This is probably my favorite lesson over the last two+ years of running a small business. I crashed and burned as an artist/entrepreneur for YEARS previous to this because I hadn’t figured out this truth yet. ...and I really believe that finally learning it has been the primary contributor to any success I’ve experienced.
The idea is this: everything in business or art—in life, really—is an experiment. Let's say I've designed a t-shirt and want to sell it, or let's say you've recorded a song/written a short story/hatched a business plan/etc. Will it sell? Will it resonate? Will it succeed? We don't know. We're taking a leap of faith that it will—but we have no idea whether or not it will work.
Now, let's say we put it out there. I offer the tee for sale. You release your song/publish your story/launch your business. …and it FAILS. No one buys my tee. No one reads your story, listens to your song, or engages with your business. It sucks, but it happens. To everybody. Every day. We try something (big or small) and it fails. Now what?
Most people quit at this point. A tenacious few keep trying—the same thing—and keep failing. Only those who have learned that everything is an experiment—only the mad scientists—make a change and try again.
Did the tee bomb because I'm a "bad artist?" Did the book/song/business fail because you aren't "good enough?" NO! There are a hundred thousand variables that contribute to success/failure. Tweak one and try again. You're a scientist. You're an experimenter. Make a change, put it out there, see what happens, then repeat!
This isn't about whether or not you are worthy of success—whether or not you've got the talent or the resources or the "right stuff." That crap is meaningless—we're ALL worthy of success! This is about solving the puzzle. This is about treating everything as an experiment and realizing that there's no such thing as failure. Failures are just lessons learned—steps toward success. Everything is an experiment! Just go play and see what happens! You can't fail!
]]>Introducing the new Stately Type Kansas City "Crown Town" tee! Preorder and get 20% off with code KC20 now through Tuesday, April 21 only. These tees will be in stock and shipping mid May. Thanks for all the ideas and feedback this week, guys!
]]>Vote for your favorite Kansas City t-shirt design! Only the winning design will be produced and sold. One vote per account. Each shirt you commit to buy counts as 10 votes. Tag like-minded friends to increase your chances. Voting ends tomorrow (Sunday, April 19) at noon MST. Colors are final.
]]>Here's my fourth and final KC t-shirt design of the week—it features a hand-lettered "Crown Town" in white over a hand-drawn crown, crossed bats, and a baseball on a heather lake blue poly/cotton crewneck. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
A huge thank you to WonderBoy Apparel for the "Crown Town" nickname. Go check out their awesome KC-themed apparel!
]]>Here's my third KC t-shirt design of the week—a minimal, hand-lettered "KCMO, US of A" in gray on a black poly/cotton crewneck. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Here's my second KC t-shirt design of the week—it's a tribute to Kansas City's world famous barbecue. It features a minimal, hand-lettered "KCBBQ" in white within an illustration of a pig on a navy blue poly/cotton crewneck. A big thanks to @simplegirlsimplelife for the design idea! What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Sorry for the delay, guys! As you can see, I fell a little behind, so I'm starting Stately Type Kansas City Week now (instead of a week ago). Here's my first KC t-shirt design of the week. It features the city's famous nickname "City of Fountains" hand-lettered in white alongside a light blue fountain spray on a royal blue poly/cotton crewneck. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Welcome to Stately Type Kansas City Week! Over the next few days, I'll create and share 3-4 KC-themed t-shirt designs. At the end of the week, I'll put them up for a vote and only the winning t-shirt design will be produced and sold. Ok all you Kansas Citians—I need ideas! What do you love about KC? What are the city's best nicknames? Symbols? Key phrases? Bonus question: Is it KCMO, KCK, or both? Which state do KC people identify with? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Introducing the Stately Type Moda Collection! The response to the design vote was so HUGE and so positive that we decided to produce all four designs in both crewnecks and v-necks! Preorder and get 20% off with code MODA20 now through Wednesday (April 8) only. These tees will be in stock and shipping late April. Thank you Moda Fabrics, thank you @holly_inez, and thank all you guys for a fantastic/fun week!
]]>Vote for your favorite Moda t-shirt design! Only the winning design will be produced and sold—crewnecks and v-necks. One vote per account (if you vote for more than one, your votes don't count). Each shirt you commit to buy counts as 10 votes. Tag like-minded friends to increase your favorite design's chances. Voting ends tomorrow (Sunday, April 5) at 8pm. Colors are final. A big thank you goes to my collaboration partners in crime this week: Moda Fabrics and my lovely wife @holly_inez! …not to mention all of you for your killer ideas. Thank you!
]]>Here's our fourth and final Moda t-shirt design of the week—a hand-lettered "WIP it good" in yellow and white on a lemon 100% cotton tee. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
This one almost didn't happen—@holly_inez had to explain WIPs to me first. …and thank you to @jkigin for the original "WIP it good" suggestion!
