Alan Schnurman Interviewed by his Son, David Schnurman on Lawline's 27 Year History

Lawline has been a public access television show spreading legal knowledge to the community of New York for 27 years. Recently, Alan Schnurman, host and creator of Lawline sat down with his son David Schnurman, President of Lawline.com, to discuss his passion for sharing information.

Alan Schnurman started Lawline 27 years ago as a means of spreading legal information to the community. He wanted to include the public in a community of education once available only to an elite group of lawyers. By bringing to the show prominent and experienced attorneys Alan hoped that he could share valuable information to those who might not be able to afford premium legal advice. "It was a labor of love," Alan says. He gets a tremendous amount of satisfaction from helping people and wakes up happy every day because he has found what he loves to do, and he's doing it.

But what makes Alan so optimistic and happy when so many see these bleak times as a doomsday scenario come to life? It seems to be the pessimist's heyday, but Alan remains unflinching in his optimism. Every cycle comes back around, Alan says, and this recession may be longer than we've seen in a generation or two but this is the time where people position themselves for success later on.

Alan attributes his success to his attitude, "attitude is altitude." He reads quotes like these that guide his life every morning, and he believes that attitude is everything. In his eyes, capitalism is the best system the world has ever seen, and eventually this downward cycle will improve. During this upturn, it will be those who avoided the advice of pessimists and were patient who will amass the great fortunes of tomorrow.

When it comes to advertising Alan advises confidence in one medium. All good companies are built on advertising. You may have the best company in the world but if nobody knows about it your business will fail. Building an advertising campaign, too, takes patience. You have to educate your market before you can reap the rewards of your advertising. Instead of moving your advertising around and using a variety of means Alan recommends investing solidly in a small number and focusing your efforts on those. Patience and focus will drive your advertising profits higher and higher as time passes.

But in the end, success in all things comes from having a great attitude. This is the timeless and universal advice of Alan Schnurman, a man who loves what he does. When you love what you do you will have a great attitude, and that will lead to happiness every time. You will surely fail and fail often. But, if you stay enthusiastic and stay positive you will learn from your mistakes, and your eventual success will be worth it.