Tough topics episodes

There are a lot of touch parts of creativity that often go undiscussed and that is a huge problem. These episodes take an unflinching look at some tough topics dealing with creativity, emotion, bias, and much more.


EPISODE 80

How to find and restore your confidence

Confidence is something we all seem to be constantly working on since it can be easily faked, lost, or thanks to design imposter syndrome always in short supply. Yet confidence is something that is critical for creativity, leadership, and happiness so we need to understand what undermines it and find new ways of restoring it. In this episode, we will look at the fears that commonly undermine our confidence and 5 ways effective ways to find or rebuild it.
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EPISODE 69

How to fight imposter syndrome

Even the most successful creatives a little secret we all share – from time to time we feel like frauds. It’s called design imposter syndrome and it is a psychological phenomenon where you have a belief that you’re inadequate despite evidence to the contrary. In this episode, we will look at why it is something we all have, the 5 different types of imposter syndromes, and what you can do about it.

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EPISODE 66

What to embrace, fight, stop and start to rediscover your voice and create your best ideas.

Everyone wants to let their work have a stronger voice and be more original but we have to deal with self-doubt, group think, and working for companies that demand conformity to a shared culture and way of thinking. In this episode, we will look at what makes up the foundation of originality and then explore the things that you need to embrace, fight, stop and start to rediscover your voice, fight the forces that want to strip your originality away from you and give you a roadmap for how to create better ideas with more originality.

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EPISODE 59 

Know when to quit and do it the right way

Leaving your job is always a difficult decision but how do you know if you really should go after something new, see if it is a great opportunity that isn’t being influenced by your emotions, and how do you leave the right way? In this episode, we will look at the seven signs that it is indeed time to move on, make sure that you don’t fall into emotional traps while making the decision and go over everything you need make sure you do after you give your notice.

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EPISODE 58

Confronting gender bias

We all need to start this conversation (especially men) because gender bias is a real problem that is very difficult to discuss and understand its conscious and unconscious expressions. Very few people understand it, have any idea how to confront it or make changes to improve it. In this episode, we will look at why this is a real problem, what a realistic outcome would be, the nine different types of bias, and what we can do about it.

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EPISODE 55

Know what fights to pick and how to fight them constructively

Fighting for what you believe in at work and what your team needs are a critical part of leadership. The problem is that if you to do it too much then you are a real pain to work with but if you don’t do it enough then you aren’t an effective leader. In this episode, we will look at how to find a balance in how often you have fights, why they are important and how to make fighting constructive instead of destructive for you and your career.

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EPISODE 52

6 ways to screw up your career

Navigating your career path can be extremely hard as there are a lot of traps and obstacles that can cause real problems you won’t see until it is too late. In this episode, we will explore six of the most common career mistakes that I see creatives make too often and explore a few different ways you can be sure you don’t make them in your career.

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EPISODE 44

Make your own luck

Too many people think that luck has something to do with success but nothing could be further from the truth. You need to make your work luck and in this episode, we will take a closer look at what people really meany when they say people are ‘lucky’, how preparation defines success more than anything, give an example of that from one of my most famous projects and talk about the habits of “lucky” people.

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EPISODE 43

Understanding and breaking through creative slumps

Creativity ebbs and flows for everyone. We all know that the times when you are struggling to find ideas and feel like you are in a slump are the most frustrating but what can you do to break out of it? In this episode, we will look at the different types of creative slumps, the reasons why they happen and some of the things I have found successful to break them.

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EPISODE 41

Understanding and embracing insecurity

There is a lot of nuance and emotion that goes into creativity and part of your success will be determined by how well you understand and control those emotions. Insecurity can play a huge part in helping or hurting your creative process so its something you need to be able to control. In this episode, we will look at the stages of creative insecurity, how social media can affect it and some technique to help you control it.

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EPISODE 38

Building stronger relationships with your clients (even the difficult ones)

The relationship between creatives and their clients is one of the most important parts of the creative process because to be able to do great work, your clients need to trust and respect you and your creative process but it doesn’t always happen. In this episode, I will talk about how to build a solid foundation with any client, the importance of trust in that relationship, how you can training bad traits out of difficult clients, how you can avoid problems by including clients in the creative process and some basic tips to building rapport with your clients.

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EPISODE 27 

The importance of happiness in creativity

I always ask creatives “Do you know what you need to be happy” and its amazing how few of them can actually answer that question. This episode looks at why happiness is an important part of creativity, understanding how being happy is a part of creating versus the creative process, and how you can understand things that influence your happiness like decision fatigue.

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