The Two Traits for Creative Success and How to Cultivate Them

In moments of stress or a setback in our work lives, it can be difficult to muster the self-belief to back ourselves with confidence, try again, and persevere. Yet it’s often our everyday exchanges that can bolster the likelihood of career success.

Take the example of two designers who share a coworking studio. Over lunch, one opens up about a recent failure in their business that was going to take some time to bounce back from. Feeling uncertain, she turned to her studio mate and asked,

“Do you think it will be okay?”

“Of course it will.”

“But, how do you know?”

“Because it’s you – and you make things happen.”

This simple exchange encapsulates the all-too-often overlooked circumstances that help us navigate the stresses that come with self-managing creative careers: having a space to share our failures, and receive encouragement and support. Often all we need to hear – either from ourselves or respected peers – is that it will work out, and we have the resources to make it happen.

A recent study published by Dr. Kim Goodwin of Melbourne University in the Australian Journal of Career Development refers to these qualities as career-optimism and self-efficacy. Dr. Goodwin further defines self-efficacy as the ability to persist in the face of setbacks. “It’s the belief we have in our own ability to execute the action needed to succeed in our goals and whether we think we can ‘make it happen’,” Goodwin says.

Career optimism is trusting things will be okay and emphasizing the positive not just in your career, but more broadly in your life. Such traits are important contributors to career success, especially when so much of a creative’s opportunities comes from our own drive. “Both traits help put stress in perspective and recognize that a setback, failure, or challenge is not personal,” explains Goodwin.

No matter where you find yourself in your career, there are actionable ways to cultivate self-efficacy and career optimism, to bounce back from rejection, and to be confident and patient with your own potential.   

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1. Create your own support system 

Be it at a lunch table at a coworking space, a regular writer’s meetup, or a private Slack channel or WhatsApp messaging group, having a support system can help build self-efficacy and career optimism. “Surrounding yourself with people who understand the challenges you’re experiencing creates a better picture of the reality of working in your creative field,” says Goodwin. Belonging to an informal community of supportive peers can be low-cost, but high-learning, explains Goodwin.

“Having support networks can help people understand the industry, gain skills, develop creative projects, and learn how to make a living.” Such communities flourish when people participate and share their setbacks. “You have to be in it – no one can force you to experiment or be part of a community, it’s self-driven and something you have to reach out and participate in,” adds Goodwin.

2. Foster positive perspectives

As ambitious creatives, we might spend a lot of time optimizing our work habits to get more done, all the while ignoring our internal thought patterns that might be sabotaging our success. Australian artist, author, and podcaster Tai Snaith recommends a practice of taking note of your limiting beliefs and how they play out in your work. For example, the belief that “I’m not good enough” could lead to feelings of inadequacy and stifle your confidence to pursue an opportunity.

Once you’ve collected your internal blurts, the next step is to convert them into a change statement or positive iteration. As an experiment for one week, dedicate time each morning to read through your list of change statements as fast as you can for two minutes. 

You begin to memorize the statements and cultivate self-belief, explains Snaith. “My thought used to be that I say things without thinking, and so my change statement was that I am discriminating in my speech. Now I’ve said it so many times I believe it, and I find in conversations I am aware of what I am choosing to say.”

3. Experiment to build confidence

The elusive thing about confidence is that it often only comes from experience and seizing opportunities, which might elude us when first starting out or feeling stuck. “When I fall flat I don’t tend to notice opportunities, so it can become a vicious cycle,” explains Snaith. 

To be more receptive to opportunities, try creating your own experiments and tests for your creativity, which will in turn build confidence. For Snaith, going to the thrift store is a creative tool. “If I’m feeling creatively flat, I will go to a thrift store and it helps to activate the part of the brain that looks for opportunities. It’s important to allow yourself some freedom, flexibility and time to begin noticing things.” Such experiments help to open you up to noticing the right people or the right conversations, but most importantly help cultivate confidence through practice.  

For globe-trotting designer and illustrator Martina Martian, it’s important to recognize that career confidence comes in spurts, and at times we need to throw ourselves into something new to grow. “What helps me get out of a creative rut is to stop trying to replicate previous success and instead try new things and experiment with my work,” she says.

Recently, this meant saying yes to an exhibition to feature some of her sculpture work, opening up new possibilities and directions in her career. This helps to build confidence by proving to ourselves that we have a plethora of opportunities available to us and new skills to hone.

4. Depersonalize failure

No matter how experienced we are, many people have a tendency to internalize failure. We might credit our success to luck, and our failures to our own wrong-doing or not being good enough. But being a “successful” creative is not a linear path, explains Goodwin. “You don’t just work hard, fail, fail, fail and then succeed and continue to succeed for the rest of your career. It’s a rollercoaster.”

Talking about failure with friends helps normalize rejection and setbacks, making us less likely to blame ourselves for missed opportunities and instead recognize there are a number of reasons why we might not get a certain job, grant, or opportunity. Many setbacks aren’t personal, but systemic, adds Goodwin. “Share stories. Focus on instances of failure as much as success. Knowing we are not alone and understanding the structural and institutional factors that impact our success can make us more realistic, if not optimistic.”

5. Remember, anything worthwhile tends to take time

When we talk about the traits needed for career success, it’s important to acknowledge how striving for success contributes to feelings of inadequacy or stress.

“A lot of creatives have a really unattainable definition of success,” says Tai Snaith. “But I’ve found when you let go of the unattainable, you open yourself up to find a version of success that’s personal and fitting to you.”

This allows us to not only be creative in the work we do, but creative with our lives and the winding path that is our career, adds Martina Martian. “We are so creative with what we do, but for some reason we find it hard to be creative with what our schedules look like or what our career looks. You can define your own day, you can define your own career, and you can define what success looks like.”

Be it cultivating self-belief, building a support network, or developing optimism, in the words of designer Debbie Millman, anything worthwhile takes a long time. “Overnight success is rare,” says Millman in her 99U Conference talk. “And if we look at our lives, and our creativity, and our experiences as a journey, that we can build upon, I think it will give us an opportunity to see that we can make what we want happen. It just might not take as short a time as we would want.”

Building any career isn’t easy, and success in its various forms takes time. But self-belief and hearing “you’ve got this” from a friend can make the rollercoaster all the more enjoyable. 

