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
This week we're doing something different as I'm always looking to shake things up and bring you value.
Since my son was recently born, I took last week and this week off from the podcast. I desperately needed to recharge. More importantly, I needed to find my groove in molding myself to be a kick-ass dad and baby raising partner to my wife.
Instead of radio silence, I'm sharing an episode I was recently on for my friend Trevor Carlson's The Formula Podcast.
This time around, you'll hear me interviewed on topics that are a staple in what I share with you on a weekly basis.
Today, Trevor has me peel back the layers and give you the formula for:
If you’re like me, it’s hard to turn off the switch and unplug from your creative realm. There’s always one more thing that you could get done or a new idea that needs to be flushed out.
We get so wrapped up in work that we often neglect other important areas of our life...you know, like our health and well being?
As you know, many creatives live a sedentary lifestyle. Busting your ass is great, but if you want a long successful career and life, taking care of yourself should come first.
When you get away from your work and find an active outlet, you never know what new passion you may find. Even better, your new passion for your health may show up in your work, which could inspire others to focus on their health.
Queue today’s guest, Andreas Pedersen AKA @andycloned on Instagram. He’s an avid runner and a graphic wizard out of Sweden who focuses on branding, illustrations, and lettering.
Andy and I go back a few years now through Instagram, and it’s been great watching his style evolve and audience grow.
There’s two things that I really admire about his personality and craft:
I strongly vibe to his mission of helping other creatives become more active and share their progress creatively.
I highly respect his approach to marketing himself and letting the universe know he’s for hire.
In this episode, we sprint through topics like:
I think he’s the perfect fit for our listeners and has a ton of great insight to offer to help you scale your creative pursuits.
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First off, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is by far my favorite book and has massively impacted my creative side quest.
After reading it with my ears for the millionth time, I felt compelled to give you the Scotty Russell Special Summary.
To start off, there's a young boy named Santiago who loves to travel and desires to be in control of his life. He decides to become a shepherd despite his father's wishes for him to become a priest.
One day, he dreams of a buried treasure in Egypt by the pyramids. As he tries to decipher what this dream means, he makes acquaintances with an old king. The king states that this dream of treasure was part of his personal legend.
Santiago spends years pursuing his treasure and personal legend. He deals with waves of adversity—as it seems there is a force trying to deter him from finding the treasure as he gets closer to his goal.
Eventually, Santiago not only reaches the treasure, but he also realizes how much he's grown on the journey. Overall, it wasn't solely about finding the treasure, it was about the transformation along the way.
While this book is fiction, the author summarizes what I feel is a blend of the hero's journey, Law of Attraction, and the overall pursuit of your dreams.
The Alchemist parallels the grit and tenacity we must conjure within ourselves to seek out our creative potential. Furthermore, the story informs us of the adversity and unforeseeable forces we will deal with along the way.
The following are the four main ingredients for the secret sauce of pursuing your own personal legend. Let's set out on a journey to uncover that buried treasure within you.
Before I dish up the first ingredient, I think we need to answer what is a personal legend? Later on, I will explain what I believe is my personal legend during this phase of my life.
Essentially, a personal legend is one's destiny. It's identifying your purpose and having the desire to become the greatest version of yourself.
Pretty simple, right?
During the old king's explanation of what a personal legend is, he insists that Santiago not believe in "The World's Biggest Lie."
The old king says this:
"At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.”
This means that we believe the lie that we have the inability to choose and be in control of our personal legends.
Sadly, many people operate with the mindset that they can never catch a break and that the world is conspiring against them. They passively exist and don't allow themselves to pursue their dreams.
It's easy to see the world as a threatening place. The more you view it this way, the more the world will mimic your beliefs as your thoughts attract your reality.
We are afraid to let ourselves dream, which restricts us from discovering the path we're supposed to find. Many of us are afraid of becoming one massive disappointing failure.
Instead of taking control of the wheel, we choose to settle and become the passenger in our own vehicle.
Truth is, the only thing holding you back is you. Any obstacle or hurdle you face along the way is just another stepping stone to uncovering your personal legend and the treasure within you.
There's a path laid out for you, but you have to know what you want and pursue it.
What do you want in life?
Can you visualize yourself achieving it?
It's hard to take the necessary steps to pursue your personal legend if you don't have a clue about what you want.
One of the most powerful quotes from the book is, "When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his or her dream."
