Beginnings are tenuous times. Getting anything substantial off the ground means making countless tiny decisions first, any one of which might assume vast importance—if you’re successful down the road. Paralyzed by Fear & Decisions The danger is twofold. On the one hand, you can become paralyzed by all the decisions you need to make. They can steal the life from your project—whatever the medium and at whatever the scale—before you’ve even begun. “What if I... read more ›
Oct
17
Oct
10
We often start out thinking if we can just do the "right" work, we'll breakthrough. When in fact, it's not the what work we should focus on, but how much. We will do everything we can to convince ourselves that something other than volume is more important. Listen to the Podcast Smells like Procrastination We need a new lens to get the right shot. We need to switch to a different writing app with better... read more ›
Sep
26
Are you looking for a place to start? Is the number of options overwhelming? It's always best to begin by doing. School taught me that I'm not ready to learn something properly until I've actually tried it or developed a curiosity so deep that I'm willing to engage with it for hours. As a photographer, I needed to start taking photos before I read a pile of books about how lenses work or what depth of... read more ›
Jul
20
Tony was a key part of the teams that built the initial iterations of the iPod, iPhone, and much more. Now an investor and entrepreneur with a 30+ year history of founding companies and designing products that profoundly improve people’s lives, Tony's primary focus is as Principal of Future Shape, which coaches over 200+ startups innovating game-changing technologies. On a recent episode of the Chase Jarvis Live Show, we talked about building things- from building... read more ›
Jun
06
Early on in my career, I had to make an important distinction between what it means to be a photographer, and what it means to be a professional. Yes, a photographer takes photos and a professional photographer sells photos. You know what else a professional does? They show up every day, even when the inspiration isn't hitting them. Do the Verb to Be... read more ›
Jan
10
Nothing intimidates a writer more than a blank page. Yet, the tranquillity in the white space is what stimulates thinking. As a communicator and storyteller, isn't creativity all about contemplating filling up those white spaces with words? Margaret Atwood is an award-winning author whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries in multiple forms of creative expression, including graphic novels, TV series and films. Her latest novel, The Testaments, sequel to her award-winning... read more ›
Dec
06
Today on the podcast, we have a question from a man named Chris who feels like he has all the passion and energy in the world, but doesn't know how to harness it, or where to start. If you're not sure what you're supposed to be doing, identify some things you like. What are you naturally curious about? What are some things that interest you? What excites you? It's okay to throw things at a... read more ›
Jul
05
CreativeLive student and filmmaker, Alec Cutter first came on my radar in 2016 during a live panel event in Seattle. After playing division one soccer at Gonzaga University, he moved to NYC with a dream to become a filmmaker, where he faced the classic chicken and egg dilemma. He needed a portfolio to get hired, but felt like getting hired was necessary to create a portfolio. Living on a friends couch, working multiple jobs, Alec... read more ›
May
12
One of the most common stories I hear is, "I'm not ready yet." You have a dream, a goal, an ambition, but without the connections, skills, or resources it feels out of reach. Social media makes it easy to see others' success without showing the REAL stuff. Late nights, blood, sweat, tears… the messy middle doesn't make the highlight reel. This mindset undermines our confidence and inhibits creativity. Chances are, you do have what... read more ›
Jul
15
Steve John Irby, aka Steve Sweatpants, is a renowned street photographer and cofounder of Street Dreams Magazine, a beautiful zine that is unlike anything of it's kind featuring up and coming photographers and crowd sourced photography in beautiful layouts and stories. The majority of Steve's photographic work is derived from the endless source of inspiration found in his home turf in NYC with intriguing travel logs to round out what has become an insanely compelling... read more ›