#WeeklyDisruptor: Kinetic Cafe’s Principal Head of Magic, @SaulColt

Each week at Embrace Disruption we introduce you to an influential person in the digital, blogger, arts, culture, film, or media world! Every Thursday, you can check back at EDPR to find out who we think is particularly amazing at ‘embracing disruption’ within their respective industries. This week, we’d like to introduce you to Kinetic Cafe’s Principal  Head of Magic, Saul Colt!

What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?

I am the PRINCIPAL, HEAD OF MAGIC at the Toronto based innovation firm Kinetic Café and according to my Facebook profile I went to school at the RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY CLOWN COLLEGE majoring in Mummenschanz but to be honest, it has been so long since I was in school so I can’t really remember if that’s accurate anymore.

Elevator pitch. Describe yourself in a nutshell (or sea shell, or any shell for that matter).

I am North America’s best word of mouth marketer specializing in big impact with low budgets…on top of that I am very handsome and my charm has no bounds.

Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

I recently read an article that had the following description of the word Visionary, “a word that manages to convey both a capacity for mercurial insight and a lack of practical job skills.” I am not sure that accurately describes my career or personality but I did want to prove to you and your readers that I am very well read.

So to answer your question, I got to where I am not by pursuing a dream path from the beginning but rather identifying very early where my strengths were and focusing on being the best in the world at a specific skill (or big thing) instead of being OK at a lot of little things. By playing to my strengths instead of my passions I was always in a position to be successful and I never made my passions my job, therefore losing the love for the things I love. Hobbies should always be hobbies and separate because this is how you find inspiration and recharge.

What is the best part of your day-to-day?

Being creative and having people love me.

What’s the most challenging?

Convincing big brands that they should finance a re-imagination of the Harlem Globetrotters or Pro Stars cartoons.

If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see for yourself?

I can answer this with absolute confidence because I recently had a tarot card reading and was told that in my near future my prominence will grow to a level of Oprah like beloved-ness, Seth Godin like respected-ness, Shawn Kemp like virility and Andy Kaufman like spectacle-ness, all to be followed by obscurity, irrelevance and a Howard Hughes like reclusive-ness.

How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life?

Disruption is what I do for a living. Getting peoples attention and making people scratch their heads is that skill I referenced earlier as the thing I am better at than anyone, so you could say I embrace it with all my fingers and toes. Its what gets me out of bed everyday.

What is the most memorable moment in your career?

I don’t look back much and kinda keep moving forward so even though I have been featured in INC and Forbes Magazine for doing cool stuff and have spoken 6 years in a row at SXSW I am going blame my poor memory and say this interview is the most recent memorable moment right now.

Do you support any initiatives or charities?

I support a few charities financially (my schedule doesn’t allow too much hands on support) and while I am very proud of these initiatives I don’t talk about that stuff publicly for fear people will realize I am really a good person.

Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

Running a school for retired print and runway models focused on teaching them the skills they need re-enter society and deal with common folks…and if that doesn’t happen I would like to be still doing what I do now because spending your days dreaming up solutions to complicated problems is pretty rewarding as well.

Just for fun: if you had to pick one app in the whole APPVERSE, what would it be?

Not sure I have a favorite app right now but I am most interested in trying out Felt App. I love the idea of handwritten notes to people.

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