Conscious Creators — Make A Life Through Your Art Without Selling Your Soul

This week Sachit (@sachitgupta) chats with New York Times bestselling author, and award-winning journalist Steven Kotler (@steven_kotler). Steven is the Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective. In this conversation, they discuss the meaning of exponential technology, the future of content creators, how to ask the right questions, getting into the state of flow, and about his new upcoming book.

Find the show notes of the episode here - https://www.creators.show

Follow our host, Sachit Gupta on Twitter and sign up for the Creators Collective Newsletter.

Do you want to learn how to make a living as a creator? Check out the CreatorsMBA.

Resources mentioned:

“Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think” - Peter H. Diamonds & Steven Kotler

“A Small Furry Prayer: Dog Rescue and the Meaning of Life” - Steven Kotler

“Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” - David Epstein

“Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't” - Jim Collins

“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change” - Stephen R. Covey - but in a negative context

Show Notes:

00:27 - What is exponential technology?

04:48 - Disruptions in the world of entertainment

15:41 - How to think about the future as a content creator

24:59 - How to get into the flow state (22 flow triggers)

30:11 - Why devotion to craft is all that matters

33:24 - Success as a compound interest function

34:56 - Steven’s framework to learn anything

40:14 - How Steven picks what to learn and write about

42:01 - How to get better at asking questions

45:43 - #1 way to win in life and career

47:08 - How he and his co-author came up with the title of his new book

50:58 - How to find your extraordinary

This week Sachit (@sachitgupta) chats with entrepreneur Austen Allred (@Austen). Austen is the CEO and Co-Founder of Bloom Institute of Technology (previously Lambda School). In this conversation, they discuss how Bloom’s way of approaching education is different than traditional colleges, Income Share Agreements vs Outcome-Based Loans, the thought process behind building Bloom Tech, and where they’re headed.

Find the show notes of the episode here - https://www.creators.show

Follow our host, Sachit Gupta on Twitter and sign up for the Creators Collective Newsletter.

Do you want to learn how to make a living as a creator? Check out the CreatorsMBA.

Show Notes:

01:02 - Core insights that drive Bloom

03:01 - How Bloom defines student success

05:39 - Students not paying upfront and creating skin in the game

08:11 - Student Loans vs ISA vs Outcome-based Loan models

15:32 - How hiring companies make education free for the students

17:37 - The criteria for finding the right applicants

21:41 - Is there a reverse correlation between imposter syndrome and intelligence?

24:05 - Austen’s early background

27:23 - How Bloom helps students get disproportionate results

31:39 - Instructional design - not one curriculum for every student but one curriculum for each one

33:14 - The experiential learning and platform

40:32 - The seamless integration of admissions, school, and matchmaking

43:54 - The future of Bloom Tech and managing the quality while scaling

Here are the show notes from Javier, make sure to check out his podcast - Passion in Progress!

One episode I'd recommend is with Zach Horvath of Live a Great Story, someone who's going to be on here soon too!

Here are the show notes:

03:34 - Catalyst to entrepreneur journey after corporate job

04:07 - A year of cold e-mailing people

04:27 - Getting his first marketing client

05:18 - Sachit gets in an accident out of country with no insurance, intro into negotiating with his medical expenses

08:29 - Working with Andrew Warner Founder of Mixergy

08:57 - work for free so people can see your skill set

10:04 - Working with Tim Ferriss

11:32 - Recommends reading "Recession Proof Graduate" because of the e-mail script

12:24 - Working with Tim ferriss

14:25 - working with Seth Godin

15:30 - Does working for free ever a bad idea?

17:10 - "It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and it takes 5 minutes to ruin it” - Warren Buffett

17:43 - How do you get better at selling if all you want to do is create

18:55 - Breaking down my streams of revenue

22:14 - Marketing to people with an audience do you want to have a few clients and charge them a lot or have a lot of clients and charge them less?

26:52 - Describing how a podcast syndication service works

28:01 - How do you get sponsorships for you podcast?

