I’m both proud and excited to let you know that the audiobook for We Took the Risk was just released LIVE on Amazon, Audible & Apple iTunes!
Here are some quick links to download the audiobook:
Alternatively, you can type in “We Took the Risk” or “Tom Weirich” and the audiobook will come up right away!
So why an audiobook?
So many of you have been asking for the audiobook and at first, I must admit, I resisted. As you all know (all too well), I’m a talker, but cue in hours of having to listen to myself and dealing with my imposter syndrome, and I was like a kid resisting his parents taking him to the dentist’s office.
However, last Fall’s book tour, combined with the encouragement of so many of you (thank you for your reviews!) won out and I went in headfirst. I dedicated over 58 hours of time taking up all my weekends between April to June to work with my audiobook editor, Stephanie McKibbon, and the talented audiobook team at New Degree Press on personally narrating the book. They coached me on the final product which includes music between chapter readings and listening to me for over 7 hours 😊.
I truly could not have gotten to the audiobook being live today without your initial investment in me and the book. Thanks especially to the 2023 WRISE / Grid Alternatives Solar Power Fellows at RE+ and my EDPR NA Distributed Generation team members in NYC for helping me celebrate early on the audiobook release!
Lessons Learned
Here are some of the things I learned:
- Narrating a book is not like delivering a speech. You must focus on tone, voice inflections, and keeping the reader interested – we don’t want those listening to fall asleep behind the wheel!
- Voice lessons are incredibly valuable. After listening to myself and working with my voice coach, I found my “crutch” words and other habits I’ve developed over the years. The lessons impacted how I’ll speak in the future – both personally and professionally. Highly recommend you investigate further if you want to professionalize your speaking habits. Happy to recommend mine if you’re interested!
- Listen to yourself. In today’s world, we are moving a million miles a second and go from one project to the next, not looking back. After recording two of the chapters (spending over 2 hours), I listened to myself and was not satisfied. In pulling together this book I realized it’s good to have high standards and to hold yourself accountable. By doing so, you create a discipline that you voluntarily sign up for and commit to. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?
- Invest in yourself. Do you take the time to invest in your ambitions, hobbies, or aspirational goals? It could be a new renewables technology or service you’re exploring, a language you need for business negotiations, or something like financial modeling that could make you impress your finance or M&A team. Sometimes all it takes is two hours every week, which eventually adds up to 10 hours a month, and then 120 hours a year. It’s important to be an entrepreneur in your own life and invest your time and talent into what you enjoy doing. Heck, you never know, you might then take the risk and spin off an interesting concept into a business or jump into another part of the industry you work in. Either way, invest in your knowledge acquisition and be prepared to keep investing for the rest of your life. At the end of the day, we only have one life – make the most of it!
Thanks again for your belief in me and the power of this book. I truly cannot believe the audiobook is live! With over 4,000+ copies sold, an award from the American Energy Society, and the book being added to college and university curricula (thanks UC Berkley!), I’m excited to see how the journey continues. And to think it all started with writing just one book……
