Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Creative Pep Talk
005 - The Obvious Thing You're Missing...
(upbeat music) Hey y'all, just a quick heads up. The episode you're about to listen to is eight to 10 years old. Now, these episodes were intended to be evergreen, and I still believe there's a lot of good information in these early episodes, but I do wanna let you know that some of my ideas have evolved over time. Times have changed since we made these episodes, and ultimately, I'd like to think I've grown a lot as an artist and a human, and that these don't necessarily represent my best work, or the best of the podcast. If you're new around here, I suggest starting with the most recent episode, or at least go back to around 300, and move forward from there. Enjoy the episode. The holidays are upon us, and finding the right gift for your kids, nieces, and nephews, and partner, and family members can be super difficult, but it doesn't have to be. Go check out Uncommon Goods. Sophie and I were checking it out the other day, looking for gifts for our kids. They have a make your own storybook kit, which we love. There's this cardboard tool kit, with a cardboard saw that's safe and connectors. You can build cool stuff and forts and whatnot. They also got these building connectors where you can connect sticks and make them for it. Mainly, I just like forts, but there's tons of cool, creative gifts that will inspire your kids to go make stuff, but we could also easily have just bought stuff for each other, or even ourselves. This curated selection of goods means you don't have to scour the internet for something unique and exciting, and you're supporting artists and small businesses at the same time, which you know I love. To get 15% off your next gift, go to uncommongoods.com/peptalk. That's uncommongoods.com/peptalk. For 15% off, don't miss out on this limited time offer, uncommon goods. We're all out of the ordinary. (upbeat music) - Hey everybody, it's the creative Peptalk podcast. And this is me, the host of the show, Andy J. Miller. You know, I've had some pretty reaffirming comments on this podcast so far. People have been really supportive and have joined the conversations, and I really appreciate that. I think that definitely encourages me to keep it up. So yeah, thanks for doing that, you guys, and thanks for listening. I really appreciate it. I feel like I'm excited to see how this thing grows. I kinda wanna do this in a real organic way, where, I don't know, it just kinda grows over time. And as, and try different things, but I mainly just wanna figure out how do I make it the most effective resource I possibly can for my creative friends out there, who need Peptalk's. You know, I feel like my biggest concern for creative people is that they would find their thing. And I describe that as the thing that you do, the natural talent you have, the skills that you've acquired, that the thing that you're the Michael Jordan at, that you find the game that you should be playing. Maybe you're playing baseball, and you're Michael Jordan, you need to be playing basketball. You know, that kinda thing, like, the thing that you've got, that there's a high demand for somewhere, that's your thing. And that's kinda why I wanna do this. And so each episode, I wanna give you another, another thing that will help you find your thing. Another view, another piece. And it's basically all just stuff that's helped me. You know, and it's kind of a way of cataloging all the things that have added to me finding my thing. And you know, I also kind of view it as, you're gonna have multiple kind of outlets over the years. You know, it's gonna change as you go. And hopefully, once you find your thing, you'll do that for a while, and then you'll do something else later. And so it's something that you're gonna develop for the rest of your life, hopefully. So it's not like, you never really arrive, I don't think. And if you do, I think that's kinda boring. I think it's really important to always be growing. So today, the episode is about the obvious thing that you're missing. That's what today's about. So here's how I set it up. If you've ever watched Power Rangers, which if you're a millennial, I'm guessing you have. You always know, they send up that the main bad guy would send a monster to do some destruction. And the Power Rangers would come to save the day. And they would start kicking his butt. So the main bad guy would grow the monster super huge. And then they would call on these dinosaur ros. Or robots to get inside. And then the monster would still be kicking their butt. So they'd have to go Megazord and all team together. And then finally, they would destroy the monster. 'Cause the Megazord was so powerful when they teamed up. It also reminds me of this other thing. I'm setting it up, I'm keeping you in weight on the hook. I bet you're just, you can't wait to hear what the answer is to this. But the other thing it reminds me of is, and Lord of the Rings, I saw this YouTube video once, of them saying that, you know, this whole giant journey to get rid of the ring. And several people die along the way. Gandalf himself, I think, does some kind of death. And then when they get to the end, Gandalf remembers that he has these giant eagles that can carry them all the way home. And it's like, you risked your life because you didn't remember this obvious thing. You could've got the eagles, you could've ridden them all the way to whatever that place is. I don't know all these names, but to get rid of the ring. And when I watched the Power Ranger think when you're a kid, you think, dude, when the monster's there, the first time, just when he hits on the scene, did you forget you could just go Megazord right away and just like squash him? Like, well, I don't understand. Why don't you just go Megazord right away? So this is what I think it's kind of like. And, you know, I think that one of the biggest keys to finding your thing and to really live in your full potential as a creative person is collaboration. It's getting in, coming together with the other Rangers and making the Megazord. All right, like, I