"Starting work without a contract is like putting on a condom after taking a home pregnancy test." 

Mike Monteiro is the co-founder and design director of Mule Design, the company he co-founded 17 years ago. Mike writes and speaks frequently about the craft and business of design and extensively covers the topic of client services in his work. In this CreativeMornings/San Francisco talk from March 2011, Mike shares his no-nonsense and very practical advice on how to navigate through the tumultuous waterfalls and slippery slopes that are contracts and legal checkpoints. Along with his lawyer, Gabe Levine, he boldly inspires us to overcome our discomfort with money so that we can be specific and confident. And ultimately, become our own advocates so that we can get paid for the work that we do.

Learn more at www.creativemornings.com

#17 Mike Monteiro

What does it mean to live a creative life? CreativeMornings, a breakfast lecture series for the global creative community, brings some of our most remarkable and inspiring archived talks—from hometown heroes to design legends to community leaders—straight to your headphones. 

One Friday every month, more than 140 cities get together to have coffee and listen to a short talk. Every event is free of charge and open to anyone. Started in 2008 by Tina Roth Eisenberg (aka Swissmiss) we're now a global community over 150,000 strong. This is our podcast. Follow us on Twitter @creativemorning to stay updated on all things #podcastCM!

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

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“Everyone is creative.

A creative life requires bravery and action, honesty and hard work. We are here to support you, celebrate with you, and encourage you to make the things you love.

We believe in the power of community. We believe in giving a damn. We believe in face-to-face connections, in learning from others, in hugs and high-fives.

We bring together people who are driven by passion and purpose, confident that they will inspire one another, and inspire change in neighborhoods and cities around the world.

Everyone is welcome..”

Read the CreativeMornings Manifesto here: creativemornings.com/about

Thank you to Adrianna Dufay for reading our manifesto. Produced and hosted by Matt Sucich.

The CreativeMornings Manifesto

“Love is the thing in life that can cause you the most horrific, terrible pain, but it’s also the only thing on the planet that can heal you.”

Philanthropist Maggie Doyne spoke at CreativeMornings/NYC in July 2016 to speak on the global theme of Love. In her moving talk, Maggie takes us from New Jersey to the majestic mountains of Nepal where she saw a problem and couldn’t look away. With a meager savings, a big heart, and the support of her community, she built a home for Nepalese children, and along the way, redefined her understanding of love.

Thank you to our Shutterstock, Wix, and MailChimp for supporting the engine of generosity that is CreativeMornings.

Read the CreativeMornings Manifesto here: creativemornings.com/about

#36 Maggie Doyne

“We connect human-to-human and heart-to-heart by empowering the entire community… and do nothing but love, love, love.”

Alan Graham took the stage at in Austin, Texas to speak on the global theme of Fantasy at the 2016 CreativeMornings Summit. In his inspiring talk, Alan shares how and why he ended up building an RV park dedicated to the chronically homeless, complete with an organic urban farm, market, and 500-seat amphitheater. What mustard seed of an idea do you have? What will you do with it? 

Made possible by Monotype and Dropmark.

#35 Alan Graham

“Each time that we are courageous and brave enough to take a risk we're showing to ourselves that we're worth it.”

Sarah Hernholm spoke at CreativeMornings/San Diego on the global theme of Risk in April 2016. In her talk, Sarah invites us to imagine what it might look like if we took risks and got over the “what if” moments. Society conditions us to view rejection as a negative and many of us end up making decisions based on fear of rejection. Sarah enlightens us to view rejection differently and to do whatever it takes to be our best courageous selves.

This episode was made possible by SiteGround.

#34 Sarah Hernholm

“The creative work life requires faith—faith in our craft, faith in the process, and the most challenging of all, faith in ourselves.”

Self-taught designer Bryan Todd took the stage at CreativeMornings/Louisville in September 2016 to speak on the global theme of Magic. Bryan shares his creative journey as a self-taught designer and insight on how to chase the magic despite the various challenges that come along the way. His story encourages us to commit to the processes that awaken our senses and make us pay attention to the world. 

Thank you to Shutterstock and SiteGround for making this episode possible.

#17 Mike Monteiro

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