This always puts me in check and makes me ask myself, "How badly do I want it?"
If I 'kind of' want it, I'm going to 'kind of' see some results.
I used to think the Law of Attraction was a crock of shit. Yet, books like The Secret, E-Squared by Pam Grout, and Think & Grow Rich have shown me the power in visualization, positive affirmation, and having laser focus. By equipping these things in my mindset, I can make shit happen.
I want to challenge you now: what is it you truly want or desire to achieve in life?
Write it down and place it where you can see it each day. Speak it out loud to yourself every morning and evening. Make a game plan on how you can attain it and chase it down like an absolute savage.
You will face adversity along the way, but that's all a part of the game. Once you know what you want, it's time to watch for the omens and trust yourself to follow them.
Now you're in control of the wheel, and you have a destination in mind. In order to get there, you have to pay attention to the signposts of life. (Keep in mind, there's no Google Maps or GPS device in this metaphor.)
When pursuing your personal legend, be aware and follow the omens along the way. They are guiding you to the treasure.
Omens will eventually abandon you the more you ignore them—and especially when you refuse to pursue your personal legend.
Early on in the book, the old king informs Santiago about the omens he'll encounter on his adventure. As he follows the omens, they lead him to befriend the right people who help provide him with food, shelter, and money along the way.
###Creative Career Omens###
In terms of your creative career, you might be missing so many everyday omens.
Omens can operate in terms of engagement, analytics, repetitive questions, milestones, opportunities, recognition, etc.
Here are some examples you may notice:
Say you're putting out a specific style of work you enjoy and are good at cranking out. The engagement slowly starts building behind it. To me, this is an omen that you should pour more gasoline on the fire and do more of what works. You have no idea where it could lead.
Imagine you constantly have people asking you the same patterns of questions like:
These are some of the questions I get asked all the time. Instead of answering them over and over, I recognized the pattern and made resources for them. This allows me to save me time, provide value, and potentially monetize it in the future.
###Getting Resourceful (Literally)###
You can build a resource page like I have at Perspective-Collective.com/Resources that showcases every tool I use, every book I recommend, and other assets to I've used to elevate my own game. My goal is to provide a one-stop source for folks to reference that also is filled with Amazon Affiliate links. I provide you value while providing an opportunity to monetize my time.
Often I get asked about the programs, brushes, or design kits I use. I'll then build resource files for The Perspective-Collective Facebook community, another resource I can direct people. Again, it saves me time and provides value.
Finally, I continue to get the same questions pertaining to selling products, doing freelance, sharing your work and overcoming comparison.
From here, I'll source the most common questions and build episodes and content addressing them, or I'll seek out guests that are more qualified to speak on the subject. I can then redirect people to those resources, which again saves time and provides value.
As creatives, we have to train ourselves to look out for these omens and act on them.
Later in the book, Santiago crosses paths with The Alchemist. During their conversation, the Alchemist delivers a heater:
"There is only one way to learn. It's through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey."
Santiago's journey has always been based on the choices he's made—from choosing to become a shepherd to taking risks that could mean death.
Above all, he always took matters into his own hands. Even though putting the decision in someone else's hands is easier, it always comes with a cost.
Think about your creative career—it's filled with choices and dilemmas you must face daily:
Are you working on your craft each day and staying consistent in sharing your work?
Do you get up early or stay up late to meet a deadline?
When you fail at a task, do you wave the white flag, or do you use it as a lesson learned?
You always have a choice, especially in responding to adversity.
###Beauty in the Struggle###
Life threw catastrophic curveballs at Santiago during his journey. He was robbed and faced the threat of death on multiple occasions. Each time, he could've given up and gone back to tending sheep.
However, he CHOSE to see chasing his personal legend as an adventure. He KNEW that each hiccup was a part of a resistance he had to overcome to find his treasure.
Chasing down your dream isn't going to be a cake walk. If it was easy, everyone would be happy millionaires, and there'd be no struggle.
There's beauty in the struggle—it's the shit we overcome that leads to the sunshine, like back in episode 58.
To make things happen in life, you have to make a choice.
Take ownership and respond accordingly. Try not to dwell on your decision and move forward; there are plenty of more choices you'll need to make on your path.
My Personal Legend
When I read this book for the millionth time, it really caused me to reflect on my own personal legend.
Pardon the cheese and lack of originality, but I believe my overall purpose is to be like the old king—to help others seek out and pursue their personal legends.
