Entrepreneurship

Jake Thompson On…Faith & Work

February 13, 2015 By Courtney M. McSwain 1 Comment

(Photo: Courtesy of Jake Thompson)

I had heard Jake Thompson’s name mentioned as someone to learn from when it comes to creating a meaningful brand. When I checked out the website for Compete Every Day, the company he founded and serves as chief encouragement officer for, I immediately knew why his was an example of great storytelling. Compete Every Day is a lifestyle brand that sells t-shirts and apparel; but spend just a few minutes on the website and its true mission of encouraging people to fight, every day, for their lives and dreams shines through more clearly than any t-shirt design. In following the story of Compete Every Day, I also began to observe how Jake weaves his own personal story and beliefs into the lifeblood of his company. Even when it comes to his own faith, Jake allows his personal beliefs to influence his work without alienating customers or team members who may believe differently. Even through his own Twitter page, Jake thoughtfully sends encouragement, sometimes through specific words of religious faith and sometimes not, but always with a sense of humility felt even through a 140-character tweet.

Curious about how Jake manages to integrate his faith and creative work, I reached out to him to get his thoughts, which he graciously shared in the following Q&A.

What role does faith play in your life as an entrepreneur and creative person?

It plays an integral role in anything I do. What you believe influences the lens through which you see the world. My goal has always been to create great art. Every artist’s goal is to create something great. It’s nearly impossible for someone to pour themselves into creating something that isn’t influenced by how they see the world, what they believe and how they see others.

Have you confronted challenges with incorporating your faith into your business or creative life?

Absolutely, especially when I started Compete Every Day early on. We did not want to be a religious brand – that was never our goal. [Our] message is not about a specific religion or belief – the idea for competing for your life, I feel, is universal. But it’s hard for it not to be influenced by how I believe, how I see things, how I love people. Understanding how you separate yourself from that is definitely a challenge. I want what I believe and how I see and love on people to influence the brand, but you also don’t want to completely alienate people who don’t see things your way.

It was really difficult at first to balance. I still think that a lot of the things we say and do are influenced by what I believe, because I think it’s hard to completely remove yourself from something you’ve created. At the same time, we’ve taken a religious agnostic stance on the brand itself because we aren’t saying this is the only group that gets this Compete Every Day message.

One of the first instances I had where I was really struggling with this [was when] we had a booth at the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon. At the time we had a girls tank top that had the word “faith” on the front – which was very open ended in what [people] wanted that to mean. I had a lady come in and [she] asked me some specific religious questions: “Was it referred to Christianity or a Christian viewpoint?” My response to her was simply that it could be faith in what you believe, in what you’re doing on this earth, and what you believe your purpose is; it’s up to each person to decide how they want that to be displayed because they would be the one wearing it and telling the story when someone asks [about it]. She said, “Well, I wouldn’t wear it if it was something Christian based, but I love it. I want it, I believe in what I’m doing,” and so she grabbed it. Not ten minutes later, someone else walked in and bought it for completely opposite reasons. She wanted it for a Christian viewpoint; that’s what she felt it meant to her and wanted to talk about. At that moment, I realized we had a very fine line to walk because the message of Compete Every Day was applicable to so many different backgrounds and so many different beliefs.

Was there a time when you hit a wall on your journey? How did your faith help you overcome it?

The life of an entrepreneur is a constant roller coaster where you’re just trying to maintain stability. You’re not trying to get too high with the highs or too low with the lows. And when you own the business, you pour so much of your life and soul into it, that it’s really hard to pull your heart and soul out of it and look at things neutrally. So when you do get a victory you really take it to heart, and when you do have a failure, you take it more personally than someone else might in a professional setting.

I’ve had situations where I really wondered, “How are we going to get out of this financially? Are we ever going to make it?” That’s a struggle I think a lot of people deal with daily. I can admit that every so often I have those conversations about doubt and fear that creep into my mind, and I go back to my personal belief that I was born and blessed with certain abilities of encouragement, leadership and making an impact for my faith. So when I look at these tough situations, I try to remind myself of the bigger picture – of why I’m doing this.

In the darkest moments of when I question whether I have what it takes, it’s great to draw on the belief that I was put in this position to make an impact; I was given this blessing of a business and a message to share and I need to see it through. At the end of the day, it’s not about me; it’s about the impact that I can make. Having that faith is crucial for the toughest days, because the doubts and fears can always become a deafening noise in your head if you let them and you don’t focus on what’s really important – what your true mission is here on earth and what you’re trying to do.

