The amazing thing about writing is this: anyone can do it. It’s all the other stuff that gets in the way. 

In my years producing commercials, I’ve been involved in countless creative builds. This required me to digest the brand, understand the product, learn the audience, and create something that speaks to all of that. Now, I do something way easier. 

Jarred always played with an intensity. Watching him take his at-bats, you could see a stern and determined brow. When he struck out, he walked back to the dugout with a look of pure disgust, flabbergasted that he didn’t get a hit. 

When you find yourself in a moment of stress, there are two prevailing pieces of advice. Some people will say, “just be present.” Other people will say, “this isn’t going to matter in five years, so stop worrying about it.” Neither one feels particularly helpful when you’re in a moment of stress.

When I started investing money into making content for Instagram in the spring of 2023, I set a few ground rules. I wouldn’t do trends. I wouldn’t do anything cheesy. I wouldn’t do any annoying hooks. 

Isn’t this the journey of every artist? We borrow from our favorites. We steal things that look and sound good. We imitate the techniques and styles of other people in order to learn.

We all have stupid, unfinished projects that we don’t talk about. 

It’s alright to do something because you enjoy it. Not everything needs to have a capitalistic justification. 

If you’re a seasoned artist looking to make progress on a project to start the year, this is for you. If you’re a hobbyist, looking to try something new in a supportive environment, this is for you.

For a long time, I felt lost. I felt like I was floating from hobby to hobby, trying to find my footing in a slippery world. I felt like I was yelling from the rooftops, just for people to tell me to “get down from there!” 

We try to focus on everything: making good work, and making a lot of money, and treating our clients well, and finding work-life balance, and having a good brand. When we focus on all of it, we aren’t really swinging that hard at any of it.

Even though 99% of the people I talked to about my dreams were excited and supportive, all I could think about were the two people who weren’t supportive. 

Trust takes time to build with clients, especially as a freelancer. Early in your career, people hire you as a band-aid; someone to “patch up a hole in the business real quick.” Clients look for someone who seems like they can fix their problem, and who doesn’t cost too much, and they hire them. 

They were both selling their paintings for thousands and thousands of dollars. They both had commissions from wealthy buyers, and were working hard to keep up with demand. Every artist’s dream. So what changed?

#4. Set up a one-day sprint work session. I’ve seen photographers do this. They’ll rent a studio for the day, and then sell 30-minute portrait sessions to their friends, family, and audience.

Saturation is a budgeting software—specifically for video productions. And it is genuinely...incredible.

"...once you start making things, once you take that leap, you have the same status as any other artist."

Little things can add up over the course of a year. Especially if they’re mostly automated. 

“What we know is that if you A-B test a website enough times, it will turn into a porn site."

“Play hard while you play, but do not mistake it for work."