Standout Creatives: Business, marketing, and creativity tips for solopreneurs launching their ideas

Ghostwriting might seem like a secretive craft, but it’s anything but. Kent Sanders breaks it down: this isn’t about hiding in the shadows—it’s about creating stories that genuinely connect. As the founder of Inkwell Ghostwriting, Kent has helped entrepreneurs and leaders bring their journeys to life in ways that inspire and resonate.If your story isn’t reaching people, what’s getting lost in translation? Is it the message? The delivery? Or maybe, it’s just missing that human touch.Your story is the bridge between you and your audience. If you fail to connect, you’re not just missing an opportunity—you’re letting relationships, impact, and trust slip through your fingers. But the good news? When you get storytelling right, it transforms everything.In this episode, Kent takes us on his journey from college professor to ghostwriting powerhouse, revealing how storytelling goes way beyond just putting words on a page. It’s about digging deep, building connection, and translating someone’s vision into a narrative that lands exactly the way they dreamed it would.Three Big Takeaways and Actionable Steps1. The Power of Understanding: Get Inside Their StoryGhostwriting (or any kind of storytelling) isn’t about slapping words together—it’s about understanding the person behind the story. You’re not just writing; you’re capturing their essence.Actionable Tip: Ask deeper questions before starting a project. Not just, “What’s the story you want to tell?” but, “Why does this matter to you?” and “What do you want your audience to feel?”Bonus: Try mapping out key moments of your journey to see the bigger picture. This "story map" becomes your roadmap for building a narrative that sticks.2. Real Connections Beat Surface-Level Networking Every TimeNetworking is about relationships, not resumes. Forget the business cards and LinkedIn requests. It’s the small, thoughtful gestures that build trust and open doors you didn’t even know existed.Actionable Tip: This week, send a quick, personal note to someone you admire—a handwritten letter, a voice memo, or a thoughtful email. Be specific about what you love about their work.Bonus: Make a habit of checking in with your network regularly—especially when you’re not asking for anything. Think of it as planting seeds for future growth.3. Stay Curious, Stay Open, Stay MovingThe creative journey isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress. Every failure is a chance to refine your craft. The most successful creatives? They’re the ones who embrace learning, even when it’s uncomfortable.Actionable Tip: Set aside 30 minutes this week to dive into something new—a book, podcast, or course that challenges how you think.Bonus: Reflect on a recent mistake. Write down what it taught you and how you’re using that lesson to grow.Kent Sanders reminds us that storytelling isn’t just a skill—it’s a superpower. Done right, it can transform your business, strengthen your relationships, and amplify your impact. The question is: Are you ready to take your story to the next level?Need Help with Your Creative Business?If you’re a creative entrepreneur ready to make your business stand out, visit The Standout Creatives. Whether you're launching your next book, podcast, course, or digital product, I’d love to help you turn your vision into something extraordinary.Spots are limited, so if you’re ready to chat about your next big idea, don’t wait—sign up now to grab your spot before they’re gone! Let’s make your next launch the one that truly sets you apart.

Big news: the podcast is back, and it’s got a whole new look, name, and purpose. After taking a much-needed break, I’m beyond excited to relaunch as The Standout Creatives! This isn’t just a new name—it’s a new mission to help you build a business that stands out while staying true to your creative passion.In this episode, I’ll take you behind the scenes:The Cracking Creativity journey: Lessons I learned from inspiring interviews and how they shaped my perspective.Burnout and breakthroughs: How stepping back helped me reevaluate and refocus on what matters most.Why the rebrand matters: My mission to bring you practical strategies for turning creative passion into sustainable success.What to expect going forward: Actionable advice, authentic stories, and insightful interviews with creative business owners who’ve been where you are.If balancing creativity with running a business feels overwhelming, you’re not alone. This podcast is your guide to standing out, scaling up, and thriving—without burning out.Ready to take the next step?Book one of my limited one-on-one strategy calls, where we’ll craft a custom plan to grow your creative business with clarity and confidence. Let’s build something amazing together!

