_what’s my deal_?
I've always had to learn things in unconventional ways.
Back when I was a teenager, we were just beginning to understand mental health as a practical thing we interact with. And when I was a child, we didn't understand it at all... at least not in the “Christian Bubble” that I was born in. “Anxiety”, which I knew very well as "Fear", took hold early, and jeez is it ever insidious. Unchecked anxiety mixed with dyslexia and a dysfunctional home meant that I did really badly in school.
Did really bad in school?
Smart people, which is it?
My point is that I did not get off on the right foot. I can take some responsibility (and boy I do always, thanks again “Anxiety”) but as I get older and my kids get older, I'm letting myself off the hook a little. I was a kid in a mess.
A lot of us creatives were “kids in a mess”.
I had to find a way to make it work, so spent the last 15 years working my way up in sign shops, & teaching myself how to design… learning how I designed. I figured out how to finish big, ambitious creative projects on the side (like Apps. short films, and screenplays) Basically, I found as many back doors into things as I could. If I didn't have the schooling to back me up, then I would find a different way. It often worked and I got by. But I never felt valid.
That said… all of this has given me everything I have today. My drive, ambition, and voice.
Then things started to change.
It starts with sleep apnea, then medication for anxiety, working out & owning my body, losing my religion, and I started a podcast.
It’s been nearly two years since I started the Creative People Podcast - It started as a logo and three goals.
I wanted to connect with people.
I wanted something that I would have to work on every week
I wanted to understand creativity, and how we interact with it.
I had dedicated a lot of my life (and anxiety) to Creativity over the years. It was my greatest joy and my great burden.
I had the creative itch. But it always felt as though I was spinning my wheels, over-revving or if I did get something going… I would burn myself out on it, right into a wall. It was not a healthy relationship and when I wasn't doing all of this, I was feeling anxious that I wasn't using my God-given gift.
That was my dysfunctional relationship with Creativity.
I knew that if I hoped to do the things I wanted to do in life I was going to have to figure my creativity out. So I started the Creative People Podcast, hoping it wouldn't be just another thing I tried.
Around this same time, my wife and I were "distancing ourselves from Christianity" - I felt lost and the way I expressed it to my her was that I was looking for my "new Bible" - like what are the rules when you've turned your back on pretty much everything we believed before?
One of the things I love about creativity is that it connects to everything. My road to understanding creativity had me reading books on Creativity, obviously. But it also led me to books on Leadership, Business, Mediation, Marketing, Comedy, Self-help, Creative Writing, Finances, and Brain Development. (I say “read”, but what I did was listen through them again and again with an earbud at my signshop job. I'd break them up with podcasts and Stephen King books, but mostly I was learning.)
It wasn’t just the books, I had the same approach with the podcast.
Talking about Creativity with my guests meant we talked about a little bit of everything. Getting deep on creativity weaved the stuff I was learning in the books into the insights I was starting to understand about the creative process. I learned something from every guest and I can say honestly that those 80+ conversations changed my life.
I found my "bible" in creativity.
Creativity is the greatest gift in my life now. But a burden remains.
What do I do with it?
What can I contribute?
And how do I do that while making sure my 4 kids are fed, and that I take them to Disneyworld one day?
I wrote a blog post for creativepeople-blog.com where I said that ideas are lil' Idea Vehicles. You take what you have around you, your gifts, your taste and the resources you have around you and you build your work.
So here’s my deal.
I am a unique, unschooled designer.
I have a voice. I know how to make things look cool.
I know what makes something work. I can write and I can produce.
I have a deeper understanding and love for creativity.
I offer Podcast Services because I love podcasting. It changed my life. I know how to make a good podcast, and I know how much fucking work it is. I can help with that. It's one of the things I can contribute.
I offer Design Services because I love design, and I don't think we need to be precious with it. In a sign shop, you have to get the work out the door. In the shop, design is functional.
Inside my head though, I'm an intuitive designer. Good design is when it feels like it becomes more. I believe one way to do that is by using intuition.
Good design is function meets intuition.
I'm building Creative People Co. because I want to connect, make with and encourage Creative People. It’s an extension of the work I’m doing with the podcast.
I believe in Creative People. I love creative people.
I think a lot of us are misunderstood. I think a lot of us are frustrated. I want to help. I can write blogs and I can coach. I can pass on to you the things that I have learned and plan to keep on learning. I can help connect people via the podcast, help us feel less alone in our work and encourage us. We do our work alone and it is a battle that most of the people around us do not understand. But I understand, and other creative people understand.
That's my deal. I'm a creative guy who wants to use my gifts. This Company and website is the structure I'm building to do that.
If any of this strikes a chord with you, I'd love to work or connect with you.
Send me an email ryan@creativepeople-solutions.com
All the best buds,
Ryan Leacock