Joy Venture Podcast | Slagle Design

Ian remembers being a typical, jovial college student having fun on vacation at the beach with his friends. He also recalls the moment when he dove into the ocean waves off of the Carolina coast and hit a sandbar — that very moment when everything changed.

Ian learned shortly thereafter that he had suffered a devastating spinal cord injury. His diagnosis: paralyzed for life. At age 19, Ian’s life was forever altered.    

Ian shares his story that is equal parts heartbreaking, heartwarming and, truth be told, literally mind altering. Ian is the first person ever to undergo an elective brain surgery to implant a device that can read his brain waves in effort to help him regain movement. It is here — where life and science intersect, and joy and pain coexist — that Ian speaks with a steady cadence of hope and reason borne of a tragic accident. 

We return to the site of his first internship, Brainstorm Media, which was the type of place he could envision a career after college. Ian gives us the encouragement to be optimistic and inspired, especially when a new set of aspirations are ready to replace those best laid plans.   

Anyone who knows Mark would likely agree that he’s one of the more upbeat and positive people you’ll ever meet — and as the founder and creative force behind sparkspace, he’s running one of the coolest places on the planet for creative inspiration, personal development and team building. 

And that’s all Mark wanted to do. Run a business just like that.

Until he didn’t. 

Mark opens up about what happens when you lose that spark for the thing you love, how depression can still get its grips on the optimist, and how figuring out what you’re good at — and not simply passionate about — is the key to unleashing your ordinary super powers. This is a story of rediscovery and finding that spark again to do your best work — that stuff you were meant to do.

We also discover some interesting back history on Mark as he reveals tidbits about his life as as Top 40 radio disc jockey in middle America, with a not-so-middle-America on-air persona.  

Pulling up to Chris’s airplane hangar turned “workshop” — where he roasts beans for Backroom Coffee Roasters today — is a much different setting for his business compared to when he was fueling his coffee fix out of the back room of a bike shop, hence the company name.

Chris is far from being stuck in the same gear. He’s the kind of guy who has multiple interests and a willingness to pursue them as far as they will go. He’s also a guy who avoids getting too comfortable with any venture, knowing that comfort has a way of stunting growth and breeding complacency. 

Chris charts his entrepreneurial path and insatiable desire for discovery, from motor sports to bicycles and from coffee to beer. And he believes in doing the kind of work you’re passionate about and can pour yourself into. It’s how he has turned his passions into paychecks and immensely enjoyable work.

Chris’s story will encourage you to go for it — whatever your “it” might be.   

Most people who think about purchasing an RV and traveling around the country plan to do so in retirement. For Nick Couts, taking that leap as a millennial was a calculated move to enjoy the world now and not wait for another 35 years. After taking a sabbatical from the acclaimed Spacejunk studio, getting encouragement from his wife, and honing a motion graphics skill set that doesn’t confine him to a cubicle farm, Nick is now two years deep into being a nomadic artist without a permanent address. He’s a man happily living out his plan in a van. 

Traveling the wide open west with his wife and a massive Saint Bernard, Nick talks about the challenges and rewards of working remotely, a radically different shift in lifestyle and the inspiration a creative gets when the landscape is constantly changing. 

Nick supplies us with his story of mapping his own road, as well as a handful of photographs he’s taken during his travels, with links to his Facebook and Instagram account to show more of his adventures.   

You might not know it from his gregarious laugh and unimposing stature that measures closer to five-foot tall rather than six, but Bill Lilly is a legendary character who pens legendary characters. He is regarded as the world’s foremost Master Penman — a title he’s held for the better part of three decades. Bill’s story is one of his incredible talent in scriptwriting and flourishing with a steady hand, and how his love of script has led to genuine surprises and unforeseen stardom. 

At a youthful 90 years old, Bill sits down with us in his humble in-home studio and weaves tales about serving in WWII, leaving college to improve his script, turning down a job at the White House, plowing through a career he never really enjoyed, and how he ended up becoming a world sensation long after his retirement from International Harvester. For the past 25 years, Bill has been showcasing his work while also giving private lessons to both young designers and hobbyists who desire to learn his technique and who actively seek him out from all over the world.  

Bill's story is a testament to finding one’s joy, honing a hobby into something more, and never abandoning that passion from within. His rise to unlikely fame reveals a remarkable journey that has spanned nearly 70 years in the making.