Getting Work To Work

I love how spaces can influence our creativity. Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, Oregon, has impacted many people, especially past guests of Getting Work To Work. Jack Kent once saw a man and a llama walking through the square at night and would turn that moment into a book cover for Sketchy People. Bill Will, a conceptual sculptor and installation artist, created a public art installation during the pandemic to promote safe gatherings in a public space. Today, my guests are here to talk about PDX LIVE, a series of concerts in the heart of the city, and how creativity can be a reinvestment in the city and help revitalize downtown. Lindsay Gay is the director of operations at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Trevor Solomon is the lead talent buyer at TrueWest. Together, we are ready to discuss creativity, collaboration, the challenges of managing events for an entire city block, and the joys of people-watching.

• The Square

Monologue ideas seem to enter my mind in the early hours. I picked up my phone, looked at my email (I know, not the best habit), and saw an email from Fruitful Life by Ashwin Chacko, “Grace Over Grind.” After reading the post, I started thinking about my backward relationship with productivity: I grind it out and reserve grace for others. But this week, I noticed something shifting inside. It wasn’t that I didn’t care about hitting deadlines and managing expectations, but I needed to let life enter into my daily plans. The more I let go of what I planned, the more I actually got done. What if everything I know about productivity is wrong and needs to evolve into something new? Chances are, we all might need to rethink productivity.

1. Be kind to yourself

• Grace Over Grind by Ashwin Chacko

As a creative, what are you stockpiling? For today’s guest, he is not only collecting historical tidbits and fodder but also curiosity, hope, and optimism. Jarret Keene is a professor and author of Hammer of the Dogs, a new novel about a dystopian future set in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. In this conversation, Jarret shares an unbelievable wealth of wisdom about creativity and why we should be tour guides of our curiosities. He talks about the bright darkness of 1980s pop culture in which he found inspiration and the power of emotion and vulnerability to transform the creative process. He also touches on why you should steal time to write or create, the impact of writing alongside his students, how positive writing can change the world, and why we should be more silly and less serious in a world hell-bent on making us passive consumers of corporate propaganda.

• Hammer of the Dogs by Jarret Keene

Over the weekend, I was helping an awesome client work on her new podcast about our hometown, and I heard my new favorite phrase: “relentless mediocrity.” At one point, my client interviewed me, and I shared why I gladly wear the badge of “Relentlessly Mediocre.” It’s not that I don’t aspire to be great at what I do; it’s just that I don’t want to be great every single day in every moment of my life. It’s not attainable, healthy, or human. But that is not the message you and I receive from society. Society tells us that to be relevant and worthy, we must aspire to greatness at all times. There is no room for mistakes, a strategic plan for the future must redeem all failure, and if you are mediocre, you might as well quit. So, let’s dive into why I think relentless mediocrity is healthy for our creativity and society.

What are the hints and clues of who we become sprinkled throughout our lives? From his early years of wanting to know how things worked and taking apart his toys to learning about business as a young child watching his father’s entrepreneurial experiences, today’s guest found inspiration in many places for his entrepreneurial journey. Farzad Rashidi is the lead innovator at Respona, “the link-building outreach platform that helps businesses increase their organic traffic.” In this conversation, Farzad shares several examples of how Respona works to create backlinks, establish credibility, and, most importantly, build relationships. He also talks about humility as a leader, the difference between being an employee and leading a company, how an internal tool became a product for others, and optimism’s role in his exploration of future possibilities.

It’s the middle of the night, and I can’t sleep again. As I play a silly game on my phone to quiet my mind, I hear a question, “Are you willing to break the mold of your life?” We live so many moments of our lives according to the scripts inherited from others: genetics, families, friends, lovers, celebrities, pastors, gurus, media moguls, authors, artists, musicians, time, habits, the list is endless. Why trust ourselves to carve our own statues when we are given a generic mold based upon imitations of others? A mold we can use over and over again until it becomes our death mask? What will it take to break the mold of our lives? First, be willing to explore whether your life is working for you. From there, desire something else you can see in your dreams. You’ll then want to bring it to life through action and funding your future while paying for the past. Finally, you can invite others to participate in your new life.

Have you ever gone to a meetup not knowing what to expect or who you will meet? You sit down and awkwardly chit-chat with people around you before it finally happens: you meet the one person who makes the event worth attending. Two months ago, that happened to me. I went to a podcast meetup and sat next to today’s guest. James Jensen-Grace is the founder and CEO of Branding4Pride, an LGBTQ+ digital media marketing and branding consultancy firm. In this conversation, James shares his experience and wisdom as a transgender man and serial entrepreneur, not just around branding, marketing, and impact, but with life. We discuss his approach to building connections with people and how it relates to his desire to learn, evolve, and continually impact others. James also shares many stories, from growing up on a ranch, running a wedding DJ business, and building resilience to knowing when to quit, how to fail forward, and his three-step approach to spreading love and joy.

I’ve been thinking a lot about procrastination and why I do it. Ironically, I started writing this episode on Monday, and now it’s Wednesday. I am still writing, waiting, not sure for what. I listed the usual culprits and excuses: boredom, imposter syndrome, conflict avoidance, worrying about what people will say, the lack of response. But one surprise caught me off guard, and that’s what I’ll be talking about today. If you are struggling with procrastination, more specifically, putting the work you want to be known for in the future to the side—while you do everything and anything else—then this episode is for you.

How does racism hide in our daily lives? How does history impact us today? What are jobs going to look like in an AI future? What is the society we want to live in? These are a few of the massive questions Dr. Rob Eschmann explores in today’s conversation. Rob is a scholar, educator, filmmaker, and author of When the Hood Comes Off: Racism and Resistance in the Digital Age. He is endlessly curious about ways to end oppression and better understand the mechanism of racism. Throughout this conversation, he shares his hope for the future, what drove him to research structural racism, education as a path for social change, what jobs AI might render obsolete, and how he uses art, film, and storytelling in the struggle against racism.