Do you have conversations with other artists or changemakers about your faith? What have those conversations taught you?

Yes, from a standpoint of: How do you balance it? How do you create an environment influenced by what you believe, but at the same time not alienating individuals who don’t see things that way? I’ve had some great advice from guys who have built fantastic companies. [I’ve learned that] at the end of the day, you want to love on people. You want them to see the value you see in them. You want to remind them daily of how great they can be…if someone wants to have a conversation with me about what I believe, I’ll happily have that conversation with them. But day in and day out, I’m not trying to beat the door down on anybody. I’m not trying to impose what I believe on anybody. I’m just trying to love on people, respect people, remind people of how awesome they are. And in a world that’s so negative—just trying to pick [people] up a little bit every day.

What advice would you give other artists and changemakers on allowing their faith tradition into their creative or business lives?

The words you say [and] the actions you take daily tell people exactly what you believe about yourself, about them, about the world and about any higher power that you may or may not believe in. You want to take a position, in my opinion, where you integrate what you believe in how you do business ethically and morally; if you have a certain standard, you need to abide by that standard. At the same time, unless you’re outspoken that this is a religious company or brand, you don’t want to beat people over the head. I don’t think people have ever converted to one faith or another by getting yelled at, beaten over the head with something or told how terrible or how wrong they are. More often than not, it’s from someone loving on them, having genuine conversations with them and respecting them enough to care about their well-being.

It’s really about maintaining the consistency in your word and deed with the daily interactions with your team, with the products you produce and especially with the people in the community who support [your business]. It’s a fine line to walk, but I think if you have a diverse team that believes different things, but who are all committed to building that same organization, that product, that brand, they’ll find a way to work together.

Thank you Jake for sharing your story! Be sure to get some encouragement from Compete Every Day’s website, Twitter and Facebook pages. You can also connect with Jake Thompson on Facebook and Twitter.

Building an Empire to Make an Impact: DeShuna Spencer Talks Pushing Through Fear of Failure

October 31, 2014 By Courtney M. McSwain 3 Comments

Photo: Courtesy of DeShuna Spencer

As a creative entrepreneur, there are days when I ask myself, “Why did I do this again?” In moments of doubt, it’s important to have people to whom you can look for inspiration, and DeShuna Spencer is definitely one of those people. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing DeShuna for a few years, and watching her build a media empire from the ground up is truly inspiring. And DeShuna is building an empire. The founder and publisher of emPower magazine – an online hub for articles, information and commentary on issues facing people of African descent – Spencer is also the producer and radio host of emPower Hour on Washington, D.C.’s 89.3 FM WPFW, where she discusses social justice and human rights issues. She also recently finished her first documentary, Mom Interrupted, which was an official selection of the 2014 Alexandria Film Festival.

Trust me when I tell you that DeShuna is just getting started.

I’ve had the pleasure of talking business and dream chasing with DeShuna on several occasions, even before I launched my own entrepreneurial ventures. What makes her journey so inspiring is not just her ambition, but her dogged determination to stand out in today’s crowded media landscape and stay true to her mission of uplifting African-Americans using her media ventures. I recently sat down with DeShuna to talk entrepreneurship and overcoming the fear of failure. Here’s an edited version of our conversation.

CM: How did you come to the world of media and journalism?

DS: It started in high school. I loved to write. [During] my senior year, I ended up being on the yearbook staff, [which] basically opened up my eyes to being a journalist. I was the assistant editor. I took pictures and interviewed students…I [also] ended up helping with the layout. It was a lot of fun. That’s when a light bulb went off to pursue journalism.

As a kid, the only thing I liked to do was read and write. I remember in elementary school watching “Meet the Press” before church. How many 10-year-olds watch Meet the Press, right? I loved that show. I remember in high school, I would tell my guy friends if they wanted to go on a date with me, they would have to wait until “20/20” went off. I was so into news.

Another thing that made me realize I wanted to be a journalist was reading Jet magazine on the way to church [one day] and it was the anniversary of Emmitt Till’s death. I remember reading about this 13-year-old boy who was killed in Mississippi. I turned the page and saw his picture and it freaked me out…it made me realize the power of journalism and how powerful pictures can be, because I wanted to know more about him. I remember learning early on that the press was very powerful, and when looking for options for college, I realized that was something I really wanted to do.

