Stay ConnectedThe Side Hustler’s Perspective Podcast is fuel for your mind and creative grind.
Each week, Coach Scotty Russell puts you in a position to get paid to play creating work that lights you up…
All while navigating a day job, family life, the inner critic, and more.
This is for those who want to master the art of healthy hustling while growing their creative business.
You can follow Scotty on Twitter @ScottytheCoach and IG @CoachScottyRussell for all things coaching and art.
Copyright: © All Rights Reserved 2020
Imagine you’re baking a pizza...of course, what a Scotty thing to say, right?
Except in this scenario, the same crust, cheese, and toppings are provided to you and everyone else.
What’s going to make your pizza truly stand out from the noise is the sauce you make for the pizza.
What’s the secret to making the secret sauce that’ll keep people craving for yours while others seem to get lost in the shuffle?
It's a personalized dash, smidgen, and a pinch of ingredients that makes you, YOUnique.
You combine all these ingredients up in a blender...or maybe a food processor...and voilà! Here's your secret sauce that'll make your pizza shine.
Anyone can try to mimic the pizza you bake, but no one can rip your secret sauce!
In our creative world, we pretty much all have access to similar tools, mediums, and distribution channels to get our work out there. However, the way we rise above the noise is how we show up and pour ourselves into our work.
This isn't a new concept as people have been talking about this for a long time now. Someone like Lisa Congdon calls this your Artistic Voice, thought others may call it something else.
Finding your secret sauce is my cheesy spin on what I call your Sweet Spot in your creative grind.
Today, I want to do a little overview of the three main ingredients that I feel make up your truly YOUnique secret sauce (I'm sure this will evolve over time).
There are action steps baked within each segment with an intended goal. They'll help you understand how your own ingredients will make your secret sauce, and how you can leverage them within your personal brand and the work you show.
When I jump on coaching calls, I guide each student through the process of finding their secret sauce.
Knowing your secret sauce brings clarity, confidence, conviction, and purpose when pursuing your creative grind.
It's easier said than done, but that's the beauty of the messy, ever-evolving creative process: you have to dig deep to know which ingredients you even have in your personal pantry.
Now that we've added a little context to it, let's start breaking down the 3 main types of ingredients you're baking with.
I mention this often, but I've learned from first-hand experience that your story is your most powerful asset.
I shared my backstory with Diane Gibbs back in 2015 when I was just getting started with my blog that no one read.
She ran with it and not only provided me with my first podcast interview on her Design Recharge Show, but she also landed me my first speaking gig at AIGA Mobile Flourish Conference in Alabama.
It totally caught me off guard and jump-started my early side hustle days.
For the longest time, I felt I didn't have anything to share or that anyone would care. But when I shared my story of being bullied, dealing with depression, anxiety, comparison, imposter syndrome, etc., it let other people know they weren't alone.
It became a permission slip for them to share their stories. It connected us because they saw something similar in themselves even if the plot and details weren't the same.
The shit you've been through is real. You went through it for a reason, and the adversity you overcame could be a powerful example to someone else so they triumph through the same shit storm.
No one can replicate your story. In my opinion, it's THE KEY INGREDIENT in your secret sauce.
Action Step
It takes some time, but start jotting down your story and past experiences that have helped mold you into the person you've become today.
The better you can tell it, the better it can connect with someone.
You may not think people will care, but trust me, someone out there needs to hear it.
There are certain things you're naturally good at that seem to be difficult for others (how many times have you heard, "I couldn't even draw a stick figure"?).
There are skills you've obtained by spending hours on end studying, researching, and practicing (10,000 hours by Malcom Glidewell anyone?).
There are things you had to learn, due to the circumstances you grew up, in order to thrive or (let alone) survive.
All of these skills and strengths become art-illery in your arsenal to equip you for your creative grind.
When you combine these skills with your story and the following ingredients, you're baking up a killer pizza that's sure to satisfy a gaggle of hungry creatives.
Action Step
Start a list of any type of skills or strengths you developed over the years. (e.g., painting, speaking, strange fact retainment, storytelling, metaphors, rapping, wood widdling, pet whispering, etc.)
Now start seeing if there is any potential overlap with your skills that could develop something unique and different when put together. (e.g., Lindsey Stirling playing the violin while dancing)
There's a lot of unique ingredients within this that can make this exercise complex and a bit confusing (but fun as well when you find your mojo).
Work with too many ingredients, and they begin fighting each other when you bake and serve your personal pan pizza to the world.
However, when you're able to narrow down these ingredients to a select handful of "buckets," it'll make the sauce you bring to the table (social media, website, keynotes, etc.) more digestible, palatable, and easier for one to sink their teeth into.
I originally heard of this concept from Jenna Kutcher. She talks about defining your buckets of interests (up to 5) that you can navigate through as well as overlap.
A lot of my creative friends do this: more specifically Liz Gray, Dina Rodriguez, and Zulfa of The Cosmic Feminist.
By defining your buckets, you're essentially narrowing your focus (niching down) into what you want to be known for.
You're sending a beacon to potential fans and clients that this is either for you or not. As Seth Godin says in This is Marketing, you and your work aren't for everyone—and that's a good thing!
I like to imagine this: we're products on an end cap in a highly trafficked store.
Our job is to design and define our label to the world, which sets expectations (we don't want to make people guess if our product is for them or not).
We can narrow down our buckets of interests into the following categories. We'd ideally pick 1 to 5 to add to our secret sauce.
