Jeff shares how he has sustained success over two decades in the game and avoided becoming just another trend. He also divulges his somewhat questionable and illicit use of rollerblades to get accepted into Parsons.
Read MoreOvershare Podcast: Director Elena Parasco on Sports and the Female Gaze
Elena Parasco is tenacious and resilient when trying to get her ideas out into the world, whether for herself or for clients like Nike, Air Jordan, A$AP Rocky, Calvin Klein, and Guess. In this episode, you will learn about embracing the doubt of others as motivation and how to find happiness in small wins. Especially, when going through challenging times in your career.
Read MoreOvershare Podcast: Dark Igloo is from the '90s & Here to Play
Dave Franzese and Mark Richard Miller are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their creative studio Dark Igloo. For Episode 9 of Season 2, Justin invites the duo into the studio to reflect on the past decade of creating work that's drenched in humor and nostalgia.
Read MoreOvershare Podcast: Jon Burgerman Is Not a Doodler
In this episode, you will learn that the key to creative freedom is really to just stop caring what other people think and you’ll learn how to reframe your thinking when jealousy of other peoples’ work or success inevitably creeps up.
Read MoreOvershare Podcast: Joan founders Lisa Clunie + Jaime Robinson on Taking No Shit & Having Fun Doing It
There's a lot packed into this episode with the two founders of creative agency Joan. There are songs sung, honest insights on the challenges of starting a business, and a few references to Howard Hughes bottling his pee. In this episode, you will learn that happiness and ambition can actually co-exist, and how meeting a stranger that shares your passions can unlock whole new chapters in your career.
Read MoreOvershare Podcast: Robyn Kanner Is Gonna Be Ok
For Episode 6 of Season 2, host Justin Gignac chats in the studio with writer, designer, and co-founder of MyTransHealth, Robyn Kanner. There's a lot of sincerity and beautiful insights to take away from this conversation. You will learn that it's okay to be messy. Not in an organizational sense, but messy in the decisions and mistakes you make. None of us are unique or special in our struggles. Once you embrace who you are and feel comfortable with your voice, it will transform your work.
Read MoreOvershare Podcast: Chobani's Kwame Taylor-Hayford on the Untapped Potential of Living a Safe Life
Justin Gignac sits down in the studio with Kwame Taylor-Hayford. In this episode, you will learn the value of being curious, pushing yourself every day, and how appreciating different cultures and people can positively affect your creative perspective.
Read MoreOvershare Podcast: SNL Editor Adam Epstein on Optimistic Nihilism & the Power of Great Teams
For Episode 13, Justin talks to editor Adam Epstein, who's been at Saturday Night Live the past 9 seasons, and has edited over 100 digital shorts, including all of your favorites. It's a really fascinating discussion of what goes on behind the scenes of a historic show that's managed to gain even more stature in the past couple years. And hearing Adam's process for how he approaches his craft and handles the pressures of time restraints and audience size is really insightful for fellow creatives.
Read MoreOvershare Podcast: Illustrator Laura Callaghan on Inclusivity & Being a Creative Late Bloomer
The third episode of Season 2 is from a live Overshare event in London, where Justin Gignac interviewed the incredible Irish illustrator Laura Callaghan. Her work is adored for the strength and diversity of the women she features in her art, along with the crazy amounts of detail she puts into every scene and every pattern. The balance of strength and vulnerability in her characters extends to Laura herself and her creative approach.
Read MoreOvershare Podcast: Gemma O'Brien
For our 9th episode, WNW co-founder Justin Gignac sits down with Gemma O'Brien, an Australian artist and designer specialising in lettering, illustration, and typography.
Read MoreOvershare Podcast: Kate Moross
Overshare is a Working Not Working event series and podcast that features honest conversations with our favorite creatives about the tough stuff we don't talk about in public often enough. For our 8th episode, WNW co-founder Justin Gignac talks to Member Kate Moross in the first London edition of Overshare.
