Latest / Crafted Connections / EP 42: Rewriting the Path to a Creative Career with Maddie Miller

Transcript

EP 42: Rewriting the Path to a Creative Career with Maddie Miller · Crafted Connections

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Hello! Welcome to Crafted Connections.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Kayla Calhoon, and this is a podcast all about storytelling and building genuine community.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: Here we'll dive into the art of storytelling, unpack strategies for making meaningful connections, and hear from incredible humans who are using their story to create effect.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: So grab your favorite beverage, settle in, and let's craft some connections.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, hello, welcome to Craft Connections.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a little bit worse for the wear this week with uh a lost voice, and so I'm just gonna dive right into it with Maddie Miller.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Maddie Miller is as equally committed to her craft as she is to her community.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I really, really hope you enjoyed this episode.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great week, friends.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, Maddie.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Crafted Connections.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Can you tell the people a little bit about yourself, who you are, first name, last name, all that jazz?
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much for having me.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_03: My name is Maddie Miller.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: I am based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and I'm an artist and digital marketing strategist.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_03: Uh yeah, that's about it.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, boom, done.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: No, I was thinking about this too.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: We met each other in 20 flipping 19, May.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: So like early 2019, right?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: So like the before times, all that jazz.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: And we were in an artist fellowship together through the Indian Arts Commission.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: And just like the beautiful things that have happened since then, slash, I don't know about you, but that was a very pivotal, like, I didn't really think about myself as a business person, you know, before that.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm curious about like tell me a little bit about your life since then and and a little bit more about your art practice.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then I think we'll we'll have some fun from there.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: I applied to the honor program in yeah, it would have been 2018, going into 2019.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: And at the time I was working at Artlink, which is a nonprofit art gallery here in town.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_03: And I I have a background in fine art.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_03: I have a bachelor of fine arts, and print media is how we refer to it.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_03: But printmaking is the word that's more commonly known.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: So traditional printmaking, including like lithography and woodcuts and screen printing, is the one that people usually know what I'm talking about.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: That they wear around shirts and stuff.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: But really traditional forms of fine art printmaking, is where my background was.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: So I I got my start in working at nonprofit arts organizations and galleries.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: So at the time, I was really serving a lot of other artists in the community and wanted to really focus on my own arts practice.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_03: So it had kind of gotten away from having worked in a really, you know, limited capacity nonprofit arts organization with being one of two full-time staff is a really challenging position to be in to really focus on your own creative practice at the time.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_03: So I was really looking for ways that I could focus more on my arts practice.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_03: And that's when the OnRamp program came up as an opportunity.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: And I was really interested in what that would look like to just take some sort of leap.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: I don't, I didn't necessarily know what the program would mean or what it would entail or what would come out of it being an entrepreneurial-focused program.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't have a business.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_03: I wasn't really necessarily focused on creating, you know, a traditional, like, I wasn't sure what that looked for like for me in a very fine art, contemporary art practice that didn't produce saleable goods.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_03: And that was really kind of like the focus for me was like going into that program of like what does it mean to be a full-time artist or or have a career as a creative person.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_03: So that was really the start of me figuring out what that looked like.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_03: So Elaine, who runs the program, has been a really important mentor since then.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_03: And that program really has changed the course of my career.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: Not only just giving the confidence that I could go on to then start my own business, leave a full-time job with not a clear path, but enough financial knowledge and savings to kind of like figure it out over the course of 2021 and into 2022 when I like formalized my business and started an LLC.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_03: But over that time, I had an architectural firm job that I was like I switched into the week that I started the on-ramp program.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: So I was like in that in-between term, right when I showed up to on-ramp.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_03: So I didn't know what I was gonna do.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: No, totally.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, so let's back up a little bit even more.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: Can you tell me a little bit more about your practice leading up to on ramp?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: And to kind of fill people in, it was, you know, the on-ramp, but like the full title was something along the lines of like Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator, right?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: So the idea was like you're under three years of like your practice out in the world.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've done a few shows, maybe you've done this, that, and the other.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: At that time, I had done, I think, my first documentary, but then then I was doing like commercial editing.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: So it was like just giving you an opportunity to like start to ideate around how your creative practice could also be a source of income.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously, it was also founded by like some economic promotional things in the state of Indiana.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so it was really cool to like meet with other Midwest artists, specifically Indiana-based artists, right?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: To like cultivate that practice in in a place that often doesn't really take art as a job seriously.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, so to go back a little bit further before that, what was you studied, it's not printmaking, you literally just said it.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_03: Print media.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_03: Print media making.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_03: It doesn't, you can use them interchangeably, it's fine.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_03: It doesn't.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_03: Printmaking is the word that I use because print media is typically like it is a more contemporary way to describe printmaking.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_03: So it's not hasn't been adopted by the entire field.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_03: So you'll see it in some places and other places you won't.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Print meeting slash sorry, printmaking slash media.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: So so can you tell me a little bit about like what made you decide to go that route and then like what you were hoping to pursue in that?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I didn't necessarily know what I was going to do with my degree, and I didn't go into college expecting that I was going to have like a clear path.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_03: I grew up attending public arts magnet schools here in Fort Wayne and had a really special upbringing that included the arts in every aspect of my life.