Due to multiple back injuries playing college football, I got into coaching pretty young. There was something powerful about playing a role in helping someone take their game to the next level.
This love for coaching evolved into my love for being a creative cheerleader in my art, writing, speaking and podcasting.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still selfish and live for the glory and affirmations. However, I realize I'm just a small role player in the grand scheme of things.
I second guess myself and my abilities on the daily; the inner critic is always trying to convince that what I have to offer is meaningless.
I don't have a remedy to rewire myself not to think this way. However, I've trained myself to read the omens.
###My Omens###
The omens I've learned to tune into are:
It's these types of omens that let me know I'm on the right path to finding that treasure. Each day, I'm a little more focused on exactly what I want in life. The more I believe that the universe wants me to win, the more and more opportunities that seem to come my way.
This book is a constant reminder that chasing my personal legend isn't easy. The bumps in the road are necessary for growth along the way.
Again, the four ingredients I share with you today are what I believe make up the secret sauce to finding your personal legend are:
We all have a personal legend waiting for us—it's up to you find the treasure within.
—
More often than not, you come across forks in the road where you have to decide to settle or push yourself to the next level. Maybe you think you have it all figured out and that good is good enough. Maybe you know you haven’t scratched the surface of your potential, and there’s no ceiling to what you can accomplish.
You see, we face these forks all the time: in the gym, in the day job, in relationships, and more specifically, in our creative pursuits. It boils down to—are you a brick or a sponge?
Since you’re listening to this podcast, you’re definitely a sponge. You want to soak up knowledge and find ways to seek out growth. Bricks, on the other hand, may think they’ve reached the peak of their potential. Some bricks even think they know what’s best.
This topic was sparked by a deep conversation between my brother, Brian Manley, and I after slaying our Crafting & Delivering a Killer Talk workshop at Creative South. After reflecting deeply over copious amounts of quality Whiskey on the rocks, I knew that Brian had to be on the show.
Brian is one of a kind, just like his whiskey. He was the first speaker I ever saw at a conference back in 2015. He definitely lit up the stage and set a fire under our asses. Brian was one of key reasons I wanted to become a public speaker.
Fast forward to 2018, and we co-teach workshops on speaking! More importantly, he works full-time as a professional branding warlock who crushes under the name Fun With Robots out of ATL.
Not only is he an incredible speaker and designer, he’s an amazing friend with a ton of great perspective that any creative could learn a new trick or two from.
Today, we inject an enthusiastic dose of energy into topics like:
—
Once upon a time, your boy grew up as a pretty hardcore gamer. As a young lad in the early 90's, I remember watching my two older sisters throw down on Super Mario on the Nintendo. Safe to say, I was captivated yet terrified of Bowser and his minions.
As I got older, I became borderline-obsessed with all the gaming systems and games like Mario Kart, ShaqFu, Final Fantasy, Crash Bandicoot, Zelda, Pokemon, Spyro, Skyrim, etc.
What did these games have in common? There’s always a Boss you have to defeat to unlock the next level.
Facing a new Boss always gave me a nervous pit in my stomach. If you wanted to get to the next level, you had to face the Boss and defeat it. If you didn't succeed the first time, you had to stay persistent and keep trying.
The more I played these games, the easier it was to defeat the Boss. It became a normal routine after I figured out what did and didn't work. A Boss isn't so intimidating once you've faced it a few hundred times.
Isn’t it funny how this world of video games parallels life and our creative pursuits? There are so many things we want to accomplish, but each dream requires facing some type of fear. You have to slay the Boss to unlock that next level.
The following is meant to hype you up and prepare you to face the Bosses in every facet of your daily and creative life. Treat it like a game with unlimited lives, and use your fear to your advantage.
Fear disguises itself as your enemy. It's always trying to wedge itself between you and whatever you desire to do or become.
I grew up terrified of the world, and fear wedged itself deep in my life.
I was scared of practically everything: taking risks, talking to girls, sharing my art, standing up for myself, standing up for others, and most importantly, being my true self around people.
Feeding into this fear robbed me of finding out who the real Scotty was and robbed me of the great experiences could've had earlier in life. It's caused a lot of pain and a lot of regrets.
Within the past five years, I’ve started seeing fear differently. I’ve slowly realized the things that scared me—like blogging, speaking, teaching, and podcasting—were really the things I should be pursuing. When I started attacking my desires and dreams like I was facing a Boss in a video game, it became much easier to normalize the task at hand and defeat my fears.