CM: Do you remember the moment that you made the decision to become an entrepreneur?

DS: It was in college when I initially thought about it. I was working for a newspaper at the time, the Clarion-Ledger, which is the largest newspaper in the state of Mississippi. I envisioned what working for a newspaper would be like and it was totally different from what I imagined. The pay was low [and] people would grind out articles like it was a sweatshop. I [also] really felt like the content I was writing about was very depressing.

My boyfriend was murdered when I was 18 and going into my sophomore year [in college.] [During] my senior year, I was a cop reporter and they would send me out to interview moms whose kids had died of gun violence. I hated it. I would go to my dorm room and cry because it reminded me of my boyfriend. I remember talking to one of my friends at school who said, “Why don’t you start your own magazine? Why worry about working for someone else?”

I [later] ended up going to Oakland, Calif., to intern and I was going to be a cop reporter. They liked what I was doing so much that the old cop reporter was going to retire and give me the lead position at 21 years old. I didn’t want it. I ended up leaving Oakland for an AmeriCorps position in Buffalo. It was there, at 23, that I came up with the concept for emPower magazine. [When] my year ended in Buffalo, I was looking for jobs in New York and Washington, D.C.

I’m a very spiritual person, and I have a very strong prayer life. I remember when I was applying for jobs and going on interviews, I wanted a job where I could learn everything about the magazine industry. So I prayed to God [that] whatever job I got, I wanted it be the last job I would take. I didn’t want to work for anyone else again. I also prayed, that if I was really meant to do this magazine thing, let me get a job where I can learn everything.

I got a job for an association in Silver Spring as their magazine editor. I was in charge of it all – from finding stories to writing, interviewing people and layout to selling advertising and finding writers. I did it all with my assistant, and I learned everything I needed to know about running a magazine. I was there for many, many years, and I hated it actually because the CEO and I just never really got along. Every time I looked for another job, I would get an interview and it would come down to me and another person. The other person would get the job and I would think, “God I hate working here, why won’t you let me leave?” Then I would be reminded, this is supposed to be your last job, remember?

The organization ended up having some financial issues and they needed a way to save money. [The idea] came to me to become a contractor for them. They would reduce the magazine to quarterly, and I would do the combined work of my assistant and myself. I wrote a proposal [to become a contractor] and they went for it.

That’s how I became an entrepreneur.

I knew I wanted to do it early on, but everything is a long process and a journey. A lot of times people rush and think, “I have this idea—I need to do it right away before someone steals it.” But, at the end of the day, you have to do it when it’s the right timing. It was tough early on. When I first started the magazine I was still working full time. I would be up all night updating my website and then go into work. It was very hard, but I really believed in my mission, so I just kind of pressed on.

CM: You mentioned your experience with AmeriCorps. What was it about that experience that helped you realize that you could make a difference with journalism?

DS: I’ve always been a big giver, but I never really knew how to marry activism with journalism. Being in AmeriCorps really taught me how to do that. As an AmeriCorps Vista member, I started newsletters from scratch for two nonprofits and I basically did it all myself. That’s how I came up with the idea.

CM: What thoughts or feelings come up when you hear the word “failure”?

DS: Of course fear. No one wants to fail. You have this idea, and you want it to go perfectly. For me, making emPower magazine work has been a longer journey than I thought it would be. That’s the issue a lot of entrepreneurs face. It usually takes a very, very long time to do what you really want to do. For me, failure is also perfecting what you’re trying to do. When I initially started emPower magazine, my goal was to be in print. But I had to change my idea based on what I was seeing in the marketplace.

It’s compromising too. I always tell people emPower, in a way, is almost like eating vegetables. We’re not talking about Kim Kardashian or Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey. Let other publications do that. To me, I’d rather stick with my mission and maybe not be as successful as those that publish anything and everything just for clicks. So, I’ve failed in that regard – I’m not winning in the click game. But, I know what my mission is, and I need to be different. Everyone can’t publish the same thing.

CM: For me, the fear of failure can sometimes stop me from trying something new. In the past year or two, you’ve done a couple of new things with the emPower Players Awards and now you’ve got the new radio show emPower Hour. Tell me a little bit about starting those new things and how you felt about them?

DS: On the radio show, I listen to WPFW and I know they are always looking for new hosts. I submitted a [show] proposal in 2009 and then again in 2011. I submitted it one more time in October 2012. I got a phone call from the program director in January 2014 saying that he just saw my proposal from 2012, and he asked if I wanted to come in and talk about hosting my own show.