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_03: So I knew that I was going to do some sort of arts field, whether that was going to be art or music.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: I originally went to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with the intention of going for vocal jazz degree.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_03: So that was the intention.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: Got there and just kind of had some experiences that I was like, I don't know that this is what I want or how I see my life progressing.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: Just jazz as a field has a lot of travel requirements and just it's a very different field from the visual arts field.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I just wasn't sure that it was the right fit for me.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so I ended up applying for the art school instead and made that transition into the visual arts.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_03: So it was really incredible to kind of be within these creative spaces.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I I didn't have a clear path of what I wanted to do within a degree program when I started at the art school.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but I ended up taking a printmaking class in my second or third semester and was just immediately l fell in love with the process and was really excited by the professors that were there and the way that they were teaching and just the hands-on nature of printmaking that is very, you know, you are using tools and and working with your hands and and carving and i it just is a very different experience than like working in a graphic design type role.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_03: So it was just, you know, removed from the internet, essentially, which is very different than the work that I do now.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_03: But at the time I really enjoyed that hands-on experience that I got and ability to create the textures and things that you can do with printmaking that are just have a lot more depth than digital form art forms, in my opinion.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: So going through school, I when I was leaving, I wasn't exactly sure like what that was gonna look like for me.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_03: I did have some internships at some nonprofit art galleries while I was in school, so I knew that that was like an avenue for me to to have a career path that still was rooted in in the arts and in that art practice and this background that I've built my entire life around.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_03: So I had a few other opportunities during that time as well with artist residency programs and assistantships.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_03: I had an assistantship at the Penland School of Crafts, which is a craft school in North Carolina in the mountains, highly recommend for an adventure.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's all levels.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_03: Anyone can go there and take a class.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_03: But it was a really transformative experience for me to see other artists that were professionals that who had made their living as artists and making not necessarily making something that was like uh an object for sale, or you know, there were obviously people that were working within the craft field, which can be more usable objects, but there was also contemporary approaches to craft, which was just really incredible to see that these artists had kind of figured out how to make it work.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_03: So I was really inspired by that.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, seeing that, then you kind of go, Oh, that I could do that.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_03: I just haven't quite figured out how to go to get there.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_03: So that's kind of how I came into into into the on-ramp program was thinking about how do I get closer to that goal of being a full-time career artist.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_03: And that was really, you know, showed me that I could do it and provided me a lot of skills and information and the confidence that I could.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, and so yeah, sorry for interrupting, but yeah, so many different kind of ways to map it out for yourself, like and looking at it from not necessarily every angle, but more like looking at it from like all the different things that need to be in line in order for that to be pulled off.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, very, very cool.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so then that was, you know, we we met then, and then we've you know stayed in touch here and there, spending a lot of time together this this year because we uh we go work together.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: We now I was gonna say weekly, it's daily on weekdays.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: So we've we've been spending a lot of time together in in that regard.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: Can you tell me a little bit more about the so the post you said around 2021 was when you you kind of took the leap.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: What has that kind of looked like in the trajectory, trajectory there?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: And feel free like to just include the the full holistic picture, right?
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Of not just your career, but like your passions of the you know, the outdoor space and this, that, and the other.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: So since 2021, what has what have things looked like for you?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_03: So I'll go back to 2019, kind of in that on-ramp program.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_03: At the time, I was starting in a new job at an architectural firm, just doing administrative and marketing work.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: And it was just a very traditional desk job that was pretty uninspiring and just not what I did not see myself being able to stay there.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_03: And especially coming from roles that were much more hands-on and collaborative with artists and being able to just moving around in the community and then just having a bit of a and then doing like a weekend workshop fellowship thing, and then you're like, ooh, this ain't it.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: So it it took some time to kind of like get to that point where I was realizing like this is not for me.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: And I did have a a residency at Penland School of Crafts in January of 2021.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: That was a really pivotal experience.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_03: So I was there, there was no one there.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_03: It was a completely empty campus.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_03: It was during COVID, and over COVID, I also lost access to my studio.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_03: So I had really in from 2019 to 2020, to 2020, yeah, I was really having a really a lot of movement within my arts career.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_03: So and in my my studio practice.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_03: I was getting in the studio weekly, I was creating new bodies work, I was exploring new mediums, I was doing all of these different things, and then COVID hit and I I had an exhibition that opened the day before lockdown started.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm so glad that I got to get that work out there.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_03: But then after that, it was just like a hard stop on everything that was happening.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: I had grants that I had submitted that the programs ended during that that time period.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I forgot about that one particular grant.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: There was like a grant that was like designed for people like us who post the fellowship.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: We're supposed like you then that was kind of like the next year's step to offer like continuance.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember, I remember they did the reviews virtually, and then they ended up like three weeks later being like this money doesn't exist anymore.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: I forgot about that, Maddie.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and for you such a positive review.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, no, I swear, like they were like, yeah, because it was like it was like anonymous and you jumped on a Zoom call, but like they talked, it was like they were talking about you, but they didn't know.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I yeah, I remember the same, right?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like the meeting, it was like, yeah, you're gonna get the money.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then it was like a few weeks later, it was like you're not gonna get the money.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: No one's gonna get the money.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: And it was more just because the budgetary cuts.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: And here's the thing like for me, I still had the commercial video work, right?
