CREATIVE HOW

We did this one a little differently than previous recaps. Yes, we touched on our favorite moment and all that stuff, but we also pulled from our own careers to discuss some important topics for creatives.

Think of the most amazing ice cream dish you’ve ever had. Now imagine doing that for a living! David Alima, co-founder of The Charmery, brings happiness to people through ice cream. Listen to his story & you’ll feel inspired (and hungry).

Scott Sugiuchi is a record label owner & creative director who gets “meticulous and ridiculous” with the details in his positioning, branding & promotion of bands. From posters to vinyl to beer cans, Scott stresses the tangible with Hidden Volume Records.

Sound designer Roger Lima has worked with ESPN, Honda, A&E & many other brands, movies & shows. He’ll teach you the difference between sound design & music composition, how underground LA events inspire him & how to make music using only your bike.

Jackie went to the Maryland Institute College of Art to focus on fine arts, particularly painting. She got her Bachelor’s degree and her Master’s degree…and along the way she got hooked on tattoos. She didn’t know she wanted to become a tattooer, but she knew she loved tattoos. She kept working on her art, started teaching, and also became an art handler…but something was missing. After an injury and a heart-to-heart with a great friend, something clicked. Today, she’s an experienced tattooer, and she’s also started her own line of organic skin care products called Sacred Solutions.

Zombies, Bill Murray, Emma Stone, Danny McBride, Woody Harrelson, and the Marvel Universe…all in one incredible episode! Listen to director Ruben Fleischer deliver a master class on becoming a feature film director.

You know singer/songwriter Emma Klein from American Idol, but that just scratched the surface of her uplifting talent & wise-beyond-her-years perspective. This episode is packed with ah-ha’s & insights that will improve your outlook & creative approach. How can journaling help you? How can you collaborate better? Should you go back a few decades and rewatch Star Search?

Been on a ride you’ll never forget? Think Harry Potter World, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Simpsons. Ride creator Amanda Johnstone-Batt and her team may have been behind it. From visual effects to scripting to developing content, here’s your chance to learn how to create a whole new world that dazzles an audience.

One look at plant stylist, filmmaker & author Hilton Carter’s Insta & you’ll want him to redo your whole house. He talked with us about dog people, cat people, fiddle leaf figs & getting serious on watering day. Quick hitter that he said that really stuck with us: “One for the rent. One for the real.” Meaning, make your money doing something creative, but also find something creative that is all your own.

Our Season 2 recap dives into the commonalities we found across diverse types of creative people. How does imagination mesh with discipline? When is it too late to try something new? What role does Vision play in your work? The “red threads” that connect people of a certain kind—from Emmy winners to brand builders—will help you become a better, more confident creative too.

David Plunkert, co-founder of Spur Design and illustrator of iconic images, has a confidence in his abilities and aesthetic that is only surpassed by his humility and sense of humor. If you’re interested in learning what it takes to win a New Yorker cover, make a stop motion video for They Might Be Giants, or nail a brand campaign—Dave has done it. Take a listen!

You’re going to be blown away by the candor, stories, and fun point of view of author Jessica Anya Blau. In novels like Wonderbread Summer and The Trouble With Lexie, Jessica delivers flawed characters, unexpected plots, and a fascinating look at human behavior. She also co-wrote the upcoming book The Sorority Girl Who Saved Your Life, a true story about a sorority girl turned covert CIA Operative, which ABC is now developing as a TV series.

Singer-songwriter Hayes Peebles says music wasn’t a choice. It’s what he was meant to do. Influenced by artists from The Strokes to Interpol to Neil Young, Hayes is a self-taught guitarist whose indie folk/rock music has been featured in Rolling Stone, who said, “Cerebral lyrics à la Conor Oberst, with no-frills, twangy arrangements that call to mind troubadours like Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt.” This is an artist you’ll want to put on repeat.

If you’ve walked into a Foot Locker over the past 15 years, you’ve seen Dave Dombrow’s work. One of the most influential shoe designers of this generation, Dave has worked with the best athletes in the world, from Stephen Curry to Cam Newton to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Dave’s perspective on designing products always begins with a vision and a story, which may be the reason he’s come up with some of the past decade’s most disruptive ideas in footwear.

