105: Jessica's kidnappers demanded $45 million

What Was That Like - a storytelling podcast with amazing stories from real people

I find it so interesting that sometimes we can take what seems to be a really small action, but it ends up being something really big.

Back in 1998, I was living in Maine with my wife and our two young kids. I was working at a regular office job. Then one day, I needed to have some printing done. This was before the days of the high-quality inkjet printers, so it was common to go to a local print shop and get whatever you needed to have printed.

While I was paying for my stuff, I noticed a small piece of paper on the counter. Someone had left a little note that said “I need tutoring in Microsoft Word. If you can help, call this number.” And I thought, yeah I know Word, maybe I can help. So I took the note and called her later. I ended up going over there and we spent a couple of hours going through the various functions of Word, and how to do things. And she paid me.

So I thought, maybe this is a sort of side hustle that I could do in my spare time to make a little extra money. That’s how my computer business, called The Computer Tutor, got started. And it turned into a full time job doing computer instruction and computer repair, for over 20 years. And that whole thing started just by me happening to notice that little piece of paper on the counter in that print shop.

Today you’ll hear my conversation with Jessica. Back in 2011, she was on the phone with one of her co-workers. During that conversation, she made a decision that she wasn’t all that comfortable with. And at the time, it didn’t seem like a big deal.

But that seemingly small decision ended up changing the whole direction of her life.

Jessica’s book, Impossible Odds: The Kidnapping of Jessica Buchanan and Her Dramatic Rescue by SEAL Team Sixhttps://www.amazon.com/Impossible-Odds-audiobook/dp/B00CJCVR6S/ref=sr_1_1

Surviving Survival by Laurence Gonzalez https://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Survival-audiobook/dp/B00COR27P8/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1

Jessica’s podcast “We Should Talk About That” https://www.westatpod.com/

Jessica’s website: https://www.jessbuchanan.com/

Speaking engagements: https://www.jessbuchanan.com/speaking

Jessica on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-buchanan-tedx-speaker-nyt-bestselling-author-05ba7364/

Jessica on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jessicacbuchanan/

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