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: Which is still creative, but for someone who like the visual art, getting money in that space is just so challenging, right?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, don't get me wrong, like commercial can eat your soul alive sometimes, but there's still like you can sometimes be playful, you know, like you're still like in your like your hands are in what you do.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: So oh my gosh, I could imagine, like, I remember that being devastating, but I can imagine how how devastating that I well, because I also experienced it, but in a different way.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, got it.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_03: So a lot of my practice was like built on these grant opportunities.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_03: And so to lose that funding and that avenue to be able to purchase supplies and and do whatever it is that I laid out in that grant was just yeah, just rug pulled from out from under me and from everyone.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it's not, you know, I I was lucky in many other ways that I had a job and you know, I had other opportunities, so it was fine, but definitely was a big shift in the momentum that I had within my studio practice to not have access to a studio, lose access to funding, all of these different things that everyone was experiencing.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: And it just kind of like hit a huge pause on my studio practice that I honestly have not really gotten back to in the way that I ever I I thought that eventually I would get back into my studio in in those ways, and really little very little art making has happened since then.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_03: But going to Penland in January of 2021, kind of post that huge pause.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: For my reference, Penland, is that how you say it?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Is that you already you already referred to that, but is that that's you only went the one time, right?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_03: I've gone three times.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: But was 2021 the first time?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_03: Not no no.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, cool.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I just wanted to make sure because you mentioned it earlier and I didn't know the timeline, but go ahead.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_03: In 2016, I went and I think that's when I had my assistantship.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: And then in 2017, I took a workshop with and I had a scholarship to go.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: So then they have to typically a winter residency program, and in during COVID, they kind of changed things up where it was more of like a studio rental residency type program.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh where you could just go to a different space and and create.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, very cool, very cool.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that actually that that adds up because I I was feeling like I was like, you mentioned it and you highly recommended it, but I was like, okay, I wanted to know the actual timeline of that because you did say that your experience there and seeing people do it for a living kind of inspired, oh, maybe this is possible, hence on ramp, hence, got it.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, cool.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: So 2021, we're there, we're kind of renting a studio in a residency style.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_03: So in 2021, I had a week-long winter residency at Penland School of Crafts, where I was had studio access all to myself, printmaking shop completely to my myself, and the ability to work with different presses and get back to kind of my roots within printmaking.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_03: The equipment's really expensive, so I don't have a printmaking press at my home.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_03: There's really limited access to do printmaking, especially in the mediums that I like to work within, like lithography, which is what I was doing while I was there.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_03: And it was just a moment of reflection of thinking I am really unfulfilled in the day job that I have.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I really wanted to see that, like to move on from that work.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_03: So that was January, and I ended up quitting my job in May of that year and leaving officially in April.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_03: So it was a really quick turnaround time from having that experience that like really helped me to reflect on this is the work that you really want to be doing, is like being able to be creative in your day-to-day life.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_03: And you're not having access to that in your in your professional career.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_03: And there just needs to be like some sort of shift.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_03: And at that same time, too, like through COVID, I was just spending a lot of time outdoors and having a lot more flexibility within my life to to be outside and do other things that I wanted to be doing and just hadn't had the opportunity to do.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_03: So playing disc golf and riding my bike and doing all these different things and just spending so much time outside, more than I probably had in my entire life.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right, right, right.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so you transitioned out into what?
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like more, what did things look like late 2021 and on?
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_03: I had been saving money.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_03: I I don't know if I knew exactly what I was gonna do next, but I had just been intentional about wanting to save money no matter what happened.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that they they call it the FU fund, where you can like leave, you know, like a career or you know, like maybe uh, you know, if you've got a bad like home life or what have you, it's like that fun to like, you know, create a new life for yourself.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_03: So I basically had saved up enough to where I had a year runway.
• 18:09
  unknown: Yeah.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, so I really miss myself.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: Wonderful.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, cool, cool.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: I I I like needed the security to feel comfortable with making this decision and feeling like it was possible for me to figure it out because I didn't necessarily know what I was going to do.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_03: I I had some like some ideas about what I was going to do.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_03: What I told everybody that I was going to do was like be a full-time professional artist.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I kind of think I knew that that's not necessarily what I was going to be doing at the time.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: Just having spent so much time away from my studio practice, I didn't have the consistency that I felt like I needed within my studio to make that a reality.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_03: But I was like, well, we got a year to figure it out, so we're gonna figure it out.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_03: And marketing was really something that I had done at all of my jobs, you know, starting as an intern at an arts nonprofit arts gallery.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_03: I was running the social media account and, you know, throughout my career at all the different arts organizations that I worked at and then at the architecture firm.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_03: It was just something that I felt like I was good at and had some skill set in, but also knew that I didn't have, you know, I didn't have the degree experience.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't have like a well-rounded educational background in that.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_03: So I over that summer time period, essentially after I left the architecture firm, did a lot of professional development, took online certifications and really upskilled in digital marketing to really feel comfortable with the idea of being able to serve kind of in it as a freelance digital marketing, social media marketer, content marketing, all of those things, all of the digital marketing pieces.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_03: And that's kind of where I've transitioned is in 2022, January, January of 2022.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_03: I started my LLC and have been working with clients to provide social media digital marketing, content marketing, a variety of digital marketing services.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_03: And also have still been connecting to my arts background, providing grant reviews and other arts administrative services.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_03: I've been honored to work with the Indiana Arts Commission on a couple of like contracted projects, um, working as a facilitator for their artist needs assessment and stepping in as an artist services program contractor when their artist services manager was on leave.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_03: So there's been a couple of roles that I've had opportunity to take on there that have been really great to stay connected to artists and creatives and and continue to grow my work there as well.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: Very cool, very cool.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: Hey y'all.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know I love telling stories, gathering stories, and finding a way to help people connect their story with the people that will get it.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what my story strategy sessions are all about.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: So over at Calhoun Creative Consulting, my strategic storytelling firm, we do one-on-one and or facilitated workshops in relation to really honing in the strategy around your story.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's a bit of messaging, meets content creation, meets storytelling, and then how do we put that out in the world?
