The Weekly Bev - 6th Edition

🤝 Find Your Creative Outlet

The vlog has always been, and will always be, my creative outlet. It is my chance to tell stories the way that I want to, and that level of expressive freedom for story is something I have chased since I made my first video. If I had to sum up how that feels with a picture, I’d go with this one:

I started taking filmmaking seriously when I was 17. When I think back to how I felt then, I remember I was in a huge rush to turn filmmaking into my job. A short nine years later, and I’ve figured out how to do just that: I get to work with awesome brands, I get to travel to incredible places, and I get paid to make videos. Now, being on the other side of those rushed ambitions that I felt when I was 17, I realize my focus was a bit off. If I could give my 17-year-old self some advice, I’d remind him to focus on loving the process. I’ve learned what’s most important is just having fun with it…

When I first moved to LA in June of 2020, I was still making YouTube videos. They were mostly vlogs made for my own enjoyment and a way to fill the time when I wasn’t busy (which was often when I first moved). I got a ton of energy and creative fulfillment out of making those videos, but as my client work picked up, I slowly backed away from YouTube to focus on the paid work. Fast forward to September of 2021, and I felt stuck in my freelance career. Momentum was slow, and I was not building towards anything. I needed a North Star. Mallory then suggested I should go back to making my own videos, but this time make them for TikTok. I had some initial resistance to the idea, but I knew that a change in my life was needed. A mere three days later I uploaded vlog 001 and began an ironclad commitment to myself to pursue my creative ambitions every single day. For over 900 days now, the vlog has been a constantly evolving creative outlet for me. I cannot imagine what I would be doing had I not taken Mallory’s advice and leaned back into creating for myself again.

I promise: there is a point I am trying to make here! Client work is obviously great. It was, and still is, a dream of mine to get paid to make videos. It is a milestone in my career. But as a creator it’s imperative to always have a creative outlet that no one can touch. So, find your creative outlet, exemplify work that is unabashedly you, and do not let anyone or anything get in the way of that. This will almost certainly lead you to a lot of incredible paid work, but you have to remember your creative outlet. Never let the outlet get pushed too far to the side. Keep it up for the love of the game, and you will be rewarded, I promise.

Also, if you’re lucky enough to have someone like Mallory in your life, listen to them! :)

❓️ Mystery Links

Eins, zwei, drei, vier

🏃 Long Runs

So…you may have noticed…I’ve been running a bit more and a bit longer recently (bit of a flex). I’ve been loving it! I’ve always ran (watch vlog 900 to see me run my old high school route), but something about longer distance has been calling my name recently.

I’ve been inspired by a handful of my friends who run a lot longer distances than I traditionally have. The increase in mileage hasn’t come without growing pains, my right foot has been troublesome, but overall it just makes me feel great. Even without a training goal in mind, I find doing things like running, or the ice bath, or the fancy gym just make me feel good. I don’t mean to get super Goggins on you, but I think we all intuitively know that doing something hard makes the rest of our day easier. I’m lucky to have a lot of inspiring people around me in this workout realm, but I also rely a lot on content! Easy to do when there’s incredible stuff out there…shout out to Sam and the Milione brothers.

I know a lot of you are into fitness generally and running specifically, so I want to wrap up with a question for you: so far, I’ve focused on appreciating the process, but I may add a training goal to my plate…work up to the double digits, crush a half marathon, and ultimately crush my first full marathon later this year. How would you go about scaling mileage? Reply to this email and let me know! I’m dying to hear!

🎉 Day 1,000

Day 1,000 is right around the corner, and I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve been dropping hints in the vlog about what this magical day will consist of. In vlog 919, I toured what I thought was likely to be the location for the day, but I was disappointed by the size of the backyard….

Now ask yourself, what could I possibly need a larger backyard for? Stay tuned to The Weekly Bev for all things 1,000 😁