A recap of episode 91 of the Cracking Creativity podcast. If you liked it, check out the full episode with Erik Young where he talks about creativity vs. natural inspiration, stealing in art, taking chances, and learning from your mistakes.

Nick Gray is the founder of Museum Hack, a twist on the traditional museum experience. The funny thing about Nick is, he used to hate museums. That is until he went on a date that forever changed his life. During a snowy day in NYC, a girl brought him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and showed him artifacts, furniture, and other interesting things in the museum. This changed Nick’s perception of what a museum tour could be. That’s when he started frequenting the MET, and learned to love museums. The first time Nick charged for a museum tour, he even tried to give money back to the people who took it. He had so much fun with the tour that he thought he shouldn’t charge people for it. “The first tour that I actually charged money for, it was a Sunday morning tour at 11 in the morning, and I was like ‘Alright I’ll just see if I can charge money. I’ll charge them $20. See if they come.’ And everyone gave me their cash, and I gave them the tour. And I had so much fun Kevin, I had so much fun, that at the end of the tour, I think I freaked everybody out because I gave them all of their money back. And they were like ‘Why are you giving us… is this Candid Camera or something?’ and I was like “No, I had so much fun. It feels dirty for me to take your money, to do something that I love, something that I’m having so much fun with.’ So for me that was the first time I experimented, but it didn’t really go so well.” Before Nick started Musuem Hack he was a salesman of flat screen monitors. But the success of his initial tours, and the experience he gained as a salesman, allowed him to turn his passion project into a business. “What I think is special about what I’ve done with Museum Hack that your listeners might find fascinating, is that I took something that was a passion project, something that I just did for a hobby, for fun, and I was able to convert it and make it into a business. And my time selling these screens really taught me the importance of marketing and sales and dollar value of creating premium experiences. So for me that was really helpful.” The thing that makes Museum Hack different from other museum tours is what Nick likes to dub the 3 G’s. While most other tours are zigging, Museum Hack is zagging. “The three Gs. These are the three things that makes Museum Hack completely different from most museum tours. Three Gs. Number one, guides. Number two, games. and number three gossip. So it’s the tour guides that are so engaging, that are actors and educators, and science teachers, and musicians who write their own tours who are so special. That’s the guides. The games means that the tours are so fast paced. They’re ultra fast paced. They’re two to three times as fast as most museum tours. And we also do selfie challenges. We takes shots of espresso or drink some wine. And then the gossip, that’s the juicy back story. The cool stuff about the art that we like to talk about.” Instead of trying to find people who are knowledgeable in history and museums, Nick hires guides who are good with people. Anyone can learn about art, but not everyone is good at connecting with people. “The number one thing we look for is someone’s ability to be a good host. How is their body language? How comfortable to they make people? Do they make us laugh? That’s the most important thing. It’s not about their knowledge. It’s not about how much they know about the art history. It’s about how do they make the guests feel. Because that’s what we’re trying to do, right? We’re trying to make people comfortable and we’re trying to get them to warm up inside the space. So that’s really what we hire for first and foremost. And then we can teach them about the art. We can teach them about the museum… We hire folks that are really good with people.” He also gives his guides the freedom to create their own tours. When you are building something yourself, you become passionate about it. So, Nick gives them the freedom to come up with their own tours and write their own scripts. “We think that having our tour guides write their own tours is so powerful because the guests and the visitors can hear that excitement and that passion, and you can hear me talk right now, right? I’m excited. I’m pumped up. I’m jazzed to talk about my business with you, and that’s because I’m not going off a script. No one is telling me what to do. Our tour guides have to be the same way, so we let them explore the whole museum, come up with their own tours, stuff that they’re excited about and they write their own scripts.” One would think that competing with instant gratification culture would be a detriment to Museum Hack, but it isn’t. Nick tells his guides to embrace people’s attention spans and work it into their tours. “We’re dealing with an increasingly ADD generation. These are people that are like me that are on their phones every two or three minutes. I mean, it’s not just millenials. It’s people of all ages that have a short attention span, and we try to teach our museum friends ways to engage with that type of audience. Make it personal. Keep it fast. Don’t be afraid of smart phones. Encourage people to take selfies and pictures. Things like that.” In a world where museums can seem stale and uninteresting, Nick has captured people’s imaginations. That sort of innovation requires curiosity, risks, and failures, and that’s exactly what he has done with Museum Hack. “Figuring out like you did, people who have that curiosity, and people who are willing to troubleshoot and make failures, and I’m guessing the podcast hasn’t been perfect since day one, would that be a correct assumption?… That willingness to make mistakes and resourcefulness to figure things out. Those are two key things we look for.” Read more shownotes from episode 92