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: How do we show up regularly?
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: There's a bit of mindset work around it, right?
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: To actually tell your story.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: Whether you're launching something new or trying to rework your brand or just feeling a little foggy on how to communicate with your people, this is how to get clear.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: We'll dig into things like your narrative, how to uncover what matters most, maybe map out a few content pillars while we're at it.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: You'll also get a recording of our session so you can revisit the conversation anytime you like.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: Let's shape a story that actually feels like you.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: So book yours today.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: There is a link in the show notes, and hey, while you're at it, use the code podcast, all caps, p-o-d-c-s-t for 25% off your session.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: I would be honored to spend time with you and suss out your story.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: Let's dive back into the episode, shall we?
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: Now, have there been any creative projects like in the past year or so that you have been able to get back into this?
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_03: So earlier this year I got invited to be a part of my university's steamroller print festival.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_03: And essentially the university puts together a group of artists to carve very large woodcuts that are, I believe it was 40 by 60 inches.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_03: So basically a five foot by three foot woodcut.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: So very large.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_03: A piece of three-quarter inch birch plywood for those who are unfamiliar with woodcut is essentially taking a piece of wood and carving it out to create uh what we refer to as a relief print.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_03: So the block is rolled with ink and then uh a piece of paper, or in the case of this very large print, we used a fabric to essentially put it down over the ink and then roll over it with a steam roller.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_03: So what lays out your asphalt in the summertime when you're riding uh driving around town, that is what we were driving over these large woodcuts with to print.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_03: So I think the best way is to think about it is like a stamp.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um but a very large wooden stamp.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: Super massive, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so tell me how did that go?
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like how many people were participating, or like a general number.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I know not only were you creating art to be steamrolled or creating a block, is it a block?
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: Creating a block to be steamrolled, but you were also helping roll out ink, right?
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: Because these are so massive that like someone there's an ink station, I imagine.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: So can you kind of describe the the event in in that way too?
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_03: So this was uh during homecoming weekend at my university.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_03: So it was a really cool opportunity because there were just people around walking around.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_03: And this is just kind of like a a really amazing festival and get together.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_03: So essentially there's a large tent area that we had where we were all rolling up the ink and and inking the blocks before we would take them over to the steamroller and kind of had this large like 20 to 30 foot area where it would drive over uh two blocks essentially at the same time to print them and then uh we'd pull the prints and then hang them inside the gallery space that is inside the the art building, essentially.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_03: But there were also other things going on, like little kids' activities and a bake sale and you know, all these other things to kind of like add life uh to the festival, but also a DJ was there the entire time playing music to really add to the vibes.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_03: But it was fun to see, you know, people come by and and that are unfamiliar with printmaking or or what it is that we're doing, and to see this like really large spectacle essentially of print is a really unique experience.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_03: So I think we had about 20 artists, some students were participating, and then there were uh uh members of the community and alumni that that came back to to participate and join in because it is a really unique experience to be part of a steamroller print festival.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of logistics that go into creating one of these events, and these are not blocks that you can print in any other way, really.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_03: They're the reason why we use a steamroller is because you can't actually put this size of a woodcut onto a press that you would need to to essentially have the pressure to print with the quality that we're able to with the steamroller.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like you actually, yeah, you need like an actual like large mechanical vehicle to roll over it.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: And what better vehicle than a steamroller?
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like, because they just genuinely are like large versions of those little rollers for like tiny stamps, you know?
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, I don't need you to to know, but that's okay, very cool.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you know what I love like as far as like the threads in like what you do and this, that, and the other, especially when it comes to like even not in maybe not even in your artistic practice, but in your like community efforts, there's always like this like supporting of the arts.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so can you speak to that a little bit more?
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's it's not just like because you could have simply been a participating artist, and and that would have been a lovely, beautiful, like I created this art, I'm part of this festival, but you also were like volunteering and helping and helping putting things together, and then also kind of you listed right before that a bunch of different ways that you help all sorts of arts organizations.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: So, what motivates you to like also keep the arts alive in that way?
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think for me, I've just realized that the experience that I had growing up with the arts is very, very special.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_03: And I think for a long time I took it for granted because it was just part of my life.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't realize how others you know that went to other schools just didn't have the same access to arts education that I had access to.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_03: And that's been really, I think, important for me to think about is just how can how can others have the same level of access to the arts that I have that has been so transformative in my life and I think is so important to be creative and and be able to have creative thinking and also just enjoyment and appreciation of of life.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's one of the greatest things about art is you know it's it's so important to just how we experience the world around us, to both reflect or just you know, throw on some music and have a good time.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's just really important to who I am and to so many people.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_03: I think to everyone's life, even though they may not recognize that it's the arts specifically that are contributing to the their quality of life.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: 100%, yeah.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's I mean, it's even it's so deeply infused into our lives that you're you're right.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of folks that might not understand how much art makes their life better, whether or not they're actively going to an art festival or actively participating in community art-related things.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you are absolutely right, and I totally agree.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's very cool.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, cool, cool.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: Now, along those lines then, too, as far as like community goes, right?
