The MoJo keeps rolling on

EDWARDS – For Rob Lohman, founder of The Momentum Journey – a company that tries to match personal desires with professional careers – finding his passion and purpose has been a long voyage. His story is like one of those credit card commercials – Two college degrees: $20,000; one dead RV: $3,700; 18 jobs over 15 years: 0 dollars; one bunch of misunderstanding family members: O dollars; finding one’s passion: priceless. Lohman said he has found his passion and is quickly spreading the word and growing his business. He’s recently published his first book and visited New York City to pitch his story to producers and writers at top media outlets. Lohman’s journey and the formation of his company reads like a modern-day parable for anyone who has ever dreaded going to work, wondered what their purpose is, or not kept the same job for any length of time. If you can relate, read on.Finding a missionThe story starts 30-something years ago in Indiana where Lohman was born into a career-minded, successful family. His favorite grandfather was a doctor and so he decided at a young age that he wanted to become a doctor too. By the time high school rolled around Lohman’s greatest interest was running with the “in” crowd and his social life took precedence. His social trend continued in college while he was attending DePauw University in Indiana. During that time he discovered he didn’t really want to be a doctor and that because of his super-social ways, he was not going to graduate on time. Miraculously, he says, he somehow graduated in four years. He had his degree but no direction so he headed here to Vail with some buddies to “find himself,” he says.After working 11 different jobs and partying in Vail for the next 18 months he says was no closer to any answers so he moved to Texas, to his parents’ house. He used his parents’ network and fell into the family business – real estate. He also went back to school and got his MBA at the University of Texas at Dallas. After a few years he realized that he didn’t like anything about his life and says he decided it was time for some drastic changes. He decided to get out of real estate, quit drinking, got involved in Alcoholics Anonymous and began a career counseling curriculum with a friend’s mother. After taking time to explore his desires, he says, he arrived at his life’s mission – “To work with students and adults to help them incorporate their personal passions into their professional careers.” He knew he wanted to work with students and set out to do that by becoming an algebra teacher and softball coach in Charlotte, N.C. Next he went on to work as an assistant director in the Career Development Center at Indiana University. Even though he was doing exactly what he had dreamed of, he says, he still dreamed bigger and dreamed of helping more students. So he dreamt up his next endeavor – to travel the country and meet with students at colleges and universities nationwide sharing his story and inspiring them to explore their passions and turn desires into careers. The RV’s engineIn early 2004, he founded his company, The Momentum Journey (nicknamed MoJo). He began producing a documentary by interviewing and filming the stories of other successful people who had found and followed their passions. He bought an RV, painted it red and recruited a small team to accompany him around the country. In September 2004 Lohman, his dog, Jake, and two staffers hit the road to spread the word of The Momentum Journey to college students and interview more successful people around the country. The RV made it 300 miles before the engine blew out while they were traveling through Illinois – thus the title of Lohman’s new book “Breakdown at Exit 63,” which tells the story of his quest for purpose and includes eleven inspirational stories of other’s who have found their purpose.Lohman disbanded the team and sold the RV. “When you live life believing things happen for a reason it makes things that happen easier to accept,” says Lohman. He since has moved back to the Vail Valley to continue working on The Momentum Journey, write his book and raise money to buy another RV to resume his nationwide tour. He’s also putting together his documentary of all the people he’s interviewed, many of which include well-known Vail Valley residents. Currently, he tours the area selling his book, provides career counseling to adults in transition and is working on his next book. Although his journey has not been smooth, Lohman persists. “The physical momentum of The Momentum Journey officially stopped in Vandalia, Illinios, but the spirit and vision lives on,” writes Lohman.Daily Business Correspondent==========================================Where to get the bookRob Lohman’s book, “The Momentum Journey: Breakdown at Exit 63,” can be found at the following local locations:The BookwormVerbatimLoaded Joe’sCovered Bridge Coffee ShopThe Avon LibraryBorders in SilverthorneBook Mine in LeadvilleBook Train in Glenwood SpringsOnline at: http://www.themomentumjourney.org==========================================