Have you ever thought about starting a business? Maybe you have a crazy idea or maybe you want to turn your hobby into a little extra income. Either way, this is the episode for you. Jordan interviews our very own Cameron Gonzalez and his business partner (and former guest), Matt Arnwine, about their latest venture: No Raisins. They share how they built a partnership through numerous failed businesses, how to effectively refine an idea and ways to build a product roadmap. Not sparing any topic, we get into the details of legal, operations and supply chain, marketing and branding, finances and much more – all things you’ll need to start a business!

To learn more about No Raisins, visit noraisinstrailmix.com and use the promo code “MTG15” for 15% off your purchase.

Last week’s episode got us thinking – there are so many ways to define creativity. Is it a process? An output? An expression? News flash: it’s ALL of those things (and more!). We play back some of the answers our guests have given while Cameron and Jordan discuss their views, hot takes and opinions on the definitions.

Haley Stewart is a media & brand manager at Fitsyn, a white-label loan marketplace and financial services CRM. After doing “the big agency thing,” which took her all over the world, Haley felt completely unsatisfied. She left her job, moved back in with her parents and started from scratch. Haley walks us through how she re-thought her entire career path and set off on a new journey, in an industry and role she least expected.

You can learn more about Haley and read her writings at thanks-bye.com, or connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Matt Arnwine is an engineer, product designer and entrepreneur. Matt shares about the intricacy of his role as a tooling design engineer at Lifetime Products and how being laser-focused on the details helps him align the ideal state with reality. We talk about the positive impact of collaborating early and often with your team, how you can line up what’s in front of you when presented with a problem and the importance of stretching when facing a new challenge. Finally, Matt shares about the benefit of seeing the beauty in everyday things and how, when you find inspiration, taking action on it is the most important part.

Connect with Matt on Instagram, @mattarnwine.

Abbie Deal is a freelancer and graphic designer at Passion City Church. We talk about why she decided to freelance first and join a team later in her career journey, and unpack the differences between the two. Abbie walks us through how Passion pivoted it’s annual in-person conference to online and what the takeaways are for event planners, designers and marketers. Lastly, we talk about the importance of trusting your teammates and why it’s important to strengthen and walk alongside them.

Connect with Abbie on Instagram and see her work at realdealdesign.net.

Gary Ware  is a corporate facilitator, keynote speaker, certified coach and self-proclaimed “creative catalyst.” After experiencing burnout in his pursuit for success and happiness, he realized that what was missing was play. Gary uses the power of applied improvisation and other playful methods to assist people in unlocking creativity, confidence and better communication. We talk about the danger of burnout in your 20s and how you can rebuild your play muscle, which also rewires your brain. To help us understand how we play best, Gary talks us through the play personalities and challenges us to experiment in our play. Lastly, we talk about harnessing the power of improv and learning to say “yes, and” in your career.

Connect with Gary on social media (@GaryWare) and text “PLAY CHALLENGE” to 619-304-3537. You can learn more about Gary’s work from his website and take the play personalities assessment at breakthroughplay.com/playpersonalities.

Additional Content:

• Watch the Kodak Carousel pitch from Mad Men.
• Read about Project Aristotle in the New York Times, or go straight to the source: here and here.
• Check out The Atlantic and NPR’s work on post-Olympic depression.
• Listen to Simon Sinek talk about developing an infinite mindset on Dare to Lead with Brene Brown.

Brian Hatcher is a senior audit associate within the national audit solutions group at KPMG and the founder and director at Hatch Capital, an organization dedicated to building financial literacy in the next generation through educational courses, scholarships and investing opportunities. Brian joins the podcast to talk all things money (yes, everyone’s favorite topic!). We cover everything from budgets to investment strategies, talk about ways to gain financial literacy and how to set money goals. Bottom line: it’s all about identifying your financial goals and getting creative with how you get there.

Learn more about Hatch Capital at hatch-capital.com and connect with Brian on Instagram.

Bryony Melhuish is the owner and creative director of Shiift Creative, a brand + web studio serving companies across the globe. We talk with Bryony about the differences in advertising for US and UK brands, why it’s important to dig deep into project goals and how to extract inspiration by being focused on the process. She challenges listeners to ask themselves, “Where do you want to be in 5 years time?” and take steps today to design the life they want to live. Learn more about Bryony at shiiftcreative.com and connect with her on Instagram.

Additional Content: “Pricing and the Psychology of Consumption,” Harvard Business Review.

Inspiration always seems to come when you’re least expecting it and never when you need it. We’re revisiting the answers to, “Where do you go when you’re searching for inspiration?” from our first 25 episodes. The results might surprise you — what we’ve found is that inspiration is everywhere and you can find it in any way imaginable.

Jordan Hovater (yes, our very own!) is chief marketing officer at Embassy Social, the influencer marketplace. Cameron turns the tables on Jordan, who shares about his career journey and how it took him a while to figure out what he wanted to do and where his skill set fit best. Jordan challenges listeners to get specific about the life they’re working towards and find ways to close the gap in the meantime. He also shares about the importance of using design in the right way, which he says, “always has a direction.” 

Breaking down the conversation as they go, Cameron and Jordan discuss if advertising really works, the challenges that come with a job search and what they’ve learned about creativity in 25 episodes of Mine the Gap.

Connect with Jordan via email, Instagram or LinkedIn and follow his company, @embassysocial.

Additional Content:

• Listen to the Freakonomics Podcast on advertising’s effectiveness – part one and part two.
• Read “Grit,” by Angela Duckworth or watch her TED Talk on the power of passion and perseverance.