“Things were created to be used. The reason why the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used.” ~ Disputed, yet amazing quote.

I think we all have this underlying sense that if we are not buying something or being useful to someone, we have less value. That is at the crux of this whole Feather thing. Everyone has value and something to offer. People should be embraced for their uniqueness and included, not just exploited for what they can buy or do for us. The people in our lives have a value we often miss because we’re working too hard to win. We have to tell the truth. The truth is, we need each other.

I live every day in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, WordPress, Google Adwords and similar applications creating, mining and planning. I am currently obsessed with Figma and Active Campaign and love learning new tools and skills. My passion is making things better. The challenge is that making things better means change.

I’m a creative and youthful optimist trapped in a body that everyone keeps reminding me is getting older. The upside to years of experience (if you are paying attention) is that you learn… a lot. You learn what works and what doesn’t. You experience what others get right and what they get wrong. You experience mistakes with big “aha” moments you can never forget.

At this point, I am way past the 10,000 hour mark for mastery and there is no way to show anyone what over thirty years in this business is like. They don’t see the hours of frustration and time invested. They say, “How long will that take, five minutes?” or “I can’t get that on Fivvr.” There was no way to make this site encompass all the knowledge, ads, sites, proposals, pitches, fights, PowerPoints, meetings, deadlines and all-nighters. I opted for the wisdom that came with experience and had a little fun instead here.

With time, experience gets worked in as instinct, intuition and know-how. “Those experiences granted you new skills and together those things created your true and inherit value…”, said a good friend of mine. I miss you very much, Andy.

Everyone is marketing something today. The real value in me isn’t in what I do, it’s in who I am. It’s the one thing no one else has. I think that is true for all of us. Only a more inclusive and light hearted vision is going to change things. We need this more than ever today.