Interests
I feel something you're interested in could also be something you're passionate about, but they could also be separate.
Interests could be some type of person, place, or thing (a noun for you smart folks out there) that piques your curiosity, fascinates you, you want to learn more about, etc. (e.g., folklore, history of alchemy, astrology, adult coloring books, sudoku, etc.)
Your current or future interests could convert into a passion that plays a key role in your secret sauce.
Passions
Pinpointing a passion should be pretty simple by answering a few questions:
What lights you up to the point where you lost track of time doing it?
What keeps you up at night because it injects your mind with a dose of joy and excitement?
What do you love doing that you can't help but talk about it?
If you had spare time, what's the one thing you'd no doubt be doing?
Beliefs
You have to believe in something. Placing your faith, trust, or confidence in something sets the foundation for how you show up each day.
It's something that you accept to be true and that influences your values and your morals. (e.g., religion, pro/anti-vaccines, pro/anti-abortion, etc.)
Values
Values are rules, standards, and principles that influence our behavior and character—they often stem from the belief systems.
Many brands, businesses, and people have their core values that set the tone for how they show up and treat other people (inclusivity, hard work, equality, honesty, etc.).
Action Step
Take some time to jot down some answers in each of these categories. Locate areas of overlap or how some stem from others. Select 1–5 traits within these buckets that you feel make up the Core Identity ingredient you want to showcase in your secret sauce.
My Personal Core Ingredient Example
Here are the buckets I play in with my brand (some overlap and can be utilized as a strength/skill):
Interests: Pizza and Outer Space (honorable mentions would be black ink tattoos, sports, fitness, cats, coffee, horror movies, and Game of Thrones)
Passions: Coaching (empowering/educating creatives) and Drawing
Values: Inclusivity and Positivity
If you were to read my Instagram bio or scroll through my feed, my Core Identity buckets would be pretty evident.
If you visited Liz Gray's, Dina Rodriguez, or Zulfa's accounts, you'd easily be able to decipher the label they share with the world and what to expect when following them.
First off, creating an award-winning secret sauce is impossible to master overnight (just look at Colonel Sanders of KFC and how long it took for his finger-lickin' chicken to pop off).
Finding your secret sauce takes time (I'm over 5.5 years into my side hustle, and I feel I'm just now finding my secret formula...for this season).
Perfecting your secret sauce is an endless process. You're constantly growing and evolving with new life experiences that'll shape your Core Identity ingredient.
It's hard to thrive in your creative grind when you're trying to replicate someone else's secret sauce.
Have some fun with the process and follow the action steps today to start developing your own award-winning secret sauce.
Keep baking up pizzas to share with the world and tweak your ingredients over time.
The more you're vibing to the personal pan pizza you're baking up, the right people will too.
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It seems everyone and their grandma wants to start a clothing line or slang merch these days (I say this because I’m guilty of both).
I get it, you want to see your work tangibly exist and find its way into the little nooks and crannies of this planet.
It’s dope to manifest your idea in your noggin’ to something you can physically touch. However, when you’re just starting off, you gotta keep your expectations in check, as finding success in these realms takes far more work and time than you realize.
Everyone wants the end results, but they don’t have the patience nor grit to put in the grind over time to tap into that success.
If you’re a long-time listener, you know I’ll never sugar coat shit here. I don’t believe in fluff or telling you what I think you want to hear.
You can’t just show up and put something into this world and expect people to buy it.
Trust me, I’ve been there and have learned plenty of hard lessons.
I spent 4 years building a clothing brand outside of college with my homie Dustin McLaughin aka DMAC aka Dusty Dink grassroots-style. We didn’t gain serious traction until year three.
Sadly, long-term success wasn’t in the cards for us, but I learned a lot—it’s what spawned Perspective-Collective..
Then two years into Perspective-Collective, I started slanging products on my own. I thought, because I had an Instagram audience of over 10k, that slanging 300 5x7” Change Your Perspective custom-lettered letterpress prints for less than $10 would be a breeze.
I tied a meaningful story to it and built a whole launch around it including a dope, inspirational video DMac created for me...I’m still sitting on just under 100 of those left, and the majority of them I’ve gifted away to people.
Selling your shit is hard work. It’s not impossible, but I feel there are solid guidelines and phases to work through in order to get to a point where people care enough to buy.
Today’s guests have been in this creation game slanging their own knick-knacks and dope little trinkets for a hot minute now. They know how much time goes into gaining traction and the effort behind the scenes of running a business when everyone else just sees the fun of designing and prototyping through social media.
I’m talking about my family over at Hellcats: a goods, accessories, and apparel brand ran by power duo Britt Reagan and hubby Clark Orr.
All of their products are designed and packaged in-house in their Winter Park, FL. studio. In fact, they MAKE many of their products in their studio by their own damn hands and then sell wholesale to their hungry clients or online and at events to drooling creatives like you and me.
If you struggle with building a cohesive brand or want to get started in the merch game, take notes as Hellcats goes deep into:
This episode isn’t going to tell you what you want to hear but what you need to hear to tap into that long-term success. Nothing happens overnight so use this as fuel for your longevity.
Shownotes
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I’m going to say something that may strike a nerve. It may even put a bad taste in your mouth when you think of me…
However, I say this because I truly do give a shit about you and your future goals.
I say this because it used to be me, and I realize how I was really just in my own way.
