How Hank Green’s Visit With Obama Profoundly Impacted My Professional Career [VIDEO]

I know this may seem like I am on a Hank Green high lately, but it appears that I'm not alone. Here's a guy I've never met before in the town that I live in, and yet he just sat down to speak with President Obama at the White House.

To be quite honest, I only heard Hank's name in passing for a few years and just thought he was some geeky science blogger from Missoula that kind of just kept to himself. All the while I'm reading stories about how YouTube is the next big thing and superstars are being made every day. I continued to host my daily radio show and blog a few times a day, quietly building my YouTube studio to begin filming on our own channel.

But see, I've been very hesitant about the last part. I was always just comfortable with a microphone and my audience on the FM dial. It's all I pretty much know! I'm a radio vet and it's weird to have a video camera in the studio. Call it insecurities, or maybe just butterflies? I just do not feel comfortable with a camera in front of my face!

Hank, however, has shaken me out of my comfort zone. His natural presentation and willingness to BE HIMSELF has given me a bit more confidence to TRY and finally get cozy with this new object in the radio studio. And it wasn't until this weekend, when Hank was asked to come to the White House that it finally occurred to me that video is...no HAS to be the next layer of my broadcast career.

So, here's me...and my next attempt at getting more comfortable with this whole YouTube thing. I'm just gonna let the tape roll and see what comes of it. I won't know if I don't try, right? But thanks to people like Hank I can now attempt with a little more confidence.