Race And Creative Business

June 1, 2020

What pass do I get for having worked for a gay black immigrant (Preston Bailey) for almost seven years? For having most of my clients be gay men and/or women for the almost ten years I have been in business?  For having written about the inequities of gay people being unable to marry for my […]

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Today’s Message is Tomorrow’s Reality

May 27, 2020

I cannot tell you how many designers have told me that they want to create/license/sell products to go along with their core design business.  They want to leverage their brand. I am all for it.  If someone wants to buy your lamp because you are a fabulous designer, fantastic.  My issue is that we all […]

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The Business of Being Creative Podcast

May 26, 2020

I started a podcast. I wanted to start to share my thoughts on creative business every week (Tuesday).  No guests, just a riff (rant?) for 10 or so minutes each week with the hope that it will start a conversation. Better tomorrow than today, together. Very grateful. Hope you will check it out. And please […]

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Compromise Is Cancer

May 20, 2020

Pandemic or not, there is a massive difference between flexibility and compromise.  Flexibility is required for all businesses, creative or not.  Compromise might exist in some businesses (selling that toothpaste for pennies to get rid of inventory), but has absolutely no place in creative business. Flexibility is like a slinky.  When you twist the slinky […]

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The End Of The Beginning

May 13, 2020

I know how desperately we all want to put the Coronavirus pandemic behind us.  We want to be free to interact with each other as before.  To gather in meetings, weddings, school, theaters, restaurants, etc. would be more than welcome for all of us.  A haircut would be savored for sure.  For some, this day […]

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Emotional Return

May 6, 2020

Here we are at the crossroads.  The intersection of science, humanity, civilization, politics, and, of course, self-determination.  Do we reopen now?  How exactly do we do it in a way that does minimize the threat, but more importantly allows us to understand the value of our interaction? How do we overcome the damage (physical, psychological, […]

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How Do You Say Goodbye And Hello?

April 29, 2020

The decision to stick it out in the midst of a global crisis is not an easy one.  I enjoy the thoughtfulness Liene Stevens has laid out in her recent post, “Should I Close My Business?” as you contemplate whether to keep going or not.  If you are here or thinking of being here, have […]

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Different Is Different

April 24, 2020

As new technology and practices emerge because of the Coronavirus pandemic, we are challenged to contemplate how to use those technologies in a meaningfully different way. Enter the Fosbury Flop. I will not retell the story of Dick Fosbury and his miraculous victory in the high jump at the 1968 Olympics.  You can read about […]

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Integrity Is Everything

April 15, 2020

As we watch the hope balloon begin to lose helium and the realization that the coronavirus pandemic will stay with us for a very long time, you might be tempted to cut a proverbial corner, doing what is necessary to stay alive.  Desperation or even the thought of being desperate is the justification some might […]

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Clarity Of Expression

April 8, 2020

I am grateful for the coronavirus pandemic.  Of course, it is cataclysmically awful in just about every way imaginable.  However, I have fallen ever more deeply in love with my wife as I marvel at her remarkable humanity.  My children love us and each other and together they are finding joy in that love.  Yes, […]

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