If there’s something you want to do or accomplish, saying you don’t have the time to pursue it is just a big ole excuse to make yourself feel better about not following through and taking action.
When, in reality, it’s not that you don’t have the time—it’s that you haven’t made it a priority.
Making something a priority means sacrificing elsewhere.
You have to take a long, hard look at areas you're over-consuming, wasting time, or working on that doesn’t serve the bigger picture.
In order to get the results you want with your ambitious side hustle pursuits, you have to be willing to make the time and put in that time to grind over time.
I’ll say that again, you have to make the time and put in the time to grind over time.
Results don’t happen overnight, and no one is going to carve out the time to execute for you.
It’s on you. No excuses!
Someone who finds the time to grind outside a crazy schedule and has been doing this for years now is my one of my best buds in the design game, Matt Dawson aka @staygrayponyboy on Instagram.
Matt is one of the best when it comes to designing logos and badge concepts. He has a way of adding a unique and clever twist to his work that stands out from the competition. It’s not something you going to find from a $20 logo template set from Creative Market, that’s for sure.
When he’s not flexing his design skills, he's building a community for creatives all over the world, so we can find like-minded people who nerd out over the same creative shit as we do.
He does this through Crop Conference, which is a thriving creative-based conference that has found a new home in Austin, TX. He brings in some of the biggest names in the industry to melt the faces of hungry creatives like you and me while connecting us with a new tribe of people that'll become like family.
Buckle in, as we are about to keep it real right from the jump and chat about:
If you’re struggling with patience or suck butt with time management, this one is definitely going to speak to you and how to make significant habitual changes to grow.
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I don't care about your religious or spiritual beliefs (but I respect and welcome them all).
I want to know if you're the type of person who believes in signs? (No, I'm not referring to M. Night Shyamalan's highly underappreciated 2002 science fiction film Signs.)
When I'm talking about signs, I'm talking about the signposts of life—your gut/intuition/heart attempting to serve as your internal compass.
I used to think this was all a bunch of woo-woo malarky for people who've done a little bit too much LSD and think they interact with angels (yet I'm the same dude who's believed in ghosts and aliens my entire life.)
Things have changed, and I shifted my perspective on the matter.
Now I live for this shit, and the more I've tapped into my self-awareness, the more I'm able to notice these signs and open myself up for the opportunities flowing my way.
There are signs and omens all around us, and it's our job to notice them. You could be ignoring the exact thing you didn't know you needed to elevate your side hustle to new heights you never could've imagined (if you haven't yet, please read the book The Alchemist, as it will shift your limiting beliefs as it did for me).
The following are the 4 signs you could be ignoring that are holding you back from getting the breakthroughs you're wanting with your ambitious side hustle pursuits.
For each sign, I'm doing two things:
When life hands you lemons, are you the type of person to whine and bitch about it? Or...are you the type of person to make a Vodka Lemonade (with a double shot of Tito's, of course)?
It's too easy to play the victim when adversity strikes and vent to the closest person to us (or a Facebook status) about how "this happened TO me."
Taking this stance immediately positions you as a victim, and you place that negative energy on someone else.
What if...instead of something happening TO you, it was really happening FOR you?
For me, it's been in the form of toxic relationships ending badly, yet it led to me learning how to make myself happy, which then led me to my wonderful wife, Emily (aka my Baby Mama, aka My Boo Thang, aka Ems Slice for Life).
How about when I was unexpectedly let go from my "safe job" late last year? Honestly, I played the victim for the first two hours as we just closed on a new home a week before and announced kiddo #2 was on the way.
However, I was able to snap out of it and get to work. As I connect the dots, I was able to see that the Universe was really shoving me into taking a leap of faith before I was ready, which was pursuing full-time coaching and freelance in 2020...I hadn't been busting my ass with my side hustle for over 5.5 years for nothing, right?!
So, ya, getting canned right before the holidays didn't happen TO me, that shit happened FOR me, and took his new challenge head-on and plan on sharing everything I learn along the way with you like always!
What's a curveball life has recently thrown at you?
What's the potential blessing in disguise or learning opportunity tucked away in it that can help you grow?
The Lizard Brain is the oldest part of your brain, and it was responsible for the aggression and fear triggers back in our Cave Man days when it was fight or flight to survive.
Our brains continue to try and keep us safe by disguising potentially life-changing ideas and opportunities as risks and placing them behind a wall of fear.
When we operate from fear, our minds only know how much we could lose by taking that risk. It can’t measure how much we can gain by breaking through the wall to get the gold on the other side.
It’s a paradigm shift when you learn that fear is your intuition guiding you to unlock the next version of yourself—it’s an indicator of something you’re excited about.
My biggest fears have always led to my biggest breakthroughs: sharing my work, blogging, public speaking, podcasting, and pursuing coaching in 2019.
I've learned to use fear as my cue that whatever excites me yet scares me is something I need to be pursuing.
It's because I've gotten uncomfortable and pursued my fears that I'm able to pursue this current gigantic fear of doing Perspective-Collective full-time...trust me when I say I wake up fucking terrified each day yet I'm more excited than I've ever been for anything when I find my groove in my studio.
What's something that excites you yet the fear of failure, judgment, or even success is restraining you from taking the first step to pursuing it?
How can you get out of your own way to unlock that next version of yourself you're supposed to become?
We take for granted the minuscule good things that happen to us each day.
We, probably too wrapped up in that adversity I talked about a little bit ago, brush them off and keep pushing on with our day.
