The Mindset and Self-Mastery Show

Becoming A Better Business Leader Through Creativity With Vincent Wanga


Listen Later

“What is your passion? Why are you doing this?”

In this episode, Nick speaks with Vincent Wanga about the intersection of creativity, entrepreneurship, and leadership. Vince shares his unique journey through the creative industry, discussing the challenges and advantages of being an insomniac and how it has shaped his work ethic.

What to listen for:

  • Insomnia can be both a challenge and a competitive advantage.
  • Leadership requires sacrifice and understanding of employee dynamics.
  • Passion and purpose are essential for sustainable entrepreneurship.
  • Vision is crucial for effective leadership and business success.
  • Scaling a business requires preparation and understanding of resources.
  • Failure is a necessary part of the learning process.
  • Creatives must balance their artistic mindset with business skills.
  • “Everything that I do is passion and purpose-rooted. And that should be your first mission.”

    • When you anchor decisions in passion, you can more naturally stay motivated during the hard parts of the journey
    • Purpose brings clarity, so you waste less time chasing things that don’t matter.
    • Leading with what lights you up often creates the most authentic and sustainable success.
    • Passion-driven work tends to attract the right people and opportunities without forcing it.
    • Starting with purpose sets the tone for how you show up.
    • “Creatives have a visionary mindset. So why can’t creatives be those same CEOs? We just lack the business acumen.”

      • Creativity is the foundation of innovation.
      • Many creatives underestimate how transferable their skills are to leadership.
      • Visionary thinkers often make better long-term strategists than traditional operators.
      • When creatives embrace structure and systems, they become unstoppable leaders.
      • About Vincent Wanga

        Vince is a dynamic international design thought leader, creative keynote speaker, award-winning creative and executive, author of “The Art of Direction,” serial entrepreneur, and experienced brand consultant with an exceptional range of expertise over a distinguished two-decade career.

        As former vice president and head of creative for one of the fastest-growing technology startups in North America, he oversaw corporate brand strategy and creative during unprecedented company growth from pre-Series A to an over $1 billion “unicorn” valuation.

        Vince lives in Washington, DC, and Asheville, NC, with his dog, Okello. When he is not working on new business ventures, he passionately travels the world, collecting creative inspiration at the finest boutique hotels rewards points can buy.

        • https://www.vincentwanga.com/
        • https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincent-wanga/
        • Resources:

          Check out other episodes about creativity and entrepreneurship:

          • Creativity Within Us All With Joe Tertel
          • Post Traumatic Growth, When Trauma Makes You Stronger And More Creative With Christian Ray Flores
          • Interested in starting your own podcast or need help with one you already have? Send Nick an email or schedule a time to discuss your podcast today!

            https://themindsetandselfmasteryshow.com/contact/

            Thank you for listening!

            Please subscribe on iTunes and give us a 5-Star review! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mindset-and-self-mastery-show/id1604262089

            Listen to other episodes here: https://themindsetandselfmasteryshow.com/

            Watch Clips and highlights: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk1tCM7KTe3hrq_-UAa6GHA

            Guest Inquiries right here: [email protected]

            Your Friends at “The Mindset & Self-Mastery Show”

            Click Here To View The Episode Transcript

            Nick McGowan (00:01.507)Hello and welcome to the Mindset and Self Mastery Show. I’m your host, Nick McGowan. Today on the show we have Vince Wanga. Vince, how you doing today?

            Vincent Wanga (00:11.372)I’m doing all right, Nick. I’m looking forward to our conversation and thanks for having me on.

            Nick McGowan (00:15.618)Yeah, absolutely. I’m excited, man. I think this is gonna be fun. I know there’s a lot that you’ve been through, a lot that you’ve done. One of the biggest reasons why I wanted to have you on the show was to be able to talk about creativity and how it ties into us as people, but also into the systems that we’re in, like the capitalistic system, our family systems, all those things. I grew up as a creative in a…

            not a typical creative house, so to say. So it felt a little weird, but that was the system that I was in. And then you get into jobs, you get into your career, and like, how do you do all that stuff? And that was one of the things that really stood out to me about having you on. So I’m gonna stop talking. Why don’t you kick us off? Tell us what you do for a living, and what’s one thing that most people don’t know about you that’s maybe a little odd or bizarre?

            Vincent Wanga (01:00.142)Well, thank you. I am in a weird place in my career because I’m transitioning. I have been a creative at the highest levels and the lowest levels for 20 years. Started as an intern, worked my way up through the agency world, stints as a freelance independent operator working for clients all over the world to owning my own agency and having that unique experience as a business owner and operator.

            and all the responsibilities that come with managing employees and being responsible for payroll and profit and loss and the other side of the industry, as well as becoming a senior executive and top 100, well, first 100 employees for a billion dollar tech startup and a crazy transformational journey. So I only preface that to say I’ve done it all in so many different industries. I’ve worked with so many different sectors, in-house, freelance.

            agency, you name it in the creative sector, I’ve done it. And I think that offers me a lot of perspective and advice that I can offer to people, whether you’re creative or not, particularly in the aspects of leadership, which is something I really focus on at this point in my career. But as I mentioned, I’m in a major transition away from creative and more into my real core ethos, which is entrepreneurship and taking all that creative talent, marketing, business acumen into my own businesses and consulting and

            other opportunities to really express my creativity in a different way. So it’s a really exciting paradigm for me. As far as something that’s really unique about me, I could wax philosophic on that. But I think the most unique thing is I am an insomniac. I get an inhuman amount of sleep and it has been a very difficult, like physical manifestation in my life because that’s not healthy, but it has been an incredible.

            competitive advantage in my career, where I’m able to work day and night and create businesses on a weekend and maximize my time. But as I get older, the other side of the coin starts catching up and trying to figure out how to adjust as I move forward is a new paradigm I’m dealing with. But that’s one of many unique things about me.

            Nick McGowan (03:16.459)Wow, I’m really glad that you consider that a unique thing.

            that you see that as a… there’s kind of a silver lining that you look at that instead of some people saying like, well I just… I’m struggling with this thing. It sounds like even the personality that you have, like you’ll go, well I am kind of struggling but it is what it is and this is what it is. Then I could do something with it. And it’s funny how as you get older, things will shift and change just across the board. I mean we could have a whole fucking episode just about like the specific changes that happen from your knees and your back and the way you think about things.

            or whatever you don’t mean

            I wonder at times with the people that are insomniacs that it’s something that they actually kind of crave and it’s like a mental thing where like I want to keep going and I think about it from this perspective In the human design way I’m a generator and I have to use all of my energy every day So by the end of the day there are times where I’m like I’m totally done. It’s nine o’clock at night I guess I’ll go to sleep because I’m done for the day and like all the energy’s out other times It’s like three or four in the morning and it is what it is

            But for the people that…

            Nick McGowan (04:27.617)can hear that and say, well, you’re just trying to hustle and just trying to use all that to get ahead and do the grind and all that stuff. I’m reading between the lines and a little bit I know about you so far, that’s not the case with you. So it’s more of one of those like, I do these things because I’m led to do these things, but I also have a really hard time sleeping. So how do you manage that going through each day and saying like, all right, well, I got whatever amount of sleep and my body needs more, but I also have a lot of mental energy where it’s like you can

            feel the physica...

            ...more
            View all episodesView all episodes
            Download on the App Store

            The Mindset and Self-Mastery ShowBy Nick McGowan