Episode Transcript
You’re listening to Micron: a one-man podcast with short episodes about life, travel, discovery, learning, and failure. I’m Ron Stauffer, the creator, writer, producer, and host. This episode is a show preview; an introduction to who and what Micron is all about. I hope you like it.
Micron is a podcast by Ron Stauffer. That’s me. I’m just a normal guy that tries to work hard, keep quiet, and mind my own business. As I look back on the past 35 years, however, I realize that I’ve led a somewhat interesting life. I grew up in California in a family with nine kids and was homeschooled all the way through. I moved to Colorado in my teens, and after high school went to EMS school to become an emergency medical technician. I got the certification but never worked as an EMT and, instead, became a construction worker while going to community college, intending on becoming a police officer, which also never happened. A few days after my 19th birthday, I tried to find a wife on eHarmony.com but was told that they couldn’t find me a match. One month later, I met my wife at the 1950s diner where we both worked, serving cherry phosphates and ice cream sodas. We married soon after and immediately had five kids of our own, four of whom were born at home.
For work, you could say I’m the classic accidental entrepreneur. I never set out to start my own business, but after getting laid off four separate times, I finally gave up and decided I’d rather take my fate into my own hands, succeeding or failing based on my own choices and nobody else’s. These days, I work for myself, designing and building websites, and providing internet marketing services for small businesses across a wide variety of industries. Being a self-employed father of five, I wake up most days, totally scared out of my wits, not knowing how I’m going to make it through the week, but somehow I always do.
As you may have guessed, my timeline of life events is unusual. I tend to do things backward. I went to college after having kids and got braces for the first time in my thirties. It took me 16 years to finish college, and when I finally did, I got a bachelor’s degree in storytelling. …and yes, that’s a thing.
When I’m not working, I like to fill my time with all kinds of activities, such as teaching English as a Second Language, running Meetups for entrepreneurs, and exploring and traveling whenever I can. I’ve road-tripped across 30 of the 50 United States, I’ve gone scuba diving in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and the Caribbean sea, I’ve gone hang gliding in the swamps of Florida, hot air ballooning in the mountains of Colorado, and canoeing in the Canadian wilderness. Sometimes, I bump into interesting people, including senators, a governor, a Tony award-winning actor, a four-star general, a Pearl Harbor survivor, a Grammy award-winning musician, and an astronaut who drove a car on the moon.
I’m a big fan of meeting new people and trying new things. I met my local coroner, and held a human skull in my hands, took a polygraph test at a police department, which completely transformed my view on law enforcement, failed an interview as a Foreign Service Officer for the US Department of State, failed an audition for the Metropolitan Opera, twice, testified at my state capitol against a bill that passed anyway, had 14 pet snakes at the same time, built a darkroom in the basement where I developed my own photographs, became an Irish citizen, and studied Spanish, German, Italian, and Latin, all while running a business, going to school and supporting a family. Oh, and I did finally make it onto the opera stage, but more on that later.
If any of that sounds interesting to you, you’re in luck because I’m going to talk about all of it, and then some.
Micron is a podcast by me, Ron Stauffer. However, it isn’t a podcast about me. It’s about what I’ve seen, lessons I’ve learned, things I’ve discovered, or tried, things I’ve failed at, and most importantly, it’s about the people I’ve met along the way. As the famous philosopher, Jerry Garcia, remarked, “What a long, strange trip it’s been.” On this show, I do not promise to make every episode cheery and optimistic. While many things I’ll share are indeed happy and fun, some are dark. Some are hard, maybe sad, or even depressing. But let’s face it: real life is difficult sometimes and often unglamorous.
I do promise to try hard to make every episode worth your time, and I also promise to be real, no matter the subject. It may be that some episodes are not appropriate for sensitive audiences or children, and I’ll try to let you know ahead of time when that’s the case. But my goal is to share stories from my life that I think are worth sharing, good or bad. I figure this is easier than writing a biography and it’s a lot cheaper than therapy. So stay tuned for new episodes, and come on this journey with me! Thanks for listening to Micron.
You’ve been listening to Micron: a one-man podcast with short episodes about life, travel, discovery, learning, and failure. This podcast is a work in progress, and, hopefully, like wine, will improve over time. It’s recorded here in my office, located in the scorching heat of the Sonoran desert in Arizona.
If you liked this episode of Micron, or even if you didn’t let me know, I’m always open to feedback, including questions, comments, and episode suggestions. Send an email to [email protected]. I promise you; I will actually read and try to respond to every single message. I’m listening to you. Thanks for listening to me.
To view photographs, read episode transcripts, or find resources mentioned in the show, visit https://ronstauffer.com/micron. And don’t forget to subscribe using your favorite podcast app, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, and more. Thanks for listening to Micron.