Onward Creatives

Gratitude is a key component of successful business.  It's not taught in business school and there aren't too many books written about it but at the end of the day....being grateful is good for business.  There are three ways gratitude is good for business: 1. It makes you a better person 2. It makes you more positive and helps you dream 3. It helps combat the negative energy of comparison   Join our Private Facebook Group!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.  We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way.  Your journey Onward starts here!   For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at: Onward Creatives Facebook You can follow Valentina at: House of Valentina Instagram Twitte

We have so much to be grateful for!  As we (Americans) celebrate Thanksgiving it's a great reminder to be grateful three key things in both our personal and professional lives. Here are three things to be grateful for! 1. The things you wanted and got. 2. The great things you received that you didn't expect. 3. The things you wanted but DIDN'T get.   Join our Private Facebook Group!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.  We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way.  Your journey Onward starts here!   For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at: Onward Creatives Facebook You can follow Valentina at: House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook You can Follow Jack at: Instagr

We all have ideas to sell.  For some of us we need to sell our idea within our company to a boss, team or group of key stakeholders.  For others we need individuals, friends and family to buy into our idea.  Regardless of the context the process is the same and it requires us to know how to sell.   Robert Louis Stevenson said "Everyone lives by selling something." There are three key steps to selling our ideas. 1. Develop the idea 2. Determine who needs to know 3. Share the plan and involve others   Join our Private Facebook Group and gain access to exclusive content!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.  We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way.  Your journey Onward starts here!   For m

We're all brand builders.  We're all managing the brands or reputations of our businesses, relationships and our family.  These brands are built in both the long term and the instant.  Great brands are built with a long term focus and in awe-inspiring moments.  So as we build these reputations we have to make sure that we utilize both the long term and the short term.   Join our Private Facebook Group for exclusive content!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.  We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way.  Your journey Onward starts here!   For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at: Onward Creatives Facebook You can follow Valentina at: House of Valentina Instagram Twitte

Struggling with fear in this election cycle?  Tired of being afraid? The solution is more simple than you think....Feed the Courage and Starve the Fear!   Join our Private Facebook Group!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.  We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way.  Your journey Onward starts here!   For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at: Onward Creatives Facebook You can follow Valentina at: House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook You can Follow Jack at: Instagram Twitter Facebook  

Cirque De Soleil, Waze, Starbucks, Curves, iTunes....these are all game changers and they've all used blue ocean strategy to get where they are. Blue Ocean Strategy is a radical change from the traditional way of thinking about business.  Most industries still focus on the same customer base, in the same overall way.   That traditional approach is red ocean thinking.  Like sharks, everyone is trying to live off the same prey (customers.)  Blue ocean turns away from the crowded space and looks for new opportunities. If you're tired of doing business like everyone else, here's how to develop Blue Ocean Strategy. Look beyond your current customers Look to other industries/models Look for the gaps in your industry Look to the future   Want exclusive content?  Join our Private Facebook Group!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life s

A few weeks ago I spoke about the importance of imagination in our lives. (Listen here).  The fact is that we only have a certain amount of hours, skills, finances and resources.  So when we imagine something new, we also have to deal with sacrificing something old.  Simply put....Imagination requires sacrifice! Join our Private Facebook Group!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.  We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way.  Your journey Onward starts here!   For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at: Onward Creatives Facebook You can follow Valentina at: House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook You can Follow Jack at: Instagram Twitter Facebook  

Seven Steps to Making Better Decisions 1.Know where you're going 2. Know the first problem 3. Know Yourself 4. Get the input of trusted others 5. Ask which solution aligns with your goal/purpose 6. Act, go for it! 7. Don't expect perfection Remember: Good decisions come from experience, and experiences come from bad decisions.   Join our Private Facebook Group!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.  We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way.  Your journey Onward starts here!   For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at: Onward Creatives Facebook You can follow Valentina at: House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook You can Follow Jack at: Instagram Twitter Facebook  

