It wouldn’t have the same motivational firepower

Coming of age in the nineties, before search engines, social media and digital technology existed, being an artist and doing business was profoundly different than it was today. Standard principles of production, marketing, sales and distribution were basically the same, but the path to success was longer, harder, more isolating and more expensive. In my teenage and college years, playing concerts, recording, promoting and selling my own albums was exhausting. Like when I had to kiss the ass of the...

The sanity tax is a minor cost that's disproportionate to the massive value we get in return. It's when we pay a little bit more to get what we need rather than settling for less out of guilt, pride, consistency or frugality. Like spending a hundred bucks an air conditioning unit for our bedroom so we don't sleep in a puddle of our own sweat all summer. Doesn't that seem worth every penny? But that's not the only tariff worth...

Mentoring has been a cornerstone of my personal and professional growth since the age of sixteen. Bill, my high school writing teacher, was the first person to show an interest in guiding me. He still does today. In fact, since adolescence, there have been dozens of other mentors who have been critical in helping me become the person I am today. What’re more, I have personally mentored dozens of other young professionals. Both as an entrepreneur, and also as an...

Stress doesn't exist. Not out there in the world like we think it does. Like most things in life, stress is an inside job. It's a subjective, inner experience within our consciousness. The reality is, the source of what we call stress is actually our body responding to what is held in our mind. When somebody complains about how stressed they are, for example, that pressure is a choice. Internal states like skin temperature, perspiration, heart rate, brainwave frequency and...

In elementary school, reading the sports page didn’t appeal to me. But that glossy free standing insert, with its colorful pages of promotional offers, holiday sales and new product launches, enraptured my attention. From the ad copy to the pictures to the names of the items, my marketing education had officially begun. In high school, playing in a grunge rock cover band wasn’t my thing. But learning how to compose and record and produce my own music, not to mention...