From my experience, I've learned the things that scare you are really the things you should be seeking. I strongly feel that fear is your intuition attempting to pull you toward the person you're supposed to become. You can use this to your advantage.
However, our ancestral instincts wire our brains to protect us from potential harm. The fear our brain signals to us can hold us back from taking the risk. This, in turn, holds us back from experiencing the reward or potential breakthrough that can follow.
So how do we unlock that next level and put ourselves in a position to experience these breakthroughs?
As odd as it sounds, I say let's attack fear and make it our bitch.
Let's lay out a few scenarios you may relate to on your creative path.
###Scenario 1: Getting Started###
Maybe you want to build an audience or land killer freelance jobs, but maybe you aren’t sure where to start?
In my opinion, the first step is to start sharing your work online. This forces you to overcome the discomfort of having the world consume your unpolished skills.
True story: I kept a sketchbook glued to my side from elementary to college. No one was allowed to see it because I terrified of what people would think. People didn’t even know about my little sketchbook secrete until mid-college, when my friend Tyson discovered my stash of sketchbooks in my dorm room. He then proceeded to relentlessly pester me until I finally began sharing my doodles on Facebook. Those early albums still exist on my profile today, believe it or not.
The Boss I had to defeat—getting over my lack of confidence and hitting publish on Facebook.
This helped me slowly get comfortable with sharing my developing skills publicly. It eventually landed me random drawing jobs like tattoos and gifts for $50 a pop from friends. Yes, this bought me some groceries and a 30 pack of Busch Light on occasion. More importantly, it taught me the early stages of working with clients.
###Scenario 2: Evolving to the Next Level###
Alright, so now you're comfortable with sharing, but you want to to take your creative side hustle to the next level?
Maybe you're interested in vlogging, selling products, public speaking, or teaching workshops?
Some of the Bosses you'll need to slay in these worlds are:
Find Your Next Boss & Attack
Whatever you're wanting to accomplish in life, there's most likely a Boss you'll have to defeat.
When aggressively seek out and attack your fears, those once-intimidating tasks will become routine.
It's like replaying an old Boss in a video game: you don't have to think about it anymore, you just beat it.
Sharing my work online is second nature to me now. Blogging, speaking, and podcasting are now part of my routine too. These are things that used to scare the shit out of me.
However, in the beginning, it took a lot of effort to slay those Bosses and to work my way up to whatever "level" I'm on now.
You won't always be able to slay the Boss on the first try, and that's totally okay too. Approach the challenge like you have unlimited lives and keep putting quarters into the machine.
Fear is your intuition pulling you towards the Boss you need to slay.
Attack fear and use it to your advantage.
If it scares you, do it. Take it one Boss at a time.
—
Some days, it feels like you can’t catch a break. This funk can drag on— days become weeks, weeks become months, and months become years. Believe me, I know what it's like to play the victim and feel like the universe is conspiring against you. I know it well... and it sucks.
However, something I continue to preach on this show is this: everything boils down to your mindset and choices. You can’t control everything in life, but you can control those two facets. I personally believe, when you choose to approach things with a positive outlook, it attracts more opportunities and more of the right people in your life.
Queue today’s guest: freakin’ Kenny Vidinich, aka Kung Fu Kenny of One Vibe, out of Honolulu. Kenny and I go back a few years on Instagram, and after multiple DM conversations, we finally got a chance to meet via Skype. I’ve watched him curate a unique style, find his voice, and grow a loyal fan and customer base with his work and product launches.
Grab your snorkeling gear because we take a deep dive into topics such as:
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Understanding Your Value and Monetizing Your Craft
Maybe this is something you can relate to.
Over the years, you've busted your ass behind the scenes to build a name for yourself.
You've lost track of all the countless hours you poured into your craft as you strive for that "10,000-hour mastery."
You've invested boatloads of money into school, books, online courses, workshops, and conferences to put yourself in a position to thrive.
Now you're to the point where you're steadily building a monetized side hustle or full-time business doing what you love (if you're not there yet, stick with me).
Here's the kicker—not everyone outside of your bubble will understand where you are in your creative career. Many people will perceive what you do as a hobby. They don't fully understand the value of your time and craft and feel they are doing you a favor by offering you the chance to work for exposure.
Maybe you also don't fully understand your own value?
