1) Unlocking Level 2: The Business of How To Tell Your Story featuring DonYe Taylor 📖

• Level 2, a theory coined by DonYe, describes something out of the box, never before seen, elevated, and unique. Once you have your first idea, push the boundaries of it. That’s how you get to Level 2.

• Creatives often start their creative process by mood-boarding. But that taints the creative process because you are exposed to so many outside forces. Instead, your inspiration should start from within and offline – and be derived from your passions.

• Whatever it is that you're doing as a creator, you need to make sure that your creativity is valuable to somebody on the other end. It can't just look cool. It has to do something. It has to save somebody time or make somebody feel seen. Or add value to somebody's life. So as you're creating, think about how your art can serve one of those three purposes or all three.

Click to watch an 8min recap (22mins saved).

2) The Evolution of Coco Jones 📈

• Being a working and well-paid creative right now is hard (Support SAG-AFTRA and WGA members). Choose your hard. It’s hard to stay in the discomfort of being in an unfamiliar city, unsure when your big break will come. AND it’s hard to go back to old forms of comfort at home and live with the discomfort that you walked away and took your cards off the table.

• On the verge of giving up, CoCo booked the role of Hilary on Peacock’s Bel-Air. Prior to then, she was dealing with thoughts that perhaps her claim to fame had come and gone as a child actress. However, she says, You have to be a little “De-lulu, until it’s true true.” In other words, as an artist, when it seems to make more sense to move on and do something else, you have to look past logic and be a bit delusional to achieve your dreams.

• How to rebrand as an artist? Let go of control, be open to hearing the tough truths (constructive criticism), and ask for help. These were the steps for Coco’s rebrand from a child star to the award-winning actress and singer we see today.

Click to watch an 8min recap (16mins saved).

3) Creative Genius: A Conversation With Sterling K. Brown 💎

• Sterling (St. Louis stand up!) is attracted to roles where characters undergo a sort of “Forced Expansion.” He defines this as when titles like Firstborn, Christian, etc., narrowly define your identity. “We have these definitions and then you find yourself in a particular situation and you find that that definition of self doesn't hold anymore” and then there’s a need to redefine oneself…to expand. 

• Sterling’s acclaim came in his mid to late 30s. So he says the timing for success and accolades may not be as ideal as you dreamed, but it’s always on time.

• “The indoctrination of home can oftentimes be at odds with the evolution of the soul.” Sterling grew up around a deep stigma and homophobia, but after leaving home and traveling, he learned that “The greatest gift you can give another person is to allow them to fully express who they are and accept them.” He defines it as God’s work. You don’t have to change people to love them; meet them where they are. He hopes that playing characters outside of his identity will make it easy for those who identify with him to embrace other human beings in love.

Click to watch the 8min recap (19mins saved).