]]>After our first two relatively safe designs, @holly_inez and I decided to take a risk on our third Moda t-shirt design of the week—a hand-lettered "Sew hard or go home" (with a hint of vintage tattoo vibe) around a hand-drawn spool and needles crossbones on a sea foam 100% cotton tee. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Here's our second Moda t-shirt design of the week—a collaborative effort between me and @holly_inez (thanks babe!). It features hand-drawn spools, needles, scissors, rotary cutters, seam rippers, quilt blocks, and other sewing symbols arranged to spell out the word "Maker" in white on an asphalt gray 100% cotton tee. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Here's our first Moda t-shirt design of the week—a hand-lettered "Sew, a needle pulling thread" intertwined with a hand-drawn needle, spool, and thread on a mint green 100% cotton v-neck. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram. Thanks, @holly_inez for the idea, color choices, and art direction!
]]>Big news! We're teaming up with the amazing Moda Fabrics this week to design a tee specifically for all the makers out there—the quilters, the sewists, the fabric junkies (*cough* My wife, @holly_inez *cough*). We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming (city/state/country tees) next week, but for the next four days, it's all about the makers and it's all about Moda—we'll be designing and sharing a series of sewing-themed tees. At the end of the week, I'll put them up for a vote and only the winning design will be produced and sold. Ok guys—I REALLY need ideas! What do you love about quilting, sewing, fabric, creating, making? Favorite phrases? Design ideas? Let me know on Instagram. P.S. I can't even tell you how excited Holly is about this. Head. Exploding.
]]>Here's my third Tennessee t-shirt design of the week—a hand-lettered "Home" with the state's famous three stars in place of the "o" in white and navy blue on a red poly/cotton crewneck. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Here's my second Tennessee t-shirt design of the week—a hand-lettered "Made in Tennessee, home sweet home to me" in red and navy blue on a heather gray tri-blend crewneck. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Here's my first Tennessee t-shirt design of the week. It features the state's three famous "Grand Divisions"—East, Middle, and West Tennessee—and the music for which they are best known within the shape of the state in white and red on a navy blue poly/cotton crewneck. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Welcome to Stately Type Tennessee Week! I've started working on Tennessee t-shirt designs and I'll share them here throughout the week. At the end of the week, I'll put them up for a vote. Only the winning design will be produced and sold. Ok, guys—I need ideas! What do you love about Tennessee? Any design ideas? Nicknames? Key phrases? Symbols? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Vote for your favorite beach t-shirt design! Only the winning design will be produced and sold. One vote per IG account. Each shirt you commit to buy counts as 10 votes. Tag a friend for an extra vote. Voting ends tonight (Friday, March 20) at 10pm MST. Colors are final.
]]>Here's my third beach-themed t-shirt design of the week. It's a hand-lettered "Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea" (a line from a Ralph Waldo Emerson poem called "Merlin's Song") in yellow and turquoise on a heather white poly/cotton crewneck. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Here's my second beach-themed t-shirt design of the week—a hand-lettered "Sun, surf, sea, sand" among a hand-drawn sun and wave in white, yellow, and royal blue on a heather lake blue poly/cotton crewneck. What do you guys think? Adult? Kid? Both? Let me know on Instagram.
P.S. The design idea credit on this one goes to my creative genius wife @holly_inez!
]]>Welcome to Stately Type Beach Week! I've started working on beach-themed t-shirt designs and I'll post them throughout the week. At the end of the week, I'll post the top designs for a vote and only the winning design will be produced and sold. Here's my first design—a hand-lettered "Let's go to the beach" in the shape of the sun in white and yellow on a turquoise poly/cotton crewneck. What do you guys think? Better as an adult tee or kid tee? Also! I need ideas! What do you love about the beach? Any design ideas? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>So… I guess I had one more in me. Here's my fourth and final Zion t-shirt design of the week—a hand-lettered "Angels Landing - Zion" alongside an illustration of the famous rock formation on a navy blue poly/cotton crew neck. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Here's my third Zion t-shirt design of the week—a hand-lettered "Zion National Park" in gray on a black poly/cotton crew neck. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Here's my second Zion t-shirt design of the week—a hand-lettered "Explore Zion National Park" within the iconic park service arrowhead on a kelly green poly/cotton crew neck. What do you guys think? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Here's my first Zion t-shirt design of the week—it features the names of Zion's most famous points of interest hand-lettered within the shape of ZION on an indigo poly/cotton crew neck. What do you guys think? Did I cover everything? Any big ones missing? Let me know on Instagram.
]]>Welcome to Stately Type Zion Week! All this week, I'll be designing and posting Zion National Park t-shirt designs. At the end of the week, I'll post the top designs for a vote and only the winning design will be produced and sold. This is my first national park week, so I need ideas, guys! What do you love about Zion? Key features? Peaks? Trails? Stories? Phrases? Let me know on Instagram!
]]>Introducing the new Stately Type Alaska "The Great Land" tee! Preorder and get 20% off with code ALASKA20 now through Tuesday only. These tees will be in stock and shipping mid March. Thanks for all the great ideas and feedback this week, guys!
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