I had just had surgery and gotten off of bed rest a week before that phone call. I spent the end of 2012 and all of 2013 dealing with my dad’s diagnosis of lung cancer. I didn’t even remember sending them that proposal in 2012. Between 2012 and 2013, anything bad that could happen in my life did. My brother’s first son died, my aunt died, my dog became paralyzed—it was the worst time ever. And then I get a phone call in 2014 about a proposal, and I’m thinking, “What proposal?” I didn’t remember anything. But, I went to my computer to familiarize myself with what I wrote and went in for a two-hour interview. They said, “We’ll give you a shot.” That was on January 17. They asked if I could start on January 31—a week and a half later. Scary right? And those are those moments in life where you have to just go for it. You can’t be afraid of not knowing what you’re doing. I’ve never done radio—live radio. I was totally terrified. I had a week and a half to not only sound decent, but also come up with guests and topics. I just went for it.

The emPower Players awards has been something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I wanted to honor people who were doing things in the community because they saw a need—not because they wanted to be recognized. I never imagined that I would be able to have an awards ceremony. It’s very expensive, but I ended up having lunch with Chanelle Hardy from the National Urban League, and I was telling her about the idea. She told me, “DeShuna, you just need to do it…you need to have an actual awards ceremony so others can see the hard work that these people are doing.” I didn’t think I could afford it, but I went to my board and said, “We’re going to try to make this happen any way we can.”

I was so nervous. I’m from Memphis, which is homier, more relaxed than D.C. Here, everything has to be perfect. This is not a mom-and-pop-shop type of town. You have to be polished. I don’t consider myself to be polished at all. I’m clumsy. I stumble over things. I stumble over my words. But, it wasn’t about me or what I thought others thought of me – it was about people doing great work in the community. We got a lot of great responses. People really enjoyed the event. One person emailed me that she was crying because she was so touched by what the honorees were doing.

CM: What’s the one thing about being an entrepreneur that you think people don’t talk about?

DS: How hard it is. It’s a lot of work, a lot of sleepless nights. Most entrepreneurs I know aren’t going shopping every month. Any money they have, they invest into their business. They’re sacrificing their money and time to make this dream come true. When you’re an entrepreneur, your entire life is about business. I can be at Whole Foods and I have my business cards on me, because you just never know who might want to read emPower.

You also have to have a strong will for what you believe in. I see so many people who quit very easily. People who make it in business are not [necessarily] those who got venture capitalists to give them a million dollars; they’re the people who just didn’t give up. They kept going and going until it eventually worked out.

CM: Your business is built around making a social impact. What’s the impact that you want to make?

DS: It changes all the time. Initially the goal was to have a magazine where people learn about social issues and then want to give back, because we give tips on how to give back to the community. Now, I’m looking at what I can do as an individual to make a larger impact, and that takes money. The online news game is a hard game to be in at this point. I’ve been looking at new business models that can bring in a lot of money quickly where I can make a real impact with dollars. You think about some of the issues that are going on in the Black community – a lot of it has to do with economic and educational opportunities. Because of the magazine, I do a lot of research on why a certain segment of our community is still far behind – it’s because we don’t have the education and we just can’t get those jobs…in order for us to get out of this unemployment issue, we have to be able to employ people. That’s been my new prayer – to have a sustainable business where I can employ a large amount of Black people, because no one else wants to. My goal is to come up with something that no one else is doing now, be the first and then create wealth from that so I can help bring other Black people along.

CM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given in your life?

DS: To be open. I’m open to how life will evolve. In college I had an idea about a magazine for Black girls. It evolved into a magazine for Black people in general. Now, even though I’m still going to have emPower magazine, I’m looking at how I can do more in the community with a different type of business model. I’m just being open to the new possibilities because technology changes so quickly…I’m trying to keep pace with how the world is changing, and I want to be a part of that.

Thanks DeShuna for sharing your story! Be sure and stay connected to emPower magazine on Twitter and Facebook. And you’re going to want to keep your eye on DeShuna too!