28:18 - How Sachit does sponsorships pricing for bigger podcasts like Mixergy

30:23 - How to price sponsorships for small podcast

33:57 - How to find a good sponsor for your specific show

35:46 - Book Recommendation "Social Proof the Psychology of Persuasion"

36:55 - How do you say no to people

37:55 - How to focus on the actual thing that is going to drive money

39:12 - How has the transition been from behind the scenes to being in front of the camera

40:38 - How have your first couple podcasts been?

41:35 - Interview process and not using bullet points on a guest

43:48 - How reading books and listening to other podcasts helps you in being a better podcaster

45:11 - Curiosity is important

46:06 - Emailing Mark Cuban

47:30 - Is Responding to every E-mail important?

48:09 - Focus on meeting the people who help famous people, that will lead you to working with the famous person

49:22 - Marketing boils down to really understanding who you are talking to

50:07 - Call people in your audience and actually talk to them

51:27 - Talking in person vs dm

53:06 - How cultivating relationships has paid off

53:28 - How to get into conferences that you can't afford

Welcome to the Conscious Creators Show; where through intimate and insightful interviews with authors, actors, musicians, entrepreneurs and other podcasters, you'll learn tools and tactics to 10x your creativity and strategies to grow and monetize your audience.

On today’s episode, we have Ron Klabunde, the Founder & CEO of Generosity Feeds.

It's hard to think of a worse experience than losing a job. Even if you're young, and the stakes aren't as high, it's still terrifying to feel like you've lost control of your life.

You can drive yourself crazy thinking about all the "what ifs". What if you can't find another job? And on top of all that, what if you came to the realization that it was your own arrogance that put you in that position in the first place? What would you do?

But his story doesn't start there. At one particularly low point, Ron found himself at rock bottom with nowhere to go. But instead of giving up, he used his experiences to become a force for change in the world.

But deciding to change doesn't mean all the problems disappear. Despite his drive and desire to do good, founding a non-profit wasn't easy. And Ron describes growing Generosity Feeds as an emotional roller coaster, and something that took everything he had to give.

In today's episode, Ron talks about that emotional journey, how he got through the darkest moments, and the one thing that lead him to start Generosity Feeds in the first place.

Actions:

1. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite podcast app and let us know what you think by leaving a rating and a review.
2. Thank our guest and let them know what you thought of today’s episode — send an email directly to Ron and Sachit at ron@replenishfoundation.org and sachit@platformsmedia.com
3. Head on over to Creators.Show to get new episodes, exclusive guides like our guide on “How to Connect With Busy Influencers”, partner deals and additional bonuses.

Episode Highlights:

• Why you should hire employees better than yourself.
• How to help your team play to their strengths.
• How non-profit and for-profit companies can work together toward mutual benefit.
• Why generosity is the new gold standard.
• The hard, yet rewarding, effort it takes to do work that matters and have an impact.

Tweetable Quotes:

"What I discovered is that my pain was able to help other people heal from their own stories and I could become far more real with people." @GenerosityFeeds

Resources Mentioned:

• Generosity Feeds
• Replenish Foundation
• MOD Pizza
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• Baby Bathwater Institute
• My Billion Dollar Mistake
• Salesforce
• Email Ron
• Ron on LinkedIn

Actions:

1. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite podcast app and let us know what you think by leaving a rating and a review.
2. Thank our guest and let them know what you thought of today’s episode — send an email directly to Ron and Sachit at ron@replenishfoundation.org and sachit@platformsmedia.com
3. Head on over to Creators.Show to get new episodes, exclusive guides like our guide on “How to Connect With Busy Influencers”, partner deals and additional bonuses.

Welcome to the Conscious Creators Show; where through intimate and insightful interviews with authors, actors, musicians, entrepreneurs and other podcasters, you'll learn tools and tactics to 10x your creativity and strategies to grow and monetize your audience.

In today’s episode, Dan Clark, CEO of Brain.fm talks about how a near-death experience led him to re-evaluate his life, how he found Brain.fm and his journey from contacting customer support to becoming CEO. We also talk about his early childhood experiences, being picked on and learning martial arts, and how that relates his ‘why’ behind Brain.fm.

If you enjoy this episode, feel free to reach out to Sachit and Dan at sachit@platformsmedia.com + dan@brain.fm.

