Internet and social tools, influencers, experts, mentors, YouTube tutorials…

We have an unending stream of professional and creative resources at our fingertips, and it can be overwhelming trying to figure out which ones will help us the most.

In this episode, Michelle and Steve discuss the resources that have helped them in their roles as creatives, and recruit the help of the PFC audience, who offer up their top professional (and personal!) resources.

Whether you're an office of one, or work in a team structure, we all need support, and this episode highlights some of the best resources for creatives.

Sustaining motivation can be tough, even under the best circumstances. A variety of factors can knock your drive off-course. While you can’t necessarily control what happens around you, you can control how you respond to it.

In this episode, Michelle and Steve discuss how they stay motivated in their own fields, and enlist the help of PFC listeners, who offer their advice on how they continue to motivate themselves.

Whether you work for yourself or an organization, motivation killers abound. This episode will help you tap into your inner tendencies and help keep that fire burning.

Do you like what you’re doing?

It’s not necessarily a question you can give a simple “yes” or “no” to. In this episode, Michelle and Steve discuss why it’s so important to follow your creative dreams, whether professionally or as a personal outlet.

They also talk about the seemingly never-ending creative opportunities that exist in today’s world and why it’s imperative that you find a community that supports your creative wishes and values your voice.

Whether you feel stuck in your job and want more out of life, or you’ve found your creative calling and want to help spread that vibe, this episode will encourage you to take that leap and fulfill your creative desires.

Which way is the best way? In this episode, Michelle and Steve compare their respective working habits and creative processes. In their discussion, they recount wins and failures (cookies that taste like pretzels?) that came as a direct result of their approach.

They also chat about collaborations and identify the essential ingredients for a successful partnership.

Whether you consider yourself a go-getter or procrastinator extraordinaire, this episode will encourage you to own the methods that work best for you and crush all of the creative projects that come your way.

Join the discussion! Share your creative experiences with us on social media: @podforcreatives // Insta | Twitter | FB. We look forward to connecting with you there!

When it comes to making new friends, it’s natural to try and find things in common. As you get to know them, you use small talk to touch on a variety of subjects, and that reveals what you have in common with them.

Episode 7 is a way to help you figure out who we are. Find out about our childhood dream jobs, current media consumption habits and the type of comedy that makes us laugh the most.

"What is reality? I don't think many people want reality. Whether it's in the theater or in films, I think it must look real… but it never must be. Because reality is something none of us can really stand. At any time." – Alfred Hitchcock

As creatives, we can often get caught up in the content. What will it say? How will it look? What will it sound like? What we tend to forget is that the content pales in comparison to the experience your audience has with your brand. Content is important. Connection is vital.

In this episode, Michelle and Steve dive into how the audience connection to brands goes far beyond the day-to-day content we create for them. If you’re truly making good content, and taking into account the context in which that content will be consumed, it won’t interrupt a consumer and their experience with you.

We’re living in an era of constant disruption. Since the beginning of this century, we’ve seen disruption hitting all industries and it’s forcing brands to seriously look at how they’re functioning. Mobile disruption is touching every facet of our lives. It’s changing the way we live, hopefully, it’s improving the quality of our lives. It’s changing the way we work, how we work, how we communicate. At its core, disruption is about choice. It’s about putting the audience at the center of the experience. If there’s one thing that’s clear about communication in 2018 and beyond, it’s that we can’t make our audience fit into the systems and rules that we think they should be in. In this episode, Michelle and Steve examine the role disruption has played in brand communication and our daily lives, and how creatives can be proactive in their efforts to meet their audience’s needs.

Storytelling is the vehicle that drives our art. Without it, creative work is meaningless.

In this episode, Michelle and Steve discuss the impact that emotion has played in work that they have created and experienced. They pinpoint the psychology behind our need to connect and offer suggestions on how creatives can use storytelling to amplify their work.

Many people have started the year by making resolutions that involve cutting back on or eliminating social media from their lives. In this episode, Michelle and Steve analyze this concept and discuss the pros and cons of limiting social media use. They share how the inception of social media has had an impact on their lives and careers, and also speculate about what kind of changes it will bring to our futures. This thought-provoking discussion will likely leave you choosing sides: has social media hurt, or helped us as a society?

“I can’t do that. Someone else already did it.”

Just stop.

Working in a creative field, we’re constantly looking for and coming across things that inspire us. It’s important to remember that there are no original ideas. You can very often trace an element back to somebody else’s design or concept.

In this episode, Michelle and Steve discuss the principles of Good Theft vs Bad Theft. They spend time discussing personal examples of when they’ve had work stolen from them, and how that impacted them. They also look at examples from pop culture of Good Theft, and how if you’re doing it right, you’re actually standing on the shoulders of your peers, while also making a name for your work.

Also, if you’re a Billy Joel fan, you’re going to want to listen to this.

“I can’t do that. Someone else already did it.”