Raymar Hampshire on…Celebrating Failure

October 24, 2014 By Courtney M. McSwain 3 Comments

Photo: Courtesy of Raymar Hampshire

The best revenge we can have on failure is to turn our experience into an opportunity. Raymar Hampshire epitomizes this idea as the founder of SponsorChange, a social enterprise that matches young professionals to skill-based projects at nonprofits and provides a student loan payment reward for each project completed. Perhaps the concept wouldn’t have occurred to him had his own high school record been more pristine and led to a lucrative scholarship. But, needing student loans to finance his own college career, Raymar had first-hand knowledge of the debilitating debt many college students find themselves in upon graduation. Searching for a solution led to the innovative approach of SponsorChange, which has garnered attention from media outlets such as MSNBC, the CBS Sunday Morning Show and CNN.

As he admits, opening up about failure isn’t easy to do. But I’m grateful Raymar agreed to give it a shot to reassure others that creative failures don’t have to mark the end of an idea. Here’s what Raymar had to say about celebrating failure.

What role does failure play in your work as a social changemaker?

Much of my work is trial and error – there isn’t an existing plan to follow because SponsorChange is the first service of its kind. We strive to make educated and data-informed decisions, but we miss the mark occasionally and learn from our mistakes. I welcome mistakes from my team; it means we are trying and taking risks.

What’s the best lesson you’ve learned on failure?

My parents taught me early on that not trying is worse than failure. This has probably been my best lesson on failure. I’ve been able to have some success simply because I outlasted other people who gave up or lost interest. Charles Bukowski, one of my favorite poets, once said, “I am a series of small victories and large defeats.” I like this quote because he is brutally honest about his failures, yet he was also one of the most prolific writers in his genre of poetry.

Albert Einstein said that, “Failure is success in progress.”

Michael Jordan once said:

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

We all fail, but we all deal with failure differently – either we give up or keep trying new things.

Have you ever celebrated one of your failures? If so, what happened and why was that failure a good thing? If not, can you think of a failure that you should have celebrated and why?

Celebration? I actually have personal issues with being too celebratory of my victories, let alone my failures. I’m working on this! But, when I think back there are some failures that I’m thankful for. I guess these are the proverbial blessings in disguise.

I once thought that I wanted to be a pharmaceutical sales representative. This was my senior year in college and it seemed like a lucrative career for a 21-year-old. I was lost. I applied for a job to sell a drug that I actually take to treat my asthma. I got an interview, [but] I didn’t get the job. I failed. And I’m thankful I failed. My 32-year-old-self would hate being a pharmaceutical sales rep. After this failure, I ended up becoming a broker for a large bank. I learned a lot about money, which has helped me with SponsorChange.

Also, I’m thankful for understanding how it feels to manage student loan debt – this understanding is the reason I started SponsorChange. In hindsight, had I failed less in high school I probably would have landed an academic scholarship and graduated debt-free, never knowing how it feels to manage student debt or having the motivation to create an idea to address it. It’s ironic that one day you may actually be thankful for some of your biggest failures.

What do you think keeps people from talking openly about failure?

Everyone’s life is a highlight tape these days. We live in a day and age where social media is used to share baby pictures, promotions and pumpkins. These are the things we openly share. I get it, most people are terrified of being vulnerable with people they don’t trust – me included. I’m sharing my thoughts on failure [here] in hopes that it helps others.

I think if you are in a position of leadership, you should become comfortable with admitting your mistakes and failures with your team. You should create a space where team members are encouraged to make mistakes, learn and create new solutions.

Also, I do think that everyone should have a trusted circle of friends or advisors that they can confide in and share their biggest failures with. It’s healthy.

What advice on failure would you give other artists & changemakers?

Become comfortable with failure. If you’re not failing you are not taking risks. Failure is an active ingredient in the recipe of success.

Thanks Raymar for sharing your story! Be sure you check out SponsorChange online and on Twitter. You can follow Raymar on Twitter @Philanthroteer.

Robyn Peel On…Celebrating Failure

October 10, 2014 By Courtney M. McSwain Leave a Comment

Photo: Courtesy of Robyn Peel

This post is part of the Q&A series, “Artists & Changemakers On…,” where artists, creative entrepreneurs and social change agents share their thoughts on each month’s blog theme. Today I’m thrilled to have Robyn Peel share her thoughts on celebrating failure.

Robyn Peel is a coach, mentor and facilitator who wants everyone to live bold, meaningful and fulfilling lives. Like last week’s Q&A guests, I met Robyn while attending the Pioneer Nation conference earlier this year (seeing a pattern?). In truth, I owe Robyn a debt of gratitude for inspiring this month’s theme. It was while talking with her during one of the conference sessions that the idea of celebrating authentic failure – the genuine attempt at creation that completely bombs for one reason or another – began to crystallize. Robyn and I both agreed that, too often, we rush to judge people whose projects aren’t home runs the first time around instead of viewing failures as an opportunity to dissect the situation, figure out what went wrong and make adjustments for the next attempt.

