Issue Deux

And shout out to Miya Nazzaro, this week's guest on Moving Forward

Author

John Lim
January 22, 2024

Good morning!

“My subscribership went up 300%!”

Which is how I would spin it if I were an internet marketer. But since I’m keeping it real, I’d like to thank the three friends who hit the subscribe button, right on the heels of my first fan … 🤙 this guy!

As if that weren’t enough, I have my first correction to print. In the last issue, I mentioned that that week’s podcast guest had been on a prior episode: “Turns out, that was almost six years ago - Episode 121, which aired on June 13, 2017, to be exact.“ Ahem, that was almost seven years ago. 😳 Apparently, my math brain is still stuck in 2023.

I’m rolling right through the newsletter milestones. Does this mean I’ll get my first sponsor by Tuesday?

Only time will tell. In the meantime, let’s see if we can up the subscriber count to 600% next week. Be sure to share out the quirky goodness.

-John

Moving Forward

Episode 454: Inspiring individuals: Miya Nazzaro

I first met Miya Nazzaro many moons ago during my sideways legal career working for a legal publishing company (try saying that three times fast). Back then, I taught legal research seminars and in between classes, I would schlep chatskis and equipment. One of my former colleagues aptly described it as “a job that’s part law professor, part Culligan man.” [s/o to -Dan Serlin]. I also happened to work with the coolest customer segment: academic, which meant my clients were primarily law schools.

Miya was a first-year law student at one of my accounts. She would come into the library printer room, which also doubled as my makeshift office (I miss that tiny cubicle) and pepper me with questions.

Fast forward to today. Miya has established herself with a successful law practice that helps businesses grow. This week, I get to catch up with her and learn more about her mission, her business background, why she chose law, how she nearly dropped out of school, and who inspired her to go back and finish.

Watch this week’s episode on Spotify.

Miya Nazzaro (nazzarolaw.com)

❝

We firmly believe that legal services should be driving revenue. It shouldn’t just be a cost center, it should be adding to the business, and we also want to listen to our clients.

-Miya Nazzaro

Some things I learned from and about Miya on this week’s episode:

  • Prior to going to law school, Miya was an entrepreneur, having run several businesses.

  • The person who inspired Miya to finish law school as she was close to dropping out.

  • How a misunderstanding led her to miss out on a “vomit comet” ride prize for a NASA marketing competition.

  • The “counselor in law” approach that Miya takes with her clients to help them succeed.

  • Some important considerations before leaving your day job to start your own business.

Connect with Miya:

Starting a business? Learn how to navigate the world of business law to maximize your successes while avoiding the pitfalls, with Miya Nazzaro. Class starts Feb. 1st through The Johns Hopkins Odyssey program. Register now and save your spot.

Entrepreneur's Legal Edge: Mastering Business Law for Success with Miya Nazzaro | Johns Hopkins Events

This course is for those looking to pursue their own entrepreneurial venture, whether as an expert consultant, small business, or high-growth venture.

events.jhu.edu/form/odysseynazzarospring24

Hacks

Fulfill your dream of opening a little bookstore without leasing commercial space and adopting a store cat (alright, you can still get a cat if you want).

Still have that copy of Great Gatsby from high school or that unabridged version of War and Peace that you plan to read “some day?” I’ll save you the suspense. I read the latter over a decade ago and trust me, you don’t want to subject yourself to the epilogue that killed a thousand trees. Open a used bookstore and let your bloated bookshelf become your inventory. Pangobooks is a marketplace app that allows you to buy and sell books with a few taps from your smartphone. It’s available for IOS and Android.

And if you’re looking for a new title to add to your library, here’s a shameless plug for my own bookstore on Pangobooks.

Movie recommendation

X marks the spot.

SAW X (2023) **** After years of resisting the SAW franchise, thumbing my nose at it as lowbrow torture porn, I finally binged all of the movies last fall (save for Spiral: The Book of Saw) and you know what, I’m now a fan. The first three make up a solid trilogy but the writers penned themselves into a pickle by … [spoiler warning for SAW III. Look, that movie is 18 years old. You’ve either seen it or have no plans to by this point so don’t @ me.] … killing the main antagonist John Kramer, played by Tobin Bell at his wicked best. Not realizing they had a long franchise on their hands with more roman numerals to follow, they shoehorned Kramer into SAW IV and its sequels using flashbacks, miles of pre-recorded audio and video tape, and enough time jumps to make Neil deGrasse Tyson’s head spin.

