Trust Your Struggle Podcast

Scotty Cummings aka Scotty Strange has struggled with mental health since he was a teenager. His depression and anxiety left him feeling afraid to take the leap and try new things but now is co-owner of Strange Magic Co, an art focused street wear brand. He also recently turned one of his side hustles into a full time gig by helping small business with their social media content creation. Scotty has been able to make these moves with changing his mindset by not letting his fears and doubt control him.

Catching up with designer and founder of Crop conference, Matt Dawson shares his story about getting burned out by doing his own thing for the past 5 years. That lifestyle was literally killing him and he had to make the decision to do what's best for him. He drops some knowledge about valuing yourself, figuring out what you don't like so you can figure out what you do like, and don't let things you're seeing from other people make you feel bad about where you are in your career. Life is so much about focus and perspective.

Sign painter and extraordinary designer Timothy Brennan from Great Not Good shares his experience about heat strokes, going to jail, doing massive amounts of drugs, getting in fights and bad break ups. All of which have been self inflicted struggles. It wasn't until his close friends planned an intervention, disguised as a ski trip to bring him to Phx  for a new chance on life. What motivates Tim is the understanding that these moments will pass, you'll get through it and become stronger from it. Tim always strives for the best, exceeding expectations and never settling for good.

The one and only Salvador Lee Bravo is a Consumer Insights Designer on the Innovation team within the health care industry. This is very rewarding for him because what they innovate will impact a bunch of lives. He quotes Bob Moesta that "you should look at where people struggle to do something and that's going to give you the insight for your product or service".  Growing up in LBC where you find out how many degrees of separation you are from Snoop and learning you should never live more than a few blocks away from a really good taco stand. His biggest struggle has been with what's going on in his head and how to try and master that. Enjoy as we get deep and philosophical on this episode.

John started his career owning his own company doing branding, packaging and photography. He was also a professional YoYoer who traveled around the world performing some crazy tricks. You might even be able to find some of those on Youtube. The real struggle set in once him and his wife were about to have their first kid and not really having a plan or safety net. On top of that his wife getting into a bad car accident leaving them with only one car and a scooter. He's learned that there are things that inspire you and things that drive you.

Landon has worked on such projects as  Blink-182, 311, Star Wars, Bayside, and the first Taste of Chaos Tour. Since an early age he knew he could make money doing art and if he was going to have to work hard that he would do what he loves. His first childhood home was a small apartment in the back of a meat processing plant where they had to crawl under beef carcass to get to the fridge. He would spend nights with his mom at her janitorial job where he watched the first episode of the Simpsons on cable tv.  At the age of 7 he started helping his dad work on mobile trailers until he was 20. His parents coming home miserable each day was his realization that he didn't want to life that kind of life and push forward with his dreams. To this day Landon believes that no matter what you do in life you have to work hard.

On this episode I have a conversation with Luis who's a church pastor, a musician, designer, and a chef who's helped open up over 30 restaurants. He was born in Harlem and raised in the Bronx where growing up in poverty left him to do a lot out of necessity and survival. This caused a lot of anger with not having control his over situations and led him to fighting. Growing up he was inspired by street art that was all around him. At a young age he was constantly drawing in the back of his notebooks which he used as a coping mechanism. After his mom was killed by a drunk driver that all switched around for him to live his life to the fullest. Now he connects through mentorship as a youth leader in hopes to inspire the next generation.

Isla who was born as Patrick was raised by her parents who immigrated from Romania. At the age of 17 she enlisted in the Air Force where she learned to have a strong work ethic. Her passion for becoming a barber came to life after taking on apprenticeship at a latino barbershop where she totally felt out of place but is was that strong work ethic and attention to detail which caught their attention. Her biggest struggle was the transitioning while being part of a male dominated industry. What's always kept her going is knowing that when shit get's tough, don't stop and keep pushing.

Creative Director aka "The Can Donate Guy",Brian has been on an adventurous journey in his design career. Starting out at the University of Oregon he spent much of his time drawing nudes, learning to screen print and working at snowboard shops. After a Craigslist job gone wrong he soon learned the importance of having a contract and knowing your worth. From couch surfing, cleaning out barns, living out of his car before van life was cool, to collecting cans to fund his own apparel line. Brian was driven knowing that doing something outside of design was not an option.

Trust Your Struggle is a place of inspiration. Conversations with individuals about monumental struggles within their life, how they've overcome them and what that has done to help define who they are today.  Lettering artist, type designer, illustrator and all around bad ass Scott tells his story of going through depression after a health scare. Taking a break for several months to work on his mental health, getting back into a routine, started journaling and creating alone time with his Self Care Saturdays. He's put so much time into his career but is learning to refocus some of that into himself.