"If I was going to [make it as an artist], I wanted to prove that I could do without any favors or any connections."

- Sean Yoro

Welcome back to ONKEN RADIO (previously NION Radio) — the podcast where we explore the body, mind, and soul of the creative entrepreneur. It’s my goal to help you take your creativity, business, and life to the next level. I’m so glad you’re joining me on this journey.

Today, I’ve got an extra special guest for you. He’s a truly unique and amazing visual artist. Check out his Instagram page so you can understand the context of his incredible paintings.

His name is Sean Yoro, and he paints mostly from his paddleboard on water and out in nature, which he uses as inspiration for his artwork. Some of Sean’s most impressive projects have seen him painting on icebergs, painting underwater, next to waterfalls, and even on the stumps of burned trees. Sean’s initial insecurity about people seeing his paintings and laughing at them led him to search for remote walls to paint on. Let me just give you a little preview here:

“I found this waterfront that was abandoned, and that’s the first time where I was looking at these walls and I [thought], ‘Why don’t I go out on the water?’ My original thought was to use some kind of barge system to put all my supplies and everything on and then the idea came, ‘Why don’t I just throw everything on my paddleboard?’ I lived on a surfboard, I’m comfortable on a surfboard — so it was a crazy idea. I ended up testing out doing some experimental trips, and it all worked out.”

- Sean Yoro

How incredible is that! The confidence he had in himself to stay stable on a paddleboard and paint on the water is what helped him overcome his insecurity about painting in populated places. By focusing on his strengths, he found the space where life started to flow smoothly and his creative alchemy could work itself out.

That’s just a little taste of the wisdom Sean has to offer. We’re about to dive into an extraordinary story about a unique career in art and creativity. Sean knows how to build a life you love by incorporating all of what you love into working in a creative industry. And today, he’s going to share how to focus on what you love as the way to feed your creative outlet. Let’s get started.

Who Is Sean Yoro?

Sean was born in Hawaii and feels privileged to have had the community life values in the countryside of Oahu instilled in him at an early age. 

Growing up on the east shore gave him the advantage of being close to the quiet north shore beaches while also close enough to Waikiki beach to become a surf instructor as a kid teaching tourists. 

When Sean wasn’t in the water surfing, he was going to community college. Sean felt uninspired at school, and for the longest time he believed his biggest dream was destined to be a lifeguard for Oahu’s north shore beaches — a very respected profession in Hawaii. He was passionate about lifeguarding, but something inside told him he was playing it safe. 

A pivotal moment came when he was failing community college and removed from financial aid — he had one more semester to choose an elective course. Sean decided to take a charcoal drawing class. On the first day of the course, Sean watched his instructor draw with charcoal and was filled with a sense of magic.  

That’s when Sean decided to give art a chance, knowing that even if nothing came of it, lifeguarding would always be waiting in Hawaii. The next summer, Sean moved to New York to try out this artist’s career. With just $800, he naively thought it would last at least six months. The money quickly ran out, and Sean had no choice but to sneakily live in his small art studio — without any bedding or cooking equipment. Sean slept on a yoga mat on a hardwood floor next to his easel for three years. 

During that time, Sean went into survival mode, and his absolute focus was to spend as much time painting to reach 10,000 hours.