Naturally, I had to invite Robyn to share her thoughts on celebrating failure for the blog this month. Here’s what she had to say.

What role does failure play in your creative work?

Over the past few years I have become much more willing to try things out with no expectation as to whether they will work or not. I use the word “play” when I am starting on something new, as it allows there to be more lightness about the journey. And it is almost impossible to fail at playing! I use this play as a time to explore and learn; to notice what works and what doesn’t and to learn from both. I believe we can always improve and grow in our lives. The things that work and the things that don’t will always teach us something.

What’s the best lesson you’ve learned on failure?

Failure is a perception not a reality. What one person deems a failure another person deems a success. And the way we respond to what doesn’t work will shape our future. The people who are seen as successful have a different attitude to trying and failing. They are willing to throw mud at the wall and see if it sticks. If it doesn’t they will try something new and see if that sticks. They just keep trying and trying and then one day will be deemed an overnight success!

I believe failure leads to innovation and change. We are not going to get something new if we are afraid to try and risk failing. We need to be bold and try things to get the brilliant and life-changing actions this world needs.

Have you ever celebrated one of your failures? What happened and why was that failure a good thing?

Last year I planned a “walk and talk” event where a group of people would come together to discuss a topic (Redefining Success) and walk through nature at the same time. It seemed to sit so well with my mantra: “Connect with Yourself, Connect with Others, Connect with Nature.” Rather ironically, with the topic as it was, no one turned up!

So I just did the walk myself and thought about what success meant for me. What once would have shattered my confidence – having no one show up at an event – became an opportunity for me to get clearer in my head about what I wanted in life and what success meant for me (and it isn’t about the numbers in any sense of that word – income, blog hits, number of clients or number of people at events). I embraced and celebrated that failure so much that when I came home so happy my partner presumed I’d had a great turnout!

What do you think keeps people from talking openly about failure?

Too often in the public arena and in the media people who fail are picked apart and dragged through the coals. They are publicly ridiculed, and that is something we are so afraid of. We deem failure to be something that we must keep to ourselves at all costs.

As a society, we seem to celebrate successes so openly but keep failures hidden away. I think this keeps us from changing or finding solutions to so many problems we face. It’s time to talk about all the things we try, whether they work or not; someone else could take our lessons (or failures) and find an amazing solution.

What advice on failure would you give other artists & changemakers?

Let’s start by not actually calling it failure. You tried something and it didn’t work out as you had envisioned. You have learned, you haven’t failed. To me it is much more important to try than to succeed. By giving something a go, you are much more open to success than if you stand on the sidelines hoping and wondering “what if?” Be open and curious about the things in your life that didn’t go as planned. What can you learn from them? What can you do differently next time? Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater – learn and grow with every experience.

Thanks Robyn for sharing your story! Follow Robyn Peel as she works with 20-somethings to help them get clear on who they are, what they want and then to make the conscious choices to bring that dream into reality. You can connect with her on Twitter and Google Plus.

Jen Adrion and Omar Noory On…Celebrating Failure

October 3, 2014 By Courtney M. McSwain Leave a Comment

Photo: Courtesy of These Are Things

This post is part of the Q&A series, “Artists & Changemakers On…,” where artists, creative entrepreneurs and social change agents share their thoughts on each month’s blog theme. Today I’m thrilled to have the illustration duo Jen Adrion and Omar Noory share their thoughts on celebrating failure.

I first came across the work of Jen Adrion and Omar Noory, the creative duo behind the paper goods and brand illustration studio These Are Things, while at the entrepreneurship conference Pioneer Nation. The two were keynote speakers sharing the evolution of their company, which delivers travel themed art to customers and retailers in all 50 states and over 40 countries. Jen and Omar have grown their business to the point where they work with major brands like AFAR, Airbnb, American Greetings, HOW and Southwest Airlines. Luckily, they didn’t shy away from discussing their growing pains during their talk. Hearing that they had endured stumbling blocks and, dare we say, failures was a breath of fresh air. It was great to know that, despite any setbacks, they continued to fight for their creative dreams and were willing to examine missteps to glean lessons for the future.