What if those little fortuitous events that happened were really cues for you to connect the dots and take action?
What if people here and there tell you that they liked your little doodles on napkins and coasters you'd do in coffee shops and restaurants?
This is a cue that you could have a future as an artist (this was me growing up, but I was convinced I wasn't a good artist, so I didn't share my work till my early 20's).
What if people sporadically tell you that you have a good way with words or storytelling?
This could be your cue that you could be an author, copywriter, podcaster, blogger, etc.
What if people randomly told you how you have a really good eye for detail?
This could be your cue that you were meant to thrive as a designer, photographer, motion graphic artist, videographer, etc.
For me, it was little things like early validation on my Instagram drawings that gave me confidence as an artist.
From there, it was little comments from people like:
I ignored these in the beginning, but now I can look back and see these signs have been trying to push me toward the direction I'm steering my ship today.
You better believe I pay attention now to the repeating patterns that come up sporadically each day.
What are some reoccurring events, patterns, comments, etc. that seem to circle back around in your life?
Make a list of them and start to connect the dots. It could be leading you to the next step you're supposed to take with your creative side hustle.
Here's where the woo-woo malarky begins to set off people's "bullshit radar detectors."
Big Daddy Google states, "Synchronicity is the simultaneous occurrence of events that appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection."
I was a skeptic who is now a huge believer, as I've seen how this has worked in my life, especially in 2019.
I'm a believer that there is a much greater power out there pulling the strings, and I'm choosing to label this as The Universe. You can call it whatever you choose to believe in, no judgment here!
I'm learning that the more I'm in alignment with the direction I'm supposed to be going, The Universe will continue to deliver me what seems to be insanely serendipitous and coincidental opportunities.
When I chose to go all-in as the Side Hustle Coach in 2019, I had to make tough choices like stop freelancing, teaching workshops, and selling products in my online shop.
It was extremely hard to do, as I didn't really know what I was doing in terms of launching a coaching program, along with copywriting and email marketing.
However, I chose this path because it "felt right," and I fed off the repeating comments from peers that I'd be a great coach.
As I stumbled early in my coaching pursuits, oddly enough, people and opportunities presented themselves and were exactly what I needed to be successful.
Out of nowhere, I had a coach and a business consultant magically cross my path that was the perfect fit for what I was needing (I didn't even know what I needed, so it made it even extra crazy). Working with them completely transformed my business, and it's why I'm able to do this full-time today.
While I was getting my program setup, I was missing the breadwinning part of my side-income, which was freelance. However, I trusted the process and randomly, opportunities showed up to become an affiliate for products and people I believed in that aligned with things I know would provide my audience absurd amounts of value.
Throughout the process of gearing up to launch the first version of the program in September, it seemed someone or something always popped up out of nowhere that gave me the answer/solution I was seeking to step into this phase of my business.
Things happen for a reason, and Synchronicity is REAL! When something unexplainable or fortuitous happens that doesn't quite make sense, just know there's a deeper meaning behind it that you should be using as a cue!
NOTE: I'll also mention the fact that I would see the number 11:11 each day or 1:11, 2:22, 3:33, 4:44, and 5:55 often the last year. That's a whole other woo-woo story but when I started to look up the meaning behind 11:11 late July 2019, that woo-woo mindset quickly shifted as things all started to make sense and breakthroughs happened left and right.
If you see 11:11 often or any of the other numbers I mentioned, I highly recommend looking it up as you'll really start to see where you're ignoring signs and blessings for real.
You can think I'm crazy, but if you're tired of not seeing results and playing the victim in your life, what could it hurt to open your mind up to something that science can't fully explain?
What series of fortunate coincidences have happened to cross your paths?
Have people come out of nowhere to offer you their assistance? Has an opportunity shown up at your doorstep (which could be disguised as adversity)?
These are things to pay attention to. Take a moment and connect the dots as whatever is pulling the strings out there could be showing you a path you're missing.
I'm one of those type of people who feels everything happens for a reason and you attract or repel things into your life whether you're intentionally doing it or not.
You follow me for a reason.
You're listening to this episode for a reason...especially if it's your first time ever listening to me.
This episode is a sign that YOU attracted this into your life
Maybe you're creatively stuck and lacking a purpose with the work you share or desire to start sharing with the world?
Maybe you crave to build something meaningful outside your 9-5, but lack the time and motivation to make the necessary moves to see results?
Maybe you're going through some shit right now, but realize it could be the push you need to take the step to become the best future version of yourself?
Whatever it is, DON'T IGNORE THE SIGNS. The more you ignore these 4 types of signs, The Universe (or whatever you believe in) will take the hint and stop sending them your way as you subconsciously declare you're comfortable going in the same direction.
I kick out this podcast for a reason: to help creatives like you get unstuck and blaze your own path.
As cheesy as it sounds, it took me a while to fully notice the signs that this was the route I was supposed to be taking.
Coaching and kicking out empowering art and content for side hustlers like you is the type of shit that lights me up. My new Spider-Sense is always tingling as I try to catch a whiff of the next omens or signs directing me to the next steps to serve you better and get the next breakthrough.
It's up to you to do the same as your breakthroughs are waiting on you to make them happen. You gotta keep your head on a swivel and keep taking action and the answers will reveal themselves over time like they have for me.
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I’m big on connecting the dots, so I can understand how my past experiences influence my current actions, beliefs, and mindsets.