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6 Crucial Skills for Building a Good Workplace Reputation

Whether you’re a freelancer with a book of contacts, or established in a corporate structure, your reputation can define your success and be the deciding factor in many professional situations. So what is the impression you leave on those you encounter? Does it reflect your intentions and values, and send the right message? Honing your self-perception is a lifelong task (tools like the Johari Window can help), and the resulting insights will have a significant impact on how others see you. 

Read on below for the basics to maintaining a good reputation from experts who know the ins and outs of what makes for a memorable, positive impression. 

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1. Practice humility

Tina Roth Eisenberg, CEO and founder of CreativeMornings, receives her share of pitches from those keen to work with her. The quality that stands out the most is a simple one: humility. When considering speakers, the one thing she looks for is a feeling of generosity, “Often times people pitch themselves in a way that lacks humility. When you do pitch yourself, do it humbly. Show up with an appreciation for what this organization stands for, [show] that you get them. And then, explain what you can offer to this community. Show up generously, with a sense of giving, not taking.”

Tina Roth Eisenberg at the 2018 99U Conference. Photography by Ryan Muir.

Remember to strike a fine balance when touting your accomplishments, particularly if you are keen to collaborate. Be proud of what you have achieved, but make sure to show that you have a self-awareness that will make working with you a memorable experience for the right reasons.

2. Build your emotional intelligence

Shana Dressler, leadership consultant and co-founder of DLW Creative Labs, is a big believer in the importance of working on our humanity skills, especially in the workplace. One of those crucial capabilities is upping your emotional intelligence. In Dressler’s words, this means “self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Being cognizant of how your behavior affects others is at the heart of emotional intelligence.”

To build that knowledge, ask some direct questions, such as “what types of behaviors drive you crazy? Where does your anxiety show up? What do you do when you don’t feel heard? How do your resentments show up in interactions with others?” These may take some time to answer honestly, but having this self-awareness could mean a decisive, positive shift in your relationships.

3. Know how to sell yourself

Dana Leavy-Detrick, owner of Brooklyn Resume Studios, knows the importance of thoughtful branding, and has a sharp eye for the impression we convey when we try to sell people on our skills. Most of us struggle to heap praise on ourselves the way we do with those we admire. “I work with a lot of people who do branding professionally, but who can’t do it for themselves. It’s something that even the highest level of people struggle with,” explains Leavy-Detrick. 

Knowing how to present yourself and your accomplishments (and backing up your statements), is crucial to a good reputation. “Remember,” she adds, “If you don’t promote your skills and talent, no one is going to do it for you. Clients want to read your summary and come away with a sense of confidence that you can do the job.”

4. Network wisely

The majority of our professional communication plays out via email, so make the right impression by knowing your email etiquette when networking with potential contacts. People are likely to remember a pleasant and appropriate online interaction when considering you for a job or a professional partnership, so it’s worth sharpening your email skills. William Schwalbe, co-wrote Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It with David Shipley, so he is wise to the power dynamics inherent in reaching out to make a professional connection. “I don’t mind if someone asks for a favor, but don’t pretend you are doing me a favor if I am doing you a favor,” Schwalbe says. 

Erin McKean, the founder of the online dictionary Wordnik.com, points out the importance of respecting the other person’s time and obligations. “Most bad intros are bad because either the person making the intro or the person being introduced conveys a sense of unwarranted entitlement to your time and energy,” McKean says.

5. Avoid Burnout

As tempting as it is to say “yes” to every opportunity, there’s a real danger to stretching yourself too thin. If you overpromise and then fail to deliver, or don’t offer your best work, it will leave a poor impression on clients and superiors. For freelancers who depend on their reputation for a steady stream of work, this is a double bind. Taking time off may seem like lost income, but it makes for a more sustainable professional presence. “You’re like a cell phone that needs to get charged up,” explains Julie Morgenstern, productivity expert and New York Times best-selling author. “That’s what time off is for. It’s in the interest of your business to rest. It’ll make you a much better, more creative, smarter freelancer.” Remember that you’re playing the long game, even if you work for yourself (especially if you work for yourself!) as work often comes from your personal network as a freelancer. 

6. Embrace a ‘mediation mindset’

We’re not saying that you have to be the designated peacekeeper in every situation, especially if you have to set some important boundaries. But how you handle the inevitable conflicts that arise in your professional life will speak volumes about your character, and has the potential to be a turning point with your peers and managers. Take a page out of Brad Heckman’s book when it comes to navigating those fight-or-flight moments. Heckman is the founder of the New York Peace Institute whose years of experience diffusing tense situations have given him a wealth of wisdom. The key? Communication. “Good communication is a full body experience,” Heckman says. “It’s how we breathe. It’s our tone. It’s our gestures.”

Get into the habit of being aware of potentially defensive body language, listen to the other person, and take the time to clarify and absorb what is being said. It will save both parties a lot of stress and drastically cut down on quarrels, as well as establishing a base of trust and mutual respect in your work relationships. 

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A Neuroscientist Shares 5 Ways to Hack Productivity

Is escaping the stranglehold of Wi-Fi the new freedom? Between the constant stream of emails, Slack messages, Airtable tasks, Google Docs, iCal alerts, videoconferences, and everything in between, working in the digital age has spread us all a bit too thin, sending us on high alert at all times of day. Whether at an office, working from home, or away on vacation, it feels increasingly impossible to escape the virtual grasp of daily work demands. And that’s not even taking into account the phone calls and in-person meetings that also take us away from focused, concentrated work. 

Dr. Sahar Yousef, a UC Berkeley-trained cognitive neuroscientist and recently turned strategic consultant to businesses and startups, shares a few tips on how to break through the noise and structure your day — and mind — for higher productivity. Spoiler alert: Quit your multitasking habits now.

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Take a design-it-yourself approach

Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change throughout your lifetime, in relation to factors including behavior, process, and environment — which means the vast majority of us who aren’t natural-born geniuses with infinite potential (sorry, Einstein) can still improve our lot with strategic and incremental changes to our daily routines. Understanding these basic principles of neuroplasticity is the first step to achieving higher cognitive performance, Yousef reports. “I would say the brain is probably the most complicated thing in the universe,” she says, and while the complexity of this organ is certainly not to be understated, “I love the colloquial analogy of thinking of the brain as a muscle, because it puts the individual, the human being, in the driver’s seat. It empowers the individual in the place of truly being the designer of their own brain.”

