“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”

Arthur Ashe

It was an absolute JOY to connect with David Speed for my podcast a couple of months back. David and I were at the podcast recording of Creative Coffee by Emma Gannon when she interviewed Farrah @Substack in London and I know both of them will be delighted we made this connection if they see this post.

Connection - now there’s a word I overuse but honestly it makes everything possible.

When we met he was pretty new to Substack and enjoying bedding in. Just after I spoke with David, he put out this piece which I loved. Well to be honest I love all of his writing; it’s sophisticated, honest and there’s NO snake oil;

Speaker Bio

David Speed is a multi-disciplinary artist whose current focus is neon painting.

The artist is fascinated by light and shadow and creates work that plays with that drama. David enjoys painting huge murals but is equally happy painting canvas. He relishes the challenge of painting on a small scale using spray paint and pushing the limitations of what is achievable in that medium.

In the early 2000’s David was training to be a primary school teacher while balancing a mostly illegal graffiti career. Frustrated at the school system, he realised that by creating art, mentoring artists and now; podcasting, he could help many more people get in touch with their creativity.

"If you are an artist, or a creative, or a writer or a dancer, and you read, this is marketing, there's so many, your brain will kick ideas in a totally different way than if you're in the marketing space."

David Speed

Timestamped Overview

00:00 From street art to renowned collaborative success.

10:24 Started podcast with no experience; everyone agreed.

15:48 Be mindful of influences and digital noise.

20:14 Building career through influential conversations and a podcast.

26:23 Art-infused Liverpool city tour and Instagram insights

31:32 Artists explore voice and space in new ways.

36:28 1000 true fans theory vital for creatives.

40:54 Passionate about creating and supporting art transparently.

42:58 Real art impacts people beyond social media.

52:53 Encouraging people to make the most of life.

56:34 Paints strangers from submitted photos for street art.

59:05 Innovations happen when humans have creative freedom.

Find David Speed online

🌍 https://www.davidspeed.uk/about

On instagram;

On tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@davidspeeduk

Creative Rebels (the podcast on You Tube) - https://www.youtube.com/@CreativeRebels

"I didn't really want to celebrate people that have already been celebrated. So I started this project called be Neon, where there's a form on my website where you can upload an image, and I will paint you in the street."

David Speed

Other links/ ideas we mentioned;

“Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing. One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” Arthur Ashe

🥰 1000 True Fans - https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/

📖 Seth Godin - This is Marketing - https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/This-Is-Marketing-by-Seth-Godin/9780241370148

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Your take on this conversation…

💬 We’d love to chat to you more in the comments about the important topics we brought to light in the podcast. There is so much in here about success and commitment and everything we do to make our creative careers work.

Sparkle on Substack is sponsored by my Diamond Members. Thanks to them for supporting me so I can make time to have these conversations and bring them to life in the world. You can read more about them and their work here.

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