Read MoreWNW Returns to London this Week
Working Not Working is taking to the London streets this coming week. After a jaunt around Copenhagen and Amsterdam at the start of summer, we decided to hop back across the pond with a return to London. We hope to catch up with our London-based Members, or anyone willing to make the trip to one of our events.
Read MoreOvershare Podcast: Sara Shelton
Overshare Podcast: Sara Shelton
Overshare is a Working Not Working event series and podcast that features honest conversations with our favorite creatives about the tough stuff we don't talk about in public often enough. As Mental Health Awareness Month comes to a close, we're sharing Episode 7, which celebrates a project that builds awareness year-round. This conversation couldn't be closer to capturing what Overshare is all about. WNW Member #103 Sara Shelton sat down with our friend Claire Wasserman, founder of Ladies Get Paid, about her brave and very necessary project We Get Depressed. Having battled depression herself, and losing her brother to it, Sara knows better than anyone the importance of starting a cause that directly tackles one of depression’s false and most dangerous calling cards: that you're alone in your depression.
You can listen to the entire conversation on our podcast, sponsored by FreshBooks. Subscribe to Overshare on iTunes, and listen to all the other Overshare episodes with any other podcasting app via our RSS feed or follow us on Spotify.
Below, you can also read our Magazine interview with Sara from January 2016, when We Get Depressed was just getting started.
Magazine Interview From January 29, 2016
"I was walking my dog, thinking about how, statistically speaking, I was walking by tons of people who get depressed. And wouldn’t it be comforting to just know who they were, so we could do a little nod, like, 'Yep, I get you.' When I got home from that walk, I bought the URL for We Get Depressed, googled 'how to build an online store,' and now here we are."
In the interview below, Sara also discusses depression's link with creativity: "We’re thinkers! We over analyze and question things and sweat all the details... I try to think of it as a package deal. Being creative means that sometimes, I’ll struggle with depression. But it also means that sometimes, I’ll get to feel funny and smart and excited to make things. I try hard to be okay with that package because, for one, I don’t have a choice - I’m stuck with myself. But also because when I’m in a good place, I really like getting to be me."
Get your t-shirt here to let others know they're not alone.
Tell us a little bit about your background. Who is Sara Shelton and how did she get here? How did you become a copywriter?
I wasn’t lucky enough to be one of those kids who knew what they wanted to be when they grew up. All I knew was that I wanted to do something creative, something I cared about, and something that I could do while wearing sneakers. After growing up in Texas, I eventually found my way to Ft Lauderdale (okay, I moved there for a dude) and finished up my degree in Communications.
When I set out to find my first real job, I immediately regretted majoring in Communications. I hadn’t learned how to DO anything. But I loved writing, so I made a list of every film company, editorial house, and ad agency within 50 miles of where I lived, and started knocking on doors. My first job was as a personal assistant at a tiny, three-person ad agency. Then I moved to what I thought was a more legit agency, only to discover that it was basically scamming people with those “Click Here and Get a Free iPod” web banners. (Sorry, everyone).
My uncle is a copywriter, so I talked to him and he said, “you’re not really working in advertising, you know.” He told me about copywriting, and about Miami Ad School. I wasn’t too thrilled about going back to school, but I decided to give it a shot. After my first quarter in ad school, I was like, “okay, I love this and I want to be really good at this.” So I put my head down and got to work.
What do you do when “Not Working”?
There’s nothing I love more than sitting in a bar with funny friends laughing about dumb shit. I’m also a big lover of comedy. I’m so fascinated by standup, although I’ve never performed it. I used to do a lot of improv, but being part of a group is a huge commitment… and agency life makes that really difficult. So now I just perform in storytelling shows from time to time. It’s not as popular of an art form, but I love it. You should check it out! I also have this really awesome pitbull named Thor who I wander around Brooklyn with quite a bit. I can be a bit of a hermit, so it’s nice that he forces me to get out of the house. I actually had the idea for We Get Depressed while I was out walking him.
What led you to start this project?