know that's ridiculous, but I feel like if you were watching the movie of your life, you'd be looking at yourself, looking at your peers and thinking, it's so obvious. Like, you need to team up with these people. Like, they've got the strengths that are what your weaknesses are. Like, they're the key. Like, you need this thing that's in your way, this giant thing that you can't get past, this roadblock, because of your weaknesses, that your friends and your peers, your creative peers, they have the key. They're the ones that can get you through this. And that's what I think collaboration is like, you know, and I really believe this from a personal experience. And I think one of the things that really gets in our way is ego and then also kind of the hero worship, you know, the people that we look up to that seemed like they were these creative powerhouses all on their own. You know, I think of people like Jim Henson and Wes Anderson and people like that. And you think, look at these guys with such vision, but the truth is they all have collaborators. Wes Anderson, I don't know if he's made one movie that wasn't co-written with somebody else. And they were all different people. He wrote some with Jason Schwartzman and some with Luke Wilson and Roman Capolo and you know, he's known for this wildly successful singular vision. But the truth is that he's always doing that with somebody else. He's always co-writing. And so I think, I think if you look at anyone, actually there was a episode, a podcast episode recently. It's called The Accidental Creative. He talks about collaboration and how all these seemingly, even the seemingly solo guys are actually collaborating. Even if it doesn't look like it. Some of the great minds that we think of, even like Einstein had people that they were collaborating with. And I think one of the things I think it does, I think it makes up for your strengths and weaknesses. And when you have, when you can get rid of the ego and you collaborate with somebody, those weaknesses that you're ignoring or that you think aren't there, you're biased towards the market. The ways that you don't see clearly, they can actually make up for that. And I think of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. I think neither of them, neither of their solo work, I think was as compelling as what they did together. And I think it's because of, you know, just while you're all alone, it's kind of, you're skewed and you have, your tastes are a little bit too personal. And when you combine with somebody else, it actually rounds you out and what you can make from that actually appeals to an exponentially higher amount of people. - I'm a believer in the idea of dressing for the job you want, not the job you have. And I have applied this to my creative practice too, which means if you want professional results, you need to present online like a pro. And that means going beyond social media and having a professional website that reflects your style and looks legit. I rebuilt my site this year with Squarespace's Fluid Engine and was so happy with how easily I could build my vision without coding that when they approached me to support the show, I jumped at the chance because I love and use this product. So go check it out Squarespace.com/peptalk to test it out for yourself. And when you're ready to launch your site, use promo code PEPTALK, all one word, all caps for 10% off your first purchase. Thanks goes out to Squarespace for supporting the show and supporting creators all over the world. - Hey, in case you don't know, we have a monthly live virtual meetup every last Monday of the month with supporters of the show from Patreon and Substack. We have so much fun on these calls and they are the warmest, most encouraging creatives that I have ever met. And we also talk real creative practice stuff. We have authors, illustrators, lettering artists, picture bookmakers, fine artists, musicians, and folks that work in video and film as well. And we have people that are just starting out, people super established in their creative careers and everything in between. For the rest of this year, we're gonna chat through our new Journey to the True Fan series, exploring questions and ways to apply these ideas to your own creative practice so that you can leave 2024 stronger than you came in with more visibility, connection with your audience and sales. Sign up to whichever suits you best at either patreon.com/creativepeptalk or antijpizza.substack.com. And I hope to see you at this month's meetup. And I think, so I really think that collaboration does a few really amazing and important things. So the first thing I think it does is that it really takes your weaknesses and your strengths and it gets the most out of them. So I think when you're looking for collaborators, things that you need to think about are, do you have chemistry with this person? Do you have similar interests, similar passions? Do you have, is the value proposition good for both of you? Like, are they getting out as much as you are, even if they're getting different things? Those are things you need to look for, but a big part of it is, do they have strengths that you don't have? And then do you have strengths that they don't have? And that also means that your weaknesses are gonna be compatible, they're gonna be different. I think about the two best collaborations or two of the best collaborations I've ever had. One was with one of my best buddies, Jeff Bowman. When I lived in the UK, we did a zine called the Wizard's Hat. Now that, the Wizard's Hat was A, just tons of fun, but it also, when I got out of college, I wasn't ready to do a zine. I wasn't ready to handle the print, I wasn't ready. It was just overwhelming to me as I wasn't, I wasn't ready to do all that, but Jeff was very ready to do that stuff. You know, he had a lot more design background, print background, and he handled all that stuff. And he handled the sales, stuff that I was just overwhelmed by at the time. And that warranted us a lot of exposure that I wouldn't have got on my own. And it also ended up getting us a free trip to Glasgow for a few nights on