“You are the designer, you know your brain and your own conscious experience,” Yousef says. “One example of this is being able to increase your ability to focus for longer periods of time and gain more cognitive control by training your attention. The more focus training (i.e. meditation) you do, it’s like hitting the gym, that ‘muscle’ gets stronger, and then it becomes easier to then in turn focus.”

Tap into your internal rhythm

To improve your mental acuity and performance, you have to first understand its natural peaks and slumps throughout the day. While some might swear by an early-bird schedule, jump-starting the day at sunrise and reserving less intensive tasks for a late afternoon wind-down, others might be natural night owls, passing the day with meetings and letting their minds do more complex tasks in the evening, while burning the midnight oil. As Yousef says, there’s no general rule of thumb and the preference is up to the individual, so the best way to know what time of day your mind is best functioning is to simply pay attention to your own internal rhythms.

That might be easier said for the independent freelancer or entrepreneur more in control of their own schedules, unencumbered by fixed hours at an office, though Yousef says it shouldn’t be a mystery. If you are really at a loss as to figuring out which time of day lends to optimum performance, she suggests a simple remedy, regardless of your workday setup: Keep a productivity log, beginning with a test sample of five work days. At two-hour intervals, make an active note or set an alarm to quickly jot down your physical and mental status. Chances are, you’ll find a pattern of peak performance, or sluggishness, and be able to carve out your day around that.

Understand multitasking is a myth

A good deal of empowering your mind to perform at its best depends on simple time management hacks. Step one, Yousef says, is to ignore your inbox — within good reason. The steady drip of constant email is a productivity killer, often because it’s imbued with a sense of false urgency. It can be hard to prioritize tasks with your attention divided across various apps. Add to that list Slack, unnecessary meetings, and calls, and the day often leaves little time to complete the complex work you’ve actually been hired to do. “Most people I know don’t have a workday anymore. They have these little pockets of time, between meetings and calls and answering emails, where they have 15 minutes here, 30 minutes here, 45 minutes there, and that’s their workday,” Yousef says. “Now, that’s where they’re actually doing this thing that they were hired to do: The creative work, the cognitively intensive, high-value work that’s actually going to move the needle forward for their company and for their team.”

To retrain your brain’s stamina for critical thinking and focused, concentrated work — and to manage coworker or client expectations — Yousef recommends flipping the script: Set aside one or two times a day to regularly check and respond to all your messages and emails, then close the inbox for the rest of the day. Whenever possible, structure the rest of your day in one- to two-hour chunks of focused work. And in the event of an actual emergency from a colleague or client, be a proponent for a simple proactive change in office culture. Introduce a clear protocol for colleagues to contact one another in case of an actual emergency, such as a simple phone call on your cell, and make sure you stay accountable for that agreed-upon method to establish trust. Ensuring a system for being easily reached when urgently needed, she says, can alleviate the nervous or email-happy supervisor and free up your day for actually getting things done.

Build new associations

“Our brains are constantly changing, they’re adapting, they’re learning, they’re dynamic,” Yousef says. “It’s truly a canvas, and you can change and manipulate, depending on what you’re exposing your brain to. It’s almost like hitting the gym, the ways you can train your brain and its different neural networks. You can create different associations.” Yousef suggests these mind-body associations can be strategically manipulated to advantageous times and places. Take for example, your desk: If you constantly find that you can only get your focused work done in the early morning at the kitchen table, before going to the office, or during moments when you manage to hide away in the quiet of the conference room, if you’re the only one there — you’re essentially telling your brain that your desk is the last place to get your work done.

“You are the designer, you know your brain and your own conscious experience,” Yousef says. “You can increase or decrease the salience of different environments, or increase your ability to pay attention by training. The more focus training you do, it’s like hitting the gym, that ‘muscle’ gets stronger, and then it becomes easier to then in turn focus.”

Feed your mind—literally

Good mental function comes down to biology, which is why Yousef reminds us that above all, it’s important for everyone to practice basic elements of self-care, with plenty of hydration, a healthy diet, and regular exercise to keep blood flowing to your brain. Instead of turning to caffeine or sugar for a spike of energy, graze on small snacks throughout the day to keep your energy levels consistent. Above all, it’s crucial that everyone, early birds and night owls alike, get a proper and restful night’s sleep.

“One of my mottos is that there’s no ‘on’ without ‘off.’ It comes back to intentionality for me,” says Yousef. “It’s about having a ‘work hard, play hard’ attitude. When you’re at work, focus that brain: Be that brain Olympian, be that mind athlete, respect the way it’s meant to work. Fuel it and protect it. Then have intentional off-periods where you’re relaxing, you’re not processing more information, and you’re truly resting and rejuvenating.”

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Feeling Anxious at Work? Ask Yourself These Four Questions

You know that feeling when something’s just not right at work but you can’t quite put your finger on what’s wrong? Maybe you’re in a relatively new job, or in the middle of a big project (or maybe it’s just any random Tuesday) and you’re overcome with a vague sense that something’s off and it just doesn’t feel good. It really doesn’t feel good. You’re not sure what you want to do or where you want to go, but you absolutely know that you can’t keep doing what you’re doing. It’s a bummer of a feeling, and chances are that if you’ve experienced this yourself, you know exactly what we’re talking about: Anxiety. Specifically, workplace anxiety. 

“Workplace anxiety is when you feel a sense of deep restlessness and fear that is both propelling you in an unproductive way and keeping you from moving on,” explains Kristine Steinberg, a consultant who focuses on helping individuals work and live with purpose. “It’s an existential feeling that’s hard to articulate. It’s a feeling of physical tightness and angst, and you don’t know why. You’re always looking over your shoulder. It’s that fight-or-flight feeling that makes you think ‘I don’t know if I’m safe.’”

Steinberg is CEO and founder of Kismet Consulting, and has worked with top-level executives and companies such as Bain, Soho House, TED and more, leading workshops and helping individuals not just realize their full potential but learn how to act on it, too. And that’s why we’re talking to her today; because the thing about anxiety is that it’s a two-fold problem. You have to be able to both identify the feeling and develop the courage to make changes. Here is Steinberg’s roadmap to recognizing anxiety — and putting yourself in a position to do something about it.