Actions:

1. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite podcast app and let us know what you think by leaving a rating and a review.
2. Thank our guest and let them know what you thought of today’s episode — click here to send a Tweet directly to Dan and Sachit or find Dan on Instagram.
3. Head on over to Creators.Show to get new episodes, exclusive guides like our guide on “How to Connect With Busy Influencers”, partner deals and additional bonuses.

Episode Highlights:

• Dan had a near-death experience that led him to reevaluate his life.
• He discovered Brain.fm and had a healthy skepticism about it.
• Dan didn’t finish college because he found that his body clock didn’t work with the schedule, and he had the same experience when he tried going into advertising.
• He found Brain.fm so incredibly valuable to him, so he contacted customer support persistently until he was put in touch with the Founder. They weren’t able to hire him for what he was charging, but he decided to work for them for free to prove his value.
• Dan believes he got that discipline and persistence from training in martial arts.
• Dan is always trying to optimize communication.
• Ask yourself why you want something and why you’re doing something so you can align all of your goals to that why.
• One of the biggest challenges we have in today’s society is plugging into deep focus and then disengaging from it on a set schedule. Some people aren’t made for that.
• Using Brain.fm has helped people with everything from general focus and productivity to PTSD, ADHD, and autism.
• The idea of music being capable of changing lives and mental states is not new.
• Brain.fm is different from the pop science theory of binaural beats, which does not have as much scientific backing as the audio research done for Brain.fm.
• Dan got grant funding to research alternative treatments for ADHD and therefore validate the science behind Brain.fm.
• Right now, Brain.fm is used for focus, relaxation, sleep, and meditation. Their next step is to improve what they already have before they expand what they do.
• They are working on integrating wearable technology to measure an individual’s baseline and change the music selection based on your needs.
• Developing workout music requires changing the fundamental ideas behind the music because unlike focus music, for which the goal is you ignoring the music, workout music requires focus on the music itself to distract you from your workout.
• Sachit asks Dan what their process is for developing new products. Dan says they have a resident neuroscientist on staff.
• You can use Brain.fm as part of the Pomodoro method.
• Dan struggled with focus as a kid, dealing with bullying and other distractions.
• For productivity, Dan emphasizes forming good habits rather than relying on tools.
• Every morning, Dan gets an iced coffee and writes.
• For Dan, work sprints are the most effective way to structure his day.
• Multitasking does not work or increase productivity, so Dan limits the number of times he context switches each day.
• Understand that everyone is different; people with the same goal will have different reasons for doing it.
• Dan thinks of his company like a ship—when he helps people, he expects them to help him back. Even if he’s the captain of the ship, he can’t run it alone.
• Common traits that Dan sees in entrepreneurs are perseverance and the ability to find meaning in things that happen.
• Dan had a severe stutter as a child and he sees the speech coaching he got in elementary school as one of the most valuable things he received in his education.
• Dan bought a bracelet in Laos that he hasn’t rem...

Welcome to the Conscious Creators Show; where through intimate and insightful interviews with authors, actors, musicians, entrepreneurs and other podcasters, you'll learn tools and tactics to 10x your creativity and strategies to grow and monetize your audience.

On today’s episode, we are joined by Sahil Lavingia, Designer and CEO of Gumroad who’s also a painter and writer. We discuss creativity, design, and what he thinks makes people really happy. Learn what Sahil is creating now, how he structures his time in a way that allows him to pursue several large projects, his reflections on his failure to build a billion dollar company and why his success in business is not the only thing that defines his self-worth.

Actions:

1. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite podcast app and let us know what you think by leaving a rating and a review.
2. Thank our guest and let them know what you thought of today’s episode — click here to send a Tweet directly to Sahil and Sachit or find Sahil on Instagram.
3. Head on over to Creators.Show to get new episodes, exclusive guides like our guide on “How to Connect With Busy Influencers”, partner deals and additional bonuses.