Depression has been a “thing” in my life since I was in high school. I lost my brother to suicide when I was 16, so I’ve spent years thinking about his depression, and playing out ways I could have saved him. But since then, I’ve also struggled with my own depression, so it’s always top of mind. There was a time about four years ago when I had just moved to LA and out of nowhere, I got really depressed. Like, really depressed. I remember meeting my aunt for dinner and just hoping she’d be able to tell because I was too embarrassed to bring it up. Luckily, she noticed immediately, and she and my cousin put me in touch with a professional. I got on medication for a while, and once I was feeling better, I thought a lot about how ashamed I had felt for feeling depressed. I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone with my problem, and I was honestly too exhausted to google “therapists in Santa Monica”. Keeping it a secret had been so important to me, which in hindsight felt really messed up.
So when Robin Williams died last year, I posted something on Facebook, encouraging friends to get help if they need it. The last part of it said, “And don’t think, for a second, you’re alone. There’s probably more of us than there are of them, just no one ever talks about it.” I got so many messages about that post. Friends basically saying “hey, that’s really brave of you to admit that you get depressed. Nobody knows this, but I’ve struggled with it too.” I realized admitting it wasn’t just a problem for me, but for others as well.
Then a few months ago, I was walking my dog and thinking about how, statistically speaking, I was walking by tons of people who get depressed. And wouldn’t it be comforting to just know who they were, so we could do a little nod, like, “Yep, I get you.” When I got home from that walk, I bought the URL for We Get Depressed, googled “how to build an online store,” and now here we are.
We Get Depressed directly tackles one of depression’s false calling cards, that we’re alone in our depression. Do you see that feeling of loneliness in feeling alone as the most dangerous effect of depression?
I do, and social media doesn’t help. Online, we all present ourselves as these perfect people loving every moment. Depression makes you feel like you’re the only one on the planet who’s such a mess, so you go out of your way to hide it from all your “perfect” friends. Which, I’m telling you, is absolutely exhausting. And only makes it worse.
There seems to be a general consensus that depression is particularly prevalent in creative individuals. Why do you think this is? How has your creativity helped keep depression at bay? And how has your creativity perhaps opened the door to depression?
Because we’re thinkers! We over analyze and question things and sweat all the details. Creative people have heightened emotions. Sometimes that can work to our advantage, and other times it’s the opposite. That’s just the way it is. So I try to think of it as a package deal. Being creative means that sometimes, I’ll struggle with depression. But it also means that sometimes, I’ll get to feel funny and smart and excited to make things. I try hard to be okay with that package because, for one, I don’t have a choice - I’m stuck with myself. But also because when I’m in a good place, I really like getting to be me.
What’s been the reaction since you started this project? Any unexpected effects from sharing it?
The support has been so reassuring. Not only are people buying the shirt, but they’re wearing it. I found wearing it to be a bit intimidating at first, so I’ve been really inspired by those who throw it on like it’s nothing. It makes me feel like I’m a part of something, rather than just a lone wolf trying to make a point. One thing I wasn’t expecting to happen was how many people would reach out to me, and share their personal experiences with depression. People seem to really want to open up about it. Makes sense, because it feels pretty liberating.
What are some top tips you can give to fellow WNW members who suffer from depression?
I don’t know if I’m qualified to give tips, but here are some things I wish I was better at:
- Don’t wait until it gets really bad to admit it to yourself. Talking yourself out of a dark hole fucking sucks, and the deeper you’re in it, the harder it can be to motivate yourself to start crawling out of it.
- Make mental notes of what triggers your depression, so you can (try to) limit those things.
- When things are good, note the things that make you feel joy, and make those things a priority in your life.
- Don’t give up, you’re doing the best you can and that’s good enough. Don’t be so hard on yourself.
- Tell someone. (Maybe someone who you know can relate because you’ve seen them wearing that shirt around.)
Who are some other WNW members whose work you admire, and why?
