Disney cast member’s book brings ‘Happily Ever After’ to life, business
Decades of work experiences around the world for Walt Disney Co. form the basis of a new book called “Beyond the Castle: A Guide to Discovering Your Happily Ever After” by Jody Jean Dreyer.
Dreyer says she held 22 different positions with the company, starting with a merchandise job on Magic Kingdom’s Main Street and winding through a stint with Disneyland Paris and another with the marketing of Disney films. She left about five years ago and has been working as a business adviser.
“After I left Disney, people would come and say ‘Tell us the magic behind the magic,’” Dreyer said. “What you realize when you’re on the inside, it’s not really magic at all. It’s a lot of principles put to work.”
Those encounters eventually inspired the book, written with Stacy Windahl, which deals with topics such as teamwork, communication, hospitality, synergy and making connections, sprinkled with Disneybased anecdotes and facts.
There are chapters named “Tiaras” and “Enjoy the Ride.”
Dreyer said she hopes the book will inspire readers to go a little deeper “and use the Disney stories and examples as a doorway in to really ask some questions of themselves – whether it’s life or business and say ‘Hmm, I wonder if that’s applicable.’”
Her first two Disney jobs as a college student – on Main Street and then as a parade performer — were a good base, she says.
“I think the combination of being on the operations side and then the entertainment aspect of it gave me an interesting, entry-level, bird’s-eye view of everything the company embodied,” she says.
Later, she was named to the position of Walt Disney World ambassador and worked on the grand opening team for Disneyland Paris. Those led to corporate connections and opportunities with synergy and other roles based in California.
“I started the outreach program for the company, sort of looking at all of our philanthropic and making sure everyone was combined and working together as best as they could in those areas,” said Dreyer, who now lives in Hilton Head, S.C.
She also was involved when the company acquired ABC and ESPN.
“I worked with that transition and the synergy and just bringing all of the folks on board and trying to integrate all the various businesses where it made sense,” she said.
“That’s why there’s a chapter on teamwork,” she said. “That was a big part of that time in my career.”
“Beyond the Castle” blends self-help and business aspects, she said, although you might spy the book in the travel section, too.
“I think for the most part, people are thinking about it as a Disney book, but specifically I would say it covers business meets life application meets inspiration,” she said.