Hausman collects motivation from fellow authors for latest book

By: 
Jill Meier, Journal editor
Jo Hausman wears many hats in her daily life. She’s a business owner, property manager, business coach, motivational speaker, radio show host, alderwoman on the city council, a daughter, a mother, and now, a two-time author.
In January 2016, Hausman released Go For It! A Women’s Guide to Perseverance and recently released her second book, Yes You Can! Go For Achieving Your Dreams. The anthology is a collection of personal challenge stories by nine authors and Hausman, who co-published the book with Don Loyd. 
Her second book, which she likens to Chicken Soup for the Soul, includes chapters written by two Brandon men, Dennis Bossman and Harry Buck. 
“First of all, I prayed about it, ‘Who do I want in this book?’” Hausman said. 
Next, she began contacting potential authors that her prayers led her to.
“I will say some were easier than others. That’s how it is with clients; some you don’t think will do it and others you think will do it, it’s just the opposite,” she said.
“Dennis, he had such a powerful story with almost dying from needing the transplants to surviving and thriving that I really wanted his story in the book,” she said. “And Harry, too, he had talked to me about some stories of him growing up and always talked about people he had followed, so I really wanted him in the book, too.”
Bossman, a retired Lutheran pastor and former English teacher, said the words flowed like a river as he wrote his chapter.
“It writes itself, really,” he said. “I had an extremely exhausting experience. I was devastated and had went through that whole morning wanting to die, no getting around it. Then the nurse brought in a card from my cousin’s daughter … and all of sudden I was no longer thinking about myself, as I was being called to do something.”
Buck decided to tackle the writing assignment simply for the experience.
“It was explained to be a Chicken Soup for the Soul kind of thing, and I used to read those and I thought, why not? It was an interesting thing to try (as) I’d never done something like this before,” he said.
Both men say they are pleased with the finished product.
“Even though I knew it was coming, it was still an amazing experience to see it in print,” Bossman said. “In fact, the day the books came, I had looked at the card my cousin’s daughter had sent me, which was the catalyst of the whole thing.”
In Hausman’s chapter, she addresses empowerment mentality, referring to experiences at a training session and during a trip to Yellowstone National Park. 
“I went to a training where they really dig deep and try to make you better, and the trainer was telling me that I was always coming in a little bit late. I was just in a laxing mode about it, and she said, ‘Is this how you always do your business? You’re always running late?’”
Taken aback by the trainer essentially calling her “lazy,” Hausman said it fueled her to write her first book, Go For It!
“When she said that, it made me mad, mad enough to make myself do better,” she said. 
A trip to Yellowstone last summer served as the inspiration for a rewrite of her chapter in book two.
“There was a two-mile hike up to the top of this hill and it was warm out that day and I had on capris and a long-sleeved shirt, and I decided, ‘You know what, I’m going to go climb it to the top.’ There were many detours along the way … and twice I took those detours. But I made myself stop and I said, ‘No, you turn back around and get your butt up that hill. This is what you came out here for’ … and once I got to the top it was just like the best feeling in the world. Even though the book was almost finished – I had written my chapter – I went back and rewrote it because I wanted that part in the chapter, because it’s all about achieving that success even when you don’t think you can. It’s so easy to take detours but you really just need to keep focusing on the top and going after the top.”
Hausman hopes readers of the second book can resonate with the stories of one, two or all of the authors.
“Just like with my Go For It book, I hope they never stop focusing on their goals and dreams in life,” she said. “Sometimes we have to break them down into small increments, but they can be achieved if you keep working toward them. Sometimes, you have to take detours – that happens – but never stop keeping your eye on the prize. I really hope people will just take away that other people have struggled and other people have overcome. That’s really my theme in life, the theme in my first book and the theme of my radio show is just really persevering.”
Hausman said a third book is among her future plans. “If anybody is interested in writing a chapter for a positive anthology book, contact me,” she said. “I would love to talk with you about your story.”
Yes You Can! Go For Achieving Your Dreams is available for purchase from Amazon or from Hausman, Bossman, Buck or any of the other seven authors.

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