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Is it anxiety? Or is it other negative emotions?

“There are a lot of different negative emotions that can come up in the workplace: Lack of confidence, toxic energy, fear,” explains Steinberg. While these feelings can certainly cause anxiety, it is a beast of its own. So how do you recognize when you’re anxious versus when you’re just dealing with some bad juju? Ask yourself if you feel “unsafe.” 

No, this doesn’t mean that you think you’re in danger, but that there’s something fundamentally keeping you from feeling mentally and/or spiritually secure. Steinberg goes on: “Anxiety can make you feel like you have to flee, like you have to do something to escape. Sometimes, in the workplace, that might mean going online and buying a pair of fall boots, or grabbing drinks at lunch and coming back buzzed. You’re looking for a way to get out of the situation.” Quick-fix coping mechanisms like these may help you feel better in the short-term, but are ultimately unproductive and only serve to worsen your anxiety. 

Recognize the loss of perspective created by an anxious state

Identifying when there’s more at play than your standard-issue “something is wrong” is crucial. “Anxiety is a heightened, frenetic energy that takes over. It’s a different way of being paralyzed. It’s that mental chatter,” Steinberg explains. “When you’re anxious, you can’t really see the forest for the trees,” she adds. Anxiety impairs your ability to think clearly and causes you to lose perspective. And when you’re in that state, it can feel impossible to escape. 

It’s also important to remember that anxiety can be at play even when it’s not presenting itself as anxiety “attacks” per se, but just sort of an always-on (or nearly always-on) general sense of discomfort. You don’t need to be breathing into a paper bag to be suffering from anxiety — it can get you low-key, too. 

Make space to get your rational self back on track

It’s essentially impossible to be objective when you’re in the weeds, and that’s counterproductive to your situation. When you recognize anxiety taking over, “The first thing to do is to take a deep breath,” says Steinberg. “Take a deep, physical breath. Slow down and try to create some form of space, both physically and in your mind.” It’s good to keep a few mindful breathing techniques in your back pocket to pull out when you recognize you’re in the throes of an anxious state. Box breathing, a breathing exercise used by Navy SEALs to remain calm in stressful situations, may be helpful, or it may be as simple as focusing solely on your breath and nothing else (as described in #3 here). Whatever it is, find something that works for you to pull you out of the “void” of anxiety. 

Objectify the problem(s)

So your head’s clearer and you recognize there’s an issue. Now what? “Get out of the trenches and put the problem in front of you so you can begin to problem-solve,” explains Steinberg. 

How? Start journaling. Steinberg suggests beginning with these four questions: 

1. What feels off? 

2. How would I define the problem that I’m facing?

3. What am I afraid of when it comes to making some changes around those things?

4. What are three actions I can take that would improve my situation?

The goal of journaling these questions is to bring the issue into focus and get you organized about what needs to happen next. “What we’re trying to do is get you truly unstuck so you can take effective action,” explains Steinberg. Writing things down helps you get clarity on what’s going on and helps you work through your feelings to get a better grasp on what’s really happening. 

Start taking action…with small steps

From there, it’s all about the small steps: “Is there a trusted colleague or friend to talk about those things with?” she suggests, though adds that this isn’t a decision to take too lightly, especially when it comes to your career. “You have to be careful because you don’t want to put the wrong person on alert about your anxiety.” Doing so, she reminds us, can just cause more anxiety.

In most cases, anxiety is the manifestation of a void somewhere in your reality, and the only way to mitigate that feeling is to identify and remove that void. “To relieve anxiety is to come into the moment,” explains Steinberg. And the best thing we can do to move ourselves forward? “Get really comfortable with your present moment, which will give you the clarity on what you need to do to change things.” 

Our Takeaways: 

• If you’re feeling like your sense of safety is threatened, and you’re mentally plotting escape tactics, you’re likely experiencing anxiety. 
• It’s very easy to lose perspective when you’re in an anxious state. That’s ok. When you recognize that anxiety has control, take it back by doing a breathing exercise.
• Writing down your thoughts and feelings will help you take stock of your emotions and find the “void” that’s causing your anxiety — and help you get organized about what needs to happen next. 

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How Creatives Handle Tough Transitions and Moments of Uncertainty

Major life and career shifts bring with them a host of nerve-wracking feelings. Whether it’s an exciting promotion or a significant setback, it’s natural to be overwhelmed by the circumstances. The anxiety can be part and parcel of being in a state of flux, but it doesn’t need to define your approach to change and how you handle it. From small rituals to embracing the in-between, we gathered insights on how to make it through times of transition from those who have been through it all. 

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Embrace the Unknown

Making a leap into uncertain circumstances wouldn’t be such a daunting step if there were a roadmap to show you the way. Brian Buirge felt the trepidation of diving into the unknown when he was about to embark on a two-month road trip with his business partner as they were preparing to launch GFDA. “The most important part of the experience was embracing the unexpected.” Waiting for the “what ifs” to materialize is the quickest way to disappointment. In Brian’s case, relishing in the unpredictability of his tour was what made it a success, and the obstacles that inevitably presented themselves pushed him beyond his comfort zone. 

Reject the Fear of Failure Mindset

Stanford University Professor of Psychology Carol Dweck points out how a fear mindset can hold us back from taking risks. Failure is inevitable but still carries a heavy stigma that needs to be dispelled. Accepting that not every project or idea will be a success can give you the breathing room that lets unexpected possibilities take root and flourish. 

Look for the Person in Your Corner

The perspective and support of someone who knows you well can push you outside your comfort zone. Erik Rodin looked to a trusted advisor for support when striking out on his own with his company Able. “Having mentors has given me trust and confidence that no matter what I’m faced with, I’ll be okay.” A trusted sounding board can be the confidence-booster that gives you the necessary push to dive in. For Erik, his mentor’s “honest and direct” perspective is a continual source of ambition and courage.

Ilya Milstein shot by Eric Ryan Anderson.

