That's Passion

michaelsturtz.com

The scene:
We are in Alameda, CA at Michael’s gorgeous, “highly modified” yet period correct-ish historical 1875 Victorian home, hanging out in the sunlit kitchen. Michael is one of the most insanely experienced and creatively inspired humans I know. Join us in the kitchen as he makes us lunch and tells us the wild and unexpected journey of his life - from refusing to be an orthopedic surgeon to teaching at Stanford to working at Google’s SpaceX to creating an intentional community in Bali.

Highlights:
+ Self-care: a trainer, bike rides with friends, and eating well
+ Being a “golden sheep”, not a black sheep
+ Did a TedX talk, NBD
+ Building things with your hands
+ Dad: Orthopedic Surgeon + Step Dad: Auto Body Repairman = Michael
+ Fighting family expectations to go to art school
+ Dyslexic and making it wrok. How dyslexia helps you think outside boundaries
+ The Crucible in Oakland, CA is now the nation’s largest non-profit industrial arts school
+ Founded The Crucible 23 years ago with a grant for $1,700
+ Make the environment you’re looking for and be the teacher you wanted
+ Alternative theater: mixing opera singers, ballerinas, fire arts and aerialists, motorcycles, whirling dervishes…
+ Taught at Stanford’s D (Design) School running “Redesigning Theater” for product design
+ Ran Stanford’s Creative Ignition Lab at Auto Desk for the future of making and learning
+ Unleashing the brilliance that the SAT test doesn’t measure
+ Recruited by GoogleX to run their in-house prototyping lab called The Design Kitchen
+ “Moonshots” = products that will impact the world
+ Self-driving cars, high-speed delivery drones, high-altitude weather balloons that broadcast internet
+ 90% of potential moonshot projects fail/get killed, 2% make it
+ Speaking, teaching, and consulting internationally: China, Nice, Amsterdam, New Zealand, Istanbul
+ Working 5 days/month (quality of life)
+ Working for the New Zealand government to create a mini Silicon Valley
+ Innovative culture is an ecosystem that includes street art and food, etc.
+ Consulting in Spain for zero-carbon manufacturing laws
+ Trusting yourself with your crazy ideas that no one else has thought of
+ Inverse inspiration: proving people wrong is a motivator
+ Collaboration, hands-on, non-competitive learning, support, community
+ Combining opposites to blow the blinders off
+ Stupidity and bravery can be very close together
+ Accidentally inspiring people and the ripple effect of that
+ Knowing when to go for it and when to throw in the towel, or shelf it and pivot
+ It’s hard to be an authority figure in and anti-authoritarian community
+ Working with creatives is like “herding cats to teach them how to nail Jell-o to a tree”
+ There are no supposed-to police
+ Ideas are easy, doing it’s the hard part

A taste:
“It’s interesting, the very same quote that I was inspired by by Buckminster Fuller […] they have in their very first page of their proposal is a quote about  ‘You can’t change anything within a system, you have to create a new system that has so many radical ideas that it makes the current system of doing things obsolete’.”

“Some of my best experiences have been doing what I’m not supposed to do, not harming anybody but yeah maybe the security guard has to chase me down and tell me I’m not supposed to be there.”

Favorite saying:
“I’m training for the rest of my life.”

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@elowyn.makes.art
@studiovanness
@artbyelowyn.collection
@elowyn.skates.too
artbyelowyn.com

The scene:
We are in Elowyn’s gorgeous art studio, which is in a historic building called Studio Van Ness in downtown Fresno.  She shares it with a tax business.  This is a fantastic contrast to her amazing, whimsical illustration style.  Her art is so dreamy and so engaging, I feel like I’m in an actual fairy tale with an actual princess.  Elowyn is her art.  It’s refreshing to see someone creating so true to themselves.  Join us in her sun-filled studio as we talk about making it as an artist through Instagram and Tik Tok, creating art for yourself, and mental health honesty.