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: I know you are such an avid cyclist, but not just in the way that, like, you know, you're like, ooh, I love to get on my bike, but it goes back to the same.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, ooh, I love to create art.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: I also want to make sure that everybody's experiencing art.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: Same thing with like cycling, right?
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: You you love riding your bike, your bicycle, but you also are like gonna be like, okay, this setup isn't working.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: How do we have more cyclists on the street, right?
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: So can you talk to me about that, that part of your life, whether it be talking about, you know, these these crazy fun goals that you have in relation to cycling or how you see cycling in your community?
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think for me, in all of my work, I'm just really driven by my passions.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's what's really guided me is that I really want to do work that aligns with the things that I like to do in my life, no matter what that is.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_03: The arts have been central to who I am and and what I do, but definitely have had little side projects of even as an amateur disc golfer, I had a short stint as a freelance blog contributor for Udis.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_03: So even just things like that of like being able to write about this topic and be inspired by this sport that is a very niche sport, but is something that I really love.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_03: And then moving into cycling, I have been a cyclist for, you know, as long as I can remember as a kid, but it's really become more of part of my life.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_03: During this transition period, I had a large car repair in 2021 that I needed to have done, and I just put it off and said, you know what, I've got this bike and it can get me to where I need to go.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_03: And at that time I was working pretty much remotely.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_03: I had like a little small part-time role, but it was downtown a couple miles away.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_03: It was nothing that I couldn't get to with just two wheels.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_03: So I really was really just inspired to to make that a bigger part of my life and wanting to just be less reliant on my car because I live in a city where I can, I can get around pretty, pretty well, I would say.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's not always the safest.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_03: And as you mentioned, I have been really involved with efforts to create safer streets.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not as involved in that anymore, but I think the way that I'm doing it now is just like living as an example of what is possible when we can kind of like leave the the car at home and and just go around by bike.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: And also, like, I'm not even referring to because I forgot that you were you volunteered with an organization slash, you know, I'm not even thinking about because what popped in my mind was like one time you literally were just you posted something and you're like, this doesn't work.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then like a few days later you're like, they fixed it.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: Cause you like hit up the right people to be like, hey, this sign for construction is in the way for this, that, and the other.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then many people, you know, might see that and be like, okay, I gotta just take a dang detour, or like, you know, but like, so that's honestly what I was referring to more than like whether or not you've got like a certain organization on your resume, right?
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, no, you're living it out.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: And and I love, and I agree, like, right, we make change by the way that we live, sure.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: But then also, like, you're taking it a step beyond that, right?
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like, it's not just the example, which, which is also so valid and legit, and I love that as well.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: But that's more what I was thinking about because we often, you know, we'll go down the items of our resume and be like, oh, I did this, oh, I did that, great, good, great.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: But like, no, like you can't put things like, oh, that that one weekend I advocated for this sign to be moved in a construction site so that cyclists could get through, right?
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's such like it's small, but it's not.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: And when someone like you constantly does that stuff, like it adds up.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: I admire you a lot for that.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_03: I think I just really believe that the world can be different.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_03: You just take a little bit of time to make an effort to create the place that you want to live in.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_03: And that's not always the case.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_03: I definitely think there's like barriers to what influence one individual can have at a city level.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_03: But I think, you know, when we come together as a community and as a collective, we can really create change.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's really been my focus on a lot of those like advocacy efforts, whether it's cycling or the arts or whatever it is.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's just to make your voice heard, especially when you you may think that no one is listening, but I think you'd be surprised.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_03: Especially even if you just send an email that's resulted in bike racks that have been installed in public parks that should have been there and never were.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_03: To yeah, things like uh improving accessibility of that that one specific sidewalk you mentioned was through a construction zone, and they had left a for the cars a large construction zone sign, but it was completely blocking the path.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_03: And it was in a space where, you know, if an individual with a disability that were in a wheelchair were coming through, there would be no way for them to get past.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_03: And it would take them, it was probably a couple hundred feet away from a crosswalk that was available, and on the other side, you wouldn't be able to pass a bridge that you needed to get over.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_03: So it was just like this is completely cutting off the ability for someone to get through here, and just by like short-sightedness by you know, a construction team, we've now really created like a huge accessibility issue that just needs needed to be resolved.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_03: So all I did was take the time to well first I posted it about on Instagram, and I think it was just like this overwhelming sense of shock that that was the way that it was, and especially set up as a a specific pedestrian detour that it that it was supposed to be for so little care to be given.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_03: There was also large amount of trash and other things that were left in this sidewalk that was could have easily been cleaned up because it was clear that people had been there.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_03: And like it was astonishing for I think most people that saw those posts.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_03: But I sent that to the planners and the project manager on the the construction project and my city counselor, and within a week the problem was resolved.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because you're not even asking, you're not this isn't like, hey, I need money for this.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's literally just like this needs to be put somewhere else, right?
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's a very temporary thing, but it it could be a very major inconvenience for someone.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it's I admire that thinking though, and I know that I I often like forget to think like that or or don't, right?
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I just what gets you there?
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: Are you just you just like are constantly practicing?
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like how would you, or is it like I'm just very curious about how do you keep yourself such a good person, Maddie?
