and when you are young like I was you say “yes” to all adventures. It was initially exciting but when you finally “live” in one place for a while you realize how good your own life is….for example there was no indoor plumbing only an outhouse which we had to walk to at all times including sand storms. Getting out of your comfort zone by trying new experience including eating differently is part of anybody’s personal growth. A Shaman can be male or female but often they have devoted their whole life as seekers of the truth and at some point they will take on an apprentice to pass on some of the things they have learned. For me after returning to Vancouver it took almost 10 years to really integrate all of her teaching into my healing work because it was fundamentally so profound.

Q
You are a Story Healer, a Story Revealer, and a Story Teller, what does that mean?

A
We are all born with a story which is often passed down by own parents. Their hopes and fears. For me the greatest example of that is Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. She wanted to go on her hero’s journey to break free of her story and to find her own yellow brick road. Often we are raised taking on our parent’s fears and dreams and never really living our own. For me story telling is healing it passes on wisdom that gives you the opportunity to interpret your own growth. A story healer is somebody who helps you separate the story that is not yours from your life and a story revealer is somebody who helps you see you and guide you on your own yellow brick road. We all have a story which in most cases or not is ours but it can help inspire others. Nobody is perfect and we are all fragmented or broken but very few of us really find our calling and create our own story our own success

Q
You have had an incredibly illustrious career spanning over 23 years as a Massage Therapist, how do you incorporate massage into your healing work as a Health and Wellness Consultant?

A
As a consultant I use my healing work as part of the process, I help others with their story. I find out where your motivation is and whether that motivation is truly yours. I find out where your inspiration came from and where it is going. Until you truly know where you came from you will not have a clear direction of where you are going.

Q
The 8 hour Mongolian Massage which you are famous for sounds divine! Do you do this all yourself and where do you get the physical stamina?

A
Yes it is a 1 day process and for me it is like a painting or writing a book, it is effortless when I see somebody break free of the pain that is not theirs. I had one client who held a lot of pain in their lower back and there was a lot of resistance in letting it go, the client was angry every time I went and focused on the area, we soon got an image and what that image for him represented and how that affected all of his relationships in life and defined the shadow aspect of love through pain once he realized that it was not true but a child’s perspective of love he was able to release the pain and his belief about love which was not his to begin with.

Q
I saw an image on your Twitter page where there was a beautiful image of a man lifting a woman high above; you strike me as a person who has a genuine love for women. Who taught you to love and appreciate women?

A
For most of my life I have had strong women as guides and mentors, my grandmother, my mom, my Mongolian mentor and even the relationships I had with women were often older than me. However, it was not until my daughter was born and around the same time I read this book, “Strong Fathers – Strong Daughter’s” which really affected my view on females. I was there when my daughter was born and slept with her the first night and woke up with her and just saw all women as daughters’ to fathers. I always respected women but my daughter brought me a new story. Unfortunately not all males view the immense responsibility that they have on their daughters. My daughter is fearless and through that I wanted to honour her by creating a heroine that grows with you.

Q
You have a vision to end global female illiteracy. How does your company, Michael Strickland Productions, intersect with your political activism?

A
I feel that human civilization has continued to do the same thing over and over without doing anything new on a global level for change. We have gotten to a point in history that although technology has created a global village unfortunately there are forces greater than that which want to create more and more division through religion, politics, even illness. Until you have travelled to the richest and poorest parts of the planet then you have really have not tasted your humanity and I feel by the global dummifcaiton of our education system there are less and less innovation and leadership happening. I want to re-ignite the passion for story telling from a multi-cultural stand point. That all stories from our past are the same, we all experience the same feeling, but knowledge is power and reading is part of that power.

Q
Why is gender equality important to you as a man and have you found men to be receptive or not so receptive to your philosophies and principles?

A
I am very lucky to be living in Canada, especially Canada, where there is greater tolerance. I have seen and experienced such horrific things in my life. But no matter what, each and every one of us can make a difference in life to not self-destruct or to destroy others.

Q
Would you regard yourself as a feminist and do you think men can be feminists too?

A
I see myself as a humanist. I want to see equality for all, but at this point the focus is on bringing more power and the voice of women to the world stage and I want to inspire my daughter to believe she is capable of doing anything and to fight for that right. However not all parts of the world still view that way and it may never happen there but that is why we have free will; the ability to make our own choices. I would like to educate all women around the world through storytelling that they do have a choice to stay in the old story or shift into a new story. At one point during the earliest known civilization before Egypt, there was the time of the Sumerians and they believed in an equal honor of the male female, they honored the god/goddess that everything is of equal portion, that was eventually passed on to the Egyptians but eventually died out when greater predominance of only a God was put into place
I personally believe that man is afraid of women because of the woman’s capacity to create life through birth. Man is in awe of such a miracle and in turn the only thing man can do is destroy in order to feel empowered through war. Man creates war to destroy thus the duality of light and shadow. The creator and the destroyer.