Remember Your Personal Passion 

Whether it be a promotion or a major career transition, you might get caught in the mire of working through the details of the endeavor. Take the time to step back and remember what gives you the drive to keep going. As artist Ilya Milstein points out, “That’s why working on personal projects is so crucial, to develop and expand. I’ve seen a lot of people who have fallen into the trap of doing the same thing again and again and again. They’re miserable but don’t see how they can reframe their career.”

Rely on Rituals 

Kursat Ozenc teaches at Stanford’s d.school, and studies the impact and value of rituals in teams. “Often thought of in a religious or spiritual context, rituals can be any series of activities that helps connect people to something bigger than what’s directly in front of them.” Setting up specific routines can be the soothing presence you need to recenter your focus daily. 

Embrace the A4

Whether it’s a pro/con list, a stream-of-consciousness journal, or a running catalog of tasks, putting your thoughts and to-dos in writing can be a boon to your productivity and help you prioritize what matters. When a handful of creatives shared how they manage their to-do lists, we found that good ol’ fashioned paper is still the gold standard for getting organized. In times of upheaval or change, taking a minute away from the screen to sketch out your ideas can bring much needed clarity. 

Hang Out in the Ambiguity

Major career upheavals come with a lot of unknowns and stretches of uncertainty. It can be tempting to make snap decisions just to feel in control. But as career coach Tina Essmaker puts it, “Being able to hang out in that state of ambiguity long enough to know what’s next for you [is important]. If you try to make a decision out of fear or a scarcity mentality, you’re probably going to make the wrong one.”

Kill the Comparisons

As tempting as it might be to measure your progress against others in your industry, it is ultimately debilitating. Artist Lisa Congdon found herself starting on an entirely new path in her early 30s, having been through a personal upheaval and finding herself with a whole new set of questions to answer. The transition was difficult but remembering that there is room for everyone helped her through the process. As she said, “Just because someone else you admire has some amazing accomplishment doesn’t mean that your work has any less value, or that your path is any less significant.”

Julia Bainbridge shot by Audra Melton for Gossamer.

Connect with Your Community… 

Author and podcast host Julia Bainbridge’s career has been defined by exploring human interconnectedness and loneliness. She hosts a podcast that examines how technology has worked to distance us from each other and what the effects of that distance are on our relationships and lives. Introverts or extroverts, we humans are social creatures who need to reach out every so often to feel necessary connection, especially during times when everything is in flux. 

…And Find Time for Yourself

Bainbridge also acknowledges that time spent alone can be necessary and healing, and work as a jolt to your creativity. As she says, “I am my most creative in moments when I am alone — when I’m on a quiet walk, not listening to anything on my iPhone. That’s when I come up with ideas.” If you’re struggling with big life changes, it’s worth taking a time-out with only yourself for company. 

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On Creative Entrepreneurship, Doubling Down on Risks, and Reinventing Print for a Digital-First Generation

Paper Chase Press, now in its 43rd year, is a force and fixture of the Los Angeles art world. Located on Sunset Boulevard, in the heart of Hollywood, the printer counts among its clients everyone from Commune Design to Adidas and MoCA. Still, it’s no small feat to be a thriving print business in 2019, and the resurgence and continued success of Paper Chase can be attributed to the effusive and resilient spirit of its second-generation owner, Nicole Katz. She gave the backstory of her family’s business and how its evolved to fit changing needs since the 70s. 

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“It’s a very L.A. story, straight out of a Quentin Tarantino movie,” says Katz, a natural raconteur, as she tells an anecdote of how her parents  — her father, an Israeli immigrant by way of Tel Aviv, and her mother, a former Playboy bunny — fell into a whirlwind romance, marrying and starting a (true) mom-and-pop office supply company in the late 70s, within the first few months of meeting. Before moving to the U.S., her father worked for Gestetner, the German company that pioneered offset printing. With this specialized background, their business soon morphed to include commercial printing services, initially run out of their home basement, and eventually grew to its current storefront. Then, by the request of an aspiring actor who passed through their shop by chance (this is Hollywood, after all), the Katzes later cashed in on a cottage industry, printing premium headshots for stars like Diane Keaton and Milton Berle, the latter of whom was “my little buddy growing up, and used to love coming by the shop,” Katz says.

Custom print jobs for a celebrity clientele still account for a slice of the business today, though Paper Chase now dominates a wider sector of the cultural sphere, and has since grown to include art books, lookbooks, and custom print jobs, an in-house stationery line called Paper Cuts, and Infoshop L.A., a line of collaborative artists’ editions. “We’re like Beyonce’s Kinko’s,” jokes Katz, who spent many afternoons at the shop as a kid, learning the ins and outs of the trade by osmosis. She officially took over the family business in 2008, though this wasn’t always in the cards. Like many young adults coming of age, she sought to cut her own creative path.

Second-generation owner Nicole Katz took over the family business with her husband in 2008, but was surrounded by the trade from an early age. Family photo courtesy of Nicole Katz. Portrait by Skyler Dahan.

“It’s funny, because if you’d asked me back then, if I wanted to one day run the business, I would have said a resounding no,” says Katz. “I was being rebellious, but then I always ended up doing things that kind of orbited around the print world. My actions spoke a lot louder than my words.” After high school, she moved to New York to attend Bard College, then returned to L.A. after graduation — working in art books, at galleries, and as an exhibition producer — before moving back to New York for a second stint, this time to the city, for an executive-level gig at Aperture Foundation. It was there that she met her now-husband, artist Kane Austin, who convinced her to give in to the wayward pull back to the West Coast for good.

“You have to sustain the community that sustains you. That’s our long game: making projects happen so that we continue to support the print community, and the medium in general.” 

The lure of space — both physical and mental — was a luxury that New York City could not provide the creative couple, who soon transformed one part of the shop into a gallery, hosting exhibitions and opening parties, gaining a foothold into the local creative community.

Katz was also ready to be her own boss, and even as she eventually closed down the gallery to focus on overtaking her father’s business the following year, it was hardly a turnkey operation. This was 2008, at the peak of the Great Recession, which was unforgiving to many small businesses. Offshoring big print orders to China had become the industry norm; over the next several years apps like Twitter and Pinterest broke out, and as the rise of social media platforms began to take hold of Internet culture, reshaping the publishing industry in the process, the prospect of a running a viable and independent, print-based business seemed shakier than ever.