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_03: Like I would I I don't know that I would say that, but I think it's just like I have this mentality that is just like there to challenge, I guess, which I think can be can be difficult.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and to be fair, I really struggle with confrontation.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: So there might be a world of like me like being like, sorry, sorry, you know.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I can see that.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I think it's just I think it's important to just think about how overlooked some of these aspects are, and and just that these things may not have done been done on purpose, but they've just like created a major inconvenience, whether it's in my life or in somebody else's life, or honestly a safety hazard.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_03: And I've I've seen specifically another construction sign that was left in a in a sidewalk where there was no railing, and the only way to get around the sign on a on a river greenway as well.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_03: So a highly trafficked trail system, uh, was to jump into the road and go around it.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_00: Right, yeah.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_03: So I think it's just like seeing those experiences of other people.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_03: Like I was driving in my car and saw a man on a bike have to jump into the road to get around a construction sign that was for cars, and then get back onto this sidewalk was just like it's just not, yeah, it's just not right.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_03: So I think for me, it's just like seeing those things and thinking, like, instead of thinking, oh, that's just the way that it is, it's like, I wonder if there's something I can do about that problem.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and I think that's the beauty too of you spending so much time using your bike as transportation is that you are very aware of like what it takes to ride around the streets of, you know, of Fort Wayne or wherever you might be taking your bike that day, how challenging it can be, right?
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: I, you know, have quite the passion for running.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so I have found like over the years, when I've lived different places, I've learned like how to get around certain places through my runs, right?
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like when you end up running a certain number of miles, eventually you learn, you know, a few mile radius of of where you live.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so as you're going around, you're like, oh, okay, yeah, that's that's that, and this is this.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_01: And and then you think about you think about what it's like to travel by foot, right?
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_01: And to the point where often I've mistaken turns as like, I'm like, oh, that's a one-way, which I didn't know as a runner, right?
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm allowed to go the opposite direction on a one way.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_01: So, so yeah, so that that actually totally makes sense.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, yes, it's coming to you because you are often in those shoes.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_01: And then as you were exploring it more and more, you're like, and also let's think about somebody who doesn't get to choose whether or not they're using wheels for transportation or or you know, mobility and what have you.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: So very cool.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I love it.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have any more thoughts on that?
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because I do have something I'm gonna transition over into.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think the only thing I would add is that, yeah, I think it comes down so much to access.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I I think that's what I've just been interested in all of my my roles and the way that I work is like how can you increase access to things, both in digital spaces and in the physical spaces?
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_03: And I but I think it takes it just takes time and attention that you know, if you are moving fast and in a car, for example, you just can drive right by all those problems and never even see that they exist.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_03: But when you're on your bike or on foot and running, they they come to you and you have to to get over them physically.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh okay, cool.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me a little bit about some of your kind of recreational adventures in relation to your to your bike and kind of if you're up for talking about some of those goals.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: I obviously love talking endurance anything.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: So share a little bit more about your recreational cycling fun.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I know we really need to like talk about our long term.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we can do it right now.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_03: Endurance spaces.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_03: So this year I really got into cycling more for like long recreational endurance purposes.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_03: I got a gravel bike at the beginning of the year and have just been really inspired.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_03: There was a a series of mountain bike and and gravel bike off-road cycling series, uh, YouTube videos that I just watched and got really inspired by and was like, wow, I want to go do that.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_03: I want to ride my bike in crazy places and go far and just explore it in a different way.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_03: So I got a gravel bike.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_03: I also got a mountain bike at the end of last year and have had just been exploring those more.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_03: So not as much mountain biking, but I'd like to do more.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_03: And it's I'm not good at it in any way.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's a whole separate skill that I I haven't even, you know, I I don't really, yeah.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I know how to ride a bike, and that's there we are.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but mountain biking.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you'll have to try it sometime because it's so it's so fun, it is definitely challenging, and it can definitely be like scary at times to just overcome the challenge or whatever.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_03: Straight up the ups and the downs, right?
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like because like you could you could get messed up like cycling if you're not safe too, like you can mess up something in your body.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, and which is funny because we're out here in like cars being like, it's fine, I just do this every day.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_01: But no, I mean, yeah, I'm just imagining like some mountain biking action, and yeah, I'd want to start on the bunny hills for sure.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, going downhill is surprising, surprisingly harder than I anticipated it would be, where it's like not even a big hill when I'm walking down it, and then I get on my mountain bike and there's just something about the speed that is just a little bit scarier for me.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but that's the same thing with trail running.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_01: Trail running is like, you know, don't get me wrong, like uphill does not is not enjoyable, but like downhill messes up your legs, like, and you really have to be trained for it if you it I mean it's the thing that it'll get turn your toenails black and you know, and and mess up your hamstrings and everything.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, yeah, I think we underestimate downhill in a lot of ways.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_03: So I have just been getting into that, and at the beginning of the year, there is a group that started called Coffee Outside, and this is a pretty like common event around the world.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_03: So there may be a coffee outside group where you live, or you can start one.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_03: But essentially it's just a group of people that we get together on usually Sundays at 8:45 in the morning in all weather.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_03: The first ones that we me and my partner started going to were in January of this year, so 17 degrees was the coldest we got down to, and we bike there and we just hang out and make our coffee outside and drink coffee and sometimes sit by a fire and then usually go for a bike ride afterwards.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_03: So I didn't really know any of the people that were at this event, but it's really become like a really central part of my weekly routine and uh my friend group, honestly.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so many of these people that I met through this have become really, really close friends and just through spending so much time together out on the bike.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_03: And this year I've ridden over 1400 miles.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_03: I probably surpassed the 1500 mile mark, but my indoor trainer I can't track mileage on.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_03: Right, right.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I've I've brought the bike inside and am probably over that mark now.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_03: So that is so much farther than I ever thought that I would ride.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_03: I rode my longest rides this year over 67 miles and have some some big hopes and plans and dreams.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_03: But I also did my first bike packing trip this year as well.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_03: And it's just been a lot of like fun adventure and exploring and going places by bike.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_01: What does it feel like to like be actually to you?
