Unthinkable with Jay Acunzo

Betting your career on your creativity means you'll have your fair share of saving bad ideas (or "polishing turds" as you'll hear in one of our stories). It also requires the ability to look past the obvious and see the potential for something better or higher quality or generally more creative. It requires you to see beauty in the broken. Today, we look at these ideas from multiple angles.

 

First, I wrestle with some leftovers (BONUS: you get a recipe out of this episode!). Then, we go outside the echo chamber to hear the curious case of the Warriors -- starting in a very bad place. Then we hear the story of entrepreneur John Marsh, whose career journey looks a lot more like a detour.

 

LINKS TO KNOW:

John Marsh: [www.linkedin.com/in/john-marsh-1576069](http://www.linkedin.com/in/john-marsh-1576069)

John Marsh's real estate business: [http://www.liveopelika.com/](http://www.liveopelika.com/)

New York Times piece on the Warriors: [http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/03/magazine/what-happened-when-venture-capitalists-took-over-the-golden-state-warriors.html?\_r=0](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/03/magazine/what-happened-when-venture-capitalists-took-over-the-golden-state-warriors.html?_r=0)

 

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Get a simple note written by Jay every Monday morning along with the new episode -- subscribe at [http://unthinkable.fm](http://unthinkable.fm)

Jay's Twitter: [http://twitter.com/jayacunzo](http://twitter.com/jayacunzo)

Behind-the-Scenes making Unthinkable: [http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo](http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo)

 

SUPPORT FOR THIS EPISODE:

[http://RightSideShirts.org](http://RightSideShirts.org) - Empowering kids to be more creative and helping art programs in need.

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

Craft

Creativity

NBA

Basketball

Golden State Warriors

Joe Lacob

Stephen Curry

Draymond Green

Michael Jordan

Real Estate

Online Marketing

Lead Generation

Used Cars

Small Businesses

Entrepreneurship

Suicide

Depression

Drugs

Redemption

Cooking

Restaurants

Slingshots are a mini-series within the Unthinkable show where we go deep into a creative side project that winds up someplace surprising. Tinkering on side projects is a powerful way to slingshot our careers forward as content marketers, writers, designers, podcasters, videographers, and any kind of creative.

 

In this episode, Sarah Cooper talks about her journey from acting to Google to making the leap pursuing her comedic writing full-time. She parodies business culture, and she's built a nice audience for herself ... but what happens when your creative aspirations differ from what your audience expects from you?

 

LINKS TO KNOW:

[TheCooperReview.com](TheCooperReview.com)

Sarah's Twitter: [twitter.com/sarahcpr](https://twitter.com/sarahcpr "https://twitter.com/sarahcpr")

[10 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings](http://thecooperreview.com/10-tricks-appear-smart-meetings/)

 

SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW:

Join the newsletter at [unthinkable.fm](unthinkable.fm)

Jay's Twitter: [twitter.com/jayacunzo](https://exit.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fjayacunzo "http://twitter.com/jayacunzo")

Show Behind-the-Scenes: [Snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo](https://exit.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2FSnapchat.com%2Fadd%2Fjayacunzo "http://Snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo")

 

SUPPORT FOR THIS EPISODE:

[RightSideShirts.org](RightSideShirts.org)

 

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

Creativity

Comedy

Standup

Side Projects

Entrepreneurship

Blogging

Meetings

Corporate Culture

Books

Startups

Silicon Valley

San Francisco

New York

Running

Writing

People driven by their creative craft often spend hours agonizing and obsessing over the details of a project. Why? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? How do we know when to actually ship the work? And what does it take in order to operate with that level of detail in a business world often based on seeking shortcuts and cutting corners?

 

Today, we go outside the echo chamber for the story of Niko at Granny's Pie Factory to find out why creative people operate with this extreme care for the details, then we hear about Macaela, Cory, and the team at Newfangled about how and why a creator can be both obsessively connected to a project AND ready to ship it.

 

LINKS TO KNOW:


Granny's Pie Factory: [grannyspiefactory.com](http://grannyspiefactory.com/)

Newfangled: [newfangledstudios.com](newfangledstudios.com)

 

 

SUBSCRIBE:

Join the list at [unthinkable.fm](http://unthinkable.fm) for all episodes plus other goodies and behind-the-scenes content.

Jay's Twitter: [twitter.com/jayacunzo](Twitter.com/jayacunzo)

Behind-the-Scenes making Unthinkable: [Snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo](http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo)

 

 

SUPPORT FOR THIS EPISODE:

[RightSideShirts.org](http://RightSideShirts.org) - empowering kids to be more creative and helping art programs in need.