There are so many! I’ve always admired Brian Moore, Rahul Panchal, and Graham Douglas for each having this fearless attitude towards making ideas happen. I’m a big fan of Tommy Noonan and his new bodega project. I’m obsessed with Donnell Johnson’s writing. And nobody has a better eye than Elizabeth Dilk. Anything she lays out, I want to buy.
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
Make sure to follow us on Instagram or on Twitter, where we share more content like this.
Overshare Podcast: Shantell Martin + Ivan Cash
Overshare Podcast: Shantell Martin + Ivan Cash
Overshare is a Working Not Working event series and podcast that features honest conversations with our favorite creatives about the tough stuff we don't talk about in public often enough. For our 6th episode, WNW co-founder Justin Gignac talks to Members Shantell Martin and Ivan Cash, who both possess an enviable level of self-awareness, gratitude, and the ability to appreciate and live in the present. It makes the resulting conversation especially lively and insightful, as it shifts from creative foundations to the complex ideas of sharing and spontaneity and connection, to how artists can challenge an overreliance on technology both professionally and personally.
Shantell kicks things off talking about her background growing up in a white, racist, and homophobic community where she immediately felt like an outsider. "Because I didn't look like anyone else around me, I didn't have that pressure to fit in and to be like everyone around me... I was almost given a passport to be myself from quite an early age, which I think allowed me to explore this kind of natural creativity that I had inside me." For Ivan, the first creative project that brought him to where he is today resulted in getting arrested. While taking a screen printing class in college, Ivan made t-shirts encouraging the firing of then embattled New York Knicks coach Isaiah Thomas, and sold them outside of Madison Square Garden on game nights. After three nights of selling out of shirts, Ivan was arrested on the fourth and taken to Midtown South Precinct. "News of the arrest ended up getting a lot of coverage. I was interviewed on ESPN Radio, and a year later that project got me my first professional job in advertising. So, in many ways, getting arrested got me my first professional job."
Both Shantell and Ivan are artists very much driven by human connection. Shantell discusses the concept of spontaneity and sharing that drives her work and captures the magic of what art can be. "Why are we here in life? It's to share... We've gotten to this stage where we imagine that art is this romantic moment of craziness that an artist does, and that's because we don't have access primarily to an artist's process... 99% of my work is done with an audience and I allow the audience to see my process. And that's the magic. Before I do anything, there's a blank canvas. After, there's the final result. We can all look at a final product and bring our baggage to it... But the moment of connection, the moment of sharing for me is when you actually create the work. And if you can share that, then we're all connected in that moment and we're all experiencing the same thing happening at the same time. And when I produce a work that's never existed before, then for me that is essentially connecting and sharing at its core, and that is what I'm here to give to the world in a way that no one else can."
Ivan's work often focuses on the burdens of technology and always being "on." The conversation naturally shifted toward meditation, which both Ivan and Shantell have practiced. "I've gone on a number of long-term silent retreats that are a total recharge for me, where I can process everything," Ivan says. "We work out our bodies but when do we work out our brain or have a cleanse to process all of the crazy shit that happens on a day-to-day basis?... It's usually a week, but I've sat a month in silence... I think it couldn't help but allow me to pursue my passions more and learn 'what do I really want?' It became clear there was no other path but to do what I felt most convicted and passionate about. I hope that I'm a better listener from it."
For those of you who couldn't join us, we have good news: you can listen to the entire conversation below on our podcast, brought to you by our friends at AND CO. Subscribe to Overshare on iTunes, Soundcloud, or with any other podcasting app via our RSS feed.
A heartfelt thanks to AND CO for sponsoring this episode of Overshare. Let AND CO, co-founded by WNW Member Leif Abraham, help you run your freelance business by managing your invoicing, time tracking, expenses and projects with the combination of a smart app and your personal Chief Operator.
Get 20% off for 3 months on all premium memberships with the code “WNW”.
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us.
Don't forget to follow us on Instagram or on Twitter, where we share more content like this.
