When you think about it most entrepreneurs and creatives have a DIY spirit, but few would exemplify this spirit more than this episode's guest Christian "Coog" Lopez.

Christian wanted to simply promote his friend's music and since this was during the blog era this naturally led to creating a tumblr. What was out of the ordinary was how quickly the tumblr grew in popularity, which led to a website, which then led to merch, and from there live event promotion, that developed a one of a kind poetry night series, and all of this has led to a platform for many creatives within Rhode Island called The Daily Note. Oh and Christian does all of this while balancing living between two cities (ATL and PVD) and being a father. In this episode Christian talks about the importance of learning as you go, the impact of having others believe in your vision, the importance of connecting with other creatives, and why the creative energy is shifting in Rhode Island now, more than ever before.

Not caring can usually be associated with online trolls looking to annoy others, but what happens wh0en you care too much? What happens when you care so much it prevents you from not trying in the first place? It's a strange and interesting balance, and few know that balance better than street and concert photographer Rafael Medina. One would assume Rafael picked up a camera at an early age however the opposite was true, as Rafael did not pick up a camera until years later. It was only when Rafael stopped caring about how others would perceive his work that he actually took his first step. A first step on a journey that would lead to taking photos of artists like Pusha T, and releasing his book Dear PVD. In this episode I speak with Rafael about the challenges of street photography, how concert photography teaches you to make quick decisions, the importance of getting your "at bats", why no one has to like your work, how to get your work into galleries, the anxiety of selling your work at street fairs, why you should join a trade organization, photography as utility vs art, your resume vs your portfolio, and his love for the city of Providence.

You have heard of art schools and after school art programs. But what about a non-profit that teaches students how to make commercially viable art for clients, while at the same time paying those students for their work while they learn. Because that is the vision behind Riverzedge arts and Riverzedge Executive Director this episode's guest Kristen Williams. Kristen has a long standing history in theatre as well as academia so it makes perfect sense that she leads Riverzedge Arts, a non-profit program that uses innovative work-based learning strategies to teach art, design, and critical thinking skills to the youth of RI. In this episode Kristen talks about the current state of art education, why certain types of artistic mediums are taught in schools over others, where non-profit programs get their money from, and art being a force for social and economic change.

There are people out there who think being yourself is old fashioned out of touch advice, however for others like this episode's guest Victor Baez being his true authentic self was the catalyst for an entire multi media company. Victor created music reaction videos not in a studio but rather sitting in his car, the authenticity and rawness of his reactions led to overnight virality which Victor then transformed into a podcast, which was then transformed into his multi media company Club Ambition. Through his company and it's content Victor covers not only music but a wide variety of topics such as sports, film, pop-culture, and news, all done through a Providence focused lens. This has led Victor to being quite possibly the top content producer in the state of RI (and with +300k subscribers it would be hard to argue otherwise) and perhaps more importantly a voice for the community. In this episode I sit down with Victor to talk about what makes a good reaction video, how to react to seemingly overnight success, how to leverage attention, what types of content go viral and why, the financial realities of the business of content creation, why there are benefits to being a big fish in a small pond, memorable moments in podcasting, why he still does everything himself, are finally are content creators artists? It all starts with a care package from the Dominican Republic.

Artists switch to different mediums all the time that act of switching has occurred ever since art has existed. But for this episode's guest abstract artist Paige Huggon, discovering a new medium she had not utilized before didn't just give her a new creative outlet, it resulted in her presence within the art world rise tremendously, and that medium was scarves. In this episode I talk with Paige about how she developed her abstract art style. What made her take a step away from creating art? How discovering scarves as an artistic medium pushed her to create art again, why she still works a day job in IT, how presentation affects perceived value, the importance of asking why, and how documenting her artistic process led her on a journey of creative self-discovery.

Storytelling and branding, two words you seem to hear a lot these days when it comes to entrepreneurial success. And it makes sense, storytelling is a powerful tool when you want to create a brand that will last. A good brand story will help you and your customers connect through your work, and this connection will give you an advantage over your competition. But what if you wanted your brand story to be something that was relatable, such as the concern about technology moving too fast, while at the same time fantastical like humanity at war with robots? Now what if you wanted to connect that relatable fantastical story to seemingly disparate areas like releasing an album, or running a pop-up market with other creatives? If you have ever wondered if that was even possible let alone something you could master, then you will want to hear from this episode's guest Spocka Summa. While developing his talents for creating both art and music, Spocka decided to create a persona and backstory that would promote both of his creative endeavors. Little did he realize that story would be a consistent through line to music releases, comic books, action figures, beer, home & skincare products, and finally an artist's market. In this episode Spocka talks about the reasons why creatives work in multiple areas, how to apply your talents to areas outside your expertise, why lack of a platform can provide a business opportunity, and finally why we should focus on staying human amongst all this technology.

Pro wrestler by day state representative for the working class by night, that's the story of this episode's guest David Morales. David is Rhode Island's youngest state legislator and one of the youngest legislators in the country, he's also simultaneously the villainous Hype Champion of the Renegade Wrestling Alliance. Now if you're wondering what does wrestling have to do with local politics or vice versa, it turns out quite a bit! In this episode I speak to David about what sparked his interest in local government, how he graduated both high school and college early, how he got involved in pro-wrestling, how cutting wrestling promos helps him in debates with fellow state legislators, and is Rhode Island a good state to start a business? But this is not a story about a person managing dual identities, it's much more than that. It's a story about drive, about transferring skills between seemingly disparate occupations, and then using those skills to create positive change for both yourself and the people around you. And this all started from a high-school debate.

What happens when a New Yorker goes to Brown to study film and they have trouble finding relevant film work? They end up creating a platform to help themselves and other freelancers find that work, at least that's the case with this episode's guest, Adam Alpert. Adam is the co-founder and CEO of Pangea, a platform that wants to connect freelancers looking for work, with start-ups looking for talent. All the while taking care of things like payments, contracts, creating a portfolio, basically all the other stuff in between. Adam discusses a variety of topics in this episode, including the need for better job application procedures, how long it takes to establish a business with a marketable product, where to find resources to support entrepreneurs, his thoughts on start-ups and Providence's business climate, and much more. And it all started with a visit to the café.