by Marty Coleman | May 14, 2014 | Anthony J. D'angelo, Launching a Business - 2014 |
I am passionate about today being day #4 of my ‘Launching a Business’ series!
So Close I Can Touch It
When I graduated with my Masters in Fine Art from San Jose State University in 1984 I went about applying for college level teaching jobs. I landed a job right off the bat as a part-time, or adjunct, instructor at Cabrillo College in the town of Aptos on the Monterey Bay of California. That seemed like a good start. I landed other part-time teaching gigs shortly thereafter at Evergreen College and Mission College in the San Jose area. I was on my way, a full time job couldn’t be far off, right?
So Far Off I Can’t
It was far off. It was so far off that 8 years, hundreds and hundreds of applications, many interviews and more than a few finalist positions later I gave up. I switched focus, retrained myself on computers during the 93-94 year instead of applying for teaching jobs. I started applying for computer graphic jobs instead, focusing on getting something in the educational computer game market. It worked and by May of 94 we had moved to Tulsa and I had started a new job creating educational CDroms for children. It was the best job of my life.
Giving Up
I made the decision to give up because I saw that my persistence and passion was becoming stubbornness and ignorance. What I wanted may still have happened, who knows, but in my circumstances of having a family and 3 small children, I could not afford to be stubborn and ignorant any longer. I made the switch and never regretted it.
Self-Awareness
The same need to be self-aware is true when you have your own business. You want to be persistent and passionate. And some may call your persistence stubbornness before you do, and call your passion ignorance before you do. You might succeed in spite of having others say you have gone over the edge in those categories. You don’t need to bow to their opinion. But you should consider it. You should be willing to hear them out, see if they have any valid reasons why they think what they do. Especially consider their opinion if you believe they understand you and always have been on your side.
Honesty
Most importantly though you need to honest with yourself. No matter what anyone else says, you have to be self-aware enough, egoless enough, humble enough, strong enough, to face reality. If you face reality, you can move forward, if you don’t, very likely disappointment or even ruin will follow. You don’t want that.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Anthony J. D’angelo, American author
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by Marty Coleman | May 13, 2014 | Japanese Proverbs, Launching a Business - 2014 |
I got distracted (as entrepreneurs tend to do) and didn’t finish my ‘Launching a Business’ series I started a few weeks ago. Here is #3.
Being the Boss
My wife works for a big company, she is not an entrepreneur. But when she talks about her legacy it’s not often about her actual work, it’s about the team she leads and how important it is that she lead it well so those under her continue to be employed and get paychecks. That is what she really cares about. These people work for her, but she works hard for them as well.
Being the Entrepreneur
It is even more the case when you are an entrepreneur. You might hire 1 or 2 people to start. And then you understand very quickly that someone’s livelihood depends on you. The man works for you and you work even harder for the man.
Here is the whole series thus far.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote is a Japanese Proverb
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by Marty Coleman | May 7, 2014 | Illustrated Short Stories |
Your Turn
I liked doing my ‘Unnamed Series’ so much last week that I decided to try a variation on it. This time I am showing a drawing from my sketchbook. It has no title.
What I want you to do is tell me the story you imagine, then post the story in the comments. The only limit is the story must be five sentences or less. I will write my story based on the inspiration from your stories. I will then post the stories with this drawing in a blog post later this week and we can vote on our favorite story.
Ready to give it a try? GO.
Drawing by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | May 5, 2014 | Being Alone - 2014, Blaise Pascal, Frederic Dard, Julien De Valckenaere, Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther |
Hello Napkin Kin! Have you been wondering all weekend what the theme of last week’s ‘Unnamed Series’ is? Well, wait no longer, here is the answer: Being Alone
I started it because a dear friend of mine who is going through a divorce is now living on her own in a condo. She is learning how to be alone for the first time in many years. It’s hard enough to be alone when things are going right, but when your world has imploded and all seems lost, being alone can be devastating. These drawing and quotes were a result of my exploration of the idea of ‘being alone’.
