The Story of Mikey

Michael LaPenna is a writer, editor, marketer, creative consultant, and enthusiastic creative professional who has dedicated his life and career to finding the most creative ways to innovate various ideas. While growing up in the suburban Hudson Valley area of New York State, Mikey dreamed of being a stand-up comedian, toy maker, voiceover artist, computer programmer, pro wrestling announcer, music video director, cultural columnist and all points in between in a career path and life that has reflected all of these interests. FreelanceMikey is the decade-plus-long culmination of that work. 

"When life gives you lemons, plant lemon trees and start a freakin' bakery!"

Michael LaPenna has had a path fairly unique to most. A life beset with challenges throughout it, Michael was a child of the 80s and 90s: a time in which the garish flash of professional wrestling intermingled seamlessly with the sun soak of the glistening “Golden Arches” at McDonald's and the brash showmanship of standup comics like Eddie Murphy, Bobcat Goldthwait and the observational subtlety of Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen DeGeneres.

Mikey grew up in a pop-culture neighborhood populated by the Star Wars Trilogy and the then World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania. Soon, a young Mikey would have Luke Skywalker and He-Man tag teaming perilously against Darth Vader and Skeletor inside a steal cage (with both light sabres and space magic all too well in hand).
 

It was a time of Nickelodeon slime and Super Mario adventurousness but a young Mikey would intermingle his love of popular culture of the time with his ability to compensate simultaneously for his lifelong dealings with cerebral palsy:

"I couldn't go out and ride bikes or play regular sports or ride skateboards like the other kids—it's not that I was ever sad about it. It just wasn't available to me—so I think my brain had to go elsewhere for ideas. I would create more adaptable worlds in my head. I would make up a lot of stories and fantasize about scenarios in outerspace, or with sports, or like, outerspace sports filled with flying wheelchairs or something; and somehow, I decided on becoming a computer programmer so I could make these things happen," says Mikey.

Yet, Mikey would find that a curious lack of aptitude in math would throw his dreams of being in the sciences a white-hot flaming monkey wrench (or hammer as seen below) by the 80s Nintendo game of life.

"I always had ideas of being a programmer or a toy maker or a video game creator, or some kind of scientific engineering job early on, but my math grades were always a struggle while my verbal, writing and conceptual kind of right-brained skills were always really strong. (Mikey's verbal SATs were in the top percentile). He says it all began in the eighth grade with writing little poems to amuse his brain.
 

He began freestyle rapping and writing poetry in the ninth grade and considered journalism, television production, and movie directing by the time graduation came around. An eager Mikey would land at  SUNY New Paltz  which had an agreement with his local community college which he had attended prior to transferring. New Paltz perfectly suited his high-level creative interests. (SUNY New Paltz is a highly accredited Theatre Arts University.) "The transfer also forgave my terrible math SAT scores, almost as if it were divine intervention," notes Mikey. Mikey would earn a B.A. in Communications - Media Management and continue his near-lifelong love of poetry by way of the campus' Rap, Poetry, and Music Club (RPM) and collaborate there with the SUNY New Paltz Slam Team (who was ranked third in the US in at that time in 2006) while simultaneously studying screenwriting under NYU's Julia Keefer.

Mikey would come out of college with dreams of cultural journalism, screenwriting, digital art and music making He began working remotely from his home due his disability and inability to drive himself to a standard nine-to-five job. It would be an eclectic and hectic journey from starting at the now defunct Literary Illusions arts and culture blog to a memorable Poughkeepsie Journal editorial decrying and identifying the too often pity party portrayal of people with disabilities in media and film.

By the winter of 2007, Mikey set his sights on writing World Wrestling Entertainment while passionately proclaiming and advocating for his rogue entry into the writers' room without Hollywood under his WWE Championship belt. However, serious foot surgery would derail his application and his ability to travel to WWE headquarters at the time.

It was at that point that Mikey decided to work from home in all aspects of what he enjoyed. He would forgo writing ad copy for Pepsi Co and Coca-Cola Company and devote his time to any niche organization or ancillary arts magazine he could find. Still, the pay wasn't all that great and he wanted more out of what he was doing.

Mikey set out on his own doing both odd jobs and “job-jobs” for everyone from the Boys and Girls Clubs of America to the now retired Estelle & Alfonso Performing Arts Studio in the Hudson Valley area of New York. Mikey would ghostwrite comedy for stand-up comedians and write ad copy for the graphic designers assigned to the latest advertising campaign at the famed Galaxy Mall in Surabaya, Indonesia. Mikey then began editing documents for various clients around the world including the Pruf Ritz Communications Hub in the same Indonesian stronghold—and he had a brief stint ghostwriting at the Huffington Post writing arts and culture pieces. He continued consulting on manuscripts for film directors, playwrights and off- beat beatpoets. Mikey has also cultivated a multi-year relationship with Feng Shui Manhattan (and now also Feng Shui California) which continues to this day.

Mikey is now well seasoned since those early days: developing screenplays, producing podcasts, and consulting on a regular basis and has a side gig as a digital mashup DJ that has lead to Mikey creating wedding song mashups for couples on six continents. He is also in the process of writing a new stand-up comedy set for his own act.

Through it all, Michael LaPenna (FreelanceMikey) remains steadfast in his love of helping others to be their most creative selves in multiple facets of their lives and in all creative pursuits! Mikey's professional heroes include actor and musician Donald Glover, business coach and life coach Marie Forleo, entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, and actress, producer, and director Anna Akana. It is these multi-faceted people and examples that drive Mikey to help you be the truest you that you can be—because you only get one life to be awesome!

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