Episode Highlights:

• What does it mean to be a creator?
• In Sahil’s eyes, a creator is someone who values the creative process and making stuff as an essential part of their identity.
• Almost everyone in his mind is a creator, it's just how strongly people identify with that as one of their core purposes in life.
• Sahil shares the creative projects he is working on now.
• He just started learning Blender for 3D rendering. He’s also painting and learning form language.
• He has spent a lot of time analyzing his own style.
• Sahil is a minimalist. He enjoys a simple interface that is text-heavy.
• He also enjoys technology and software that feels more real with shadows and tactile elements.
• He remembers thinking about fonts in the early days of his life.
• Sachit and Sahil reflect on the design of businesses, contrasting Panda Express and Chipotle.
• We use implicit signals to know where to go in buildings and how to navigate through them.
• Inevitably, even if you aren't a designer you engage in design.
• The more you design, the more instinct you develop around designing. You develop unconscious competence.
• With painting there's a lot of directly applicable, actionable lessons he can apply to design.
• He's still trying to figure out what it means to have a single focal point.
• There's an informational hierarchy in web design.
• The importance of clarity is important to him as a designer and as a CEO.
• Sahil describes how he sets up his week to address different problems.
• When Sahil moved to the Bay Area ten years ago, he wanted to be an integral part of the tech and startup community.
• They discuss Sahil's admiration for the way Bill Gates lived the American dream.
• He loved the idea of being in control of his life, time, and location.
• Sahil discusses his view on money and wealth.
• He feels more motivated by influence and fame than by money.
• When he was raising investor money for Gumroad, he felt validated.
• So many people think there's something on the other side of a door they can't open.
• Sahil is not convinced that the things we do for money will make us happy.
• It's easy to get detached from the reason you started in the first place.
• Sahil is good at shipping fast. Even with painting, he started sharing early.
• They discuss sharing metrics in general and how competitors also approach sharing metrics.
• At one point, Sahil moved to Provo, Utah, because he wanted to take a science fiction course with Brandon Sanderson. There, he earned he wanted things that were different from everyone around him.
• Gumroad is just one of the many things that define him.
• They talk about billion-dollar businesses vs. lifestyle businesses.
• There's something around picking a community that you like and building a business for that community.
• They're building out a roadmap right now on the Gumroad side. Education is the core theme.
• On a personal level, he's trying to figure out what type of creator he wants to be.

3 Key Takeaways:

1. Even if you aren’t a designer, you engage with design. Even if you don’t consider yourself a creator, you likely create.
2. The things that will make people happy are truly accessible to everyone.

Welcome to the Conscious Creators Show; where through intimate and insightful interviews with authors, actors, musicians, entrepreneurs and other podcasters, you'll learn tools and tactics to 10x your creativity and strategies to grow and monetize your audience.

On today’s episode, we have SJ Murray, an Emmy-nominated screenwriter, teacher, and storyteller. We discuss what it means for her to be a storytelling, how to unlock your innate creativity, different storytelling models, the importance of community-building, and what it means to take the ego out of creating.

Actions:

1. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite podcast app and let us know what you think by leaving a rating and a review.
2. Thank our guest and let them know what you thought of today’s episode — click here to send a Tweet directly to SJ and Sachit or find SJ on Instagram.
3. Head on over to Creators.Show to get new episodes, exclusive guides like our guide on “How to Connect With Busy Influencers”, partner deals and additional bonuses.

Episode Highlights:

• What does it mean to be a storyteller?
• For SJ, she wants to tell stories that are both challenging and leave the world better than it was. She believes in ethical storytelling.
• In terms of brain chemistry, there doesn’t appear to be any difference in how our brains react to a story whether we are the storyteller or the viewer.
• SJ has loved studying what makes stories work and then bringing it full circle to apply it to her own writing.
• What is “screenwriting kung-fu”?
• Learning structural rules can set your creativity free rather than constrain it.
• Some examples of storytelling structure are found in Aristotle’s three-act structure and Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey.
• Distinguish between helpful notes and helpful council from people with a strong track record and unfounded criticisms.
• We have been sold the myth that the messiness of humanity is the source of all our problems, but what if we operated from the assumption that we’re all imperfect and that’s normal?
• SJ believes everyone should reflect on what brings them joy and fulfillment.
• Loneliness can have negative effects on your health as severe as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.
• SJ distinguishes between networking and community by emphasizing that networking is inherently transactional.
• Community is making a commitment to get to know people over time.
• If we rush to create, what we create won’t endure.
• Embrace creativity because it’s what you do, not for the external validation.
• Screenwriting has constraints in a way novels do not.
• How has SJ’s experience in sports and dance informed her creative process?
• Training means you go through the motions until inspiration strikes.
• All stories are predictable if you understand story structure, but they shouldn’t feel predictable. A great story will make you feel smart for predicting what happens or surprises you by deviating from it.
• Animation is special because it isn’t bound by the constraints of being human.
• Even worlds that aren’t our own require rules of engagement so the audience understands how it works.
• A core principle of SJ’s community-building is that she’s not at the center of it; the people who come are the value, not her.
• A leader does a lot of the invisible work for the sake of the work, not the recognition, like the conductor of an orchestra whose back is to the audience.
• The distinction between creativity and business is harmful and useless; creatives should hone their business acumen and business professionals should hone their creativity.
• SJ had an experience with a teacher when she was very young who mocked her art in front of her class, and it meant she didn’t write creatively again for 20 years.
• Encouragement at a young age and the countering of adverse experiences at a young age are crucial for developing creatively.
• If you hear that whisper urging you to create, it’s never too late to listen to it.
• SJ didn’t reconnect with creative writing until she was forced into a class in college.
• You don’t have to constantly prove yourself.

3 Key Takeaways:

1. Creativity is innate in all of us and it’s never too late to access it.
2. Learning the rules and structures of storytelling can be creatively freeing instead of limiting.
3. Childhood e...

Welcome to the Conscious Creators Show; where through intimate and insightful interviews with authors, actors, musicians, entrepreneurs and other podcasters, you'll learn tools and tactics to 10x your creativity and strategies to grow and monetize your audience.

On today’s episode, we learn from James Altucher, an entrepreneur, author, venture capitalist and podcaster, who pursues creativity every day. Hear how James has prioritized building skills through an exciting career that spans multiple careers, from investing to chess and from startups to standup. We also explore common themes he’s discovered in his pursuit of learning from 500+ top performers on his show.

Actions:

1. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite podcast app and let us know what you think by leaving a rating and a review.
2. Thank our guest and let them know what you thought of today’s episode — click here to send a Tweet directly to James and Sachit or find James on Instagram or TikTok.
3. Head on over to Creators.Show to get new episodes, exclusive guides like our guide on “How to Connect With Busy Influencers”, partner deals and additional bonuses.

Episode Highlights:

• James outlined his vital daily practice in a viral blog post. When he doesn’t do this practice consistently, his life feels off.
• He needs a daily practice to be at his best.
• Sometimes when you're an entrepreneur so many things can go wrong. It can be very difficult and stressful.
• There was a time when James felt blocked and on the precipice of depression. He realized he wasn't doing his daily practice and even just starting it again helped him.
• Are you taking care of yourself in tiny ways? Are you just attempting to do 1% more for your physical health, emotional health, creative health, and spiritual health?
• James describes an experience where someone was stealing from him and he decided to take extreme ownership.
• Are you improving your relationships and distancing yourself from toxic relationships?
• Are you eating well, sleeping well, and exercising?
• James likes to get good at the things he’s passionate about.
• By interviewing peak performers and reading about them he seeks to understand how to skip a line.
• Are there smart things you can do to achieve better performance faster?
• There’s a physical and emotional component to getting better at something.
• When you skip a line in any field, you're going to have people who don't like you.
• In order to achieve any kind of peak performance, you have to find your own unique voice in that area of life.
• If you just improve a little bit each day, your improvement gets compounded.
• James shares the story of how Richard Branson started Virgin Air.
• The ability to “ready, fire, aim” is a key characteristic of high achievers.
• Peak performers have a dedication to learning.
• In general, peak performers are very kind people that you want to be around.
• James shares an experience that demonstrates Ken Langone’s intensity.
• Many peak performers are very intense and they know exactly where to drill down to get the most information possible and as quickly as possible to understand the situation.
• Peak performers bring intensity and curiosity to everything.
• Brian Grazer produces movies because he's insanely curious. He schedules one curiosity conversation every week.
• Peak performers don’t accept no as an answer. Tyra Banks knew ANTM would succeed but was turned down again and again.
• James has confidence when he is excited about something.
• He's only able to persuade people when he's excited about something.
• In his late 40s, he decided he wanted to try standup comedy once. He tried it and loved it.
• Smoking crack bias = thinking the activities you have invested in have value no matter what.
• Always ask what you aren’t looking at.
• A lot of the skills people think they need to learn are not actual skills.
• Entrepreneurship is not a skill. It's an umbrella of skills.
• James found standup comedy to be a very complicated skill to acquire.
• They discuss the cumulative effects of becoming good at one skill and how that does and does not transfer to other areas.
• Standup comedy helped public speaking but public speaking did not help standup comedy.
• In the 90s, Jame...

