play_arrow
chevron_left
-
play_arrow
Ep 149 Career: You're underpriced because you're under confident. sdgates
-
play_arrow
Ep 139 Career: The Hard Truth About Creativity’s Role in Business Today (and Yesterday) sdgates
Ep 53 Podcast: The Crazy One podcast’s biggest lessons of 2017
-
play_arrow
PLAY EPISODE
Show notes arrow_drop_down
Show notes
In Episode 53 of The Crazy One, Stephen Gates wraps up a massive year of creative insight, tough conversations, and personal growth with a reflective deep dive. From emotional honesty to leadership, this episode isn’t just a recap—it’s a raw, unscripted reminder of what really matters to creative professionals.
Key Themes
1. Creativity and Emotion
- Fear and Frustration: Episode 41 tackled how these emotions are hardwired into the creative process. They’re signs you care—and challenges to manage.
- Happiness: Episode 27 explored how personal definitions of success shift over time, and why owning your happiness is a leadership skill.
- Empathy: Episode 47 focused on designing from the outside in. Empathy isn’t data—it’s connection, and it’s critical.
2. Inclusive vs. Exclusive Creativity
- Design thinking and in-house teams are reshaping how creativity happens.
- Inclusive processes tap into deeper psychology—people support what they help build.
- Old-school agency models resist this because showing your process is vulnerable.
- Real innovation requires collaboration, not tribalism.
3. The Value of Thinking, Not Just Design
- Creativity isn’t just making things look good—it’s solving problems.
- Visual design is a byproduct of strategic thinking.
- Pinterest-perfect portfolios don’t show the messiness of real constraints.
- In-house design teams must own their role as business thinkers, not just visual stylists.
4. Building a Personal Brand That Actually Matters
- You can’t just rely on your current job title. Define your brand before someone else does.
- Self-promotion isn’t egotism—it’s survival.
- Episode 58 (Adobe MAX session) focused on brand clarity, career progression, and storytelling.
- Don’t wait until you’re jobless to build your reputation.
5. The Need for Real Leadership in In-House Design
- In-house design is where the real opportunity—and real pain—lives.
- Leading inside a legacy company means pushing a speedboat in front of a cruise ship.
- Leadership here requires resilience, advocacy, and brutal honesty.
- We need more voices, more examples, and more community to lead this charge.
End-of-Year Reflections
- Success = cycling between the artist and the ruler.
- Stay grounded in the work while building your influence.
- Measure your progress. Write down your current process and revisit it next year.
- Comfort is the enemy of greatness. Evolve, or get left behind.
Final Thought The most important theme of the year? Honesty.
- With your team. With your work. With yourself.
- Don’t wait for permission to be real. Say the hard things.
- Vulnerability isn’t weakness—it’s what connects us.
Bold Closing Be honest. Be fearless. Build your brand. Lead from wherever you are. The answers aren’t out there—they’re in you. You don’t need permission to make change. You just need the guts to start. So reflect, recharge, and roll into next year ready to stay crazy.
Other episodes
play_arrow
play_arrow
play_arrow
play_arrow