Highlights:
+ Living the dream, and being proud of it
+ Self-motivated pieces
+ Serving the community with your art and not keeping all the wealth
+ Posting every day to every platform, enjoying social media, and getting off your phone
+ Being tough on yourself
+ Knowing what you want to put out in the world and honing in on your own aesthetic
+ Loving women, whimsy, and magical nymphs
+ Prioritizing art from the heart
+ Illustrator by degree, Fine Artist by choice
+ Illustration is: the artistic interpretation of words. Obvious imagery, not abstraction
+ Commercial work pays the bills
+ An artist since the womb, business artist since 18
+ Selling doesn’t legitimize art
+ “Gatekeeping” is a trending term a.k.a. scarcity mentality
+ Artists are obsessed with being unique and similar styles are a compliment
+ No bad vibes, just create your art
+ Artwork theft is real
+ Struggling with mental health
+ Using art to help others experience more joy
+ “Toxic positivity” = pretending like nothing’s wrong
+ Taking responsibility for being part of the solution
+ Managing “negativity boundaries”
+ Lifelong chronic anxiety without depression
+ Therapy and medication and developing coping skills
+ Thriving in life and not being scared anymore
+ Growing up in Clovis and leaving for private art school in Oakland
+ #arthopfresno is the first Thursday of each month on Fulton St.
+ Pretentious unwelcoming art scenes
+ Choosing your place for your art and family communities
+ Owning a house someday
+ Downtown Fresno has so much character - these are my people
+ The importance of safety and Maslow’s Hierarchy
+ The psychology of homelessness and compassion towards others who are without
+ The system is failing us all which neutralizes the “I’ve got mine” mentality
+ Appreciating others’ differences
+ Using anxiety for motivation: your crutch can be your super power
+ Depressed people are more empathetic
+ Living in a smaller town makes you shine
+ Financial independence
+ Acknowledging codependence
+ Artists are often exploited: knowing your worth
+ Being selfless for others makes no self left - #boundaryqueen
+ Living life day-by-day
+ Working towards being comfortable in your own skin

A taste:
“If someone does a similar style to you, you don’t have to be jealous or angry about it.  Be like, ‘that’s sick, that’s nice, I have a kindred spirit out there.’  I’m not talking about straight-up copying but being inspired by each other is what it’s all about.”

Favorite saying:
“It’s ok to be in an uncomfortable place, as long as you’re moving forward.”

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@smith.and.len
Etsy.com/shop/smithandlen

The scene:
We are at Brooke’s home sitting in her front room surrounded by artistic projects, children’s toy bins, and a Lomi composter that plugs in and turns food, bioplastics, and paper back into soil.  This is a picture perfect representation of Brooke in a nutshell - so full of energy, optimism, life, expression, creativity, play, family, learning, teaching, experimenting, and ecosystem responsibility.  Join us in our conversation about balancing all the parts of life, self-care, giving back, and a tour to the studio where the magic is happening!

Highlights:
+ Mom, Teacher, Artist, Wife - need we go on?
+ Elementary school art teacher
+ It’s ok to say you don’t want to stay home
+ Living and working in a HOME - to the Nth degree
+ Being passionate about everything
+ “People give me energy”
+ Mental health trips
+ Creativity is identity
+ Smith & Len - a natural dye business
+ Dyes made from plants and food waste
+ Finding your own fire
+ Branded for 3 years, in process for 12
+ Successful selling through instagram
+ Pop-up shops
+ Workshops teaching plant dying
+ Perfectionist
+ Dying naturally is therapy for letting go
+ Determination - a gift and a curse
+ Stubbornness vs. perseverance
+ The creative community of Fresno is awesome
+ Community over competition
+ Encouragement and collaboration
+ One woman band
+ Boundaries create sustainability
+ Post-partum depression
+ Self-worth
+ Being a people person requires non-isolation
+ The only expectations there are are the ones we put on ourselves
+ Finding your tribe
+ Working with non-profits
+ Learning the importance of giving back at a young age
+ Treat people like you want to be treated (the golden rule)
+ Gratitude for opportunities in life
+ Giving others opportunities
+ Missions work at 10 yrs-old
+ Loving learning causes you to love teaching
+ Kindness to others starts with kindness to ourselves
+ Creating something beautiful out of what’s available
+ @rappitup food “waste” into dye-baths
+ Full lifecycle processes
+ Mordants like soy milk or allum cause different color reactions
+ Candle holder collaboration with @edward_albert_design
+ Other collabs: @magnolias_yarden, @sampaynephoto, @laurelbotanicals
+ Next pop-up @root_general
+ Dye garden: Coryopsis, Scabiosa, Chamomile, Cosmos, Calendula
+ Bundle dyeing and steaming, printing with plants and a mallet
+ Fugitive dyes wash out - berries, beets, cabbage, pomegranate
+ Different plants need different water temperatures
+ Wild foraging plants for dyes
+ Animal fibers (silk and wool) take plant dye colors best