Caleb Wojcik is a video content expert and creator of SwitchPod, a mobile tripod that will help the next generation of content makers get even better. Years ago, Caleb turned his career of shooting and editing videos into an online teaching venture called “DIY Video Guy,” which features extensive tutorials and info shared across multiple platforms to help people make great videos. Inspired by a problem he was seeing across his community, Caleb got into the world of tangible products by inventing the SwitchPod.

Devin Allen exploded onto the scene in 2015 when one of his photos of the Baltimore Uprising graced the cover of TIME Magazine. Since then, he’s published a book called A Beautiful Ghetto, received a Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship to fund a community program that teaches children about photography, and shot some of the world’s best athletes and celebrities. Today, he’s a versatile photographer who spreads hope through art, constantly empowering others & challenging the status quo.

You loved Guinness in high school, right? Well, Jon Zerivitz did. Today, he’s Co-Founder & Creative Director of Union Craft Brewing, responsible for everything from creating the brand experience to writing the story for every Union beer from scratch. Blending great brand storytelling with fantastic graphic design, Jon has established an up-and-coming beer brand that already has a fanatical following.

Cat Smith is a chef, activist, and entrepreneur whose positivity lights up a room (and a plate). Not only has she worked at the likes of Magdalena in Baltimore, but she’s also created a movement to recognize African-American female chefs without differentiation Just Call Me Chef and her own foodie lifestyle brand Culinary Socialite. Cat’s vision for building an uplifting empire is an inspiring story for anyone looking for a little jolt of positivity.

Greg Garcia fell in love with comedy as a kid who admittedly sat around and watched sit-coms all day. He parlayed that love into a TV writing career, winning an Emmy for My Name Is Earl and more recently creating The Guest Book on TBS. Greg gave us the low-down on everything from breaking into the industry to where he gets new ideas to the network pitch process.

Turning illustrations into apps into children’s books, Joyce Hesselberth has seamlessly joined the worlds of digital and print. An illustrator/designer by trade, her curiosity and inventiveness have continually taken her into exciting new directions. As co-founder of Spur Design, Joyce works with clients of many types, honing her craft, expanding her skills, and always exploring.

We started this podcast with two major goals: 1.) Share the stories and methods of a broad range of talented creative professionals, and 2.) Have fun with a new creative outlet. The first goal is what we believe will make this podcast valuable to a massive audience, and the second goal is kind of selfish. But they’re both very motivating, and we believe we’ve achieved them with Season 1 of Creative How.This recap episode gave us the opportunity to share what we’ve learned throughout the process of bringing the podcast to life. It’s the creative how of Creative How. This falls right in line with the spirit of giving you real, concrete insights that can help you. In this case, maybe they’ll help you start a podcast. More broadly, the lessons can apply to anyone who creates…making something out of nothing.

Kiko Loureiro, the Grammy-winning Megadeth guitarist from Brazil, is about to give you A LOT to think about. It’s rare when you meet someone with such a perfect set of skills to excel at both individual and group creative endeavors, but Kiko is exactly that. He’s a true guitar hero in every sense of the term, having started his own band in Brazil and also winning that Grammy with monster metal band Megadeth. But, he’s also a musical historian, savvy creative team leader, master class teacher, and tinkerer. Kiko’s journey and insights are fascinating, so get your notepad ready.

Jaime Windon, the Founder and CEO of Lyon Distilling, absolutely BRINGS the energy. A curious creative who went from journalist to photographer to distiller, Jaime’s perspective on booze and brand are guided by making people happy. Having lived all over the world and settled in the sailing town of St. Michael’s, MD, Jaime has learned how a sense of place can shape your work and how a devout passion for what you give to people can continually charge your own batteries. Time for some rum!

When you consider the road Trang Dam traveled to get where she is today, you can understand how she’s able to handle the most harrowing aspects of every project she works on. As a one-year-old, she left Vietnam and migrated to the U.S., establishing a home in Columbia, MD. Today, as Director of Production at Under Armour, Trang is responsible for developing and delivering some of the industry’s best creative content.