Overshare Podcast: David Droga
Overshare Podcast: David Droga
Overshare is a Working Not Working event series and podcast that features honest conversations with our favorite creatives about the tough stuff we don't talk about in public often enough. For our 5th episode, WNW co-founder Justin Gignac talks to David Droga, Creative Chairman and Founder of the advertising agency Droga5. Droga5 has only been around ten years, yet it's been named Agency of the Year ten times. Clearly, David has to up his game if he ever wants to make a name for himself in this industry.
Kidding aside, we find that the more successful the individual, the more rewarding it can be to hear them divulge their creative struggles and insecurities. If anything, the stakes are higher. From the constructive competition of being one of seven kids growing up in Australia to his early admiration of certain creative agencies in the US and England, David sees his career in advertising as inevitable. David also tells us what he hopes to achieve; specifically, he doesn't want to squander what he's built. "I like goals that are almost unattainable because it holds you to task all of the time. I want to build the most influential agency in the world. Because to be influential, you have to contribute on a lot of different levels. It's not necessarily by scale or by one particular client, but it's about influence of culture, influence of sales, influence of our industry..."
To say that Droga5 is on a roll would drastically understate its success. But David recognizes that many of the creative agencies he admired coming up have since closed down. He sees momentum less as following a winning formula than finding ways to keep things fresh, not just for a global audience but also his personnel. It's clear David celebrates everyone representing the Droga5 legacy from top to bottom in every global office, especially the creatives. He depends on them as family. "I always talk internally about how it's not one starlet person. The only thing that everybody in that office has in common is that no one has to be there. Everyone is talented enough that they can go get a job somewhere else. The fact that we choose to be together, we might as well fucking do something with that opportunity."
For those of you who couldn't join us, we have good news: you can listen to the entire conversation below on our podcast, brought to you by our friends at AND CO. Subscribe to Overshare on iTunes, Soundcloud, or with any other podcasting app via our RSS feed.
Some work from Droga5
A heartfelt thanks to AND CO for sponsoring this episode of Overshare. Let AND CO, co-founded by WNW Member Leif Abraham, help you run your freelance business by managing your invoicing, time tracking, expenses and projects with the combination of a smart app and your personal Chief Operator.
Get 20% off for 3 months on all premium memberships with the code “WNW”.
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us.
Don't forget to follow us on Instagram or on Twitter, where we share more content like this.
Overshare Podcast: Jessica Hische + Jennifer Daniel
Overshare Podcast: Jessica Hische + Jennifer Daniel
Overshare is a Working Not Working event series and podcast that features honest conversations with our favorite creatives about the tough stuff we don't talk about in public often enough. When the idea for Overshare was first born, Jennifer Daniel and Jessica Hische were two of the first artists that came to mind. In this fourth episode, we head to San Francisco and attempt to go deeper than the 34,000 tweets of these two professional oversharers. It was no easy task, but they were more than happy to oblige. Talking about their respective therapists early on in the conversation, Jessica explains, "My therapist doesn't say anything in our sessions. It's just me dumping onto her and then I leave." Jennifer quips, "[Mine] tweeted me once. That was weird. I had to fire her." Inherently the conversation did circle back to a discussion about how social media has impacted their careers, with Jennifer adding, "There is no question it has impacted my career. I would love to meet someone who said it didn't impact their career...I think in 140 characters now. It has absolutely informed my identity."
Aside from being incredibly talented designers and illustrators with equally intimidating resumes, Jessica and Jennifer have both had kids in the past couple years. As someone who doesn't have children and is not a woman, WNW co-founder Justin Gignac aimed to learn how motherhood can affect you as a creative as well as how it affects your career. After an educational detour into pregnancy, epidurals, placenta, and breastfeeding, Jessica and Jennifer opened up about the struggle to get back into the game after maternity leave. As Jessica describes, "People constantly ask me, 'Oh so wait you still have the studio?' People are surprised that I still have my studio in the city now that I'm a parent. Not even that I still work, it's that they're surprised that I don't work from home now that I have my daughter. Why would I give up my studio, why would anything in my life really change? Why would my business change that significantly?" "I was not prepared for that perception," Jennifer adds. "I did not really appreciate the understanding that the default is the mother takes care of the kid before their career. It is biological, I cared about those kids more than my career. But I love my job, I fucking love working...Professionally, women get screwed when they have children. Universally. If you are worried about your career after you have kids, you have a reason to be worried."