Erik Young is one of my friends from high school. In this episode we broke from the normal format of the show and talked about our thoughts on creativity, inspiration, the education system, and learning from your mistakes. We also talked about some of the projects he's worked on including his children's book and work as owner of 7Mangos. Read more shownotes from episode 91 with Erik Young

A recap of episode 90 of the Cracking Creativity podcast. If you liked it, check out the full episode with Chalky White where he talks about asking yourself what if, being persistent, and why continuing to try leads to success, among many other things.

Chalky White  grew up in an abusive household, so much so that he gave up trying in school as an act of rebellion. When he 17 he joined the police cadets where he worked with alcoholics and drug addicts. It was at this point that Chalky realized he wanted to be in service of others. One day his friend asked Chalky if he wanted to go skiing. By saying yes to his friend’s request, Chalky unknowingly changed his life. Even though he wasn’t very good at skiing on that first trip, he was hooked. A year after that first ski trip Chalky went to Andorra and decided to become a ski instructor. When he ran out of money, he went back to Britain to become an encyclopedia salesman just so he could go back to Andorra. After a series of tests in Andorra, and failed attempts to become a licensed instructor, Chalky went to New Zealand to get certified. Chalky was constantly told he was never going to be good enough to be an instructor, but through persistence and his system of What If? questions, Chalky was finally able to gain his certification. Chalky not only became a certified instructor. He also wrote his own book on skiing and became a motivational speaker through it all. In this episode, Chalky talks about asking yourself what if, being persistent, and why continuing to try leads to success. Here are three things you can learn from Chalky: Ask Yourself What If Many of us give up at the first sign of failure. We let our lack of success define and shape us. What if it didn’t have to be this way? What if we could continue on despite our doubts? That’s why Chalky developed his what if factor questions. These questions help him decide whether or not he should pursue his goals, despite his doubts. “The big dream came true because I never, never quit, and it all happened… because I got the semblance of something I now use in my speech, “How to say nay to your naysayers and have the last laugh,” which I call my What if factor. “What if I don’t continue on with this? What if I don’t follow through? What are the consequences of that?” Of course when you ask yourself that sort of question, you really don’t like the answers at all. In fact, you sort of despise and hate them, but they’re enough to stimulate you to want to be asked the opposite question. “What if I do continue on? What can be the repercussions and consequences of that?” And of course you really like your answers to that.” The benefit of constantly asking yourself positive what if questions is that they make you want to continue on. They help to push you forward instead of falling back or giving up. “By keeping on asking yourself those questions, the negatives and the positives of the What If? factor, it tends to make you want to go on and on and on. And that’s really the premise of my speech.” Chalky believes these what if questions helped him publish his book. They helped him get past his biggest naysayer, himself. They have helped guide him through many things in life. “If I hadn’t asked myself those What If? questions, I’m not sure that I would have followed through and published that book. So by making myself not listen to a naysayer… it tends to translate into… self-doubt. Doubting yourself can obviously be the biggest naysayer of all. So by following through and continually asking myself those What If? questions, I actually was successful. And that’s basically what I’ve done with very many things