A taste:
“I learned at a young age that it’s always important to give back, it’s always important to treat people like you want to be treated.  It’s so much in me that I want to be able to provide people with opportunities.  I’ve been lucky and very blessed in my life to have the opportunities in my life, that I’ve been allowed and given, and I want others to have the same.  So, it’s just been something that I’ve always learned - to take care of other people."

Favorite saying:
“Be kind to yourself, be kind to others.”

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The scene:
We are in my brother’s kitchen prepping lasagna for family dinner and game night with our mama.  Aaron is a damn fine chef.  I watch him work while I eat his entire jar of jelly beans - childhood redux.  Hah!  We just started all hanging as a family again in the last few months - since we all got our priorities straight and made being together #1.  We cook together and play either Golf, a card game, or Bones, dominoes.  I played Bones with him once and got so destroyed I have forbidden it henceforth ;)  These are some of the favorite moments of my entire life.  Join us in the heart of my brother's home!

Highlights:
+ Shit has to be used
+ Building your own kitchen
+ A pantry the size of a bedroom
+ Sally O’Malley on SNL
+ CaliSignsations custom signs
+ Getting kicked off Facebook, and TikTok
+ Growing up in a small town
+ Woodworking in high school
+ Tree trimming, coal and gas plants
+ The emotional part of sign carving
+ This guy gets around (the West)
+ Working creative hours
+ Friendship breakups
+ A backyard full of guacamole
+ Self-reliance works
+ Bromances
+ Three Jessicas
+ Being single looks good on you
+ Working 5 months per year
+ Being a carni at the county fair
+ Boundaries and giving
+ Folks, he’s an artiste!
+ Introverts are people readers
+ CA, OR, ID, AZ = fair circuit this year
+ Deep fried Philly cheese steak
+ Shitty people get run off
+ The chili scale educational
+ Don’t convince someone to love you

A taste:
“I don’t think I could do a 9-5 to be honest with you - just be in the same office daily.  Or like a car salesman - just walk the same old fuckin’ 3 lots every day of your life.  I’m just not that kinda guy.  I need to move.”

“I want to just hug everybody.  That’s who I am.  ‘Hey stranger!  Get over here you motherfucker!’  […]  I hug with my heart, it’s not just my arms.”

Favorite saying(s):
“Ain’t nobody got time fa dat!”
“Don’t sweat the petty stuff and don’t pet the sweaty stuff.” (that one's credit to our dad whom he hasn't spoken with in 20 years...)

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The Scene:
We are surrounded by 3,000 individual boxes of cookies.  This is Bexlie’s first year in the Girl Scouts and her first year selling cookies.  Big goals for this little gal is an understatement.  And I’m sure you’ll see why there is zero doubt in my mind that she will sell every dang last one of them.  At 9 years-old, Bexlie is more certain of herself than I am at 44.  She’s an inspiration to all, both in her drive and her pure character.  She shares her dreams and a scary medical situation that she’s handling like a champ.  Come talk cookies with us.

Highlights:
+ Guinness world record for youngest person interviewed on a podcast
+ Tate is Irish for cheerful
+ Rylan is Irish for joyful
+ Dance and piano
+ “I’m good at sales”
+ Really liking ballet
+ Almost old enough for toe shoes
+ What really motivates me
+ Helping your friends
+ Going door-to-door
+ Face time over texting
+ Wanting to be a baker
+ Wanting to be a plastic surgeon
+ I am smart enough to do it
+ The job is helping people
+ Dreaming of big spaces
+ Gardening our ingredients
+ Living in Utah for a safe environment
+ All four seasons
+ The spirit of immediacy
+ Being an entrepreneur
+ Confidence early in life
+ Business ethics
+ Good communication skills
+ Teaching your younger self
+ Having regrets about spilling things
+ We do our best
+ The human body has mistakes
+ Being very brave
+ Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis
+ Yanking tubes out
+ Thank you to the doctors
+ Parents are great

A taste:
“I like to cook a lot.  And when I was littler, I wanted to be a baker when I grew up.  […]  I just like to make food, it’s just like a passion and fun thing that I like.”