Beyond motherhood, both women open up about being a creative in San Francisco, the dangers of long-term goals, and if they ever worry that they've peaked creatively or professionally. Looking ahead, Justin asks what success means to Jennifer and Jessica. For Jennifer, "Success is about it being difficult. Success isn't about it being easy. I love a good struggle. Success is insatiable. I don't think about it and that helps me." For Jessica, "Success for me is making things that I find meaningful but that also other people find meaningful. In a more personal way, feeling still excited and motivated by whatever it is that I'm working on."
For those of you who couldn't join us, we have good news: you can listen to the entire conversation below on our podcast, brought to you by our friends at AND CO. Subscribe to Overshare on iTunes, Soundcloud, or with any other podcasting app via our RSS feed.
A heartfelt thanks to AND CO for sponsoring this episode of Overshare. Let AND CO, co-founded by WNW Member Leif Abraham, help you run your freelance business by managing your invoicing, time tracking, expenses and projects with the combination of a smart app and your personal Chief Operator.
Get 20% off for 3 months on all premium memberships with the code “WNW”.
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us.
Don't forget to follow us on Instagram or on Twitter, where we share more content like this.
Ask an Expert: Get Rich or Die Cryin'
Ask an Expert:
Get Rich or Die Cryin'
Welcome to the inaugural episode of "Ask an Expert," some bonus content to go along with our new podcast Overshare. Ask an Expert is a fun-sized program where creatives, who know a lot about creative things, learn about important things they know nothing about. Like accounting, legal, and shit that hasn't even hit their fans yet. We were lucky to have two WNW Members with great voices (and faces) for radio: Cooper Smith, a self-proclaimed parallel parking expert and Marques Gartrell, a self-proclaimed WaWa expert. Unfortunately for them, and luckily for us, the conversation revolved around a topic outside their respective wheelhouses: Accounting.
Cooper and Marques bring in the help of Robb Eng and Jaclyn Tanner, two accounting experts from FreshBooks, a cloud accounting software made specifically for freelancers and small business owners. Why is accounting important for creatives? As Robb would summarize in the ensuing conversation, "Creatives don’t realize the value that they’re giving their client and what sort of revenue [both the client and creative] can get from the work that they’re giving. Freelance isn't free."
Believe it or not, we had a really entertaining and insightful conversation about accounting, a topic that often tends to scare or sedate. We highly recommend you listen to the full 30-minute episode to learn about Marques' affinity for velvet and how to value yourself as a creative. Thanks to FreshBooks for their support and knowledge. Subscribe to Overshare on iTunes, Soundcloud, or with any other podcasting app via our RSS feed.
Creatives tend to be a little bit squeamish when it comes to money, and not just squeamish but not good at it. Why do you think that is?
Robb: They were never really trained in how to talk about money. When you were in school, you go through a lot of design and courses, they don’t tell you about how to talk the money talk. And that’s something where it’s more of a muscle that you need to flex and get more used to. It’s not like you’re not able to do it. You just have to do it more often and get used to it.
Is there anything you can do to get your invoices through, to make sure you’re getting your money faster, to not get screwed over?
Robb: One way at the beginning is to think about deposits. When you’re working with a client, require "this much" up front. Maybe it’s 20%, maybe it’s 50%. It gives you a little of that cash flow you need to keep the lights on while you’re working on the project. And if you do it at the beginning when they want your services, you have that negotiating power. It isn’t like you already delivered on the project and now they’re walking away and forgetting about you.