Encouraged by Jen and Omar’s story, I immediately thought of them when I decided to devote the blog to failure this month (wait…did that come out right?) I invited them to share their thoughts on failure within the context of their work, and here’s what they had to say.

What role does failure play in your creative work?

J: Failure is an essential part of any work, and I feel like this is especially true for creative endeavors. It’s a natural part of the creative process.

O: If you really are doing anything worthwhile, you’re going to stumble as you’re learning and growing. Failure is such an intrinsic part of our everyday life that we don’t even notice it anymore. It actually feels strange if we aren’t failing because that means we aren’t pushing ourselves or trying anything new.

What’s the best lesson you’ve learned on failure?

J: Everyone fails, whether they choose to share it or not. Everyone. No exceptions. It’s just a natural part of life. All great successes are built on a mountain of failures, so learning to embrace failure is the quickest way to rack up more successes.

Have you ever celebrated one of your failures? What happened and why was that failure a good thing?

J: Very publicly, actually. In 2013, we fulfilled a longtime goal and moved from our home state of Ohio to a beautiful apartment in NYC. It took us years to build up the courage to make the move, and once we finally did, we were so happy. But a few months into the experience, we realized that we were in over our heads. Our business, which was still running out of a warehouse back in Ohio, was running into problems without us there to oversee it. So, we made the difficult decision to bail out of New York after only eight months.

O: The worst part is that we were scheduled to speak at a conference in Cleveland two weeks before we moved back. It was our first big speaking gig as These Are Things. The timing was terrible. Neither of us felt comfortable getting on stage and talking about our “success” when we were in the middle of what felt like a crushing defeat.

J: So, we got on stage in front of a few hundred people and told our story, including all of the many ups and downs we’ve experienced as we built our careers as illustrators. You can watch the talk here. It was a terrifying experience, but today it remains one of the best things we’ve ever done as These Are Things. People really connected with our talk and we left the stage feeling like we’d been honest about our journey.

What do you think keeps people from talking openly about failure?

J: I think it comes down to a fear of being judged. There’s a lot of pressure to make it seem like everything is 100 percent perfect all the time. Especially with social media – who isn’t intimidated by a perfectly curated Instagram feed? When all we see is perfection, it makes us feel like we’re the only ones experiencing failure, which isn’t true at all. If you can change your perspective and view failure as a sign of growth and progress, it becomes much easier to speak freely about your own experiences in a real, authentic way.

What advice on failure would you give other artists & changemakers?

O: Failure is not a permanent place. It’s never as absolute or final as it may seem. While a failure may feel disastrous in the moment, in reality, there aren’t many failures that you can’t walk away from. You learn something and you move on, stronger and smarter than ever.

Thanks Jen and Omar for sharing your story! Get more advice from Jen Adrion and Omar Noory in their new ebook, “Designed To Sell: The Unconventional Guide to Creative Freedom,” which provides a proven step-by-step plan for building your own successful creative business. And be sure to follow These Are Things on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Dear Reader: On Celebrating Failure

October 2, 2014 By Courtney M. McSwain Leave a Comment

Photo: (CC) eyeofmycanon

Dear Reader,

At the beginning of this year, I learned I was afraid of failure while working with a creative coach. As I explained my reasons for seeking her help, I used the phrase, “I’m afraid,” four times without even realizing it. When she brought it to my attention, I was taken aback. Until that moment, I was completely convinced of my own bravery. But I discovered that a fear of failure was keeping me from progressing at the level I wanted to. I wasn’t going “all in” on my business ideas because of the secret fear that they wouldn’t succeed.

I later learned that successful entrepreneurs don’t freak out over failure; they actually see it as a good thing. The road to creative genius is paved with ideas that just don’t work. So, the faster we fail, the more quickly we get to our best work. And if we take time to celebrate failure by talking openly about the lessons we’ve learned as a result of our mistakes, we offer comfort and encouragement to others.

Which is why this month on the blog, I’m hosting a celebration of failure. I’ve invited artists and changemakers I admire to celebrate failure by sharing stories of missteps, mishaps and the glory of turning things around. Things kick off this Friday as I bring you a Q&A with Jen Adrion and Omar Noory, the design duo behind the illustration and paper goods company These Are Things. I hope this month’s stories convince you that failure happens…and it’s a good thing.

If you feel inspired to do so, share your own story of authentic failure in the comments section at any time this month. I’ll see you on Friday with a new post.

XO
~Courtney