Today's topic was inspired by two things:
My goal isn't to convince you that doing free exposure work is an evil game for fools. In fact, I'll actually mention when doing so could be beneficial.
My intentions are this:
I'm no expert, but I hope my perspective on this topic can help you make a decision when you find yourself in this pickle.
When Should or Shouldn't You Do Free Exposure Work?
Trust me, getting asked to work for exposure gets almost as old as getting asked #whatpenisthat?
(It seems to be local businesses who are the repeat offenders.)
What really grinds my gears is seeing people, who produce far more jaw-dropping work than I do, get asked by brands or companies who could easily afford it.
I'm lucky that my day job provides the essential income for me to survive.
However, taking on freelance is necessary for me to:
Many of my talented friends work for themselves full-time, and they survive off paid gigs. For them, working for exposure may mean not being able to put food on the table or pay the rent. However, the situation might be favorable for them if it's from a dream client.
Before you become a Judgey McJudgerson and think that I'm too good for free work, please digest my 7 Situations When Free Work May Be in Your Best Interest episode.
As I mentioned in that episode, there are moments when doing work free exposure work or work-for-a-good-cause is totally encouraged. However, let's stick to the free exposure work scenario for the moment.
Saying Yes & Working for Exposure
When you're transitioning from hobby to side project, working for exposure is great—especially if you have a day job that covers your living expenses.
I've said this before, but I did my first three murals for local businesses for free. Why should someone trust that I do good work if I've never shown I could crush a large-scale mural before?
Sometimes you need to prove it to them—and yourself—that you can deliver.
Not only did these exposure opportunities show proof of concept and bring attention to my work, but these opportunities also built some solid relationships that attracted paid jobs in the future.
When you've proved you can do the work and start to monetize your craft, this is where things can get tricky.
Saying No & Standing Your Ground
When you're at that phase where you're elevating those side projects to a side business, exposure work doesn't cut the mustard anymore.
Face the facts: free exposure work doesn't pay off student loans, mortgages, maternity leave, baby doctor bills, groceries, gas, etc. You know, the things you need to survive.
You'd never ask a plumber or a doctor to work for exposure, would you?
How ridiculous does this sound? "Hey, Mr. Plumber, if you could hook me up and fix my bursting water pipe beneath my cast iron sink, I'd tell ten friends about how great your work is."
Someone may be crazy enough to pull this stunt, but expect a harsh and appalled reply.
Over time, you'll unlock that level where you've proven you can deliver, and you'll slowly monetize your craft.
When you reach this point, speak with conviction, politely say no, and/or firmly stand your ground on your pricing.
Simply put, YOUR TIME HAS VALUE.
It's taken me almost 30 years to believe this about myself and the value I can provide others.
If you're not monetizing your work yet and are in the hobby and side project phase, stay persistent and hungry. If a little fish like me from a small town of Cedar Falls, Iowa, can make a name for myself over the years—then you are more than capable, too.
Keep working on your craft and value your time and work, even if that means taking on exposure work early on in the process. In good time, others will value it as well.
Shownotes
Dose of Inspiration: @emilyroseartistry
Podcast Editor: Aine Brennan
Shownotes Editor: Paige Garland
Podcast music: Blookah
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Facing Forks in the Road
Let’s start today off with a little bit of tough love. We all have dreams and wish they could manifest as quickly as it takes to put leftover pizza in the microwave, and _v__oilà!, _you have the best lunch in all the land.
Unfortunately, we live in this microwave society, and it’s easy lose sight of the long game—and the slow and steady grind that goes with it.
However, within that grind, we learn a lot about ourselves. We find our voice, our style and build relationships and hone our craft. The process allows us to grow on the way to the destination, but hopefully, we never fully arrive and cap our potential.
To pursue your hobby and elevate it from side project to budding creative career takes courage, sacrifice, and risk. It requires late nights and early mornings. It requires saying yes and figuring it out along the way, learning to say no in the midst of it, and pushing your story forward even when it isn’t convenient—especially when it isn't convenient.
I feel you’ll eventually get to a point in your journey where you've busted your ass and are now faced with a fork in the road. Do you take the safe path you’ve always known, or do you take a leap of faith and risk it for the biscuit?
Grind, Rise, and Shine with Lisa Quine
Queue today’s guest, Lisa Quine, one of Cleveland’s rising creative talents. She's built quite a name for herself over the years, and I often wonder when she sleeps. This chick is a machine and is constantly kicking out new work to carve out a small path of the universe for her own.