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: What's the experience like in you know, whether it be an endurance challenge or or cycling with friends?
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like what what's so special about it?
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's just going somewhere you didn't think was possible.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that can be many different things, whether the place that you're going, but I think oftentimes more like the mental space that you are in in those endurance challenges.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_03: You really have to like ask more of yourself, but also I think rise to the challenge in many ways.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_03: I think there's so many things that I've done over the past couple of years that I didn't think I could do or that were possible.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_03: And now every single time that I do go past that point, I it's just like unlocking so much that is possible that I never thought was possible before.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it's just that that challenge, so much of it is a mental like wall that you have to break through.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_03: But so much like once you overcome that, especially in community with other people who are there, so you know, you're supporting one another in the reaching these goals or getting to that next uh stopping point, whatever it is.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's just really incredible from that perspective.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, totally.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then I mean I love the the the when you do break through the wall, you're like, if this is possible, whatever.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: else could be and like honestly it's relatively addictive.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, definitely.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_03: I I think one of the big challenges that I I wanted to accomplish this year but didn't and have I'm fine that I didn't accomplish this goal this year, but I would really like to do a century which is a hundred mile ride.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_03: And there at the beginning of the year I didn't think that was possible.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_03: Like in any way did I think that it would be possible to do it or I I I didn't know what it would take to train for it.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_03: And now I feel like I could do it tomorrow and it would be fine.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_03: It would be uncomfortable as as our endurance challenges but it's like very I am confident that I can do it now and that's really exciting.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_03: So it's just a matter of when am I gonna do it.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_01: Totally totally totally yeah yeah well and you did I mean quite like long legs during your bike packing right I mean I feel like wasn't there like a 60 or 70 day or am I I've done a 67 mile ride is the longest I've done.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah yeah but I followed that up with two 35 mile days.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the thing is that's absolutely possible.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah yeah and that's something with ultra running that you do because you never like before the ultra run, especially like 100, you're not gonna be like I'm gonna go run 100 by myself.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know like that's not how you train for it.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like some people when they train for marathons will be like I'm gonna run 26 to make sure I can do it.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_01: But like with with ultras like there's a practice where you try and get as many miles on your legs like in 24 hours.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_01: So you might like you might like do a 25 mile run one night and then the next morning do a 30 mile run right and and and just go to like go to sleep like it's a nighttime and a morning run and so that way you're getting all the miles and then ultimately it's like then now you just got to do it where you don't sleep.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like but ultimately it's like training your legs training your mind to do that.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_01: So yes very cool very cool the idea of storytelling because this is a podcast about storytelling and how it fits into our lives and in various ways and you know crafty connections comes from you know we connect to each other through story.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to hear kind of what are your thoughts about storytelling especially with you know what you do for a living especially with you know your your deep roots and passion about community take it away Maddie what are your thoughts on storytelling yeah so I think one of the things that I was thinking about just with your work and our the relationship of our work both mine and digital marketing and and yours and more of that storytelling lens which obviously contributes to all aspects of the stories that we tell is really just the idea of what it means to have kind of like this personal brand and the stories that you tell about yourself, especially online, which I think can be really challenging especially in this digital age where we're seeing so much change within digital media through platform decay and AI slop and attention economy.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_03: Like I think there's so many challenges right now that we're being faced with when it comes to what we thought we were signing up when we signed up for social media and a lot of those platforms a long time ago.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah I I just think there's a lot of challenges there and what I've really wanted to focus on is just how can I help my clients but also even just for myself like get to a more authentic self.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I I don't want to say I don't know exactly how to describe this but I don't want to say representation because I I think so much of what is our online persona is a persona and it is not an authentic representation of who we actually are so I think a lot of what I've been just trying to do with my life especially over the last year is just to be present within my community and and be like an active participant in in living and like creating stories that are authentic and you know and that is the challenge right the the idea that like storytelling is essential especially in connection and I think that these like these things exist I mean they they're probably elevated through like the the marketing and the you know the capitalist need but there is ultimately like an unwavering need for connection that's existed for all of time and ideally will hope continually exist right oh gosh I don't want to live in a world where connection doesn't exist but I think that's what you're challenging here.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_01: You're like what does that actually look like to actually feel connected but I you know I think about it in a lot of ways and I I also think about like you could be one on one with someone and be telling them something and it doesn't connect right and and that is an awkward and terrible feeling.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_01: And you know especially like in a relationship where you're like where you're maybe like you're both trying to communicate something and it's just not clicking and that's where like I mean it's just it all just gets so complicated so fast.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_01: But I love us questioning when we're like when we're showing up you know is it being authentic you know is it but is it but not authenticity for s the sake of performance.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's such a it is such a big challenge.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_01: How do you I don't know how do you approach it how do you kind of because you do help so many people create their online presence how do you approach these challenges in your own approach to things and if you don't have an answer that's totally fine because it's you know a an ever existing challenge.