"....and wisely."  Elizabeth Thompson was an artist in the late 19th century in the UK.  She was not only a women in a man's world but she also painted their subject matter....war.  Her painting "The Roll Call" broke onto the art scene and ushered Elizabeth from obscurity into the limelight.  The Royal Academy was forced to notice and she was nominated to join the Academy (all male at this time).  She lost the vote and in spite of incredible follow up paintings she never made it into the academy and eventually drifted into obscurity again.  The worst part is that she seemingly gave up and accepted defeat. In her memoirs she wrote "As it turned out, in 1879, I lost my election by two votes. Since then I think the door has been closed and wisely." These are two words that we can never allow ourselves to say!   Join our Private Facebook Group!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrep

Lauren Glass is the southern entrepreneur behind Throw Pillows, a give back company.  This 25 year old entrepreneur is already seven years into her journey and there's no stopping her.  At the age of 18 she was wrestling with her purpose and the work she wanted to spend her life doing.  Being 5' 0" she ruled out being an olympic volleyball player, and quickly realized that there was no career in watching Netflix so she set out to discover her "thing".  One day she asked herself the question "If I were to die right now, what would people say about me?" and her life changed forever. Lauren founded Beds4kids to help provide mattresses for children who were without.  She was in the process of writing grant proposals and soon realized that this process was risky and slow to produce results.  Her entrepreneurial spirit jumped in and she decided to fund her non-profit by launching the give back company Throw Pillows.  Lauren is on the journey towards changing the world around her by combining business with giving.  

We all have skills, things we're gifted or naturally inclined to do well.  We can build on and add to these skills throughout life through school, work, experiences, and other education. We hold these skills in our hands, all of us have them and none of our hands are empty.  The question isn't what we hold in our hands, but what we see in our hands. If I give you an apple, what do you see?   Do you see a healthy afternoon snack?  Something you enjoy in an obvious way or do you see more?   Maybe you see seed that can be turned into a tree, which results in a bushel of apples. Maybe you see an orchard of trees all grown from this one seed. Or maybe you see beyond the seed, beyond the bushel, beyond the orchard to all the yummy possibilities. What is the difference between the afternoon snack and the endless possibilities, imagination.  Success is possible when you imagine that there is unlimited potential in whatever you hold in your hand. George Bernard Shaw said "Imagination is the beginning of creation. Yo

When was the last time that you let yourself imagine?  When was the last time that you let your dreams just go, allowing your imagination to just go.  For many of us adulthood has brought with it extreme reality, leaving little or no room for imagination.  We may think imagination is just for the crazy artists or the movie makers in Hollywood.  The truth is that imagination is for people of all ages and can play a key role in determining your success.   Join our Private Facebook Group!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.  We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way.  Your journey Onward starts here!   For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at: Onward Creatives Facebook Y

The creative journey that we're on is tough, exhausting and at times overwhelming. What would happen if you quit?  Seriously, what would happen if you called it quits?  This a group of creatives: some of us are in existing businesses using our creativity to support and grow established businesses, some of us are solo artists trying to make it as writers, photographers, artists and others of us are building a tribe about an idea or thought.  All of these can be exhausting and can push us to the edge.  So what would happen if you quit? To be honest....it would probably feel great.  What if we stopped moving forward and decided to stay where we are, doing what we've been doing?  We would probably feel relieved.....and then we wouldn't.  Our ideas for business, art and creativity are not some frivolous thing we pursue out of boredom or restlessness, they're birthed out of the depths of who we are.  Although powering this side of us down would feel good for a brief season, as soon as we caught our breath we would

Megan Huntz had a desire and she designed a life to fit it.  In this episode I interview Atlanta fashion designer, Megan Huntz.  Megan had a passion for a different type of fashion and charted a course to gain the experience and insight she needed to launch her own label.  She takes a few minutes to share her journey and the insights she gained along the way. Join our Private Facebook Group! Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.  We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way.  Your journey Onward starts here!   For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at: Onward Creatives Facebook You can follow Valentina at: House of Valentina Instagram Twitter Facebook You can Follow Jack at:

16425 days.  I just celebrated roughly 16425 days on this amazing planet.  This weekend we celebrated two birthdays, mine and Landon's.  Landon asked me how many great days that I've had and I had no problem coming up with several that were unforgettable. 16425 days.  Not all of them have been amazing.  Some have been spent on tax returns, studying for tests, waiting for car repairs, jury duty, dealing with down websites.... But mixed into these are the amazing days....days with family, close friends, new jobs, creative breakthroughs, weddings, births, vacations....these are the days sprinkled among the 16425 (and growing) that make for an amazing life. So no matter how your week starts, breakup or breakthrough, don't give up, don't lose heart, instead celebrate.  Celebrate the amazing days you've already experienced and celebrate in anticipation of the next great day coming your way! Join our Private Facebook Group!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potenti

