Stephen is a singer/songwriter who has just released his first album, “Sincerely.” In his own words: “My album is a story of triumph, of letting go of all the uncertainty in my head and learning to walk the path of my own heart. “Sincerely” is about realizing how much better this world would be if we all loved ourselves, if we weren’t afraid of being vulnerable and honest. It doesn’t matter who’s president or what technology we invent or what extremists we destroy, the only thing I know is this: There will never be peace if we do not all love ourselves.”
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/bestof15
-A bit about his background and how he came to find himself in Los Angeles.
-How he was the first student of the music school at the University of Miami who also played a Division 1 sport.
-The promise he made to himself at a young age that he would only pursue the things he was passionate about.
-How it’s not like doing work, when you are spending time working on things that you love. It’s like you get to play.
-The journey that his song “Bullet Train” took him on and the fact that he almost didn’t release it.
-How he only started singing three years before the release of this, his first album.
-How you need to think with the heart more than the head, because the head will give you countless excuses why you shouldn’t do something for the sake of self-preservation.
-A game he plays with his friend called “Fear Stretching.”
-How we are so scared of offending people or not being accepted that we live in a shell, and the more we practice stretching out our fears, the more quickly we can advance to better versions of ourselves.
-The fact that rejection is often times empowering because you can just be yourself without having to worry about other people’s approval.
-The tremendous role that his management team at Th3rd Brain has played on his career so far.
-The message of his album Sincerely — a call to action to make a difference as well as the self-discovery that happened in his life.
-How we distract ourselves with things like The Kardashians because we are afraid of what we are going to find if we look in the mirror too long.
-His music videos for “Crossfire” and “Start a Fire.”
-How he has many resistances, but the main one is self-doubt.
“Something that has really done a lot of good for me is a promise I made to myself when I was really young that I would really only try to do the things that I really wanted to do.”
“Talent is just intense passion discovered at an early age.”
“When you put a lot of time into something that you really love, it’s not work. It’s like you’re having fun. You’re playing with it.”
“I think it was a massive amount of insecurity. I never imagined myself being a singer. I never even sang in the shower.”
“If I would ever sing along to a song, I would put on a joking singing voice, because I was scared that people would laugh at my singing voice, like my true expression.”
“You’ve just gotta put yourself out there. It’s less a confidence and moreso a carelessness.”
“The worst that can happen is not nearly as bad as you think.”
“It’s the “no’s” that help us grow because we realize that the consequence of being rejected is nothing. In fact, the consequence of being rejected a lot of the times is empowerment because you feel more free. You feel like you don’t need other people’s approval to be yourself.”
“The things that we’re supposed to do that are going to help us the most are the things that we resist doing the most.
“Sincerely” on iTunes / Soundcloud
“Crossfire” by Stephen Official Music Video
“Bullet Train” by Stephen
Website / Spotify / Soundcloud / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Will Terry is a freelance illustrator and children’s book illustrator who shares his 23 years of experience on his YouTube channel and his blog. He also co-owns SVS Learn and co-hosts the 3 Points Perspective Podcast with Jake Parker and Lee White.
Will has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund his new book, What They Don't Teach In Art School: An illustrator's guide to making money in the real world.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/363
-How his students always resonated with his discussion about marketing.
-Not being able to draw after his wife passed away.
-How writing his book brought creativity, productivity and fulfillment back into his life.
-How opportunities for artists are now everywhere, but they are just harder to see.
-Why going down the “normal route” of life is actually the more frightening option.
-How ideas like Little Heroes can come out of nowhere.
-What creatives can learn from GoPro.
-Why creative people need to embrace their problem-solving skills.
-How to find the balance of making money and creating the art that you want to create.
-How he needed to get sick of his own work in order to step up the quality of his art.
-Identifying your motives for creating art.
-Why he only takes on projects that he can fall in love with.
-How to say no to family members or friends who want you to create art for them.
-Seth Godin’s advice to create art that changes people emotionally.
-Using your audience as a testing ground.
“I’ve always had an affinity for helping illustrators make money with their art.”
“The hard thing for artists is to actually see the opportunities where they are.”
“Create for yourself and be as selfish as possible. Create the thing that you want and you can’t find in the world. Create it because you want one.”
“Don’t be satisfied with the world that is offered to you.”
Will Terry: Give yourself permission to MAKE YOUR OWN DREAM HAPPEN (YCP Episode 176)
Piper Thibodeau: Something new, THOUSANDS of days in a row (YCP Episode 345)
Inside The Business of Illustration by Steven Heller
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin
Website / Instagram / YouTube / Twitter
Mike Janda and Tom Ross are successful creative entrepreneurs who have come together to create the Biz Buds Podcast.
Biz Buds is value-packed weekly discussion where Tom and Mike share their journeys from struggling freelancers to both running multi 7-figure businesses, and the lessons picked up along the way.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/bizbuds
-How Tom created Design Cuts, the most curated and most highly rated design marketplace in the world.
-How to find your 1,000 true fans.
-Why you need to share your authentic, real self.
-The value of building your fanbase and community one person at a time (instead of shouting into the abyss).
-Why you might be more scared when you have less followers.
-Their best Instagram growth strategies.
-Thinking about your audience’s audience.
-How to get in front of a wider audience.
-The thing that matters more than getting 10x the amount of likes.
-Why you need to start building your e-mail list right now (and what you should be sharing).
-How to overcome imposter syndrome as a creative.
-The best way to overcome perfectionism.
-The importance of deadlines.
“This is something that I wanted to do for years, but I wanted to ensure I had enough credibility to do it.”
“Share your authentic, real self.”
“Put out what you want to get back.”
“The real connections happen in the DMs.”
“People prefer the perception of making a purchase decision themselves and not being sold to make the purchase.”
“You have to realize that almost every creative person in the world feels some imposter syndrome.”
“Stop comparing your Step Two to someone else’s Step Fifty.”
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk
Biz Buds: Episode 11: Instagram Growth Strategies
Mike Janda: Website / Instagram