Ep 130: Ending the hiatus. Is this thing still on?

Show notes

What’s going on, everybody? And welcome to the 130th episode of The Crazy One Podcast.

Man, it feels like this one has been a long time coming. And for a lot of you, I know—too long. I’ve heard the messages, the DMs, the emails. Every week. Every month. It’s been about a year and a month since the last episode. So yeah—let’s just call this one what it is:

“Is this thing still on?”

Because today, I want to talk honestly about where I’ve been, where the show’s been, and what’s coming next.

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What Happened?

Let’s start here:

A little over two years ago, I left New York City. I had just been laid off for the third time and decided enough was enough. I was tired of feeling disposable. Tired of feeling like my life was always “on the way to something else.”

• It wasn’t the job I wanted—it was on the way to a better job.

• It wasn’t the city we wanted to live in—it was just temporary until we could settle down.

 

The weight of all that eventually became too much. So, I made the leap. I started my own agency. I started over. I made the changes I needed to make.

But what I didn’t expect was how much that would change my relationship with this show.

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Why I Stepped Away

Here’s the truth:

For years, The Crazy One was an outlet for creative energy that had nowhere else to go. The reason I could crank out an episode every two or three weeks?

Because I was profoundly unhappy.

I felt unheard. I wasn’t proud of the work I was doing. I had a voice but no place to use it. So I poured all that leftover energy into this podcast.

And when I finally stepped back and looked at the 129 episodes I’d created, I didn’t see impact or inspiration. I saw someone who was hurting.

When I got laid off that last time, I had to do a portfolio audit. They asked for a few case studies from the last five years. And I couldn’t find anything that really represented me. Nothing that felt like me. The work I was proud of was older. The roles I’d taken had turned me into a politician, a therapist, an interventionist—everything except a creative leader.

That was the wake-up call.

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Starting Over—and Doing Work I Love Again

After launching my studio, something shifted. I finally started doing work I was proud of again. Fulfilled again. Happy again.

And with that shift, I realized something else:

I didn’t have the leftover energy to make the podcast the way I used to—because I was using all of it doing the work I loved.

It’s been a weird realization. And an emotional one. Because this show has always been for you—but it’s also always been about me. It helped me reflect. It helped me make sense of what I was going through. It helped me process.

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Owning the Messiness

When I publicly shared my job search, I didn’t sugarcoat it. I talked about the hits, the misses, the faceplants. I wanted to be the canary in the coal mine. Because honestly, I also realized that some of what I created—some of what I projected—had become toxic.

The number one comment I got after getting laid off?

“Oh, you can work anywhere you want.”

As if I’d “made it.”

As if I was somehow immune to layoffs, imposter syndrome, or failure.

Let me be clear:

That mindset is bullshit.

It’s damaging. It’s unrealistic. And it isolates us.

There is no “making it.” There’s just the next step in the journey.

And going through this publicly—while painful—felt necessary. Because it helped me shed the false narratives and start over honestly.

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So What’s Next for the Show?

The podcast is back—but it’s going to be different.

What’s changing:

• Shorter episodes – I don’t have the time or energy for the long-form shows I used to do.

• More formats – Podcast? Yes. But also short videos. Starting with LinkedIn and Instagram. Maybe even TikTok if there’s interest. (Let me know.)

• More focused on my journey – Going out on my own. What I’ve learned. What I’ve struggled with. Where I’ve grown.

• More interactive – I want to be a little more reactive to what you want to hear. So tell me.

What’s staying the same:

• The original 129 episodes are still relevant.

  In fact, depressingly so—because many of the problems I talked about then are still happening now.

• I’ll still only release an episode when I’m happy with the content.

  No deadlines. No fluff. Just real talk.

 

And yes, it’s still free. So if you want to complain—well, there’s no customer service department.

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A New Chapter: CRZY Design

The studio is called CRZY—because of course I dropped the vowels. You can check it out at crzydesign.com.

We’ve been doing work I’m truly proud of. It hasn’t been without its challenges—because creative work never is—but it’s the kind of work that fills me up again.

And that’s what’s giving me the energy and clarity to come back to the mic.

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Let’s Rebuild This Together

I want to start the conversation again. I want to hear what’s on your mind. I want to share what I’ve been learning—creatively, emotionally, professionally.

I know I lost my voice for a while.

But that doesn’t mean it’s gone forever.

So if this show ever meant something to you:

• Reshare it

• Repost it

• Retweet it (if anyone’s still on X)

  Whatever it takes to rebuild the community around this.

 

Because The Crazy One is more relevant than ever.

Now more than ever, we need to own who we are, own our voice, and understand that the very things that make us different—our weirdness, our honesty, our struggle—are our greatest strengths.

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Let’s Go

There are already a few new episodes recorded and ready to go. I’ll be releasing 2–3 per week for a while.

Let me know what topics you want me to cover. DM me. Comment. Email. I’m listening.

Thanks for sticking with me. Thanks for being patient. And thanks for still believing that this show has value.

Let’s see where this goes next.

And as always—

Stay crazy.

Tagged as:
career burnout career challenges creative creative journey creative passion creative resilience finding authenticity going independent overcoming setbacks personal growth podcast reboot self-reflection starting a studio Stephen Gates podcast