Paper Chase Press started as an office supply company in the 1970s and expanded to include commercial printing, headshots and custom services. Photography by Tana Gandhi.

Yet in the haze of uncertainty, Katz saw opportunity. “I knew that it was still a really viable business, because I spent time in the art world among a population of people that are print obsessed,” she says. In the past decade, she has steadily reinvented a business model that has proved to be recession-proof and impervious to what she now sees as waning digital trends. 

“Print is not some old-school technology. Within the manufacturing of print, there are some extremely cutting-edge developments.“

“It’s funny, I feel things have really come full circle: There was definitely a moment in the early aughts, when everybody started getting smartphones, and there was this real love affair with it,” says Katz. “That’s when people started crying, ‘Print is dead!’ and all that. Now, people hate their devices, and we’re spending more and more of our existence in that digital realm — people are hungrier than ever for something physical.”

As a seasoned veteran of the art world, Katz keenly understands the value of print among fine arts, small-run, premium projects — of “experiential versus utilitarian print,” as she says — and has smartly invested in boosting that niche print culture through a network of events, workshops, and an imprint of in-house posters, print goods, and publications, including a line of artists’ cookbooks launching this fall. Paper Chase Press is prized for its high-quality print products that often push the boundary of the very medium and embrace avant-garde takes on a supposedly dated form.

Paper Chase Press specializes in small-run projects for independent designers and artists. Photography by Tana Gandhi.

“Print is not some old-school technology,” Katz attests. “Within the manufacturing of print, there are some extremely cutting-edge developments happening in the industry,” she adds, from presses that print nano-dots, to UV presses with LED technology, augmented reality, and 3D-printing. And advancements in digital printing, combined with traditional bindery and finishing methods, mean that one-off, DIY and independent projects can best the gloss and professionalism of a big publisher. As Katz says, “Print is still this persistent medium.”

Located in a storefront sandwiched between a strip club and a motel — remnants from the seedy charm of old Hollywood — today the immigrant-founded, women-run printing press is favored among artists and designers. In the age of Amazon and on-demand everything, Paper Chase has resolutely thrived not in spite of its independent, brick-and-mortar business model, but because of it.

“People are hungrier than ever for something physical.”

Over the years, she has cultivated a network of local designers who are familiar with the shop’s printing capabilities, and as part of Paper Chase’s recently added Hire a Designer service run in partnership with Matthew Swenson, now acts as ad-hoc producer and collaborator for new clients in need of consultation to usher their projects to fruition. In variety of other ways — with the launch of community events, youth workshops, and other programs — Katz and her partner continue to double down, investing back into the culture and creative community that provide Paper Chase business, and in turn, support and nurture its growth. With a commitment to zero-waste production, it is also at the forefront of sustainable practices.

Paper Chase Press is sought out by artists, designers and print devotees for its innovative designs and high-quality production. Photography by Tana Gandhi.

There is a mutual generosity and passion that plays into the company’s overall strategy, and the argument that print is alive and well in 2019 needs not even be said to any of the throngs of international visitors who attended Printed Matter’s Art Book Fair in New York last month — where tens of thousands were in attendance, and Paper Chase Press nearly sold out of its offerings. Business is booming for Paper Chase Press, against industry odds, with no signs of slowing down.

“We knew we wanted to be more dynamic than just a printing company. Kane and I were used to having a voice, working with artists, hosting events, and we love to make books and retail goods. Those side projects are some of the most intellectually stimulating stuff we get to do,” says Katz. Luckily for the multihyphenate, it has also been good for business.

“You have to sustain the community that sustains you,” Katz maintains. “We’re keeping people interested in print, and in doing projects that use print. That’s our long game: making projects happen so that we continue to support the print community, and the medium in general.”

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5 Tips for Making the Most of Criticism and Leveraging Feedback

Confidence doesn’t only come from accolades and plaudits. Learning how to process critical feedback can be just as important in building your self-worth and tenacity, and it can serve as a valuable grounding experience. So how to get past the initial sting of harsh judgement and move on gracefully? Read on for some words of wisdom from a handful of creatives who received their share of tough appraisals and thrived with the feedback.

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1. Learn to spot good criticism

There’s good faith feedback that has your best interests at heart and then there’s trolling. Pentagram partner Eddie Opara notes the danger of what he calls design trolling. “We, as designers, have used rhetoric that is not robust, interesting, or intriguing enough. It’s not looking towards the future enough. We get caught up arguing amongst ourselves over these fickle pieces of commentary from the trolls and then writers start blowing that up.” It’s your prerogative to tell the difference. 

Lisa Congdon has learned to not take the success of other artists as a comment on her own creativity.

2. Take yourself out of the equation

Comparing your progress to others in your field is, essentially, a powerful and debilitating form of self-criticism. It’s possible to recognize that being down on yourself based on what others are doing is an avoidable choice. Take your cue from artist Lisa Congdon. “There have been periods of time that I’ve had to unfollow people [on Instagram]. Not because I didn’t like their work, but because I liked their work — I was feeling a sense of competition or jealousy. I do it less and less because I feel more confident in my own career, but there was a time when I had to block out the stuff that didn’t make me feel good,” she says.

3. Find trusted sources of feedback

It doesn’t have to be a mentor, but it helps to have someone on your side who you admire and whose judgement you trust. For Aundre Larrow, trusted guides at various stages of his career served as sources of wisdom and gave him a push in the right direction when he found himself floundering with a too-ambitious project. When faced with what feels like impending failure, people you trust can deliver the well-intentioned criticism you need to hear to shift course. “Having that guardrail is important. If someone knows you enough to say no, then their yes matters even more to you,” Aundre says. 

4. Examine what hits hardest

If critical feedback is leaving you unexpectedly crushed and hitting uncomfortably close to home, take a moment to ask yourself why. Are you creating work out of fear or uncertainty? 

When Brooklyn Dombroski found that she wasn’t flourishing in her marketing gig, she had a moment of revelation when it was addressed by her boss. She says, “My boss could tell that my heart was no longer in it, and she actually encouraged me to move on and pursue my dreams of becoming a full-time photographer. I respected her so much for that, because it was terrifying for me. I was constantly questioning my ability and self-worth.”

The Johari Window can reveal a lot of potentially valuable insights.