 

 

TOPICS DISCUSSED:


Creativity


Pies

Craft

Family Business

Small Business

Cooking

Sauce

Video

Audio

Live Action

Creative Direction

Beeple

Dailies

Design

Macaela Vandermost

Niko Harovas

Newfangled Studios

Content Marketing

Brand Marketing

Slingshots are a new mini-series within the Unthinkable show where we go deep into a creative side project that winds up someplace surprising. Tinkering on side projects is a powerful way to slingshot our careers forward as content marketers, writers, designers, podcasters, videographers, and any kind of creative.

 

In this episode, Zac Wolf and Becca Goldring discuss their award-winning open-air photo booth, The Danger Booth.

 

LINKS TO KNOW:


Zac's Twitter: twitter.com/zacxwolf

Becca's Twitter: twitter.com/Becca\_Bakes

TheDangerBooth.com

ZacXWolf.com

 

SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW:

Join the newsletter at unthinkable.fm

Jay's Twitter: twitter.com/jayacunzo

Show Behind-the-Scenes: Snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

 

SUPPORT FOR THIS EPISODE:

RightSideShirts.org

 

TOPICS DISCUSSED:
  

Creativity


Photography

Side Projects

Entrepreneurship

Sales

Boston

Weddings

Startup

Business

Growth

Dogs

For thousands of years, humans have invoked "The Muse" (or any of the nine Muses) to inspire creativity within them. But are we thinking about creative inspiration the wrong way?

 

Also, a major announcement is made by one of our guest's on this episode, featuring legendary creative thinkers.

 

Today, we go outside the echo chamber with Elliott Bell of The Muse to think about career coaching and what we can learn about the creative muse. Then, Chase Jarvis - world-famous photographer and the CEO of CreativeLive - shares a story from his childhood, debunks some myths around creativity and inspiration, and shares a HUGE announcement with us.

 

LINKS TO KNOW:


 

Elliott's Twitter: [twitter.com/ellbell9](http://twitter.com/ellbell9)

The Muse: [www.themuse.com](http://www.themuse.com)

Chase's Twitter: [twitter.com/chasejarvis](https://twitter.com/chasejarvis)

Chase's Snapchat: [snapchat.com/add/chasejarvis](http://snapchat.com/add/chasejarvis)

CreativeLive: [creativelive.com](http://creativelive.com)

30 Days of Genius: [creativelive.com/30daysofgenius](http://creativelive.com/30daysofgenius)

 

SUBSCRIBE:

Join the list at [unthinkable.fm](http://unthinkable.fm) for all episodes plus other goodies and behind-the-scenes content.

Jay's Twitter: [twitter.com/jayacunzo](Twitter.com/jayacunzo)

Behind-the-Scenes making Unthinkable: [Snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo](http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo)

 

 

SUPPORT FOR THIS EPISODE:

[RightSideShirts.org](http://RightSideShirts.org) - empowering kids to be more creative and helping art programs in need.

 

 

TOPICS DISCUSSED:


Creativity


The Muse

Creative Inspiration

Education

Career

Culinary School

Iron Chef

Coffee

Photography

Design

Writing

Mark Cuban

Seth Godin

Richard Branson

Arianna Huffington

Brene Brown 

EduTech

Genius

Slingshots are a new mini-series within the Unthinkable show where we go deep into a creative side project that winds up someplace surprising. Tinkering on side projects are powerful ways to slingshot our careers forward as content marketers, writers, designers, podcasters, videographers, and any kind of creative.

In this episode, Dan Milano talks about the comedy group and video project, Wooden Nickel Shorts.

 

LINKS TO KNOW:


Dan's Twitter: [twitter.com/DanMilanoHere](http://twitter.com/DanMilanoHere)

Wooden Nickel Shorts: [youtube.com/user/WoodenNickelShorts](https://www.youtube.com/user/WoodenNickelShorts)

 

SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW:

Join the newsletter at [unthinkable.fm](http://unthinkable.fm)

Jay's Twitter: [twitter.com/jayacunzo](Twitter.com/jayacunzo)

Show Behind-the-Scenes: [Snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo](http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo)

SUPPORT FOR THIS EPISODE:

[RightSideShirts.org](http://RightSideShirts.org) - empowering kids to be more creative and helping art programs in need.

 

TOPICS DISCUSSED:


Creativity
 

Comedy

Video Production

Video Editing

Saturday Night Live

Twilight

Google Plus

Hollywood

Yetis

Side Projects

When you agonize over the act of creation itself -- for its own sake, not for some ulterior motive or end result -- good things happen. But in the business world, whether in marketing or as an entrepreneur or freelancer, that mentality is surprisingly rare. So what do you call that behavior when someome wants to skip right to the end result, craft be damned? There's a word for it -- a behavior we need to avoid if we want to be truly creative in our careers. 

 

In this episode, we hear the story of Alessandro "San" Bellino, owner of Gracenote Coffee, an espresso bar in downtown Boston. He takes us deep into his approach to his craft, where we'll learn what really matters and get inspired for attacking our own work.

