Getting Work To Work

I was feeling a little discouraged yesterday. Unsure of what my monologue would be about, I was ready to pull the plug on monologues through the end of the year. But inspiration struck as I watched my wife get an idea for her YouTube channel, film, edit, and then release a video by the end of the day. I saw her drive, passion, and care for her growing audience. I remembered the early days of this podcast. It's not to say that I don't have those same feelings five years later, but producing content week after week can be exhausting. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm going to share five people I'm thankful for and the impact they have had on this show and my life.

What are you passionate about? A simple question that requires time and intention to discover the answer. Lauren Krasnodembski wasn't sure what she was passionate about until she began to find the breadcrumbs that led her to a life of impact. Lauren is a transformational life coach, creator of Mind Muscle Motivator, and the author of Reclaim Your Power: A Guide to Allow Your Passions and Purpose to Discover You. In this conversation, she shares her journey of reclaiming her power and how you can too. She talks about the importance of understanding your strengths, learning where you may be limiting yourself, and taking messy action.

I love the creative process, especially when it's fresh and new. The beautiful and frustrating moments of understanding a craft as you develop a repeatable system that transforms raw thoughts and ideas into some finished form. But over time, as you become more skillful in your work, your process becomes internalized and habitual. Before you know it, you're on autopilot. This episode is for those running their creative lives on autopilot and who need more. It's not a question of whether you're stuck in your creative ways. You know you are; you can feel it. It's simply a matter of how aware you are of the depth and necessity for expanding your creative vision and process.

Where do you even start an introduction when talking with Jay Jay French, the founder, guitarist, and manager of Twisted Sister? Along with Steve Farber, his writing partner of my #1 Business Book of 2021, Twisted Business: Lessons from My Life in Rock 'n' Roll, Jay Jay and Steve bring their business insight and wisdom to Getting Work To Work. From the never-ending drive to reinvent and the power of collaboration to finding a new audience every day and embracing the boredom of excellence to get better constantly, there are many human and business lessons to learn from the stories and moments in this conversation.

If there is a question that today's guest inspires me to think about in my daily life, it's this: "Why should people care?" Matt Wastradowski is a travel writer who uses his curiosity and insatiable drive to discover Oregon's majestic places, people, and experiences. In this conversation, he talks about his latest travel guide, Moon Columbia River Gorge & Mount Hood: Waterfalls & Wildflowers, Craft Beer & Wine, Hiking & Camping, and shares a few of his favorite moments in the research and writing phases of the project. There is something for everyone in this guide, from a neon sign museum and wine tasting to picnics on the Columbia River and apple orchards in Hood River and everything in between.

If you were to write a book about your life, what would be the captivating moments that would reveal themselves? Christos Kalogirou mined his memories to share stories of his youth in his book, Wild Dogs: An Adventure in Adolescence. From attending a prestigious private school and being expelled to eventually returning, graduating, and even receiving an Alumni of the Year award, he has lived a life of urban legend, entrepreneur, and prankster. In this conversation, he talks about the power of perspective, what he learned about business, his process for writing his book, why you should value your time, and what he learned living on the path of the hard way.

For the past two years, I have kept a reading list of all the books I've finished. My goal in 2020 was to finish 120 books, which meant I should read about ten books a month. I hit 121 books on December 31, 2020. This year, I'm on track to finish closer to 130. Before you think this episode is a flex about how many books I read—which it totally is—it's really about goal setting. Specifically, what happens when you stop obsessing over goals and let things happen naturally.

As a self-professed word-slinger for capitalism, Sara Rosinsky brings words and stories to life through her company, Shiny Red Copy. She is also the author of Unflubbify Your Writing: Bite-Sized Lessons to Improve Your Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar. In this delightful conversation, she shares her love for words and the stories behind every single word. We talk about the origin story of her business, the power of mentorship, the ethereal nature of copy, and the beauty of limitations—not to mention her curiosity for typefaces and etymology. Sara has a lot to teach you throughout this conversation if you want to have more fun with your writing.

If there's one line of dialogue that I will never forget, it's from the movie Empire Records: "I don't feel that I need to explain my art to you, Warren." Fortunately for us, gough is here to explain his art to us, the latest film from Beernuts Productions, Biography Of A Star — Christian Victoria. In our conversation, we talked about all things art, including criticism, snobbery, and reverence. We also dive into his collaboration with an artist to create Christian Victoria's body of work, the challenges of casting his films, and his hot tip for using social media.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to navigate and sustain a 42-year independent creative career? Michael e. Stern is here to share a story about desire, goal-setting, perseverance, and resilience as he moves from being behind the camera to leading a team. In this conversation, he talks about who taught him what a producer does, his approach to communication and leadership, how he trusts his instincts and team, and how he meets people. I always learn from Michael, and this conversation is rich with wisdom and insight.