First Follower Theory - The Story of Kirby Brown, Follower of James Arthur Ray

You can't have a leader without a follower. Music Entrepreneur Derek Sivers introduced first follower theory at the 2010 TED (technology, entertainment, design) conference. According to Sivers, the first follower is what transforms an individual with a unique idea into a leader. Here is a shortened version of his talk. I will put a link to it in the show notes.  

First Followers are a part of the toxic work environment today, as they give the leader that "follower glow". In this episode, we talk about the death of Kirby Brown, follower of self help guru James Arthur Ray. Ray, who got famous from the movie "The Secret" led three seekers to their deaths in 2009 in a sweat lodge ceremony gone wrong. Kirby Brown, an entrepreneur and a seeker died that day. We look at this story in the context of followers and what can be done. 

Books 

Fear - Bob Woodward
Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered - Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark 

Research 

https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/first-follower-theory

https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement?language=en

https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/4/5038930/the-death-dealer-james-arthur-sweat-lodge-deaths-in-sedona 

http://www.seeksafely.org/

https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/james-arthur-ray-arizona-sweat-lodge/story?id=11016900

https://spiritualityisnoexcuse.wordpress.com/james-rays-first-victim-colleen-conaway/

http://www.seeksafely.org/resources/self-help-fact-sheet/

http://www.seeksafely.org/2019/02/08/happybirthdaykirby-wish/

https://www.truecrimepodcast.com/mixes

Music 

Kai Engel 

Downpour 

Great Expectations

Synth Kid 

Wizard of Lies 

Chromatic 

Chris Zabrieskie 

The Oceans Continue to Rise 

Stories About a World that Once Was 

Music above is used under an Attribution License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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