Miami Vice was such a cool show.

To a boy living in a trailer park in Beechworth, Victoria. It was as exotic as 12000 miles and Crockett’s pet alligator could get.

To me as a budding musician - the sound track was electrifying. I’ll always remember Crockett driving the keys in his convertible with “In The Air Tonight” blaring. As a synth keyboard player Axel F was a legend.

As a MEGA Phil Collins fan (No seriously, I had a Phil Collins shrine in my bedroom - made with blue tack and a belief that one day I would be out of this trailer park with it’s freezing terrifying walk to the toilets) when he guest starred in the first series, I thought I would die.

(Almost as profound as when Laura Branigan (RIP) guest stared twice with the Hoff in Night Rider)

Anywho

Cruising the waterways of Miami, pulling up at Shanty cafes, inhabited by Vogue cover girls and Milan Catwalk models may as well have been Mars.

Fast Forward 20 years.

I’m having my own Phil Collins on Miaimi Vice moment. I’m on a Boat! not with T-Pain but my real life hero - Gary Halbert. We’d just cruised the Miami Water ways and bugger me if I wasn’t pulling up the THE EXACT SAME shanty cafe  they used to go to in Miami Vice.

How did I get here…

I’d been teaching people you would not spontaneously combust if heaven forbid, you emailed or picked up the phone to your heros and offer to take them out to lunch. Let’s face it, it doesn’t often work, but if you’re smart about it, you never know your luck.

Hypocrite that I am - the one person I had not ever tried to call was Gary - He was a leviathan of copy (as he would happily tell anyone!) and I was a dot.bomb reject that had gotten lucky a couple of times.

So I find myself in a seminar in Atlanta, all revved up after a Dan Kennedy presentation (who incidentally worked for Gary years before) and I thought I’m going to dial the number on his web site.

I went to dial and then had this incredible urge to go to the toilet. Did my business , picked up the phone and thought I should just check my email. Checked my email, picked up the phone and thought my throat was a bit dry and I should get a refreshing beverage before I pick up the phone and speak to the great mans 2nd assistant. I then thought a coffee would be a good idea so I brewed a fresh cup of hotel Starbucks and picked up the phone again, then I saw this crazy article in USA Today about this new upcoming series that would never go anywhere called “American Idol”

I went on this pathetic avoidance (or resistance as I now know this ) for over an hour!

Pathetic.

I final got so angry with myself and my constant bedfellow hypocrisy  I finally, finally dialled.

I’ve rarely been as nervous.

And to think I was only going to speak to his wonder assistant Theresa, (a star in her own right) . But I was still so nervous.

And to think I had no idea that this phone call would change the direction of my entire life - then I would have been really, really terrified.

It’s RINGING

“Hello…”

IT WAS HIM. Gary FREAKING Halbert just answered the phone.

His voice was unmistakeable, I’d listened to it for hundreds hours of tapes and seminars.

It was him.

And he sounded…

Nice.

Fortunately, I had a sophisticated game-plan and script that was highly attuned to get Gary to agree to see me….

Yuh.

At least I didn’t say the worst ever words you can say when you get someone on the phone “How Are You Today?”

No, I had a vague control of bodily functions and had managed to blurt out  he had been a big influence and I was in the USA from Australia and if he had the time I would like to buy him lunch in Miami.

He Said…..

Sure! And something about crazy Australians. He gave me his address and we agreed to meet in a couple of days time.

I said something along the lines of “that’s awesome” (you can see my vocab has not really expanded over the years!) and hung up.

Put the phone down…

And let out a primal scream that was loud enough to earn a phone call from the front desk…

What happened next was even weirder…

This post is the first of a series on Mentors - to try and explain why I changed my mind and decided to start personally mentoring in a small way.

If this is something that would interest you. Watch this video…