5. Take it to heart

Once you establish if the tough-to-hear commentary is valid, and once you tend to your ego, take a moment to use it to your advantage and grow. The gap between how we see ourselves and how others perceive us forms one of the core tenets of the Johari Window method. 

The tool prompts you to look at the various selves you present to the world and to ask, “Are there any changes you want to make to represent yourself more clearly? Or are there areas of growth you want to focus on improving?” Make a list of these and work on building awareness of the shortcomings you have noticed. From there, you can act with more intention and work on closing that gap. 

 

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Five Ways to Nurture a Sense of Self

It can be immensely gratifying to get lost in creative pursuit, to lose track of time while working in the service of an idea. That sense of single-minded purpose can be a sign you’re on the right track. The focus can be addictive. But the specter of burnout hovers over this all-or-nothing approach, and it can easily lead to your sense of self being subsumed by your work priorities. 

How do you step back and keep all your different selves in harmony? We gathered advice from creatives on how to nurture a strong sense of self and strike the right balance between the twin pulls of your personal and professional responsibilities. 

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Learn from the Lows and Avoid the Wallow

A setback can have long-term effects that erode your sense of self and fundamentally skew your perspective. Leo Jung is now creative director of The California Sunday Magazine, but a layoff earlier in his career left him full of self-doubt and finding it hard to move on. His sense of self was wrapped up in this particular moment of professional hardship and it had a knock-on effect on his personal life. 

“You can never mentally prepare yourself for the self-doubt that creeps in and plants itself right in the part of the brain that contains all your self-confidence. When doubt in your abilities overtakes you, it doesn’t magically go away overnight. It drips away slowly like a tiny pinhole leak. When I started interviewing again, I noticed how I focused on what had happened to me instead of what I could contribute. I needed people to know I wasn’t laid off for incompetence. It was a pride thing.” 

Recognizing this pattern made it possible for Jung to extricate himself from the circular thinking that was holding him back. “It was tough for me to get over, but I knew that holding grudges was exhausting and unhealthy. Instead, I channeled my energy towards something I could be proud of. You’d be surprised at how motivated and focused you can become after a layoff.”

Photo of Mandy Blankenship by Mollie Greene.

Move Your Body

There’s a reason that physical exercise is cited time and time again as the panacea for all manner of struggles. Most of the time, it does indeed do the trick. The key is finding the right activity to soothe your overactive mind. Running miles on end isn’t for everyone, so allow yourself to have an open-minded approach to movement, even if it’s not the obvious choice. Maybe tai chi or fencing or Pilates or interpretive dance work for you, so own it.

When artist Mandy Blankenship was struggling with fertility treatments and unexpected post-pregnancy complications, she found that yoga was the best fit to bring her back to herself, “I never liked sports because I’m a perfectionist and I didn’t like losing. Yoga is me against me. I can go to whatever level of intensity I need that day.”

Build a Routine That Serves Your Full Self

A work routine can be a no-brainer. It’s how you stay accountable to your managers, how to deliver on deadlines, and how to structure your day so you feel accomplished and productive. As tempting as it can be to zone out in your downtime and relish the freedom of just being you, making the effort to set up personal routines that honor your time is worth it.

Photo of Ilya Milstein by Eric Ryan Anderson.

Australian illustrator Ilya Milstein moved to New York and launched his freelance career by working long hours, seven days a week. The drive he felt then helped build his success, but he recognized that it was an unsustainable long-term model. Today, he has a changed perspective. “To expect that an unhealthy lifestyle won’t impact one’s thinking seems absurd. Be kind to yourself in small ways and take joy from your daily rituals. Have your morning coffee on your couch with the news rather than nervously gulped over the kitchen sink. Self-care and self-understanding will obviously make you a better artist and person — the two are quite intertwined — and knowing your limits will keep you afloat.”

Get Outside the Cubicle

Staying in one place can feel like the necessary commitment you must make until, after toiling away for the proper amount of time, inspiration strikes. But that’s a mythological fallacy. Taking time away from your usual space is not only healthy but can be the answer to the riddle that you’re trying to unlock. Stepping out from the workspace can be a vital reminder that you are a whole person, not a collection of KPIs.

Photo of Duncan Wardle courtesy of Disney.

Duncan Wardle spent 25 years at Disney, and in that time learned that nurturing our inherent creativity means getting in touch with the basics and rethinking convention. “Be playful when you are looking for that big idea. For many of us, our best ideas come to us when we’re in the shower, when we’re jogging, when we’re on the train — in other words, when we’re anywhere but at work. Why? Because we can only access our subconscious brain when we are relaxed. When we’re stressed, all that stimulus back there is waiting to connect the dots with the challenge in front of us, but it’s off limits.”

Take the Time to Reflect

Michael Ventura, author of Applied Empathy, and a speaker at the 99U 2019 conference, believes that self-observation is a future-proof skill that is invaluable for all aspects of your life, saying that “ultimately it makes me a better listener, collaborator, and, frankly, human.” 

Photo courtesy of Michael Ventura.

Ventura defines it as “the ability to hit pause, take a moment to evaluate yourself, and take stock of where you’re at.” He suggests keeping a list of specific questions to answer, “Am I breathing?” I mean really breathing, not just panting at your desk while you frantically write emails and hustle to meetings. It also extends to your emotional state. What’s the most common emotion you’re feeling lately? Are you in control of the emotion or is it controlling you? Is it triggered by someone or something? Are you able to manage it? Trust your intuition and check in with yourself frequently.”

Easier said than done if you’ve worn in a groove hustling to meetings and speed-reading emails. While it is a slow process getting back in touch with your emotions, the self-awareness you’ll build will pay off in the long-term. As Ventura says, “It isn’t a switch you flip and immediately everything changes. It’s a dimmer that you slide until the ability eventually becomes second nature. Set a few times each day when you’re willing to stop whatever you’re doing, no matter how ‘critical’ or ‘busy’ you are, and take a moment to observe yourself. Noticing is the first step in learning who you are and what you are going to do about it.”

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The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing Introduction Emails

Oh, email. Love it or hate it, email remains “the backbone of what we do, especially when you get into a managerial position,” for most professionals, says Victor Pineiro, the creative director of Big Spaceship, a marketing agency in Brooklyn. 

