Onward Creatives

There are few subjects as divisive as work/life balance. We definitely live in a world of polarizing opinions on what this means and what is the proper balance. On one side of the equation is the group idealizing working from the beach, living life to it's fullest all the time. On the other side is the "I hustle and work while you sleep and play." Both sides are loud mouthed, opinionated and mostly motivate through guilt. You deserve better than this!

It's time to rethink the whole work/life debate (which includes redefining these stupid words).

1. There's not just one definition of work/life balance. It's not the fewest amount or the most amount of hours which wins, because each of us is different. It's time that we let go of the guilt and the manipulation and realize that proper balance varies from person to person.

2. Stop seeing work and life as opposing factors. The fact is that life is everything. Life is family, work, play and us as individuals. Hotwire president Henrik Kjellberg has reframed the discussion around work and leisure. He works in order to enjoy leisure and his leisure refreshes him for his work. There's no separation between the two and they're not always opposing factors.

3. Succeed with a purpose. Jim Bird thinks of this as achievement and enjoyment. You work for a purpose which is where you find enjoyment. This step is probably where most of us struggle because we've never taken the time to define what we really want, or we're afraid to admit it to others. Until we define our purpose and what we actually want we'll always struggle with the time we invest in our work.

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Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast. A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.

We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way.

Your journey Onward starts here!

For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at:

Onward Creatives

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You're one of the rare ones. You're one of the ones who has an idea and is acting on it. Whether you're starting a business, launching a career or building an existing business I want to remind you this week....You can do this!

I'm a huge fan of Disney, ok more like a Disney nerd. But I don't think we can just wish and hope our dreams into existence. Of course we can imagine and maintain hope but this journey requires more. This journey requires everything from us.

You can do this.....but (Kardashian size) you have to work for it! This is going to require a lot from you, but if you want it bad enough, you'll do whatever it takes.

Start the week by resting in this encouragement....You can do this! But after the coffee cup is empty it's time to go after this with everything you have. The journey onward starts here!

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Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast. A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.

We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way.

Your journey Onward starts here!

For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at:

Onward Creatives

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You can follow Valentina at:

House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook

You can Follow Jack at:

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Welcome to the Question and Answer Episode! I love these episodes because it's all about you! Here are a few of the questions that you all asked:

• How do you remain confident when facing lots of rejection?
• How do you restart your creativity after a slump?
• At what point do you consider yourself successful?
• How do you manage your social media?
• Does working out and eating well affect your creativity or work?
• When do you transition from a project to entrepreneurship?

Thanks to those of you who asked!

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Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast. This is the place for anyone who is dreaming of making a change in their lives, taking a leap into a new adventure, or wondering if their idea is worth pursuing.

We are creative entrepreneurs, Valentina and Jack Fussell and in Season Two, we continue to share from the midst of a total life relaunch. After 12 years living in Africa and Europe we are relaunching our life in the US.

Each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way. The journey onward starts here!

For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at:

Onward Creatives

Facebook

You can follow Valentina at:

House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook

You can Follow Jack at:

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You are the one, the only! I don't mean this in a cheesy, we're all perfect, we all deserve a trophy kind of way. The reality is that we're not all good at everything because we're each different. It's time that stop celebrating us all for the same thing and begin to celebrate the uniqueness that we each are.

This celebration also comes with responsibility. We're not interchangeable like cell phones. We're each wired and talented in unique ways. I do coaching and business development and one of the things that I hear all of the time is "I don't know who I am" or "I have no idea what I enjoy doing or am good at." This is tragic and is a reminder that we have to take the time to get to know ourself. So grab a cup of coffee and dive in to the one and only....you!

Join our Private Facebook Group!

Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast. This is the place for anyone who is dreaming of making a change in their lives, taking a leap into a new adventure, or wondering if their idea is worth pursuing.

We are creative entrepreneurs, Valentina and Jack Fussell and in Season Two, we continue to share from the midst of a total life relaunch. After 12 years living in Africa and Europe we are relaunching our life in the US.

Each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way. The journey onward starts here!

For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at:

Onward Creatives

Facebook

You can follow Valentina at:

House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook

You can Follow Jack at:

Instagram Twitter Facebook

Jeff Shinabarger truly believes that better is possible. He is a firm believer in solving problems through both for-profit and non-profit endeavors.

Jeff is the founder and director of Plywood People in Atlanta, Georgia. He has been involved in helping over 200 startups do good while solving key problems. He is a thought leader in Social Entrepreneurship and in addition to co founding Q and eight years at Catalyst he has been featured by CNN, USA Weekend, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Huffington Post, Christianity Today, Coca-Cola, Relevant Magazine, and the Chicago Sun Times.

In this podcast Jeff shares several key insights:

• The role that being uncomfortable plays in the life of the innovator.
• The importance of curating key voices into the creative cycle.
• The need to have mentors and how to choose those key mentors.
• The key factor that determines whether an entrepreneur is successful or not.

Join our Private Facebook Group!

Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast. This is the place for anyone who is dreaming of making a change in their lives, taking a leap into a new adventure, or wondering if their idea is worth pursuing.

We are creative entrepreneurs, Valentina and Jack Fussell and in Season Two, we continue to share from the midst of a total life relaunch. After 12 years living in Africa and Europe we are relaunching our life in the US.

Each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way. The journey onward starts here!

For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at:

Onward Creatives

Facebook

You can follow Valentina at:

House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook

You can Follow Jack at:

Instagram Twitter Facebook

We've heard it before and it's a big fat lie, "Curiosity killed the cat!" It's intended to protect us as children from doing things that are harmful to us. The problem with childhood advice is that it often influences us as adults. It's quite easy to live our lives surrounded by people who are just like us in most ways. And because we've been raised to be afraid of curiosity we never venture outside of our homogenous norm.