Jaclyn: Bigger clients and bigger corporations are habitual for paying just crazy crazy late. So if you score an awesome contract with a big client, "YAY!" But know that they’re going to take their dear sweet time.
Robb: Think ahead. For bigger corporations, typically it's a 30 day window after they receive [the invoice]. So don't send it at the very end when you need it in the next two weeks. You gotta give yourself some time for those bigger companies. Some creatives will send it right away.
What should go on an invoice?
Jaclyn: If there’s one thing Judge Judy has taught me, “Get it in writing." Pretending to get all the way to court, what’s the stuff that's going to help your case? Stuff like a date, stuff like who’s the recipient of this invoice, what’s the total amount, when was the payment date, when did you expect to be paid, all this stuff that helps you “build a case”. What’ the stuff that you need to get in writing. So you can go to your client and say “Nothing personal, but this is what we agreed to up front, so now we’re just going to be consistent with our commitments.”
Robb: In the creative space it’s very different than the food space. If you get a burger, and all of a sudden you want bacon, people know they have to pay for that. But for some reason, with designers and creatives, it's “Hey, can you make this one more change?” It’s going to take you that time to make that change and do all that, so if it’s not in your agreement and you don’t have this invoice on there, then you might have to do it, and waste all that time doing it. So if you have this invoice, you can say “hey, great suggestion, I can definitely do that. The charge will be this much."
Value-based billing. What is it?
Robb: This is not for the junior level freelancer. More for the established creative trying to get out of the trap of trading dollars for hours. It’s a paradigm shift, flipping the conversation toward the value you deliver, versus the cost that you’re incurring. Working with your client on what kind of return on the investment or ROI are you going to give. So for example, if you’re a web or UX designer and you’re developing a website for a client, and through working with them you're able to generate 100k more in revenue. You can look at that rate, so based on the amount of additional revenue, you can then work on a 10K dollar rate. So that’s a huge 10x return on investment based on that. What’s really great about this shift is they’re now not stressing about reducing your costs but more stressing about the profit and value that you’re delivering. You’re more a business partner with them and less about a transaction.
Jaclyn: It positions you as a professional. This is your realm, your wheelhouse. So to come to the table and say “this is my deal and I’m going to tell you where you’re at and where you could be" positions you as a partner. As opposed to this horrible race to the bottom that everybody’s doing. I don’t want to hire someone who is faster and cheaper. I want someone who is going to bring quality to the table because I care about my business. That’s what I dig about value-based billing, it positions you as the authority that you are.
A heartfelt thanks to FreshBooks for sponsoring this episode of Overshare. FreshBooks is a ridiculously easy cloud accounting software for freelancers and small business owners. It makes your accounting tasks easy, fast and secure. You can start sending invoices, tracking time and capturing expenses in minutes.
Overshare Podcast: Kate Bingaman-Burt, Adam R. Garcia & Rich Tu
Overshare Podcast: Kate Bingaman-Burt, Adam R. Garcia & Rich Tu
Overshare is a new Working Not Working event series and podcast that features honest conversations with our favorite creatives about the tough stuff we don't talk about in public often enough. In the third episode, WNW co-founder Justin Gignac travels to Portland during Design Week to talk to three WNW all-stars: Kate Bingaman-Burt, Rich Tu, and Adam R. Garcia.
Housed in Outpost, a 13,000 square foot industrial building, the trio give Justin the rundown on the creative scene in Portland. "One thing about teaching here is that the community is just so generous and their doors are so open," says Kate. "It’s kind of ridiculous to not tap into the community, especially when you’re a design student and you’re teaching at a design program... Even though I’ve been here for 8 years, I’m still so in awe at how generous the community is. It’s a game-changer." Adam adds, "This place really does exemplify the idea of openness both creatively and collaboratively...there’s a cutthroatness that doesn’t need to exist here because of the creative infrastructure of this city."
