According to recent Google research (Washington Post column 1/5/18), soft skills might be even more valuable now and in the future than we thought.

"Project Oxygen shocked everyone by concluding that, among the eight most important qualities of Google's top employees, STEM expertise came in dead last.  The top soft skills were:  being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others; having empathy toward and being supportive of one's colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas."  

Consider the fact that the jobs of tomorrow may not even exist yet. Young people are entering the unknown. There is a greater need to be able to create, innovate, and deal with uncertainty. In a world where getting shot in school is among the top 5 worries of kids,  telling stories that reflect the real while teaching kids to envision a better future becomes a matter of life or death.

Our properties teach and inspire empathy, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity!

The family that plays together, stays together. If we're not creating something, we're in trouble. This family has been making music or some kind of creative thing for as long as I can remember.  What does it take to raise a creative family? Mostly an openness to see the world as a basket of possibilities. Our basket included music but was not restricted to it by any means. I kept a basket of shakers, tambourines, percussion instruments in a corner when the kids were little.  Everyone was invited to play. The boys studied Suzuki violin and cello and I played my open tunings on guitar. Evan had an uncle who is a badass bass player who was his mentor on bass.  Dustin had Robert Skiles ( Beto) as his piano mentor. Shane had the Austin Symphony's Concert Master as mentor and UT String Project to move him along the violin path. Soon we had enough going on musically to write songs for fun. So writing songs was our game.  I admit that I made them watch musicals on Wednesdays. They hated that. On the visual side, we also had a costume box where we saved every costume they ever wore since 1983.  I made a very bad ape costume that I believe is still in there.  I tell myself that's why E and D like to wear costumes ALL THE TIME (check out HeartByrne).  

I have adopted many kids/people along the way- mostly artists, creatives, and dreamers who filled the house with music, art and dance and became our extended family. The joy and love that we have for creating is a part of every day. And, NO, we don't always work together. I think of this as our family farm and everyone works at it. We sowed the seeds of creativity early on and and now we are reaping the harvest.  For me, as mom/teacher/mentor, there's something very magical about knowing someone creatively their entire life.  It's a secret language we share.  It's an understanding of the unique way someone thinks and feels and the beauty of how they express it in the world. 

This year, after three years of recovering from breast cancer, I open a new chapter in my career by creating Redragonfly, new original content for kids and a new company to help others make content.  If I didn't give birth to you, don't worry, there's plenty of room for inspired creators to play along.  I'm counting on building this family to millions. After all, I believe that what people really want is to create something beautiful/awesome/powerful in the world.  Redragonfly is here to help with a new studio, a venue for creative tweens and teens, a new book and TV series, and much much more.  

Join the family! Let's play!              

Jan Bozarth- New Years 2018