Ben Stroup

I recently was invited to the home of Phyllis and Sam Tickle. This was my first opportunity to meet one of the most significant figures in religious publishing. Those who are “in the business” can safely say that without Phyllis Tickle, religious publishing would not be as significant nor have the influence it has today. She is a legend and a rockstar.

(If you’ve never heard of Phyllis Tickle, click here.)

Phyllis, Sam (her husband), Robert Benson, and I were meeting to talk about a few new publishing initiatives that we’ve been working on at BenStroup.com. Our conversation affirmed many of the things that Robert and I have been thinking and observing. It also confirmed that the hunches we are following are the right ones. And even though none of us have all the answers or completely understand what it will look like in the next five years, we all agreed that change is already taking place. Not “under new management” type change. But “charting new territory” change.

Enough about business. Here is what I loved most about meeting Phyllis Tickle:

• She is full of life.
• She embraces technology as a legitimate platform for publishing.
• She is a writer, first, and loves reading and writing great sentences.
• She is more concerned with relevance than process.
• She and Sam love fried chicken (which is what we had for lunch).

We have already exchanged notes and plan on meeting again. I hope that when I’m on the other end of my career, I will have had the same influence and reach Phyllis has had on an industry she has fought for and fought with her entire life. She is a pioneer whose courage and audacity made it possible for people like me to do what I do.

Who has been significant figure in your industry or work? What can you learn from them?

Ben Stroup is a content activist in a post-paragraph world. He is chief broker of opportunity at Ben Stroup Enterprises. Connect with Ben via email, Twitter, and Google+. Subscribe via email to learn how to use content to move people to action.