Detours with Dan Carr

In this episode I’m talking with Peter Craft. My buddy Pete spent over 2 decades as a software engineer in the bay area. He was recruited by a company right after college and then went on to start another company with tech pioneer Larry Boucher. Ultimately he landed a coveted spot with Oracle...you may have heard of them. After years of cranking out code, Peter decided it was time to turn his lifelong passion into a career. He quit his job, took his Napa Valley house down to the studs, built a world class recording studio, and traded in his keyboard for a mixing console. Now Pete whiles away his days and nights recording some of the best musicians in the Bay Area and sipping on fine wine. Not a bad gig, right?

Stephany Wilkes is a sheep shearer and the president of the Northern California Fibershed Cooperative. Before Stephany started traipsing the back roads of northern california she was a project manager for some fancy pants tech companies. When her knitting hobby led her on a search for locally sourced wool, she discovered a serious shortage of sheares and decided to learn more. Now almost a decade later her passion has turned into a career and a mission to educate people on the importance of agroecology. I hope you enjoy the episode, I know I did!

* This was one of the first episodes I recorded, and I was still learning how best to use all this fancy new technology. There are some funky audio moments in here, but the quality of the interview was more important. 

On the first episode of Detours with Dan Carr, I talk with my old friend Nick Tangborn. I’ve known Nick for two decades, and he’s what my dad would call a “real standup guy”. Nick and I have had many in depth conversations over the years, many which may have been fueled by a potentially unhealthy amount of Jagermeister, but we never really talked about our careers. Well, we’re going to talk about what it takes to weather multiple tech startups, how to clear a bar with a single karaoke song, and the importance of having strong mentors. Let’s get to it. 

Oh. I may have used the word imbue incorrectly, so give me a break and pretend you didn’t hear it.  

Hi, I’m Dan, and I’m on a mission to inspire people to take chances and explore their passion. Through my podcast Detours with Dan Carr ‘I’ll be highlighting folks who took a leap of faith and carved their own path . That’s exactly what I did!.

After two decades in the service industry, I was burned out and bummed out. I needed a change. Problem was, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I’ve been a bartender, an internet lackey, a touring musician, a small business owner, and the manager of a multi-million-dollar restaurant. I’ve been around the block, in fact I've been around the planet, and I love meeting people, hearing their stories, and finding ways to connect. 

While I was contemplating my own next chapter, I looked to others for inspiration. And then it struck me: Lots of people have broken through roadblocks, so why not help them motivate others mired in professional or personal limbo. I want my conversations with these people to entertain, enlighten, and even to encourage you to break your routine and try something new…. maybe even a little scary.  

So, check out Detours with Dan Carr.  Live vicariously through other people’s adventures, and hopefully get inspired to take your own risks!