through my life.” Be Persistent There are many things that help you sustain a long career as an artist. Talent and luck help a lot, but one thing is often overlooked. It’s something we can all control. That thing is persistence. Most of us give up after the first sign of failure. We give up when things are looking grim. We give up when things don’t go our way. We give up when someone says no. But we can’t let those setbacks stop us dead in our tracks. We must go on despite our doubts. Chalky doesn’t believe no means no forever. He follows up with people until he gets a yes. “Every time somebody says no to you, that you can’t do something, or says no I don’t want to buy that, it gets you closer to the big yes. So in other words you get “No I don’t want it, no I don’t want it…” then… because you kept following through, he says yes, and that big yes, if you’re a salesperson… could end up being the biggest sale of the year for the company.” We need to constantly push ourselves, especially when we are down. It’s easy to lose morale when things aren’t going your way, but if you really want to achieve your goals, you have to be persistent. Sometimes we just need that extra push to keep us going. That’s why Chalky constantly asks himself what if. If you don’t like the answer to those what if questions, you have no choice but to keep going. “It’s no good just asking yourself that question once, you’ve got to keep with those questions. You have to keep on asking, sometimes several times a day… Because those questions can really help to keep your morale up because when someone keeps saying no to you all the time, it’s very easy for your morale to go completely down the toilet, and if it’s a dream or a goal that you really really want to achieve, you’ve got to find a way of not allowing yourself to quit.” The Only Way to Succeed is to Continue Trying If you want something bad enough, you will put all your effort into it. You will do everything you can to succeed. That’s often the thing that separates people who eventually succeed and those who don’t. Some people just can’t handle the constant grind, the constant rejections, the constant failure. Failure never stopped Chalky from achieving his dreams. He kept attempting his exams even after multiple failures. He became an instructor despite the doubters. He wrote a book even though people told him he shouldn’t. There’s something inside him that told him to keep going. “Some people just can’t be bothered. There are those out there who go “Who really cares?” But then there are others that really want it, but sometimes the fear of failure stops them, there’s no doubt about it. When I was trying to go through those exams where I kept failing and failing and failing, I was very scared that I wasn’t going to actually get there. There’s no doubt about that. But there was just something inside me that just kept saying “You’ve go to keep going,” When you want something bad enough, you will go on no matter what happens. Chalky uses his system of what if questions to help him stay persistent. “In my opinion, if it’s the right dream for you or the right goal for you, you will find a way to keep going, and the What If? factor is just a way of helping that effort and determination to go on and on and on, whatever happens.” I know it’s scary to put yourself out there. Rejections and failures get to everyone, but think of the alternative. Think of all those people who had great things to share with the world, but were too scared to overcome their fears. Do you want to let your great ideas go to the grave with you? “I’m sure there’s all kinds of people who’ve invented great things and written great things, and are great entertainers, and on and on… but didn’t actually get their things out in front of the public just because they couldn’t be bothered, they were scared, and were too afraid maybe to try and overcome that fear. As has been said in the past, the only thing to fear very often is fear itself.” Read more shownotes from episode 90 with Chalky White

