In this episode, Brad sits down with Scott Proposki — former National Geographic event photographer and White House event photographer — to talk about building a high-level creative career, losing a massive business during the pandemic, and rebuilding with a new mission.

Scott shares how referrals, networking, and bold outreach opened doors to major opportunities, including National Geographic, the White House, and even a direct conversation with the CEO of Kodak. He also opens up about the devastating collapse of his photography business during 2020, what it felt like to lose not just money but vision, and how that pain led him into helping creators and entrepreneurs build profitable businesses of their own.

They also dive into ADHD, creativity, storytelling, journaling, leadership, hiring the right people, and the difference between effort-based entrepreneurial work versus traditional 9-to-5 thinking. A powerful conversation for creatives, founders, and anyone trying to build something meaningful after adversity.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro + Scott’s background0:16 National Geographic and White House photography journey2:47 Referrals, networking, and how big opportunities happen3:57 How to market yourself: ask people who’ve already done it4:46 Reaching out to the CEO of Kodak + bold networking5:51 Losing the business during 2020 and the fallout7:42 Why Scott chose not to rebuild the same way8:18 His new mission: helping photographers, creators, and entrepreneurs9:40 Creativity, self-belief, and the ADHD mind as a superpower11:13 ADHD: diagnosis, clarity, and using it as an advantage12:51 Creativity vs structure: finding what actually fits you14:42 Journaling, writing, and slowing the mind down16:46 Bad handwriting, fast thoughts, and different types of note-taking20:50 Storytelling: everybody has an extraordinary story22:30 Obsession, entrepreneurship, and effort-based work25:13 Morning vs night creativity + building focus time intentionally29:51 Chaos, leadership, and staying grounded while building31:52 Hiring the right people and knowing their traits33:21 The mental toll of losing everything + losing the vision35:13 Mount Everest analogy: vision, team, and reaching the summit37:31 Can anyone care about your vision as much as you do?38:48 Getting ideas out of your head and building systems around them39:26 How to find the right people for your business40:50 Letting others do their job + learning through experimentation41:40 Jury duty story: leadership, listening, and reading people45:17 Leadership is seeing people’s strengths and using them well46:36 Realizing he was building teams more than just taking photos47:18 People want to be seen, heard, and given space to contribute50:18 What building a 7- or 8-figure business actually feels like51:46 The identity crisis of losing the money and momentum53:02 Envy vs curiosity: how to look at people doing better than you55:20 The “trust recession” and skepticism online57:06 Why openness builds trust more than defensiveness58:57 Closing thoughts + where to find Scott

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