Rich, the newest Portlander, shares the challenge of retooling some of his New York City tendencies. "I’m struggling with shedding a bit of the New Yorker out of me. I remember when I first got here, I was riding the train and I was like hoodie, sunglasses, don’t fuckin talk to me. Thinking 'have to be in the zone, on the way to work.' But then of course, going to work at the Swoosh, every one takes the same fuckin train. Inevitably, you’re seeing everyone at work and then you start opening up, you start becoming a human being…my next hurdle is really to become an outdoorsy guy."
Kate, Rich & Adam also open up about about their personal definitions of success and failure, and how they try to build on success and embrace and rebound from fears and failure. Rich reflects on the idea of not letting his parents down, and carrying the torch of success. "Being the child of an immigrant is a really meaningful thing. They came to the United States from the Philippines when they were twenty years old [supporting their families back in the Philippines]...and I think, 'Shit, I've got to live up to that. My mom ended up being a doctor, my dad ended up being an architect, doing amazing things off of pennies in the Philippines. I look at that, I'm like 'I can't not fail that legacy. I've got to at least do something with my life.' Having them see my success is the anti-failure for me."
As the conversation winded down, Kate was asked what advice she would give to her younger self: "It's okay to be loud. I think about the way that I was just spending a lot of worry about what people are thinking of me, trying not to have people notice me, trying not to have people listen to me. It was a lot of time that I wasted being up against the wall. It's really important to me, especially to my female students too, that it's okay to be loud. So be loud."
For those of you who couldn't join us, we have good news: you can listen to the entire conversation below on our new podcast, sponsored by FreshBooks. Subscribe to Overshare on iTunes, Soundcloud, or with any other podcasting app via our RSS feed.
A heartfelt thanks to FreshBooks for sponsoring this episode of Overshare. FreshBooks is a ridiculously easy cloud accounting software for freelancers and small business owners. It makes your accounting tasks easy, fast and secure. You can start sending invoices, tracking time and capturing expenses in minutes.
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Overshare Podcast: Jon Contino
OVERSHARE PODCAST:Overshare Podcast: Jon Contino
Overshare is a new WNW event series and podcast that features honest conversations with our favorite creatives about the realities of being an independent creative. For the second installment, renowned designer Jon Contino helps Overshare earn its Parental Advisory sticker on iTunes in an honest and hilarious discussion about building his brand over twenty years and dealing with copycats. Jon comes clean to the audience about his competitive nature and inclination to always have something to prove: "I always, always, always feel like I have something to prove, mostly because what I do is ridiculous. The fact that I just draw stupid shit for big companies and they say 'Okay'. How long could that possibly last?"
When hearing his imitators receive praise for being "visionaries," Jon tries to take it in stride: "Not that I am, but the fact that I know you’re stealing from me, if anyone should be getting those compliments it should be me. And I know I shouldn’t be getting those compliments 'cause I got it from somewhere else too." Jon finds assistance on big projects from one unlikely source in particular: "I’m not even joking. [My daughter] is three and I’m always just like, 'Which one do you like?' And she’s like, 'Umm, this one.' And I’m like 'Done. Here you go AT&T.'”
It's clear that Jon Contino operates at his best when he has a certain edge. On whether moving to the suburbs and having a kid has made him lose his edge, Jon had this to say: "It’s probably made it worse because I have a daughter. I’m just waiting to knife a 14-year old kid. The first boy she brings home, I can’t wait because I’m locking him in the basement and I’m just gonna call his parents to come pick him up because he’s not allowed upstairs."
Lastly, Jon offers some priceless advice of his own to remember when you inevitably hit a creative wall: "If [your creativity] didn’t come back, I think you would be some kind of science experiment. I feel like you are wired to be a creative person. If you hit a wall, that’s natural. If you hit a wall, and it never comes back, you should probably be studied. You don’t stop breathing unless you die. You’re always breathing, you’re always doing these things that it’s just like a bodily function that’s unique to you."
For those of you who couldn't join us, we have good news: you can listen to the entire conversation below on our new podcast. Subscribe to Overshare on iTunes, Soundcloud, or with any other podcasting app via our RSS feed.