This newest entry wisely avoids the time loop spaghetti of its predecessors (or successors?) by setting itself in between parts II and III. John Kramer has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. In his despair, he finds himself seduced by a Swedish cancer specialist who has developed a radical treatment that boasts a 90%+ success rate. He travels to Mexico for the procedure, and quickly finds out that the whole thing is an elaborate ruse. Kramer who has been on a mission to teach others the “value of life,” decides to impart this lesson on the scammers in his own unique way.

This is the best of the franchise to date. If you enjoy the SAW films, you’ll love this one as you get to really know the Kramer character and what makes him tick.

Rent SAW X on Amazon Prime or purchase on physical media (affiliate paid link). You can also check your library.

[Warning: in case the title, gruesome poster, or this plot summary doesn’t make it obvious, this movie ain’t for the faint of heart. There’s a lot of disturbing violence and gore. If this were edited for television, it would be 8 minutes long.]

Book recommendation

The sequel station where Tom Cruise trades a plane for a briefcase.

The Exchange (Amazon affiliate paid link) by John Grisham (***) Grisham returns to one of his early characters, Mitch McDeere, from his second novel The Firm. It’s been twenty years since Mitch escaped the nefarious Bendini, Lambert and Locke, bringing down the mob-run law firm. He and his wife Abby have made a great life in New York City. Mitch is now a partner at the world’s largest firm; Abby, an editor at a prestigious culinary magazine, and the two have a pair of twin boys in grade school. Life is just peachy until Mitch takes on a case representing a Turkish construction conglomerate that’s suing the Libyan government for skipping out on a $400M+ bill. Things go awry, as a young associate is kidnapped, and Mitch and Abby find their lives turned upside down by a group of terrorists, even more dangerous than the criminals they faced twenty years ago.

I was excited to read this as I enjoyed the first book and the 1993 film adaptation even more. However, the sequel is uneven with the biggest problem being that Mitch is not really the main character even though the novel keeps trying to remind us that he is. Most of the time he has little to do other than wait for things to happen. That said, it was fun revisiting these characters after so many years.

On a final note, I hope they adapt this into a film, and bring back Tom Cruise and Jeanne Tripplehorn. They may have to fudge the timeline a bit but there’s enough material here to make a great thriller-sequel.

Quirky fact

Wha? You mean THAT Michelin?

You know those fancy restaurants that are awarded Michelin stars? You probably assumed, as I did, that it has nothing to do with the tire company. I used to imagine the Michelin restaurant critics looking like Eustace Tilley from that 1925 New Yorker magazine cover; wearing monocles and ascots, holding cocktails, thumbing their noses at both the SAW franchise and the tire company that just happened to have the same name.

Well get ready to have your 🤯. I was last Sunday years old when I learned that the restaurant guide and the tire manufacturer originated from the same company! The story goes that sometime in the 1890s, the Michelin brothers created a travel guide to boost car and tire sales. The guide evolved into a coveted restaurant rating and the rest as they say, is culinary history. Read the full story here.

I imagine it won’t be long before we have The Red Robin star ratings for automobile parts.

Happy quirky-versary!

In a galaxy far, final frontier

Seven years and a day ago, I got to tell a little of my acting and Star Trek story to Cracked.com. Learn more about my quarter-life crisis during one of the weirdest and funnest times in my life. How did I become part of a motley crew that pretended to fly in space; all housed within a former used car lot dressed up like a television set from the 1960s? What kind of doors did it open beyond the ones outside of a padded room? Click the link, and get your sci-fi nerd on. 🖖

Upcoming

Don’t wait until “one day” to write your first book unless that day is March 28th.

Write and Self-Publish Your First Book With a Step-by-Step Plan with John Lim | Johns Hopkins Events

If writing a book is one of your 2024 goals, take my next writing and self-publishing class, which starts March 28th. It’s through the Johns Hopkins Odyssey program and open to the public (discounts for Hopkins alum).

events.jhu.edu/form/odysseylimterm2spring24

Resources

Teach a man to fish, you know the rest (if you don’t, check these out).

  • Book a coaching call with me on Clarity.

  • Follow me on Goodreads for book recommendations.

  • Check out one of my favorite daily newsletters Morning Brew (affiliate referral link).

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