Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Stewart.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chad. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Britfield & the Lost Crown is an adventure novel intended for young adults. We have our book launch on Aug. 15, but it’s gaining steam now as we reach out to schools throughout Southern California in making presentations about cultivating creativity.
I had the idea for Britfield ten years ago, and from that moment, I knew, for whatever reason, that this was going to require the next 10-20 years of my life. The story just made sense—it worked. It was fun, creative, adventurous, and includes history, art, architecture, geography, and culture—all the things I am passionate about.
Although I often pursued the logical route in my career (banking and investment), I have always been creative. Many of us embody this extraordinary ability, but we were pushed away from creative pursuits: “Don’t pursue art, you’re not going to be an artist; don’t do music, you’re not going to be a musician; don’t waste time scribbling notes on a paper, you’re not going to be a poet or writer.” However, we yearn and need creativity, the quintessential balance to life.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My education and experiences in life have prepared me for this journey. Being able to select an excellent team of advisors and experts in marketing and having a top-class web presence is also huge.
The educational movement is centered on me visiting schools to present free assemblies and workshops, where I challenge students to cultivate their creativity. I’ve presented at schools in Southern California, as well as Reno and Las Vegas.
We’re looking at 250-plus schools in our national tour beginning in the fall, where we’re encouraging students, inspiring teachers, and impacting families, The response from our creativity presentations has been remarkable.
We have also developed an 80-page Study Guild, so schools can adapt Britfield as part of the curriculum and teach it over a semester. This is made possible by the support of the Britfield Institute, a bastion of free creativity resources to over 90,000 teachers.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
The book is based in England, a story of a boy and girl trapped in a terrible orphanage and escape with a hot air balloon. The reader is transported from the smoldering crags of Yorkshire, through the heart of England, and finally to the magnificent shores of Dover. Creating an interactive world of mystery and adventure, culture and education, a movie is planned based on the book in the next three years. A second book has been written but not yet published. There will be a total of 5-7 books in the series. We really have a lot going on and can see it taking off to become as big or bigger than Harry Potter.
Creativity is at the center of everything we do, including the business plan and marketing.
Creativity makes each of us unique and provides balance in life. Another reason is that the United States is in a Creativity Crisis. After analyzing 300,000 results of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, researcher Kyung Hee Kim discovered creativity scores have been steadily dropping, just like IQ scores, since 1990. The scores of younger children in America, from kindergarten through sixth grade, show the most serious decline. While the potential consequences are sweeping, the critical necessity of human ingenuity is undisputed: Children who offered more creative ideas on Torrance’s tasks grew up to be entrepreneurs, inventors, doctors, college presidents, authors, diplomats, and software developers.
What were you like growing up?
I was raised in Newport Beach then spent sixteen years in New England for school and work.
I received a Bachelor of Arts in British Literature and European History from Brown University and an M.B.A. from Boston College, and I’m currently pursuing a Master of Science in Advanced Management and a PhD in Strategy at Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University.
I’m a strong supporter of education and the arts, and am an adjunct professor at Fermanian School of Business at Point Loma Nazarene University, and am past president of the board of directors of the San Diego Ballet.
Contact Info:
- Website: britfield.com, britfieldinstitute.org, devonfieldllc.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/OfficialBritfield
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Britfield Book Trailer
http://bit.ly/BritfieldTrailer -
Britfield Book Tour
https://www.britfield.com/tour/ -
Recent interview for Good Morning San Diego
www.kusi.com/author-talks-about-new-book-britfield-the-lost-crown/ -
Britfield article on our School Tour
www.delmartimes.net/lifestyle/sd-cm-nc-author-stewart-20190514-htmlstory.html
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
