Press Kit | The Chair

Boilerplate

Three lengths, cleared for publication. Copy and paste as is.

25 words

The Chair is a live interview show at Guitars & Growlers in Flower Mound, held every Monday. Michael Jackson draws out one person's story at a time.

50 words

The Chair is a free live interview show every Monday night at Guitars & Growlers in Flower Mound, Texas. Hosted by author Michael Jackson, the show puts one person in a chair at a time and draws out the story of their life. Up to three guests each week.

150 words

The Chair is a live interview show held every Monday night at Guitars & Growlers in Flower Mound, Texas. One person at a time sits in the chair while host Michael Jackson draws out the story of their life. What they built, what it cost them, and what they learned. Up to three guests appear each week, and the lineup is different every Monday.

The show is built on a single idea: the world's leading expert on your life is you. Guests are not celebrities or professional speakers. They are people who have built something, survived something, or started over, and who have rarely been asked about it.

Jackson is the author of The Man Who Gave His Morning Away, and parables from the book are woven through each evening. Admission is free. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show begins at 7:00 p.m.

Bio: Michael Jackson

Written in the third person so it can be used without editing.

Short bio

Michael Jackson is the host of The Chair, a live interview show every Monday night at Guitars & Growlers in Flower Mound, Texas. He is a photographer, musician, and entrepreneur, and the author of The Man Who Gave His Morning Away. He has lived in his car. Twice. He considers this education rather than biography.

Full bio

Michael Jackson is the host of The Chair, a live interview show held every Monday night at Guitars & Growlers in Flower Mound, Texas. He is also a photographer, musician, podcast host, and entrepreneur. Depending on the day, he is either building a universe or wondering why the universe isn't building faster.

He grew up in transit, collecting cities like other people collect baseball cards. Each place left something behind: the education that comes from being the new kid often enough that you stop waiting to be invited and start introducing yourself.

He has built companies from parking lots, run the best karaoke nights in Chicago by failing at karaoke and inventing something better, and hosted Embrace Your Snake, a podcast for musicians, creatives, and entrepreneurs that is exactly as interesting as its title suggests.

He has lived in his car. Twice. He considers this education rather than biography.

The Man Who Gave His Morning Away is his first book. It will not be his last. He has a list. The Chair grew out of it, and out of a conviction he repeats often: the world's leading expert on your life is you.

He still doesn't go dancing. He is working on it.

Why the show exists

TED built a stage for ideas worth spreading and gave it to the world's recognized experts. TEDx took that stage local and gave it to the expert down the road who had something worth hearing.

The Chair goes one step further down that ladder, to the person who has never had a stage at all.

The premise is simple. The world's leading expert on your life is you. Nobody else has your evidence. The guests on The Chair are not celebrities and they are not professional speakers. They are people who built something, survived something, or started over, and who have almost never been asked about it in front of a room.

What comes out of that is not a speech. Michael asks the questions and they answer, live and unscripted, in a room where an audience can watch a person think. Nobody prepares. Nobody performs.

Story angles

If you are looking for a way in, these are the threads we think are worth pulling. Happy to help with any of them.

The Monday night problem: Monday is the deadest night in the live music and restaurant business. Nobody books it. The Chair fills a room on it, for free, every week. There is a story in why that works and in what people actually want from a weeknight.
The anti-TED: TED gives the stage to the world's recognized experts. TEDx gives it to the local expert who already has standing. The Chair goes one rung further down, to the person who has never had a stage at all, on the premise that the world's leading expert on your life is you.
What a chocolatier, a realtor and a historian have in common: The guest list is deliberately unalike. A woman who never intended to own a business and now makes bonbons that take four days each. A realtor who tells the story of leading a hundred thousand Texas Realtors through the 2009 crash. A historian who spent years bringing the 1800s back to life. The show argues that the range is the point.
A local room that had to be built: Guitars & Growlers exists because a neighborhood had nowhere to go on a weeknight. The Chair happens there for the same reason. There is a small business story underneath the show, and the venue's co-owner has sat in the chair herself.
The host has lived in his car. Twice.: Michael Jackson is 64, published his first book this year, and built the show around a conviction he repeats often: everybody has a story, most people just never get asked about theirs. His own is not a small one.

Past guests are available for interviews. If a story needs voices besides the host, we can put you in touch with people who have sat in the chair. Email Michael and say what you are working on.

Quotes

Attributed to Michael Jackson, host of The Chair. Pre-approved, ready to drop into a story.

“The world's leading expert on your life is you.”Michael Jackson, host

“TED is ideas worth spreading. The Chair is lives worth learning from.”Michael Jackson, host

“Everybody has a story. Most people just never get asked about theirs.”Michael Jackson, host

“These are experts on what they built. They just never had a stage.”Michael Jackson, host

“There is no script and no speech. I ask the questions and they answer. Nobody prepares anything, and I'm sitting right there with them, so nobody has to carry it alone.”Michael Jackson, host

“Monday night is the night everyone stays home. We wanted to give people a reason not to.”Michael Jackson, host

“You watch a stranger open up about their life, and somewhere in the middle of it you start thinking about your own. That is the whole point.”Michael Jackson, host

What the room said

Unprompted reactions recorded after the opening night, cleared for publication.

