Getting Work To Work

I often struggle with powerful emotions. In high school, a friend once called me Mr. Negative. To this day, many years later, I am mostly hopeful. But some days, I can still be negative. I think it’s called “realistic.” The truth is that I wouldn’t be in the daily pursuit of a creative career if I weren’t hopeful. I am deeply inspired by the work of other artists and I am daily working on my own art. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I want to share a few thoughts about hope, wonder, and optimism and how you can incorporate them into your work in order to develop a deeper sense of purpose.

What can we do to grow these three areas of hope, wonder, and optimism?

1. Surround ourselves with amazing people doing amazing things

2. Be approachable to others

3. Have new experiences every day

4. Travel

5. You are what you consume

Kronda Adair is the CEO of Karvel Digital and also runs Working Websites, a course that helps business owners market themselves online. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, Kronda and I talk about the importance of documenting and systematizing your business processes, how she approaches her newsletter, what businesses get wrong about marketing, sources of motivation, and the four books every business owner needs to read.

You know, living the creative life is hard. There are the seasons when you are constantly churning out work; it seems effortless, painless, and fun. Then there are the times the creative well is dry and you struggle to accomplish anything. During these moments, have you found yourself asking: how do I find balance between my life and business? How do I grow when I am struggling to take care of today? What do I need to do to make it? In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I want to help you answer those questions with six ways you can use to fuel your inspiration, motivation, and action:

1. Acquire experiences, not stuff

2. Go on adventures

3. Indulge your curiosity

4. Create with your hands

5. Tell new stories

6. Find ways to merge what you know with what you want to learn

A quote from The Design Entrepreneur by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico: “Whether personal or collective, drive is the common denominator of all entrepreneurial pursuit; of course, then comes the brilliant idea, and finally, the fervent wherewithal to make and market the result. … In terms of physics, two forces—will and intelligence—must be fused in order to generate enough energy to take the entrepreneurial plunge and it’s not always easy.”

Megan Eckman is a fine artist and entrepreneur at Studio MME, selling approachable embroidery kits for modern stitchers. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, Megan and I talk about balancing art and entrepreneurship, the role of pattern and imagination, sources of curiosity, and the subjects she continually returns to in her work.

Have you ever found yourself working through a long-term project and wondering where the passion and motivation went? Maybe you are like myself and you start to unknowingly deconstruct all of the progress you have made? Or, you put the project on the proverbial shelf and you pick up something new, thriving on the high of a new project? In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I share six ways on how to answer these questions:

1. Remember why you started the project in the first place.

2. Approach your work as daily practice; preparation for a larger performance.

3. Be consistent, yet take small risks to push yourself into new creative spaces.

4. Stop obsessing over statistics and focus on connection and engagement.

5. Have fun!

6. Dream!

Ilise Benun is the founder of Marketing-Mentor and an author, business coach, and speaker who helps creative professionals grow in the business side of their business. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, we talk about the common themes creative professionals wrestle with, the importance of choosing a niche and focusing your business, how case studies help you stand out, what the one book every human should read.

Jack Kent is a comic book artist, animator, musician, and do-it-yourself wizard responsible for three comics: Gulls, Minus Tide, and Sketchy People. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, we talk about where he comes up with ideas for his work, inspiration for his work, who the best frontman is in music, and the importance of doing his work for himself.

Noah Elias is a creative entrepreneur who leverages creativity and story in order to bring hope to the world. Whether he is painting amazing works of art for top brands or creating his own stories and platforms, such as The Kid in Me, #Fearhunters, and Noah University, Noah is a constant source of inspiration and dedication to his craft. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, we talk about going beyond proficiency at our craft and building creative platforms, why helping others is important, what it means to dream bigger, and the role fear plays in life.

I want to thank each and everyone of you who have supported Getting Work To Work for the past 101 episodes. It has been an awesome journey and I look forward to what the next 100 episodes will unleash for your life and work.

James Victore is an artist and designer who teaches the art of Dangerous Ideas and what it means to be insanely creative. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, we talk about dangerous ideas, what risk looks like in his life, the importance of finding your voice, what it means to be fearless, and how to get your work out to the world in bigger ways by being you.

I want to thank each and everyone of you who have supported Getting Work To Work for the past 100 episodes. It has been an awesome journey and I look forward to what the next 100 episodes will unleash for your life and work.

Jena Knox is the founder of ParlorGig, a website for people seeking salon and spa jobs as well as a place for salons to find talent. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, we talk about going from identifying a need to creating a solution when no one else was going to, what it felt like to work in the tech space coming from a completely different world, and how roller derby prepared her for being an entrepreneur.