If we want to grow, be stretched, and learn new things we have to say "screw the cat" I want to be curious. Samuel Johnson says "Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect." So let's throw caution to the wind and surround ourselves with people who think, believe, vote and act differently than ourselves. Be Passionately Curious!

Join our Private Facebook Group!

Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast. This is the place for anyone who is dreaming of making a change in their lives, taking a leap into a new adventure, or wondering if their idea is worth pursuing.

We are creative entrepreneurs, Valentina and Jack Fussell and in Season Two, we continue to share from the midst of a total life relaunch. After 12 years living in Africa and Europe we are relaunching our life in the US.

Each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way. The journey onward starts here!

For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at:

Onward Creatives

Facebook

You can follow Valentina at:

House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook

You can Follow Jack at:

Instagram Twitter Facebook

Knowing if and when to transition a project into a business can be a difficult process. There are so many factors that play into this vital pivot but if done correctly an amazing business can be the result.

Eryn Erickson was working as an art director and aspiring musician when she started a small t-shirt project to give back to her fans. She suddenly found herself with a house full of t-shirts and people sharing their stories from all over the world. She utilized mentors, business savvy and her instinct to transition this side project into the highly successful lifestyle clothing line, So Worth Loving.

In this episode Eryn shares her journey and some of the key insights that she's learned along the way.

Eryn shares three major lessons with us:

• How she pivoted from a project to a business
• The importance of mentors: how to chose them and when to let them go
• The need to balance vulnerability with thick skin

Follow So Worth Loving: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr

Join our Private Facebook Group!

Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast. This is the place for anyone who is dreaming of making a change in their lives, taking a leap into a new adventure, or wondering if their idea is worth pursuing.

We are creative entrepreneurs, Valentina and Jack Fussell and in Season Two, we continue to share from the midst of a total life relaunch. After 12 years living in Africa and Europe we are relaunching our life in the US.

Each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way. The journey onward starts here!

For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at:

Onward Creatives

Facebook

You can follow Valentina at:

House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook

You can Follow Jack at:

Instagram Twitter Facebook

Keep looking ahead! Not only is this really good advice for driving but also for life. When we make big, crazy decisions it's tempting at some point to look back.

To be honest sometimes the road ahead looks treacherous and uncertain. This is when we're tempted to look back, and even turn back. Whether it's in business or life, we have to keep our view on what is ahead, the more treacherous it gets the more focused we have to be. Let's stay on the journey with our eyes on the possibilities that lie ahead!

Join our Private Facebook Group!

Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast. This is the place for anyone who is dreaming of making a change in their lives, taking a leap into a new adventure, or wondering if their idea is worth pursuing.

We are creative entrepreneurs, Valentina and Jack Fussell and in Season Two, we continue to share from the midst of a total life relaunch. After 12 years living in Africa and Europe we are relaunching our life in the US.

Each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way. The journey onward starts here!

For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at:

Onward Creatives

Facebook

You can follow Valentina at:

House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook

You can Follow Jack at:

Instagram Twitter Facebook

Do you have an idea that is great but you don't have the experience for? This is a common problem among entrepreneurs and often times keeps us from pursuing our dreams.

A few weeks ago I met Laura Bento, founder of Good Grit Magazine, and was shocked by one of her first statements. I expected to her say that she had worked for publications for years and after proving herself had decided to start her own magazine. Instead she told me "Prior to starting Good Grit I had never actually subscribed to a magazine before." After a few more questions I discovered that when she conceived the idea for Good Grit she had ZERO publication experience.

Prior to launching her magazine she ran a consulting company and found herself needing to learn new skills consistently. She was able to utilize multiple opportunities to build her skill set through curiosity and the simple art of asking questions. Laura is the ultimate learner and has leverages this skill set to build Good Grit.

In this Episode you will learn:

• You are not limited by your experience.
• Drama and low points make for a great life story.
• Fear is different than being scared. Fear prevents you from pursuing your ideas whereas being scared is something you feel WHILE pursuing your ideas.

Follow Good Grit here: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Join our Private Facebook Group!

Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast. This is the place for anyone who is dreaming of making a change in their lives, taking a leap into a new adventure, or wondering if their idea is worth pursuing.

We are creative entrepreneurs, Valentina and Jack Fussell and in Season Two, we continue to share from the midst of a total life relaunch. After 12 years living in Africa and Europe we are relaunching our life in the US.

Each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way. The journey onward starts here!

For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at:

Onward Creatives

Facebook

You can follow Valentina at:

House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook

You can Follow Jack at:

Instagram Twitter Facebook

Whether we're starting a business or looking for a job,we all do our fair share of research. We research production, marketing, branding, pricing. We look into the company that we're applying to and learn how to network and use social media to make meaningful connections. All of these are great and definitely important but so many of us miss out on knowing our best asset...ourself.

We need to learn about ourself in order to:

1. Operate in your our strengths

2. Build a team that compliments us

3. Avoid being the chameleon by staying true to ourselves.

Join our Private Facebook Group!

Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast. This is the place for anyone who is dreaming of making a change in their lives, taking a leap into a new adventure, or wondering if their idea is worth pursuing.

We are creative entrepreneurs, Valentina and Jack Fussell and in Season Two, we continue to share from the midst of a total life relaunch. After 12 years living in Africa and Europe we are relaunching our life in the US.

Each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way. The journey onward starts here!

For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at:

Onward Creatives

Facebook

You can follow Valentina at:

House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook

You can Follow Jack at:

Instagram Twitter Facebook