So what did I want to be? A paleontologist, an aerospace engineer, a brand and marketing manager, a...

I last left off in December with the start of my role at Adventures in Odyssey, among the rebranding of a brand I grew up on, I had the opportunity to work with amazing content creators and publishing partners to bring Adventures in Odyssey to people all over the world.

While there we would celebrate Adventures in Odyssey's 25th birdthay, which meant planning one of the biggest celebrations in the history of the brand. I can still recall sitting in my director's cube, when we had the idea for finding the next voice for Adventures in Odyssey.

Did you participate in Get in the Show? Yes that was what we called the 25th birthday celebration of Adventures in Odyssey! This celebration would consume the focus of a year of my life. With a nationwide search for the next voice for Adventures in Odyssey, that would be online and in over 400 Christian Retail stores nationwide, a live show in Dallas, and a finale in Colorado Springs. A new music video, and retail kits complete with backdrop, microphone, and amplifier. We had to review six thousand auditions, to find our final three, contestants who would come to Colorado Springs for a live finale, voted on by fans all over the world! It was a massive undertaking, with a team of a few, trying to do their day-to-day jobs, while pulling off one of hte largest events in Focus on the Family's history, with several never-been-attempted concepts for the ministry or brand! To me the most exciting part was that we found Shona, who still plays Connie's sister on Adventures in Odyssey! AMAZING! 

​The celebration boosted awareness to Adventures in Odyssey and was the largest project I had ever take on up to that point, little did I know my next task for Adventures in Odyssey would be even bigger and have even greater longterm impact. But we'll talk about that next month! For now enjoy this...

Interviewing for Focus on the Family was an exciting experience, and though the job I applied for had not been something I expected, nor was it in my degree field, it offered an opportunity to grow, and to trust God.
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So I interviewed and ultimately came work at Focus on the Family, as an application support specialist. In my role I had to learn whole new skill sets and begin to understand information technology. One huge benefit of that role was that I got to know lots of people at Focus on the Family, and work with lots of departments. This made getting integrated far easier, than a job that may have been more isolating. Plus I also got to work at a ministry that truly changes lives. 

While I started in IT, that's not where I ended up, and over the course of about 7 years I had the opportunity to work for a brand and indeed set the course for its future. That brand was Adventures in Odyssey. 

One year into the role at Focus on the Family I had the opportunity to become the product marketing manager for kids and family products, which included Adventures in Odyssey. 
My very first task was to launch the new brand look of Adventures in Odyssey, a new look for the characters, and a new logo.​

See the cover where we revealed the new look of Eugene and Connie, you could actually see Eugene's eyes. And also see below for the old Adventures in Odyssey logo and the new one. (Sometime I'll go in to more detail about the brand revision process, in fact I am experiencing that again with The Action Bible at David C. Cook)

Through my new role as Product Marketing Manager (Kids & Parenting) I began to get into my degree field of marketing, and learned about managing an expansive multi-million dollar brand, content marketing, working with talented storytellers, and collaborating with partners like Tyndale and Christianbook.
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My role continued to change and expand, and soon not only where we releasing new Adventures in Odyssey albums and episodes, but launching new book series (The Imagination Station) and repacking older titles.​

Another fun note is that my favorite episodes from Adventures in Odyssey while growing up were Camp What-a-Nut (1 & 2). In my role, I was responsible to lead the design of the Album covers for Adventures in Odyssey, as well as all the repacks, bringing them into the new brand look and feel.
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So I had the opportunity to make a change to my favorite album, one that I felt quite passionately about. So I changed the cover for Album #2 as well as the title to reflect what I thought was a better encapsulation of the album. Working with Gary Locke I directed him to to feature my favorite moment from Camp What-A-Nut, where Whit and Donny have to escape a bear by climbing a tree. 

This post has already become too long, so I guess i'll continue the next part of my time at Adventures in Odyssey in Part 5. Stay tuned!
*PS this is also when I became a published author with Taken, Showdown with the Shepherd, and HowlSage all in the same year! I'll be sure to cover that as well in a future post.

You can make a huge different in spreading the word about my books by simply requesting that your local library purchase any of my books. Using the tax dollars your family is already paying, your school or public library, will be happy to stock great new middle grade and young adult fiction as well as picture books. Simply print out the book list below (downloadable) and take it into your library to request they purchase and shelve these titles. Send me an email and let me know when the libraries have stocked the book or books and I'll send you something awesome! 

​Brock Eastman's Book List. 

Quest for Truth

• Taken - 978-1596382459
• Risk – 978-1596382466
• Unleash – 978-1596382473
• Tangle – 978-1596382480
• Hope (July 2018)
• Waste Deep –978-1946692009
• Coming Storm –978-1946692030
• Truthful Test – 978-1946692047
• Davey & the Mech –978-1946692061
• Quest for Truth Galaxy – 978-1946692153

Sages of Darkness

• HowlSage – 978-1946692146 or 978-1946692139
• BlizzardSage (October 2017) – 9781946692184 or 9781946692191
• CrimsonSage (May 2018) – 9781946692207 or 9781946692214

• Wasted Wood – 978-1946692054

Nebula Chronicles

• Endeavor – 978-1946692085 or 978-1946692078
• Velocity (August 2017) – 9781946692160 or 9781946692177
• Journey (January 2018)
• Plasma (May 2018)

Hippopolis

• Rainbow Hippo – 978-0692495834
• Happy Hippo – 978-0692506264
• Count Hippo, Count – 978-0692531655
• Alpha Hippo – 978-1946692023

Imagination Station

• Showdown with the Shepherd – 978-1589976313