This extends to connecting two people who have never met IRL, which is often the only realistic way to introduce two busy people. While a good email intro “makes you feel seen,” says Erin McKean, the founder of the online dictionary Wordnik.com, “a bad introduction makes you feel like a subcontractor in a business you don’t run. I’ve gotten some intros in the past that were essentially ‘Please do some tedious and unrewarding work for this person so I don’t have to.’”

Luckily, how to write and respond to introductions over email is a skill that can be learned. Below, professionals who have sent (and received) their fair share of introductory emails share tips for mastering the craft.

But first, a note: When receiving an introductory email, it’s important to remember the stakes, which are usually, in the grand scheme of things, quite low. Yes, receiving a poorly constructed introduction is annoying and potentially time-consuming. “But we need to be much more vigilant about our own behavior and much more forgiving of others’ behavior,” says William Schwalbe, who co-wrote Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It with David Shipley. “As a fundamental rule, there are worse problems in the world than people we know trying to introduce us to someone.”

On to strategies for how to do email introductions right. 

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Ask for opt-ins.

As a general rule, check that both parties are receptive to the introduction before facilitating the connection. “Make sure the people being intro-ed know this email is coming,” says Polina Marinova, an editor at Fortune Magazine and the creator of The Profile, a newsletter that rounds up the best profiles on the Internet each week. “Do not surprise.” 

In other words, the first step in a successful email introduction is rarely the introductory email itself. Instead, start by messaging the sought-after party and asking “‘Hey, I’d love to introduce Jane to you; she’s working on a new project that I thought you’d love to hear about, and she has questions about X, Y, and Z that you could be really helpful in answering for her,’” McKean says. “And then you wait.” You can follow-up once or twice, “but if you don’t hear back, you drop it.”

Pre-intro checks don’t always have to be formal. If you know one of the parties well, it can be as simple as sending a text or a message on Slack. No matter the method, “it’s great to get a heads up, especially if someone is very busy or super senior to make it easier on everybody,” Pineiro says. 

As the connector, it’s also good protocol to make the mechanisms of the introduction clear to both parties: “I don’t mind if someone asks for a favor, but don’t pretend you are doing me a favor if I am doing you a favor,” Schwalbe says. And if you are asking for a favor, make sure it’s a request worth making. “Most bad intros are bad because either the person making the intro or the person being introduced conveys a sense of unwarranted entitlement to your time and energy,” McKean says. 

Should you receive an intro request you’d like to decline, go ahead and say no. “‘Gosh, I wish I could,’ is a great universal response,” Schwalbe says. You can explain yourself if you’d like, “but you don’t have to give a reason.”

Evaluate the power dynamics.

Like snowflakes, no two introductory emails are exactly the same. One of the most important variables is the power dynamics between the two people being introduced. Oftentimes, there is a clear imbalance, such as when you are connecting a job seeker with a potential job giver, Schwalbe says. In cases like this, it’s crucial to privately check in with both parties beforehand, especially the person with more power to ensure they are up for the introduction. 

In instances where the power dynamic is equal, Schwalbe says he doesn’t always pre-clear an introduction because it’s less transactional in nature. Just make sure the power dynamics are truly level. “If one person is immediately going to want something from the other person, even if they are of equal standing, then it reverts to case one,” Schwalbe says. 

State the reason for the introduction.

A good introductory email makes its purpose clear. “The hardest thing is when you don’t know why someone is introducing you,” Schwalbe says, a situation in which it’s easy “to disappoint just because you didn’t know what was expected of you. It’s awkward.”

After explaining why he is making the introduction, Pineiro sometimes likes to nudge one person to take the next step. Often, this is the person who has more to gain from the exchange: If, for example, Pineiro was to introduce his nephew to a CEO of a company, he’d make it clear that his nephew should reply first.

Either way, after making the initial intro, make it clear that your job is done. “End it with ‘I’ll let you guys take it from here’ and don’t involve yourself more,” Marinova says. 

Schwalbe’s go-to sign-off is a firm but polite: “I’ll leave it to the two of you to be in touch with one another. Please feel free to leave me off the thread going forward.”

Provide context.

This ties directly back to the previous strategy: Not only should your introductory email’s purpose be clear, but you should explain who each person is and, when necessary, what they do. “‘This person is really cool!’ is not context,” McKean says “Don’t make me try to glean from LinkedIn or Twitter what kind of questions might be asked of me.”

Often, this means including a brief professional bio. Hyperlinks, to websites or bodies of work, are your friend here. “If I say someone is an amazing writer, I’d link to one great story she did,” Marinova says. 

Under the right circumstances, this is also the place to include personal details. When making an email introduction, Pineiro tries to include one fact about each person that is not work-related. It could be a shared interest, or something out of left field, like “John knows Mick Jagger.” In Pineiro’s experience, such details, no matter how random, make it easier for people to kickstart a conversation that sounds human rather than robotic. 

But keep it short.

“Always ask yourself: What’s the point of this email? Cut out the small talk that normally clutters the beginning of emails,” Marinova says. “No one wants to read big blocks of text…especially for a first email.”

In addition to being time-consuming, a wall of words can be intimidating. “The longer you make your email, the more pressure it creates,” Pineiro says. As he’s gotten older and climbed the corporate ladder, he’s learned to pare down his email style. “When I was younger, the impetus was ‘let me write out my biography and send it to this person,’” he says. He now recognizes the value of keeping it friendly, but concise. 

Avoid hyperbole.

Connecting two people can come with the well-intentioned impulse to talk up both parties, which explains why so many introductory emails are riddled with superlatives. 

This is often unnecessary. “I don’t need to hear too much praise in your intro, especially not of myself,” McKean says. “If I trust you enough to be interested in your introduction, I don’t need to be flattered to take it.”

Taken too far, hyperbole can be counterproductive. Overselling, particularly when it comes to someone’s job title, is a recipe for awkward moments. (Erroneously promoting someone from an associate at a law firm to a partner, for example, creates a situation in which they are forced to clarify.) 

“Everyone doesn’t have to be amazing. It’s a sweet impulse, but it can actually makes people feel badly,” Schwalbe says. If you must embellish, “you can exaggerate someone’s personal qualities without exaggerating their professional qualifications.”

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