Converse's dime and a project with Converse. And that was one of the best memories I've ever had. I'd definitely cherish that memory with Jeff if you're listening, Jeff. I love you, buddy. And then another one of my favorite collaborations that I've done is with my other best bud, Andrew Nier. And if you know my work, you're probably familiar with the Color Me Blank Project. Now I've done an indie rock coloring book, which was also a collaboration with the Yellowbird Project and they were awesome for that. I did the indie rock coloring book and it did really well. It sold really well. And that was one of my most known projects. And it was a coloring book. And Andrew Nier, who I hadn't met at the time, asked me to bring the coloring idea to his gallery space in Cincinnati. And he asked me to come make a mural for the general public to come and color in. And as we kept going, he kept coming up with all these ideas and it just felt a lot more collaborative. And I just said, why don't we just do this together? And actually a few days before the show, before I came to visit and do it, he said, wouldn't it be awesome if the public made colored in the show with five and a half foot markers? And I was like, yeah, hypothetically, that would be cool. Too bad we don't have a genie in a lamp that we could just wish these things into existence. And he was like, oh, no, it's cool, I'll make him. And I thought, man, I don't know if you're really thinking this through. That's not gonna be that easy. A few days later, I show up and they're there. And they look amazing. And they were the icing on the cake of that show. And I never would have done that. I don't think in 3D spaces, I don't think mechanically to build things, but he does. And they were the real clincher for that show. And that thing ended up wanting us to get taken to New York City and doing a project there, as well as in Denver and several other galleries. All of which are some of the best memories I've ever had. And I've been super grateful for that collaboration. Now, the second thing that I think collaborations do for you is that they are so, they open so many doors. It's kinda like it reminds me of like when you paint your house, you paint inside of your house and you're painting a room. If you've ever painted a room by yourself, your mind is blown by how long it takes you to paint a room. But then if you have one helper, that same room seems to be done in no time. And it seems like it doesn't go from just half the time. It goes from it exponentially faster. And I think that when you collaborate, these are the kinds, it kinda has an exponential effect. So it seems like that should just open your market or your network, it should grow your network by two. You should get all the exposure of your network and then all the exposure of this collaborator's network. And vice versa, it's good for both of you. And it's a totally different group of people than your own little network in your own little market. But the thing that happens, it seems like, that's not all that happens. It seems like when you collaborate in twos or threes, like it doesn't just double your network. It seems to go places all on its own that neither of you would have done on your own. And so that's the thing that's been really interesting to me is that it seems like when you put your powers combined, you do the Megazord. Things that it does more than you could even proceed because this new entity, if you're two people, it's almost like a third entity all on its own. And that's an amazing thing. That's a thing that you can't replicate. You can't do it on your own. And so I really believe in collaborations. I really feel like it is that a hobbyist thing that if you were watching your show and you were the Power Rangers and you see that monster come right from the get-go, you'd think, "Go instant Megazord." And so maybe even before those big problems, before those things happen, just go ahead and keep your eyes peeled. I don't think you should rush into collaborations. I think that the climate has to be right for those things and the time has to be right and the person has to be right, the chemistry has to be right. But I think you can miss them. It's so easy to miss opportunities if you're not really tuned in. And so maybe just look around and see, is there some collaboration that's waiting to happen that I'm kind of ignoring? I think that it'll really serve you well if you do that. So thanks for your time. I hope this has been helpful for you and keep coming back for your creative pep talks. If you want to find me, you can find me at www.andie-j-miller.com. Thank you and I will speak to you soon. (upbeat music) Hey y'all, one more quick thing. Earlier this year, I rebuilt my website using Squarespace's new fluid engine and I was so pumped about how it turned out that I have been really thrilled to find as many ways to partner with them and tell you about what they can do and bring you discounts as possible. With social media going haywire, I think having a site that feels as unique as your creative work is essential to building trust with your target audience or your clients. I have had several clients point out how cohesive and fresh my site looks lately and if you want to check that out and what I was able to do without any code, check out andie-j-pizza.com. If you want to test it out, go to squarespace.com/peptalk to test it out yourself and when you're ready to launch, use promo code PEPTALK for 10% off your first purchase. Thanks Squarespace for supporting the show and for supporting creative people. (gentle music) I'm Whit Missaldine, the creator of This Is Actually Happening, a podcast from Wondery that brings you extraordinary true stories of life-changing events told by the people who lived them. From a young man that dooms his entire future family with one choice, to a woman that barely survived her roommate, we dive into what happened and hear their intimate first-person account of how they overcame remarkable circumstances. Follow This Is Actually Happening on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts or listen ad-free by joining 1D+ in the Wondery app.