Q
I love hearing about and knowing about the unsung heroes – men who are good dads! You’re a dad yourself and I believe you to be a great dad, Michael what are some of the problems with dads now and how can men work at being better fathers? What tips can you give to men to help them improve as fathers?

A
For most Men they feel to need to be perfect and try to hide their flaws. The thing I have learned is to show that you are not perfect and when you make a mistake own up to it including getting angry. Also take time to “repair” and recognize when you have hurt your child’s feelings with words or actions. Take time to talk about it, ask for their forgiveness. This allows the child to recognize their own feelings that it’s okay to make a mistake but most important is that you’re not above them but a mentor/teacher to them, you are both learning with each other

Q
Why is it important for children that their fathers are good role-models?

A
It is part of how their future relationships will be measured by, if you have a father who respects you then you will have a future partner who will do the same. I always open the car door for my daughter, offer her my coast or jacket or pull out the seat for her when we are at a restaurant because that is how I want her future relationships to treat her. So any unresolved issues that kids have from their parents are often played out later in relationships when they grow up. So take a moment and think how you treat your kids is how they will want to be treated as an adult.

Q
Where can we find out more about your projects and how can people get in touch with you for your services?

A
You can go to my website to get the latest updates. My daughter and I are presently working on the Origin Novel of Orabella First adventure. A combination of fiction/ nonfiction. A story within a story.

www.michaelstricklandproductions.com

It was such a tremendous pleasure to have this amazing opportunity to interview you for PIZAZZ NEWS Michael. I am really honoured for the privilege and I sincerely hope you continue with your good works and flourish with success in your production company and across your vast business empire.

                           THE ORACLE OF SHOES PROJECT ON INDIEGOGO

    

OUR WORK TO DATE:

$25,000+ has been invested so far in Phase 1 – Research, Design and Development of everything you see in the visuals on our site and in the gallery here.
FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF WHAT WE HAVE COMPLETED:
– Extensive research into all the latest trends, stats, sales figures etc to do with apps, games, graphic novels and personal development kits with complete business plan for a multiple year product rollout.
– 16 of the 52 Wisdom Cards
– 16 pages plus 12 story pages of the Guidebook
– Workbook/Journal Design and Content
– First working printed prototype of full box set
– Official Website designed and frame worked
–  52 story synopsis’ done
– Initial Character Development done
– Full Companion App architecture/design and initial prototype worked out to be a point of first contact with our audience for future developments.
– Complete layout of a wide range of future products all tied to the overall theme and mission or the project

WITH YOUR SUPPORT:

Once we reach our funding goal of $75,000 it will go towards :
$5000 – Final Artwork and Publishing of the Oracle of Shoes Wisdom Cards and Journal/Guidebook
– Award winning Graphic Designer Steven Robinson to complete the Oracle of Shoe Wisdom Kit (the same wisdom cards that Orabella uses in the story)
$25,000 – Final Development, programming and release of the Oracle of Shoes Companion App
– Based on emerging trends in educational and entertainment apps that help with personal development, learning and able to be personalized in future developments.
$6000 – Final development and publishing of the 1st in the Pre-teen Story Series (1st of 17 Stories)
– Award winning children’s author Darlene Foster to write and develop Orabella who is initially 9 for 9-12 year olds.
$8000 – Final development and publishing of the 1st in the Young Adult Story Series   (1st of 18 Stories)
– Award winning Young Adult Author  Kirsten Johnson to write and Develop Orabella who is now 16 for 13-19 year olds.
$11,000 – Final development and publishing of the  1st in the Adult Story Series (1st of 17 Stories)
– Award Winning Novel Writer Heather Conn to write and develop Orabella who is now 40 for 20-50 year olds.)
$5000 – Final Artwork and Publishing of the Oracle Wisdom Cards and Journal / Guidebook
– Award winning Graphic Designer Steven Robinson to complete the Oracle of Shoe Wisdom Kit (the same wisdom cards that Orabella uses in the story)
$15,000 – Development of the Special First Edition of the Oracle of Shoes Graphic Novels
– Canadian Icon and Comic book writer and illustrator Ken Stacey to complete a special edition comic book)
$10,000 – Launch of Official Website, Initial Advertising, Online and Social Media Marketing as well as:
– Legal Costs –   Illustration Work – Misc. Business Expenses
– Including a highly regarded transmedia lawyer to secure all copyrights and trademarks, additional graphic design, social media and Brand Ambassador marketing,  professional editing and visual character development by Fariza Dzatalin Nur Tasani of Elance