Enjoy this 1169-word “Micro-Interview” with author, speaker, and podcast host, Jay Acunzo.
Thanks, Jay.
Let’s get started.
"Do you have a work routine?”
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I believe creative work means acting like an explorer, not an expert. So I need an "idea operating system" to keep everything together in a system.
First, I need to know what I'm exploring. This means clarity of focus comes first. I know my mission broadly (help you make what matters to your career, company, and community) and the various topics I explore that emerge underneath that: storytelling, resonance, creativity, content.
Then I go through periods of holding up a question or frustration about these things in the world and trying to explore that. For instance, why do we treat storytelling like a tactic, like it's a checklist or process? Why is the emphasis on story as an external thing? What about YOU, the storyteller -- doesn't that matter more than ever in the age of AI and infinite content?
From there, I move from ideas to execution. The first stop is my membership program, the Creator Kitchen, where I post a video tutorial talking about this new idea, then showing how the concept shows up in my creative process (a kind of over-my-shoulder, create-with-me post). If I don't feel the idea is worth pursuing further, I move to the next idea. But if I feel I have more to say on the subject, I'll write it out as a longer-form newsletter (written from my perspective every other Friday). If I have more questions than things to say, it becomes an episode of Unthinkable (stories from others' perspectives, every other Monday).
Then I save the best writing and episodes as either Strongest Ideas or Strongest Stories, using those to develop named concepts, visual frameworks, or even entire methodologies -- all of which inform my revenue-generating products: masterclasses and other members-only initiatives, paid keynotes, books, or just templates and other docs to support my 1:1 coaching or brand consulting clients.
"What do you wish you'd known about your work when you first started?”
Early on, working for companies like Google and HubSpot, I was awful at selling my ideas, because it felt like I was pushing. I was convincing. It was me versus you, my new idea versus your current approach. This set me up for lots of frustration and failure.
What I've learned since is that others need to feel seen for something to resonate -- in everything they experience, yes, but also specifically in your pitch or even just casual mention of an idea.
So rather than sell my ideas, today, I sell why my ideas should exist. To do that, I use a set structure to avoid others feeling they're at an information disadvantage and to bring them along the same journey I went on in my own mind, in brief. I start with (A) acknowledging the shared goal we have, (B) acknowledging that we are already trying to achieve that goal today, (C) pointing out a few problems I've noticed with that approach, before (D) suggesting we consider a change. Then I share (E) an illustrative story from elsewhere so they can see what it looks like when successful (my work or others', pulled from my newsletter and my show, respectively), before sharing (F) a proposed approach for how we or you adopt this change.
It may feel like a lot of work to communicate this way, but it's a lot less frustrating than constantly having others reject or ignore your ideas. (As a bonus, this is the exact structure of a bookable, inspiring, memorable keynote speech!)
“What did your biggest professional failure teach you?”
I used to think success was working for the most famous brands I could get into: ESPN, Google, and HubSpot. But I disliked those jobs immensely, because I realize what success actually means TO ME: Success means I was in control of how I used as close to 100% of my time as possible.
That's it. Simple, but profound once I realized it. Control means I need jobs that feel uncertain, because control and certainty are inversely proportional. Generally speaking (this moment in the economy is an exception), massive brands are built for certainty. Don't get fired. Don't miss targets. Keep the status quo going. You know your paycheck arrives when it does, exactly what your upward mobility looks like, and so forth. Big brands are for people who value certainty. Almost nobody, including execs, really control their time. You're part of a system that swallows you up and influences you.
But if you value total control, as I do, that means you're always starting things, tinkering, and pivoting. You've got very little certainty, and you start to trade off control for some greater certainty as you figure out repeatable systems or hire folks around you, but if you value control, you need to be independent.
This is MY version of success. MY definition. This is not THE definition. It's horrifying that anyone could see my calendar and simply drop time on it. Because success to me means I controlled 100% of how I spent my time.
“Has anything helped you shorten your craft's learning curve?”
Have a practice. It's bizarre to me how few creative people, or people who say they want to create content (or DO create content) professionally have an actual practice. A practice is something you publish (A) on a recurring schedule, that (B) you completely control, where (C) the metrics don't matter because (D) the goal is to persist. The purpose is to log one rep, reflect, reinvent, and get to the next rep. Over and over and over.
Find 1 morning, evening, weekend hour -- or, if you have kids like me where those things no longer exist for work purposes -- take a lunch break, a coffee break, and put it on your calendar. Creating is a meeting. "Sorry, can't meet you then. I have something I can't move." Have a practice. Keep it going. It will transform you.
“Do you have a book recommendation?”
“Out on the Wire” by Jessica Abel.
“Any parting piece of advice?”
Bowie once said, "Never play to the gallery." That's where we do our worst work. The more you focus on figuring out what kinds of content the audience wants, the more you become the McDonald's of your space. If that's what you want, congrats, that's never been easier. But if you want to create a kind of work that stirs hearts and engages minds, if you want to move others with what you make because you felt moved while making it, you have to abide by a single north star all the most successful artists and makers keep in their sights:
Create the things you wish existed.