“I really didn't know what to expect. But I was locked in. Couldn't leave. Even some of our employees couldn't leave.”Susan Elbedeiny, co-owner, Guitars & Growlers

“I didn't have any expectations going in, so it surpassed the non-expectations I didn't have. It was way better than I would have thought, to be honest.”Bella, opening night

“Michael was magnetic and the whole crowd loved him. There was lots of interaction. Definitely not boring.”Madison Zeigler, photographer and past guest, opening night

Fact sheet

What	The Chair, a live interview show
Format	One guest in the chair at a time, with Michael Jackson interviewing. Up to three guests each Monday, and a different lineup every week. Parables from Michael Jackson's book are woven through the evening.
Host	Michael Jackson, author of The Man Who Gave His Morning Away. Jenna co-hosts and reads the parables.
When	Every Monday. Doors open 6:30 p.m., show begins 7:00 p.m.
Where	Guitars & Growlers, 400 Flower Mound Road, Suite 160, Flower Mound, Texas 75028
Admission	Free. Seats are reserved in advance so the room knows how many chairs to set out.
Launched	July 13, 2026
Guests	Mostly from southern Denton County, with some from Arlington and Houston.
Online	thechair.embraceyoursnake.com

Photos

Previews below. The download link gives you print resolution files. All are free to use with coverage of The Chair. Please carry the credit line with each image. Michael's headshot is not in this folder, it is a separate download further down this page.

Download high res photos

The stage at Guitars & Growlers before a Monday night show.Photo by Michael Jackson

Host Michael Jackson on the set of The Chair.Photo by Michael Jackson

The audience at Guitars & Growlers during a Monday night show.Photo by Madison Zeigler

A guest in the chair during a Monday night show.Photo by Madison Zeigler

A guest laughs during her interview on The Chair.Photo by Madison Zeigler

Host Michael Jackson listens during an interview.Photo by Madison Zeigler

The room during a Monday night taping of The Chair.Photo by Michael Jackson

Audience members take part during a Monday night show.Photo by Madison Zeigler

A guest tells her story during The Chair.Photo by Madison Zeigler

Host Michael Jackson during a Monday night show.Photo by Michael Jackson

The team and guests of The Chair.Photo by Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson, host of The Chair.Photo by Madison Zeigler

Headshot

Michael Jackson, host of The Chair and author of The Man Who Gave His Morning Away.

Recommended maximum print size 2 by 3.6 inches at 300 dpi

Download headshot

Video

A short reel from the show is in production and will be posted here. For footage requests in the meantime, contact Michael directly.

Past guests

Every guest who has taken the chair, with photos, short bios and links, is listed on the guest wall.

See who's been in The Chair

The book

Cover of The Man Who Gave His Morning Away by Michael Jackson

The Man Who Gave His Morning Away is Michael Jackson's first book, a collection of modern parables about the small daily trades that quietly shape a life. Parables from the book are read aloud during every episode of The Chair.

View on Amazon

Name and brand assets

The show name is written The Chair, capital T, capital C. Not "the Chair" and not "CHAIR".

The Chair

The Chair does not have its own logo yet. One is in development. The mark below belongs to the book, not the show, and should be used only when illustrating the book.

Book mark, not the show logo

Download book mark

PNG with transparent background, 512 by 512 pixels. Suitable for web and small print up to about 1.7 inches at 300 dpi.

Press coverage

Cross Timbers Gazette · Southern Denton County Life

Flower Mound event series shines a light on unique local stories

By Micah Pearce · August 28, 2026

If you have published something about The Chair, send us a link and we will add it here.

One sheet

A single printable page with the show description, fact sheet, quotes, two photos and contact details. Built for forwarding as an email attachment.

Download one sheet (PDF)

PDF, one page, US Letter, 194 KB.

Questions

Is it free?: Yes, and it always has been. There is no ticket cost. We ask people to reserve a seat in advance only so we know how many chairs to set out.
Can anyone attend?: Yes. The show is open to the public and the room holds about 100 people.
How do you choose guests?: By invitation. Michael invites people whose lives carry something the rest of us can learn from. Guests are not celebrities or professional speakers, and most have never been interviewed in front of a room before.
Can I nominate someone?: You are welcome to tell us about someone. Invitations come from Michael directly, so a suggestion is a starting point rather than a booking.
Can you bring the show to our group or company?: Yes. The Chair can be produced as a private event for a company or group. These are usually held at Guitars & Growlers, because the room is part of how the show works. Larger groups and other arrangements are worth a conversation. Contact Michael to talk about it.
Is it recorded?: Yes. Shows are photographed and recorded. Video from the show is in production.

Contact

Michael Jackson

Host, The Chair

michaelj@chilejam.com

972-591-3166

thechair.embraceyoursnake.com

Schedule a 20-minute call

Grab a time directly. Same day is often available.

Guitars & Growlers, 400 Flower Mound Road, Suite 160, Flower Mound, Texas 75028