 

LINKS TO KNOW:


Gracenote's Twitter: [twitter.com/gracenoteboston](twitter.com/gracenoteboston)

The Coffee Trike's Twitter: [twitter.com/TheCoffeeTrike](https://twitter.com/TheCoffeeTrike)

 

SUBSCRIBE:

Join the list at [unthinkable.fm](http://unthinkable.fm) for all episodes plus other goodies and behind-the-scenes content.

Jay's Twitter: [twitter.com/jayacunzo](Twitter.com/jayacunzo)

Behind-the-Scenes making Unthinkable: [Snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo](http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo)

 

 

SUPPORT FOR THIS EPISODE:

[RightSideShirts.org](http://RightSideShirts.org) - empowering kids to be more creative and helping art programs in need.

 

 

TOPICS DISCUSSED:


Creativity


Coffee


Espresso

Ice Cream

Italy

Culture

Employee Happiness

Management

Boston

Craftsmanship

The Coffee Trike

Gracenote Coffee

Consciousness

Focus

Work/Life Balance

Being Craft-Driven

Game Theory

Game Mechanics

Intrinsic Motivation

Slingshots are a new mini-series within the Unthinkable show where we go deep into a creative side project that winds up someplace surprising. Tinkering on side projects are powerful ways to slingshot our careers forward as content marketers, writers, designers, podcasters, videographers, and any kind of creative.

In this episode, Erik Devaney talks about carving the white whale.

 

LINKS TO KNOW:


Erik's Twitter: [twitter.com/bardofboston](http://twitter.com/bardofboston)

Erik's Medium article: [https://medium.com/@bardofboston/carving-the-white-whale-7cf0a830b9da](https://medium.com/@bardofboston/carving-the-white-whale-7cf0a830b9da)

 

SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW:

Join the newsletter at [unthinkable.fm](http://unthinkable.fm)

Jay's Twitter: [twitter.com/jayacunzo](Twitter.com/jayacunzo)

Show Behind-the-Scenes: [Snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo](http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo)

SUPPORT FOR THIS EPISODE:

[RightSideShirts.org](http://RightSideShirts.org) - empowering kids to be more creative and helping art programs in need.

 

TOPICS DISCUSSED:


Creativity


Craftsmanship

Moby Dick

Customer Personas

Marketing

Content Marketing

Side Projects

Wood Carving

HubSpot

Medium

Netflix

Procrastination

Writing

Creative side projects are powerful ways to slingshot our careers forward as content marketers, writers, designers, podcasters, videographers, and any kind of creative. In this episode, we hear the story of Neil Pasricha, creator of 1000AwesomeThings.com, a TED speaker, and author of multiple New York Times bestselling books, including The Book of Awesome.

 

LINKS TO KNOW:


Neil's Twitter: [twitter.com/1000awesome](http://twitter.com/1000awesome)

Neil's TED talk: [https://www.ted.com/talks/neil\_pasricha\_the\_3\_a\_s\_of\_awesome?language=en](https://www.ted.com/talks/neil_pasricha_the_3_a_s_of_awesome?language=en)

Neil's new book: [http://goo.gl/sKAxzL](http://goo.gl/sKAxzL)

Subscribe at [unthinkable.fm](http://unthinkable.fm) for all episodes plus other goodies and behind-the-scenes content.

 

SUBSCRIBE:

Jay's Twitter: [twitter.com/jayacunzo](Twitter.com/jayacunzo)

Show Behind-the-Scenes: [Snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo](http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo)

 

SUPPORT FOR THIS EPISODE:

[RightSideShirts.org](http://RightSideShirts.org) - empowering kids to be more creative and helping art programs in need.

 

TOPICS DISCUSSED:


Creativity


Blogging


Career Growth


Content Marketing


Risk-Taking


Daily Routines


Books


Writing


TED Talks


Space Exploration


Awesome Things

The Book of Awesome

The Happiness Equation

In the official launch of Unthinkable, we'll tackle the bizarre but huge debate of quality vs. quantity in marketing. Plus, creator & host Jay Acunzo shares the theme of the show and why it's time to finally, mercifully, start being loud about our one true desire -- to create great content for a living. We'll go outside the marketing echo-chamber to the smartest place on the planet, as well as hear from a prolific content creator who would make most marketers blush.

 

LINKS TO KNOW:

Subscribe at [unthinkable.fm](http://unthinkable.fm) for all episodes plus other goodies and behind-the-scenes content.

[@jayacunzo](http://Twitter.com/jayacunzo) & [UnthinkableFM](http://Twitter.com/UnthinkableFM)

[snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo](http://Snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo)

[facebook.com/UnthinkableFM](Facebook.com/UnthinkableFM)

 

SUPPORT FOR THIS EPISODE:

[RightSideShirts.org](RightSideShirts.org) - empowering kids to be more creative and helping art programs in need.