If you know me by now, you know how open I am about growing up severely tormented and bullied. In fact, I had bullies all the way throughout college.
Being bullied made me crave acceptance, which I thought for a long time came in the form of popularity. I now understand the acceptance I craved comes in the form of community.
Being bullied was a blessing in disguise because it’s the catalyst for my strong beliefs in inclusivity, connection, positivity, and empowerment.
It’s why I created the FREE Perspective-Collective private Facebook Community where isolated creatives all over the world can tap into a like-minded tribe of people who think differently and want more out of life.
It's why I coached football in the past, which evolved into coaching creatives today on how to build fulfilling and profitable side hustles.
Community is everything to me. That's why I'm trying to build through my podcast and brand—a place where people feel welcomed and inspired.
At the end of the day, it’s about the bigger picture. We’re just small cogs working in a scheme that’s so much bigger than ourselves.
Today’s guest is two people who understand the importance of community because they’ve built a thriving, raving, and raging fan base around their biggest passion: coffee.
I’m talking about Fred and Chanell Dedrick of Iron Bean Coffee Company in Ohio.
They’re a premium small-batch, roast-to-order, veteran-owned coffee company. They import their high-quality coffee beans directly from Colombia, Brazil, Uganda, Honduras, Peru, Ethiopia, Indonesia, & other far-off lands. Then, they personally roast every one of their kick-ass coffees to be shipped directly to you.
Not to mention they crush it in the merch department because “selling out” is pretty much the expectation whenever there is a new merch drop.
The beauty of this all is that they do this as a freakin’ side hustle, which is why they’re on the show.
If you’re a side hustling dream chaser, buckle in and take notes as Team Iron Bean and I chat about:
I’m honored to bring this change-of-pace interview because I know their story will significantly parallel your creative grind. Plus these are two entertaining hard-working hustlers who have an awesome story I am stoked to share.
We also drop a promo code in the outro to for you to get some Iron Bean Coffee in your life. Stay tuned!
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I want to preface this preface of today’s interview: I’m speaking solely from experience here on my philosophy on the phases of your side hustle.
I think, early on in your hustle—once you truly accept you’re a creative and you’re figuring out what direction to go—that experimentation and trying new things is important. I think of this as Phase 1, and I was totally there. In fact, I played in this Phase for like 4 years, until I reached what I feel is Phase 2.
Phase 2: you start to figure out what is and what isn’t working. I call this the "sweet spot secret sauce" that overlaps your greatest passion/interests with your greatest strengths. You start to narrow down and go deeper down this rabbit hole and connecting with yourself and your potential audience/clients on a deeper level. You start to really understand yourself and what these hungry and connected humans want/need and how you could potentially provide that solution...that’s where Phase 3 starts to come in.
Phase 3, to me, is when you add the next ingredient to the secret sauce of the Sweet Spot: the market. You’ve now combined something you’re passionate about with something you’re good at, so now you need to pinpoint where you’re able to provide a valuable solution to that perfect follower or client. To me, this is where the magic happens: your ambitious side hustle pursuits start to really gain traction and shape into the possibility of something more.
I think Phase 4 is something I’m on the cusp of, but I don’t truly know what it looks like yet. However, I'm definitely thriving in my secret sauce sweet spot and finding new ingredients to add to the mix to help scale what I’m doing and go deeper.
I guess this philosophy I’m speaking toward all started with experimenting, but now I've narrowed my focus. I not only listened to my gut, but I also soaked up outside perspectives and advice how I could steer my ship in a more strategic direction that still aligned with the Phase 2 of my greatest strengths and passions.
I continued to narrow my focus by saying no to things that didn’t align with where I wanted to go.
The narrowing of my focus is what we like to call niching down ("nitching" or "neeching," based on however you’d like to pronounce it).
I was one who refused to niche, yet wondered why I always felt like I wasn’t making the progress I wanted...even though I had been doing Perspective-Collective for a few years.
However, as I started to gain more clarity and confidence in the direction I wanted to go, the more powerful niching down became. During this season, I can safely say I’m a Side Hustle Coach who helps creatives build fulfilling and profitable side hustles outside their day job.
This is my niche during this season, and I embrace it and realize this isn’t necessarily forever...and that’s the key to today’s episode.
Today’s guest is someone who truly showed me the power of why the riches are in the niches and to embrace the discomfort that came with it.
I’m talking about my brother from another marketing mother, Tom Ross, CEO of Design Cuts, Face of the Honest Entrepreneur, Co-Host of The Honest Designers Podcast, and a new podcast he has in the works with Michael Janda.
He has progressively niched down over the years and has built successful companies left and right, but now focuses his attention on helping creatives like you and I are with marketing to blow up our side hustle pursuits.
TAKE NOTES ON THIS SHIT because Tom and I go deep on the topic of niching down and more specifically cover:
I’m hoping you find a golden nugget in here you can immediately apply to your creative grind ASAP, so you get one step further in whatever phase you’re currently in.
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Which type of person are you?
Because you’re listening to this podcast, it’s safe for me to assume you’re the second type of individual or are striving to become this person.
I never was truly person #1, as I always craved to do something more outside of my previous day jobs...but I never took myself seriously until I was like 26 and a year into Perspective-Collective.
However, designing, drawing, and just creating in general has been flowing through my veins my entire life.
Person #2 is the type of person who can’t shut it off. You see good as well as bad design/art all around you 24/7.