“Right under my vocal chords I have scar tissue and it closed my airway and it was the size of a matchstick. […]  The next day we have to go into an emergency surgery.  I was really scared.  My mom was there every minute of it.”

“We went to Minnesota to go to the Mayo Clinic because the doctor on the phone said that in the last 2 years there have been 4 cases of this because it’s like a really really rare disease, for my age.”

Favorite quote/saying/mantra(s):
Not really, no.

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Meet my mom - one of the most involved and joyful humans I know.  We are sitting in her living room in her “voice and music area.”  We get a free performance of her playing the ukelele, singing acapella and playing the piano.  Join us as we discuss all things singing - from reading music to competing to singing a completely different part than the person you’re standing next to.  Our conversation weaves it’s way around her journey through cancer and single mothering.  Join us for inspiration, laughter and heartfelt moments between a mom and her daughter.

Highlights:
+ Singing internationally
+ Acapella as an instrument
+ Being coached
+ Casually competing
+ What is backbeat?
+ Singing since high school
+ Dancing in a play with Alejandro
+ Playing the Uke in Berkeley in the 60’s
+ The joy of singing your heart out
+ Dancing with mom to Ariana Grande
+ Sweet Adelines international singing quartet
+ 50-80 singers in a regional chorus
+ Competing in Hawaii
+ How to get started with a chorus
+ Choreography with singing
+ Breath management
+ From rigid moves to personal expression
+ The Collective, Simon Lubkowski
+ The joy of sharing with others
+ Singing without reading music
+ Barbershop harmony
+ Choosing your geography for friendliness
+ Being choreographically challenged
+ Being a class clown
+ What is woodshedding?
+ What is Vibratto?
+ Singing YOUR style, your genre
+ Going to a movie by yourself
+ Finding your core community
+ Understanding others’ opinions
+ Laughter is the best medicine
+ Purpose
+ Starting piano lessons at 77
+ Everything you do is a building block
+ Being afraid of losing your mind
+ Feeling fortunate and lucky
+ Riding horses
+ Mom’s cancer journey
+ Approaching cancer with new meds
+ Bible studies lessons
+ Writing prayers down
+ Praying alleviates worry
+ Manifesting through action
+ Taking a day of rest…at 77
+ Planning for no stress
+ Choosing spontaneity
+ Mom has always known my beauty
+ Let your kids be who they are

A taste:
“Even if you’re not participating you can go watch.  When they get down to ten of the top quartets - in the world!  And ten of the top choruses - in the world!  Then you’re seeing some really good singing.”

“I have a sense of humor that some people don’t either get or appreciate.”

“Everything you do in life is a building block.  It might feel like a mistake and you might go down that path but in actuality it’s just another place to learn.  […]  It’s a mindset, you have to not beat yourself up so much and not be so critical of yourself and say, ‘What did I learn from that particular thing?’”

Favorite quote/saying/mantra(s):
“Praise the Lord!”
“You reap what you sow.”
Gratitude.

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We are sitting in Danielle’s house, which means the only thing separating us from the jungle - and the monkey families - is a few panes of glass.  Dream!  Her home is pretty much glass and screens.  It is structured such that one building holds her bedroom, bathroom, living room and office and another contains her kitchen hangout spot.  Like a hallway in a traditional house, a cute covered walkway connects the two.  The computer monitor is practically IN the jungle.  The vote is in, you CAN have it all at once :)  I’m trying to talk her into coparenting chickens…and maybe a goat with me.  Wish me luck!

Highlights:
+ Researching people to create solutions
+ Living in a jumanji jungle…with wifi
+ Earning points for doing good
+ Connecting community
+ “Upe!” is a doorbell
+ Falling into computer nerding
+ Creating for the end use
+ Having every kind of job
+ Choosing Costa Rica for 21 years
+ Living in an energetic vortex
+ Being an extroverted introvert
+ Independent to a fault
+ Learning to ask for help
+ Relying on close relationships
+ We’re all in this together
+ The telephone game
+ Depriving yourself to near death
+ Building security for self
+ Choosing YOUR life
+ The calendar struggle is real
+ We only have control of our response

A taste:
“I like knowing before I begin my process the history and the inner workings of who it is that I’m helping…what their goals are, their audience is, and really researching not just their background but other projects, like maybe not even directly associated or related that people might think, but I feel creatively match.”

