While Yann Yap and I finish editing our first batch of Willful videos and gear up for the next spate of interviews, it was so gratifying to participate in Nargiz Mammadova’s thoughtful interview series, Insights with Nargiz. We talked about creativity, work, life, and constant adaptation. Thank you, Nargiz! Photo: Gary Chen, White Clover.
Willful web series
Originally published in January 2017 in Blog
This is me talking with my pal, Andrew Dobson, creator of the food and travel media empire, DobberNationLoves. Andrew is one of dozens of creative entrepreneurs and artists I’ll be interviewing in Willful, a new web series I co-created with my friend, Yann Yap, a producer, photographer and videographer currently working at TFO. A selfie of the […]
Godin is great
Originally published in March 2016 in Blog
A Seth Godin blog post called “Reject the Tyranny of Being Picked: Pick Yourself,” published in March 2011, made the rounds on the internet again this week. And with good reason. (h/t to Gapingvoid cartoonist Hugh MacLeod for reviving Godin’s greatest hits in his crunchy daily email). To recap, in March 2011: Twitter was at […]
Skills pivot
Originally published in February 2016 in Blog
There are a lot of folks out there doing a skills pivot on their own time and dime. They’re saying yes to mastering data science and website design, and no to obscurity and unemployment. They’re plowing through long lists of recommended readings, and using Darwin’s Origin of the Species as the manual to justify preparing […]
My blogging strategy keeps changing — and so must yours
Originally published in October 2015 in Blog
Back in early February, I wrote a blog post that created a tiny stir in my journalism circle. It was about how news is getting more “mobile.” And by “mobile” I don’t only mean smart phones (although, they are massively relevant to what’s happening), I mean that news organizations are now having to abandon their […]
Planet freelance
Originally published in October 2015 in Blog
I stick up for freelancers. They inspire me. They’re my tribe. I don’t know if what I say disturbs the order. When there are still more men making $100 million a month on Wall Street flipping real estate than there are Occupy protests, I’d say … probably not. Every day, we freelancers show up to […]
From the business pages
Originally published in October 2015 in Blog
In June, Goldman Sachs brought down a new policy for their 2900 interns in investment banking: leave the office before midnight each day. (Source: The Sunday Funnies. Correction: “Sunday Business,” The New York Times). Goldman Sachs supports Meet Kenneth Griffin, an American hedge fund manager and the Founder and CEO of […]
Performance Art
Originally published in July 2015 in Blog, Chalkboard Art, Doodling, Graphic Recording, Graphic Visualizer, Illustration, Visual Notetaking, Visual Storytelling
I’ve been doing chalkboard art on the windows at The Merchant Tavern for two weeks now, armed with my ruler, Sharpie paint markers, Q-tips and a bottle of nail polish remover. One hundred thousand commuters flood Toronto’s Financial District on weekdays, and during the morning rush hour about ten thousand of them walk past the spot where […]
We Know What Jane Would Do
Originally published in June 2015 in Blog