Here they are from first to last, with the quotes written in.
Being Alone #1 – from the series formerly known as ‘Unnamed’
Being Alone #2 – from the series formerly known as ‘Unnamed’
Being Alone #3 – from the series formerly known as ‘Unnamed’
Being Alone #4 – from the series formerly known as ‘Unnamed’
Being Alone #5 – from the series formerly known as ‘Unnamed’
So, now that you know, what do you think? Do the drawings make sense now? Do the quotes fit the drawings? Come on, let me know. I want to do another series like this, it was a lot of fun and there was more than average interaction with the Napkin Kin and your feedback will help make the next series even better.
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Drawings by Marty Coleman
Quotes by the following:
#1 – Frederic Dard, 1921-2000, French author
#2 – Julien De Valckenaere, 1898-1958, Dutch writer
#3 – Martin Luther, 1483-1546, German monk, religious rabble rouser
#4 – Marilyn Monroe, 1926-1962, American actress
#5 – Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662, French mathematician and philosopher
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by Marty Coleman | May 2, 2014 | The Unnamed Series - 2014 |
Here is my final drawing in the ‘Unnamed Series’. The prior 4 images are below it. See if all 5 give you an idea as to the theme I am trying to illustrate and post your idea in the comments. Next week I will repost them all with quotes included and the series title. But before then, see if you can guess!
The Unnamed Series #5
The Unnamed Series #4
The Unnamed Series #3
The Unnamed Series #2
The Unnamed Series #1
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by Marty Coleman | May 1, 2014 | The Unnamed Series - 2014 |
Here is another installment in my experiment to see if my Napkin Kin can figure out the series theme for the week from just seeing the drawings – no quotes, no commentary, no series title.
This is #4. 1-3 are below it. What do these drawings have in common, anything you can discern? What do you think the theme of the series is?
The Unnamed Series #4
The Unnamed Series #3
The Unnamed Series #2
The Unnamed Series #1
I will do one more and then next week I will post them all again with the quotes and series title included.
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Drawings by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Apr 29, 2014 | The Unnamed Series - 2014 |
As most of you know by now, I am doing an ‘Unnamed Series’. I am only showing you the drawing, not the series theme nor the individual quotes for each napkin. I am doing it as an experiment to see if anyone can figure out what my series theme is. I will post these again all at once next week with the theme and quotes included. All three images I have drawn so far are in this post so you can see them all easily and see if a pattern emerges. Let me know in the comments what your guess is!
Unnamed Series #3
The Unnamed Series #2
The Unnamed Series #1
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Drawings by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Apr 28, 2014 | The Unnamed Series - 2014 |
Here is #2 in my experiment. I am not telling the theme nor am I writing in the quotes until I am done with all 4 or 5 of them. I would like you, my Napkin Kin, to guess what you think the theme is. I don’t expect you to guess the quote, but you might start to get a feel for the series theme as the drawings add up. Give it a try, what are your thoughts?
Unnamed Series #2
The Unnamed Series #1
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Drawings by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Apr 25, 2014 | The Unnamed Series - 2014 |
Something New
I am going to try something new today. I decided upon my series theme this morning and started drawing the image before I wrote the quote on the napkin. I thought it might be fun to see if you, my Napkin Kin, can guess what my series theme is. I don’t expect a guess on the quote, just the theme.
Here is the drawing without the quote.
Can You Guess?
Put your guess as to the series theme in the comments. Share it on FB or Twitter, see if your friends or family have a guess as well. I will post the guesses and any winners, early next week.
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Drawing by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Apr 22, 2014 | I Draw in Church, Illustrated Short Stories, Judgment - 2013 |
Practicing at a Church I Usually Don’t Go To – A Short Short Poem
She is walking out of church with very long legs and very short shorts.
I am behind her, noticing, with a remnant, a wafting of judgment,
That I discard and think instead,
You are wonderful, as are your friends, and I love you.
The End
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Drawing and Poem by Marty Coleman
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