In this episode of Driven to Create, I sit down with Matteo Guastamacchio to talk about what it feels like to be a creative right now — in an unstable economy, with AI creeping into every corner of the industry, and the highs and lows of freelance life getting further and further apart.

We draw parallels to the “Lost Generation” of the 1920s. Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, artists trying to make sense of a world that didn’t quite work anymore, and ask if our generation of creatives is going through something similar.

We cover:

• Why so many creatives feel like a “lost generation” in 2025

• Freelancers as the original “born in the darkness” workers — no benefits, no cushion, just scrappiness

• The impact of mass layoffs, ghost jobs, and AI on creative careers

• How AI might eat the mid-tier, purely utilitarian work first

• Why that could actually create more space for human vision and weird, personal art

• The tension between art vs. utility when you’re making things for clients

• Moving away from algorithmic curation and back toward smaller creative communities

• The value of sharing your process, not just your polished final product

• Why human-made art carries memory, emotion, and context in a way AI can’t replicate (yet)

This episode isn’t about “the end of creativity.”
It’s about being honest about how weird and unstable this all feels — and still choosing to keep making, experimenting, and showing up.

Guest – Matteo Guastamacchio

• Instagram: @createdbyteo

• Website: teomultimedia.com

• Music: Brain Bag on Spotify

Host – Paul Melluzzo

• Website & full podcast archive: paulmelluzzo.com

If this resonated with you, follow the show, leave a rating, and send this episode to a creative friend who needs to hear they’re not crazy, just part of a generation trying to build something real in a very strange moment in history.