Welcome to the Conscious Creators Show; where through intimate and insightful interviews with authors, actors, musicians, entrepreneurs and other podcasters, you'll learn tools and tactics to 10x your creativity and strategies to grow and monetize your audience.

In today’s episode, Tessa Arias, founder of Handle the Heat, shares her experience going from a hobby-blogger to published author and social influencer. What I love about Tessa’s background is she’s grown a platform online mostly organically, reaching audience numbers that a lot of my friends who spend a ton on paid ads aren’t even able to reach.

We also get super tactical into her experience working with sponsors and partnerships and how Tessa now acts as an advisor for companies wanting to work with influencers. We close with her experience going back into the world of publishing and why she’s self-publishing her next cookbook.

Actions:

1. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite podcast app and let us know what you think by leaving a rating and a review.
2. Thank our guest and let them know what you thought of today’s episode — click here to send a Tweet directly to Tessa and Sachit or find Tessa on Instagram.
3. Head on over to Creators.Show to get new episodes, exclusive guides like our guide on “How to Connect With Busy Influencers”, partner deals and additional bonuses.

Episode Highlights:

• Tessa began as a hobby blogger with no expectations of making money, until she was offered a book deal in 2012.
• Even though she was making money from her website, she didn’t feel like it was a real business, so she started attending Masterminds to learn more.
• Tessa found she needed the emotional support of having a team of like-minded people around her.
• Someone can have a six or seven-figure business, but hate their business and not feel fulfilled by their life.
• Find groups and resources where you’re actually getting advice and tools that you can implement.
• Surround yourself with people who understand and respect that you are the one who knows your business and yourself the best.
• Bringing someone else into your business forces you to operate at a higher level.
• You don’t need to post on major job sites; look within your own community first. For example, Tessa hired through Instagram at first.
• When hiring, Tessa suggests you ask them to tell a story about a time they overcame a challenge, and ask them their opinion about something trivial to see that they can make a commitment and not be a yes-person.
• Tessa realized she was approaching burnout when she stopped feeling excited about her work.
• Growing your business depends on being flexible and adapting to the changing online landscape.
• Tessa challenged herself to post something every quarter that is more controversial or more personal and that scares her.
• If you buy a course online, make sure you have an accountability buddy to do it.
• Her past experiences with sponsored posts were formulaic and based on how other food bloggers did it, but she learned from Sachit and others how to build larger partnerships and create relationships from sponsorships.
• Through her success with building partnership relationships, Tessa has become a case study and an advisor for how brands should work with influencers.
• Tessa learned to ask open-ended questions of her sponsors to understand how their organizations work so she learns what would work best for both of them.
• No one opens Instagram excited to see sponsored content, so you should prioritize sponsorships that work with content you already post organically and that you care about and whose products you use.
• Question your assumptions that something has to be done a certain way.
• Sell your own content to your audience and remind them of the work that goes into it.
• The most important fundamental skills you need to be a successful published author are marketing and sales.
• Tessa is writing a second cookbook but is self-publishing it.
• The hardest part is marketing the book for pre-sale while creating it in order to fund it at the same time.
• Don’t do something you don’t like just to see if it’ll be successful, because if it is successful, you’ll have to continue doing something you hate.
• If you’re bored ...