You’re the type of person who is drawing something in your mind as you try to sleep and then you can’t wait to wake up to bring it to life.
You keep a notepad by your bed to collect those killer reoccurring thoughts, or you have a water proof note pad in your shower because those are where the best ideas come from.
You’re the kind of person who doesn’t eat at a restaurant because the logo is horrible.
You won’t watch a DVD strictly because the font choice is whack.
You point out poor kerning to your significant other even though they could care less.
Or you get out your phone to capture that dope neon sign, fading mural, or sick badge on a man hole cover.
You live for this shit, and that’s how you know that you’re made to be a creative. Now it’s time to put in the work.
Today’s episode features a squad of goons who can’t turn off the creative switch and were clearly cut from a different cloth. The work they do and the rapid pace they do it isn’t normal for creatives like you and me.
I’m talking about my homies over at Lincoln Design Co out of the great Pacific Northwest.
Their chief of command, Dan Janssen, has assembled a cast of 5 insanely talented creatives as they slay work for the brand giants of the world like: Mattel, Hasbro, Disney, DreamWorks, Nike, Nickelodeon, Google, Hot Wheels….you get the point...but they’re not too proud to crush it for a local mom and pop shop or for creatives like you and me who need that next level personalized touch.
I linked up with Lincoln early on when they started making big waves in the creative community, and I’m honored to bring them back on for round 2 today to catch you up with the insane growth and power moves they’ve made since 2017.
We have a unique one as we got a chance to record during their 2019 end of year retreat. Each member of the crew was in the middle of working, but we managed to get a little screen time for each of them!
I want to see your notes on this one as Dan and company go deep on:
It’s easy to fall victim to comparison when you see dope work on the daily from these dudes, but use this episode as a heavy dose of creative fuel to be the best version of yourself in 2020 and take your work to the next level in this new decade.
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I don’t care what anyone says, but every one of us, whether we know it or not, is creating a personal brand.
Every interaction we have, every post we publish, and every action we take begins to design what we show the world and the people we are trying to repel or attract to our tribe.
When you’re self-aware of this, you can use it to your advantage and be more specific and strategic about creating and speaking to the things that you hold highest in your belief system and interests.
In our creative community, one of the most self-aware people I know who shows up as their truest self online and in-person, is my new friend Dina Rodriguez who slays under the name Letter Shoppe.
Dina creates art that supports mental health, body positivity, and cannabis culture. In the process, she's created an insanely supportive and engaged community.
Yes, she’s a talented artist, but she’s an even wittier and savvier marketer who knows how to give her audience what they need while remaining true to her core identity and treating her work like play.
She has a thriving merch business, a poppin’ Patreon tribe, and enough pep and energy to power up 5 power plants.
Did I mention she’s the brains behind that rapidly growing @womenofillustration account spotlighting the insanely talented women in our creative community?
Ya, you’re going to want to take notes on this one because Dina drops mad insight on:
Today’s episode is going to empower and challenge you to analyze how you’re showing up each day and the message you want to put into this world.
As always, keep an open mind and act on anything that inspires you today. Let’s go.
Please share this one with your friends and family if you found value in it.
If you want that extra level of clarity, community, and accountability develop a process that helps you win with your work, sign up for the Side Hustler's Coaching Program A-List waitlist now for January's relaunch.
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Listener of the Week: BrittHoffman from USA
Podcast Editor: Aine Brennan
Shownotes Editor: Paige Garland
Video Editor: Colton Bachar
Podcast music: Blookah
—
Lisa Congdon on Standing Out, Imposter Syndrome, & Your Artistic Voice
As creatives, why do we make things so hard on ourselves?
Why do we stand in our own way and block ourselves from chasing what we really want?
It’s like we’ve been given the keys to the Ferrari, but we talk ourselves out of turning on the ignition and pressing the gas to go (I realize new Ferraris most likely have a push to start button, but let’s pretend anyway.)
We are the Ferrari, and the key is something we all have deep inside of us. We already possess the tool within us, which we’ll talk about today, we need to thrive. Yet, we let inner and external forces influence us to play it safe and live a "comfortable life," even though there’s another muffled inner voice that yearns to do more.
Let’s unmuffle and empower that voice...our artistic voice, that is.
My new friend today is someone who was a late bloomer to the game but has used that as her advantage.
I’m talking about the profound illustrator, author, and speaker, Lisa Congdon. She whips up whimsical and vibrant art for top tier brands like Crate and Barrel, Facebook, Sonos, Lululemon, and more from her stomping grounds of Portland, OR.
Sure, she wins awards and crushes work for big-time names, but the two things I admire the most are:
Relax and take notes as Lisa is going to unload some serious knowledge on you like:
Today’s episode is a permission slip to stop playing it small with your creative pursuits and uncomfortably step into your next version of creative genius.
Oh ya! Stick around in the outro to find out how you can win a copy of Lisa’s latest book: Finding Your Artistic Voice.
P.S. It’s a good one.
Please share this one with your friends and family if you found value in it.
If you want that extra level of clarity, community, and accountability develop a process that helps you win with your work, sign up for the Side Hustler's Coaching Program A-List waitlist now for January's relaunch.
—
I remember it like it was yesterday—two years ago to this date on Christmas Morning 2017. Emily and I had just gotten back from Christmas at my parents, and we were opening our stockings (and giving stockings to our cats Lucy and Flora, of course).