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah I I think one of the things that I've been thinking out about with a lot of my clients is just how do I how do I share the authenticity that they bring to their work whatever it is more fully and truly to the presence that they have online and I think that's that can be really difficult because I think there are just a lot of challenges in defining who you are and and thinking about what it is that makes you who you are and but that always changes no that but that's the thing I'm a big like and I don't think we've ever really talked about this but like when it comes to like how you know because business frameworks what have you I do have like a storytelling framework in like approaching things especially in explaining how I approach things to people that's honestly more what the framework is for because if I'm doing it by myself I'm chaos I'm all over the place I don't need to explain it right but like but I do like I have this kind of like cyclical like and you know I summarize it as collect compile connect but it's like one of those things where like at any point you're like going through that cycle you're going through the wash of it because like you know you might experience something tonight that makes you a completely different person tomorrow and so we got to kind of revisit that story or nothing.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_01: You might experience nothing tonight and you're still gonna have like different you're always like changing and I say you or like I'm you know you, me, listener, what have you and ultimately we're always revisiting but then you're right that's like to kind of identify that story can be challenging especially when it changes so often and then also especially trying to have some sort of like brand awareness or brand identity that people can revisit and know is absolutely challenging.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think you know you've talked about you just were kind of nodding to the idea of like trying to to capture that authenticity and share it.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_01: And you know you and I both see the value in video for that.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_01: And we have discussed the idea of the two shot when you're interviewing someone and how you know traditionally in a conversation among three people like one person might have the thousand yard stare and not be paying attention right when they're both on camera it's challenging to like to like to to operate with that two shot but that is in a way that is authentic right like you know especially if these are two people who like who see each other all the time like they're not gonna like they're like yes I've heard this story before I don't need to pay attention right now but you're like ooh but you're on camera so you do.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_01: And that's something that like is just not is across the board most two shots with people who aren't used to being on camera right like your newscaster hosts are going to be like cute as a button because they know what they're doing right but like but traditionally people are not used to being on camera that often and when they are and and maybe you know someone that they're close with is talking the person not talking is not going to make an interesting face to the point where it's almost hilarious how deadpan they end up being which is such a common thing.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I guess what I'm trying to say is like sometimes authenticity is not cute and like it's not clean cut and it's like sometimes it's like showing that's great but sometimes people will like manufacture that like that fake authenticity too I don't know it is it's a beautiful conversation but it's also one that we're not gonna have a conclusion with today.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_03: But I just I loved that you presented that where you're trying to explore like how do we how do we personal brand without personal branding yeah I think I wish I had more to specifically like say today about this topic but I think it's just something that I'm thinking about when it comes to both how I show up online but also my clients show up online and I think I think part of it is that we give our online presentation too much weight.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_03: We do yeah I think that we really have put so much on this impersonal connection that is mediated through these online spaces and I think that's why this year I've tried to get more into community and to be with people IRL so I think that's so much of what I think is more important of like how do you actually show up in connection and community and how can you be your most authentic self.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_03: And I think I think why that's so hard online is because it's messy and that we are very multifaceted human beings and there are so many things that are going on in our lives that some things that just don't need to be online that we don't want to share that are you know uncomfortable and maybe challenge who we think we are but I think that's so much of it.
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_01: Well no I'm thinking about it too it's like the tricky thing too it's like one do we need to like you said do we need that we don't need to be putting everything online but then I also think about how like putting something online like that that means there's receipts now, right?
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_01: Where people can you can go back and that can be evidence towards like versus like you know if you have an outheard conversation at the grocery store you're like oh god why did I say that to that person like I called a customer service person the wrong name the other day and I just beat myself up for like 20 minutes after that and I was like you know what you were trying he'll be okay like it's fine like but it's just you know and it's like so like then that being raw and like permanent almost is is a whole separate part of it.
• 54:34
  SPEAKER_01: But it's also like superhuman.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know I don't know it's a good yeah yeah I think it's a good reminder of just if someone's thinking about how to tell their story is just to give yourself a little grace.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yes yeah because I think there's just so much you know it it's not most of the time it's not permanent and it's not you know you can rewrite your story.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_03: I think that maybe is something to take away from this conversation is just that and that you will rewrite your story.
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_03: I think there's so much that changes in our lives that or just is so different about the the different interests you have and the different things that you do in all different aspects of your life that it's hard to like put it in this perfect little package.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_03: So I think it's also important to just think about you know the story can change and just as one chapter in your story.
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_01: No and I love that and I think that's what it's the idea that it doesn't have to be all packaged up and neat right and I think we both see the value of showing up on the interwebs and we also understand the value of like being by yourself in the woods and like both of those things get to exist and and I love yeah like things while they seem permanent are not permanent because change is the only constant right so look at us.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_01: So good so good.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_01: All right Maddie where can the people find you if they want to like have more Maddie Miller in their life uh the best place to follow me is on LinkedIn.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_01: My name is Maddie Miller there are many of us but if you well I always tag things in the show notes so perfect so it'll be in there if people really really are like uh why are there so many Maddie Millers?
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_01: There's only one this Maddie Miller and if that's one you're looking for it'll be in the show notes.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_01: Cool perfect I love that I love that Maddie thank you so much for your time today I really appreciate it.
• 56:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah thanks for having me it's fun crafted Connections is lovingly produced by Calhoun Creative Consulting a strategic storytelling firm dedicated to helping people and brands tell their stories in a way that resonates.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_01: If you enjoyed this episode be sure to subscribe and connect with us on Instagram at Crafted Connections pod keep creating keep connecting until we meet again