Today we’d like to introduce you to Clarence Goodman.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Clarence. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I had been working in college recruitment and as a musician doing all kinds of gigs in Chicagoland and I was looking for a part-time job for the Summer months. I got involved with a tour company which reminded me of how much I love the rich history and timeless beauty of this town. My newly rekindled passion lead to another tour company which leads to another tour company and so on. Finally, a musical client asked me about “doing my own thing,” and I agreed. So, now, I have this “company” that provides a hybrid service of private tours and presentations over a variety of topics and subjects and music… with Chicago as the common thread!
Has it been a smooth road?
Well, the road has been as smooth as a Chicago street in March! But we all face challenges and it has been my experience that success which comes too easily is also easily undervalued.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the C Chicago! and gloriousarts&sounds story. Tell us more about the business.
My whole racket is based on the premise that Chicago is the center of the universe. It then becomes my job to back up that assertion.
Somehow, I was blessed with a “History gene” (if there is such a thing!). From a very early age, I displayed an affinity for and an appreciation of history and the massive jigsaw puzzle that it is. That such a nerd would be from Chicago and have parents and grandparents who would supplement this passion with terrific story-telling and the like can’t be an accident (Somewhere all of my grandparents are rolling their eyes)!
I talk about and show off Chicago and the ultimate questions about it: Why is it so important and how did it become the “Center of the Universe?” So, from guided tours about Chicago as “Convention City” to library talks about Chicago’s Mob moving from the Roaring Twenties into the Modern Era to speaking about Our Town’s hundreds of impactful women to a group of school kids, this is what I do.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Any which way the wind blows… we shall see. There is the talk of opening a Chicago Dog stand in the Sea of Tranquility. Hopefully, they’ll need hosts for the shuttles!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.clarencegoodman.wix.com
- Phone: 312.623.2610
- Email: gloriousarts@hotmail.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/CChicago
Image Credit:
pic-chick, gloriousarts&sounds
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