She had been acting weird all morning and even left early to go to Walgreens for a “last-minute stocking stuffer.”
After we finished exchanging our stockings, she awkwardly said, “We need to talk.”
That’s never been a good conversation starter, so I had a million negative scenarios running through my head.
That’s when she told me, “I’m pregnant, hope you’re not mad…”
I was stunned, shocked, and awed. Of course, I wasn’t mad, I was thrilled!
We both started crying. Little did the cats know that they weren’t going to be the only babies in the house anymore.
Then it happened...
After the shock wore off, I was immediately flooded with fear.
The other thought that crept into my mind: “Will I have to give up my side hustle of Perspective-Collective? Is my dream over now?”
Fast forward two years and here we are with this Little Pizza Roll being promoted to Big Brother in May 2020. Clearly, the dream is still well alive and thriving more than ever, more on that in the big announcement portion at the end.
Yes, having a kid has radically changed my life and my priorities. Every decision I make now affects a tiny human, so I had to become a better decision-maker.
The birth of Little Scotty is not only the best thing that’s ever happened in my life, but it's also the best thing that’s happened for my side hustle business.
I've had this idea for a while now and sat down with Emily around Thanksgiving to have her weigh in her opinion.
Together, we compiled 4 Significant Lessons our Little Scotty has taught us over the past two years.
Yes, this is what he has taught us, but I believe the lessons here will dramatically impact and inspire a change to how you show up for yourself and others through your side hustle.
My son is barely scared of anything, not even the dark. If there's something he wants to do, like being a Dare-Devil and standing up on the narrow seat of his Paw Patrol Fire Truck, then he's going to do it (you should note that I place pillows and blankets all around him as a safety net mind you).
He fails and falls countless times in his ventures to conquer something. He cries, lets us kiss it boo-boos and I give him the whole "Figure it out, you got this!" pep talk and smack him on his cute little bottom and send him off. Then he's right back at it recalculating his approach until he locks it down.
It's so incredible to see that big shit grin he has on his face as to say "Look at me ma-ma and da-da. I did it!"
Seeing him master a mini-mountain makes me think about you and me and our creative pursuits.
We let negative emotions of fear, doubt, and comparison hold us back from conquering something that truly excites us like: sharing our work, making a YouTube Channel, starting a podcast, etc.
Instead, imagine if we channeled our inner toddler who isn't affected by these restraining feelings and relentlessly chased the things we wanted?
What kind of breakthroughs could you see yourself having?
Little Scotty has reaffirmed an important lesson that failure is a key ingredient for triumph.
Straight up, we're spoiled and take things for granted ALL THE TIME (this includes me).
We expect convenience and things to go our way.
We lose sight of how blessed we are and neglect when the smallest amount of good fortune crosses our path.
My son doesn't operate this way and I hope this perspective he's given me is something I can instill back into him as he gets older.
The smallest things in life, like giving him the choice between two flavors of puffs (Blueberry or Strawberry), makes him light up with an enthusiastic chuckle while clapping his hands.
He also shows me how much joy can be sparked from the smallest wins (like tossing consecutive wooden blocks into a container at the end of the night while I scream "Kobe") to the biggest wins (like learning to crawl DOWN steps because crawling up was too easy).
He challenges me to notice and appreciate every little bit of good that flows through my day because I'm so fortunate to live the life I'm living and do the work that I love doing.
There's magic in the little moments and small wins that your side hustle pursuits produce. These need to be acknowledged because progress is progress.
While he loves the toys we get him, our Stinky Boy is more captivated by how ordinary items around our house function.
This kid will spend hours closing cupboard doors (ones we specifically don't lock), taking lids on and off mason jars, trying to flush the toilet poking my belly button to see what it does.
He's so freaking curious and is obsessed with learning.
I love watching his tongue hang out as I envision those little gears turning in his mind as he attempts to figure out the world each day.
Now, think about how crucial education or the lack of has been to get you to where you are today?
Over the past 5.5 years of building Perspective-Collective, I can proudly say that I've been self-taught in everything I took initiative to learn: social media, hand-lettering fundamentals, email marketing, copywriting, audio/podcasting, etc.
I didn't have to learn these things, I chose to learn them as I saw the growth and opportunities they yielded.
Knowledge is power and the more we strive to learn, the more value we can create for people which puts us in a position to thrive in what we do.
If something piques your curiosity, invest in yourself by taking the time to learn it and see where it leads you.
"This is the real secret of life—to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play." - Alan Watts.
When this Little Ham Sammich plays, he plays hard to the point where nothing around him exists as he's lost down the rabbit hole of his imagination (unless he's wrestling his da-da of course).
This dude gets so lost in his play that he gets a wee bit frustrated when you snap him out of it to change him, make him dinner, or give him a bath—rightfully so!
How often do you get lost in play—or is the work you force yourself to do even play at all?
Watching my son play triggers this new filter that's been blooming in me. As I take the next steps in my business in 2020, anything that doesn't fit into the play category is something I should eliminate or delegate if I have the means.
I'm so grateful to have tapped into sources of play like creating, podcasting, and coaching. I play hard and get lost in the sauce for hours and the best thing about it all is the relationships I get to build when I leverage these skills I've learned.
Finding things that interest you is a good place to start if there's something you want to pursue but don't know the first steps to take.
I think I'm finally starting to see what Alan Watts is referring to in his quote because when I play hard in my business, it never feels like I'm working at all.
Here's a quick one Emily and I both agreed on that may be the most important lesson yet.