Until we define our purpose and what we actually want we'll always struggle with the time we invest in our work.  Many of us are frustrated with work/life balance because we don't see the reason why.  Why do we work?  What's the purpose behind the traffic, the long hours, the hard work?   Viktor Frankl said "Life is never made unbearable by circumstances but only by lack of meaning and purpose." So if we want to discover how to succeed with purpose we need to ask three key questions. 1. What do you want? 2. What do you want to be known for? 3. What do you want the ending to look like?   "Those who have a "why" to live can bear with almost any "how." -- Viktor Frankl   Join our Private Facebook Group!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.  We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each wee

It's time to celebrate!  Of course there's still more to be done, more dreams to be realized, more art to create, more business to be built....but today, we celebrate. We celebrate three key things: 1. The privileges we have as creatives.   2. The progress we've made in the last year. 3. The breakthroughs we're currently having.   Join us in the Free Private Facebook Group and share your reasons to celebrate!   Join our Private Facebook Group!   Welcome to the Onward Creatives Podcast.  A space to develop and grow your creative potential. Each week we provide inspiration and resources to you, the creative entrepreneur so that you can live out your greatest life story.  We're Jack and Valentina Fussell, creative entrepreneurs just like you, and each week we share insights from our personal journey and the inspiring people we meet along the way.  Your journey Onward starts here!   For more inspiration and resources for your life visit us at: Onward Creatives Facebook You can follow Valentina at: House of Valent

Melanie Villeneuve is the Nomadic Wife and she is leading a movement to inspire and resource people  to eat plant based meals.  Melanie is less than a year into her startup and is already creating amazing content and more importantly, she's enabling people to live a more healthy life.  She does all of this while creating her own recipes and photography that is truly breath-taking. In this interview Melanie clearly lays out the steps she took to transition from her previous career as a wedding photographer to her new role as the Nomadic Wife.  There are four key steps to her process: 1. Start with an interest.  She wanted to change her own life by replacing unhealthy foods with more plants.  At the same time she started picking up a few food photography jobs.  When these two interests came together from different parts of her life she paid attention and noticed the trend. 2. She launched a site.  "Your no one without a website."  The website provides a home base to create content for various social media chann

Whether you're starting your own business, building out an existing business, launching a creative career or relaunching into a different career path we all find two companions for the journey....doubt and rejection. As we set out on the journey we soon find that the fanfare and enthusiasm subsides and is often replaced by doubt, rejection, failure and the ominous music in a minor key.   We can take heart in the fact that countless others have gone before us and faced the same thing.  Whether they faced self doubt, direct rejection, or indirect rejection they still had to choose between listening to the rejection and giving up or staying true to their dream/idea and pressing onward.  Thankfully they pressed on and we can walk in their footsteps. These are just a few of those who were told to give up, to give in: Walt Disney Bill Gates Colonel Sanders Lucille Ball Marilyn Monroe Albert Einstein Claude Monet Elvis The Beatles Oprah Thankfully they didn't and neither should you! Join our Private Facebook Group!

There are few subjects as divisive as work/life balance.  We definitely live in a world of polarizing opinions on what this means and what is the proper balance.  On one side of the equation is the group idealizing working from the beach, living life to it's fullest all the time.  On the other side is the "I hustle and work while you sleep and play."  Both sides are loud mouthed, opinionated and mostly motivate through guilt.  You deserve better than this! It's time to rethink the whole work/life debate (which includes redefining these stupid words). 1. There's not just one definition of work/life balance.  It's not the fewest amount or the most amount of hours which wins, because each of us is different.  It's time that we let go of the guilt and the manipulation and realize that proper balance varies from person to person. 2. Stop seeing work and life as opposing factors.  The fact is that life is everything.  Life is family, work, play and us as individuals.  Hotwire president Henrik Kjellberg has reframed