She is not only a successful letterer, but she is also a teacher, speaker, product creator, gallery curator, and a go-to muralist in her world.
Lisa knows what it’s like to build that creative career outside a day job. However, this past year, she was faced with that fork in the road and had to make a choice. She’s been risking it for the biscuit as a full-time freelancer ever since tagging up all of Cleveland with her sick murals...legally, of course.
In today’s episode, we chop it up over topics like:
The importance of routines and balancing your time
Personal development, priorities, and values
Finding time to grind and shine
Her client process
Must haves for being stranded on an island and much more...
Shownotes
Dose of Inspiration: @iamnickcross
Podcast Editor: Aine Brennan
Shownotes Editor: Paige Garland
Podcast music: Blookah Want to Support the Show?
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Give Yourself Permission to Be Curious
While we were preparing the mural to go in Little Dougy Fresh’s room, my wife brought up this quote by Ursula K. Le Guin:
“The creative adult is the child who survived.”
I’ve heard it before, but this time, it really got me thinking. Kids pour out their ideas with crayons onto paper—and sometimes walls—without ever second-guessing it.
They have no agenda. Kids strictly play and create when the mood is right.
They don't stress about curation or Instagram's algorithm. They seek validation from their parents only, not everyone else, and work so their ideas grace the frigid front of the refrigerator.
Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in our pretty Instagram feeds that we don’t give ourselves permission to be curious and play as creative adults.
We often restrict ourselves from pushing our limits, from branching out to different styles and mediums. It’s not only uncomfortable—but, holy shit, it may not perform well and cause you to lose a gaggle of followers!
Pushing Your Limits and Trying New Things with Erik Marinovich
Queue today’s guest: lettering Goliath and child-at-heart Erik Marinovich out of San Francisco. Not only does Erik’s playful-yet-crafted letterforms scream FUN, you can also tell he is enjoying every minute that goes into his work.
Of course, he slays projects for the biggest names in the game: Sprite, Nike, Google, Target, and the NBA. However, what sets him apart is his imagination and curiosity that allows him to play and always experiment.
In today’s episode, we go deep into topics like:
Constantly pushing your limits and exploring new styles
Striking while the iron’s hot
Balancing work and life
Attracting and creating new opportunities
His favorite drink and of course...pizza
Shownotes
Dose of Inspiration: @d.sheridan
Podcast Editor: Aine Brennan
Shownotes Editor: Paige Garland
Podcast music: Blookah
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Balancing Life with Your Vision with Nick Sambrato of Mama's Sauce
I’ve learned, over the years, that sometimes being obsessive over something is a good thing. It allows you to have tunnel vision and focus extraordinary effort in one direction.
Obsessiveness with your goal or dream can radically transform your mindset and life—possibly for the better.
On the flip side, being obsessed with too many things can spread you too thin. This can cause you to make minimal progress in a million directions—or worse yet—make you lose sight of what’s really important.
There are priorities and limits in life. You can’t do all the things, and you can’t be everything to everyone. Saying no becomes just as important as saying yes.
You’ll also learn that you can’t control everything in life. Yes, having ambition, a vision, and a mission is needed for your inner compass. Other times, it’s healthy and beneficial to be open to the unknown and swim with the current of the universe.
Planning to Face the Unknown
Queue today’s guest: my brother Nick Sambrato from the behemoth print shop Mama’s Sauce, a top-notch spot color printmaking shop specializing in letterpress, hot foil, and screenprinting reigning from Orlando, Florida.
You know I have mad love for my boys Tony Diaz and the Industry Print Shop crew, but you can’t sleep on the work Nick and Mama’s Sauce bring to the table over their 10-year history.
I met Nick and his crew back in 2015 my first year attending Creative South. Nick, Bob Ewing, and Brian French of French Paper welcomed me with open arms; it’s been a budding relationship since.
Not only is Nick obsessive about creating high-quality products, but the entire team is addicted to building relationships and geeking out over the work designers and artists like you print and put out into the world.
So, gather around the table, as I hope you brought your appetite. Today, Nick and I cover a buffet of topics such as:
I know you'll feel full and satisfied after gorging on this episode.
Shownotes
Dose of Inspiration: @Oliviariferiani
Podcast Editor: Aine Brennan
Shownotes Editor: Paige Garland
Podcast music: Blookah
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