Little Dougie Fresh AKA Trey Money affirmed our beliefs that farts are funny because man, does he sure does laugh and looks our way when he breaks a little toot.
At the end of the day, my wife and I are still little kids at heart and will forever laugh at a fart.
His precious reactions to his little gusts of wind remind me to not take shit so seriously all the time. Literally, and figuratively and you shouldn't either!
Remember when I said the announcement of Little Scotty's birth instilled fear in me that my days of hustling on the side were over?
Boy was I wrong.
Instead, it set me on a laser-focused trajectory to where a potentially devastating crisis has turned into a life-changing opportunity.
This is the first time I'm able to publicly talk about this and it builds off of episode 149 that I recorded November 1st about Winning the War Inside Your Head.
In this episode, I talked about how crazy life has been between finding out we were expecting late September, to launching the Coaching Program and doing my first Live Podcast in the same week, to then scrambling to find a new home to expand into before the holidays.
It was a challenging, but exciting season we were entering into and while chaotic, things were moving oddly smooth for how fast things progressed...or so we thought.
A few days later, November 4th to be exact (which is a week after we closed on our new home that doubled our mortgage), I was sitting in my day job cubicle when HR came to my desk and asked to speak to me.
They strolled me down the hallway and sat me down with the President of our business. They informed me that Corporate was doing widespread budget cuts due to sales being down and wanted to get ahead of the 2020 forecast which wasn't promising.
With that being said, they proceeded to eliminate our entire marketing department out of nowhere. No sign, no warning at all.
It was a complete shock to myself, and even more so to my pregnant wife.
So much for a safe job right?
I spent the first two hours in panic mode because I was terrified I was about to lose the house we just closed on, hence why I couldn't talk about it until after we moved in on December 13th.
Despite being overwhelmed with negative emotions and thoughts, after those first two hours of panic, I went to work.
The more time I spent worrying and playing the victim, the quicker the window of opportunity would close.
I needed to take massive action so I immediately started making calls to all my friends in the creative industry THAT I BUILT RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE PAST 5.5 YEARS (relationships are everything).
In my mind, I felt step 1 was to redo my resume and create a web UIUX based portfolio to land a good-paying "safe" job to get us a steady income to get by for at least a year or two to pay off our debt goals. After that, I'd ideally be able to take the risk and make the leap to full-time.
My first call after being laid off was with Peter Deltondo of Unfold and wizard behind Creative South's web user experience.
This dude didn't tell me what I wanted to hear, but what I needed to hear and it was a huge perspective shift.
He made me realize how much my current decisions on how to move forward were based on fear and scarcity. My heart and gut weren't into web design and writing a resume for it sucked the joy from me.
He made me realize what I was truly passionate about (and good at) was lettering, illustration, and branding—you know, THE WORK I'VE BEEN SHOWING OVER THE YEARS, not the UIUX related shit I did at the day job!
He was the first to tell me "Maybe this is the sign you need to do your thing full-time. You haven't been building this for over five years for nothing!"
Meh...scarcity mindset and the fear of failure were still top of mind so I immediately dismissed it. I thought to myself, "This would be awesome, but you don't understand the position I'm in and the risk that puts on my family?!"
However, my convo with Peter helped me know the type of work I wanted to show in my new portfolio I was building from scratch. I also knew that my targets were set on applying at some type of agency for remote work that could help me brush shoulders with big names to boost my portfolio.
So there I was, call after call with friends on getting advice/guidance/direction and it kept circling back to the eerily repetitive answer of "This is a sign, do your thing full-time."
It wasn't until I spent countless sleepless nights and multiple panic attacks that I brought this internal turmoil to my wife.
I explain that logic is telling me I need to apply for some type of agency job to get us a steady paycheck so we can cover our family expenses, maternity, and still hit our debt pay-off goal.
However, my gut and heart just weren't in it when I attempted to write my resume. It just felt "off" and it was stressing me out. Going full-time was what I always wanted, but the main thing holding me back the fear of not only failing myself but failing her and our kiddos.
Surprisingly, she legit recited the same unprompted answer as everyone else I had a call with which totally caught me off guard.
She agreed with them and instilled the confidence and affirmation I needed that me being laid off was the best thing that's ever happened to me.
She said, "If it doesn't work out, the worst thing that'll happen is that you have to get another job."
Boom. Sold. Let's Go.
Me getting laid off out of nowhere was the universe shoving me into action before I felt I was ready (opposed to my original plan of leaping on my own terms a year or two later).
While it's terrifying to say, on January 10th, 2020 (aka when my severance package runs out), I'll officially be making the leap to full-time coaching and freelance.
It's an emotional trip for me to see all these years of treating my side hustle like it was a full-time business finally come to fruition.
I always said if I had an extra 40 hours back in my life, I'd be able to do so many more things and make an even bigger impact. It's funny because the Universe was listening and it always gives me the gift I needed but often disguised behind the mask of adversity.
The best thing about this that makes me so fucking proud is that I've blazed my own path and did things my way.
All these lessons my son taught me the past two years have played such a significant role in leading me to this opportunity. My hope is that these four little lessons of be relentlessly fearless, enjoy the little things, stay curious and stay learning, and play hard can play a significant role in helping you take the next step in your creative grind in 2020.
Let's climb some new mountains together and celebrate the little milestone along the way. Eventually, we'll get to appreciate the view at the top and start the process all over again.
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