Max Lents is the Founder and CEO of Baltimore Spirits Company. He’s a renaissance man who studied philosophy, bartended, played music, ran a restaurant, kegged his own beer, and ultimately created a distillery “in pursuit of a grander project.” What drew him to distilling primarily was the room for creativity and distinctiveness, the ability to express new ideas through spirits. He and his partners live that expression every day.

Expressive, bold, and honest…a solid start when describing fine artist Liz Miller, but once you hear about her background and her perspectives on art, activism, and attitude, you’ll understand that she is impossible to fit into a neat box. From sculpture to ceramics to performance art to dance, Liz shares her voice through several mediums and she hones her skills by being a lifelong student (and teacher). Prepare to be challenged and inspired by an artist who is uplifting and unafraid.

Gary Land never disappoints. Jovial, imaginative, friendly, expert, talented, accomplished, humble, knowledgeable, and fun. In this episode of Creative How, we learn from a guy who is an elite photographer but also a DP (director of photography or cinematographer) on film and the head of a creative agency and production company.The conversation ranges widely, and you’ll hear stories about early failures in Gary’s career, shooting famous athletes and entertainers like Allen Iverson and 50 Cent, creating a collaborative environment, mentoring teammates, the best steps to take to get into his industry, and also how awesome Sean and I are.

Chad Collins is the Founder of Open World Events, a producer of massive family events, and he’s also a flat-out hustler. To hear him describe a journey from idea to execution will potentially make even the most relentless of go-getters feel a little lazy.A trip to the mall and, more specifically, a Lego store reignited Chad’s interest in the construction toy and the brand. He then introduced Lego to his daughter, and together they started a YouTube channel that essentially became a tutorial for Lego lovers. But then…the big idea: could we start an event where Lego enthusiasts could come to play, learn, and simply have fun? The answer was yes, and for anyone who has ever planned an event, you know how freaking tough that is.In this episode, Chad takes us through the detailed story of how that event, known as Brick Fest Live!, succeeded and ultimately turned into an event production company that is growing fast and furious.

That was the first question we asked Marc Petrosino and Michael Latini, the co-founders of Monkey Boys Productions. It was a joke, which was funny because the studio tour they had just taken us on showcased what seemed like infinite characters of infinite designs fabricated using an infinite number of materials. We were in awe of the scope of their imagination and skills.The conversation with Marc and Michael revealed not only their outlandish talents but also their savvy in dealing with all kinds of different clients, from philanthropies to Saturday Night Live. Yes, you’ll hear all about how they designed and fabricated tailored costumes for Kanye West and Lil Pump for SNL’s season premiere.

Juliet Gilden is a painter from Baltimore, MD, whose distinct style and free-form optimism began developing at a very early age. Her artist mother sold Juliet’s first piece when she was only 7 years old. (Great story…listen to the podcast!)Our conversation with Juliet spans an amazing number of topics. From acrylics to current events, the merits of Justin Timberlake to marketing your art. Shocking epiphanies are uncovered, like the fact that “advertising is the fine arts of the business world” and Sean LOVES the term “unpack.”

Matthew Norman (@thenormannation) is an author of two books—Domestic Violets and We’re All Damaged—with a third on the way later this year. In this episode of Creative How, we dig deep into the evolution of Matthew’s career to illustrate what the journey to becoming a professional novelist could look like.Matthew details his disciplined day-to-day regimen and the process he follows to bring a story to life. He talks about how he managed an advertising career with his burgeoning fiction-writing career, along with how a trusted circle of peers can provide essential feedback that will ultimately make your novel better.

Creative How is an honest, fun, eclectic, ongoing investigation of how creativity “works” and how creative professionals think.Hosts Jed Jecelin and Sean Flanagan—long-time advertising pros who met while building the Brand for performance powerhouse Under Armour—based the concept on two big insights:1.) The amazement they felt while working with creative professionals from varying disciplines,2.) The number of times friends, family members, and acquaintances struggled to understand what they do and how they do it.