A recap of episode 89 of the Cracking Creativity podcast. If you liked it, check out the full episode with Victor Yocco where he talks about why your message should change based on your platform, the importance of a support system, and the power of creating an effective website, among many other things.

Victor Yocco went to school and studied psychology and communication. After school he became a researcher for zoos and science centers, but after a while he decided he needed a change. So he asked a friend who worked at Intuitive, a design and research company, if they had any open jobs. Even though he didn't have any experience in design or user research, Victor found that he was a good fit for the job. His background in psychology and research allowed him to make the transition from researching zoos to researching user experience design. The biggest obstacle Victor faced didn't have anything to do with his new job. While everything in his professional life was going well, his battle with alcohol was not. Victor's problem with drinking was interfering with his relationship and productivity. So he sought counseling and made a vow of sobriety. Since his pledge of sobriety, Victor has accomplished many things from articles to writing a book. In this episode, Victor talks about why your message should change based on your platform, the importance of a support system, and the power of creating an effective website, among many other things. Here are three things you can learn from Victor: The Way You Communicate With Your Audience Matters One thing artists often fail to realize is that the way you communicate with your audience can make a huge difference. You wouldn't communicate with people the same in person as you would online. The same applies to how you present information on your website. When you talk to someone in person, you can take your time and gain rapport. But when someone comes to your website, you only have a limited amount of time to capture their attention. "If you take that into the digital world, we know people have such short attention spans, and you are somewhat forced through a screen to project your message immediately... what it is they should be doing and why? So looking at what makes sense for your product... What key messages should you try to get across to people in that three seconds that you have?... You have to draw somebody's attention and you have to show them immediately why they should be there." Something we can do as artists is start filtering what we show people on our websites. Instead of trying to show all of our art to people when they land on our homepage, we should share a curated selection of the type of work we do. To get this point across, Victor points to the example of restaurants with a lot of items on their menus. When you give people a lot of choices at once, you make it hard for them to make a decision. "When you were speaking earlier... and you used the word filtering, I really like that word because it's an important concept in psychology especially in persuasion, which there is such a thing as information overload and even too much of a good thing. An example is when you go to a restaurant and they hand you a menu, and there are eighty five things on there and they all sound good, that it's very hard to make a decision." One of the best things you can do with your website is use ideas you see on other sites. For example, you can provide recommendations for people. This creates a more curated and focused experience for people who are interested in your art. "Provide people with recommendations because they're on your site because they like your work or they trust you and think that your recommendation is going to hold weight. So really filtering is something that helps people process information in a lot better way then just providing 'Oh, here's everything. Do what you will with it." Find a Support System As artists, we believe we need to do everything ourselves. We don't want to rely on anybody else. We want to work as independent creators. But this way of thinking often backfires on us. We become stressed out. We take on too many projects. We can't handle all the things coming at us. That's why it's so important to have a support system. This is especially true if you going through struggles with drugs or alchol like Victor was. "I say to everybody who feels like they might have an issue like drugs or alcohol... that one of the first steps that I found to be helpful was finding support. I don't know how I would have been able to do it." You might think asking for help is a sign of weakness, but it's not. People want to help you through struggles because they care. Asking for support is a strength, not a weakness. "Definitely when I was drinking, I thought asking for support was just an admission of being weak... and what I found was the exact opposite. Through AA, through my counselors, through my family members when I would talk to them about what I was going through. That I found support and I found people who wanted me to succeed." Having a support system was critical to Victor's development and growth. He believes it was one of the most important things he did to change his behaviors. "Asking for and getting support around what you want to accomplish I think is critical. And then if you are trying to change I behavior, I think you need to insert some other behavior." Make Your Website a Positive Experience There are a few simple ways you can make your website better for potential and returning customers. Your website is the best representation of your work online. So it should be as positive of an experience as possible. One of the first ways to do this is by showing people that your website is secure and sells what people are looking for. "People need to believe that using your product is a positive thing that will lead to the outcome they want and again you can address that through telling them 'Buying through my site is safe and secure but also showing them through different ways of displaying information that their information is secure using your site or that the products you have on your site are unique to you, and so that influences the behavioral belief that using your site is a good thing to get the products that you're selling." Another thing you can do to convince people to buy your art is by showing that other people trust you. It's easier for people to buy when they see other people already trust you and like your work. "Then there's also social norms that people need to understand that other people think that using your product or your website is a good thing. Can you display testimonials? Can you have people like or rate your product? So that it shows that other people have been there and used it and that it's a good thing for people too." If you want to convince people to buy from you, the best thing you can do is show them how it will affect their lives. It's great that you love your art and want to sell it, but that doesn't mean other people will automatically want to buy it. You have to show them how your art can make a positive impact on their lives. You have to show them how their life will change when they buy your work. "When it comes to persuasion, one of the biggest things you can do is making sure people understand why what you're doing and why what your product is, is relevant to their life. So that's about how you display information and how you do capture people's attention immediately to say 'How does using my website make my life better? How does making sure that I purchase my art through you make my life better? What are some opportunities that you have to show people this immediately or make the experience so usable that they realize using your product saves them time, saves them effort that they wouldn't want to go a competitor to do that, or they wouldn't want to choose not to buy your product because your site, they don't understand how to use it, therefore they don't see how it's relevant to accomplishing the task they are trying to accomplish?" Read more shownotes from episode 89

A recap of episode 88 of the Cracking Creativity podcast. If you liked it, check out the full episode with Shawn Coss where he talks about why there’s no formula for becoming a popular artist, defining success on your own terms, and why running an art business is such hard work, among many other things.