Favorite quote/saying/mantra(s):
“Being comfortable in that space of nothingness.”

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This is a symphonic interview of Polish accent and language, Goku the Frenchie trying to lick the microphone, and the birds of Costa Rica singing to us at sunset.  We are lounging on Isabella’s back patio next to her lap pool and stationary bike, drinking natural fruit fizzies.  We have a very honest and frank conversation about our personal paths out of dark pasts that have brought us to gratitude and joy every day.  Isabella’s guidance in my yoga, meditation, and breath work classes have helped me reach new heights of personal realization.  This is her natural gift to the world - and she only just discovered it 4 years ago.

Interview highlights:
+ You must be like a tiger
+ The goal for the body is balance
+ Feeling what your students feel
+ When a door closes, open another
+ Make mistakes, take the lesson
+ The forest is the church
+ We rely too much on our sight sense
+ Being better for others
+ Changing self-criticism
+ Being true with your heart
+ Everyone has stress
+ We need sad to know happy
+ Keeping our energy
+ Becoming another from our upbringing
+ Gratitude instead of wanting
+ We want love, not cars and clothes
+ All life fixes come from our own fix
+ Life is a flow
+ Play with a lot of people

A taste:
“I always took care of another.  My life started changing when I started to take care of myself.”

Favorite quote/saying/mantra(s):
“Be thankful, be from the heart position.”

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While Chelsey may truly someday go to the pickleball olympics (sans digi-yuan), today we are discussing a few other less amazing (sarcasm) things about her life.  Every day for a month we’ve been sitting here together gazing out over Potrero Bay in Costa Rica, planning our days - yoga, paddle boarding, pickleball, swimming, house-building, medical clinic creating - and talking about all the important things in life - boys (to men), friends (over boys), singing Aaliyah’s “4-page letter” on repeat, the reflection of our self - that we see in others - which reveals our life lessons…  I drink espresso (or two) and roll a ciggy (or two).  Chelsey drinks chilled green tea.  We laugh, we cry, we get closer.

Interview highlights:
+ "Rock bottom"…in paradise
+ Giving up “control”
+ TIME with loved ones
+ Innovating in cancer care + prevention
+ When life flows with ease
+ Being consumed with power and success
+ Doubters are fuel for the fire
+ Don’t chase the money
+ Jumping into the deep end
+ HUMOR with serious shit
+ Taking care of you first
+ Living IN the dream
+ Square peg in a round hole
+ Finding your people

A taste:
“I just wish I could have started earlier, but I needed to go through all that shit - over and over and over again - to realize…it’s really really scary to take your foot off the brake and your hands off the wheel and just see what happens and to do things that aren’t the norm socially…and live outside the box, but I think that’s what we all should be doing.”

Favorite quote/saying/mantra(s):
“Set the world on fire.”
“Stay the course.”

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We are sitting in the motel “cafe” as I call it, which is also the hub for emotional healing.  Imagine a man who goes from being the highest level insurance investigator to a conduit of God - meet Dave.  We discuss choosing your geography before your livelihood and blessing every motel room so the user experience is a clean slate on life.  It was very important to Dave that this part of the ocean behind him be in his picture as this is where he's being called to receive his next direction.

Interview highlights:
+ God washing the slate clean
+ exiting corporate
+ “caught a lot of bad guys, saved a lot of money”
+ American men are their job
+ hard lessons are opportunities
+ doors close and windows open
+ looking for what feels right
+ working for who pays your mortgage
+ running a restaurant with no experience
+ a soup kitchen: The Common Good
+ how surviving cancer shapes your life
+ the new world builders will come from grace
+ visit from Charles: ex-military, minister, therapist
+ this place: one of three ecosystems worldwide

A taste:
“…during this [corporate dismissal] interview, I saw blue out of the left side of my head.  I saw an […] monochromatic expanding sky blue - it’s all one color how do I know it’s expanding? “

“I was pushed into this thing and developed this peace and this grace from what formerly was a den of iniquity.” 

“I’m making far less money than I ever did and I’m richer than I ever thought I would be.”

Favorite quote:
“Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

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Love, Sagewolf xoxo