We asked some folks we admire to share one piece of conventional advice they disagree with.

Sam Minneti | Copywriter, Art Director & Partner at Design Rangers

There’s a sort of adage in the creative industry that you have to “pay your dues.” That could mean a number of things—burning the candle at both ends, taking on clients that don’t appreciate you or don’t pay you what you’re worth, working for a creative director that yells at and demeans you, or never taking a vacation. I think we adopted this spirit of masochism from the archetype of the “starving artist.” As if suffering for our art is somehow a badge of honor. But romanticizing suffering as the gateway to true creativity is total crap. Working in this industry is a privilege. It’s a gift and an honor to be able to take a client’s vision and create a story that touches hearts and minds through design and copywriting. It is also not mandatory to make a living in this industry by dishonoring your self-worth and your own boundaries, either. You are precisely in charge of how others treat you, be it your clients, your creative director, or yourself. We are not suffering in the shadows of our immense burden of creativity—because creativity is not a burden, it’s a blessing. And I believe it’s time our industry start treating it as such. Read more>>

André van Hall | Professional Speaker

How many times have you heard that if you work hard, you will be rewarded? Yes, there is no question that hard work, yields results, but, stop and consider, are you getting the results YOU WANT? My entire career as a Hospitality worker, I have been surrounded by some of the most hard working, dedicated employees you could ever wish for. but guess what….I presided over numerous retirement parties in which a dedicated employee that has worked for us for 25 plus years was presented with their pension plan (yes, I am THAT old) or 401K savings, and very rarely were those checks or statements for more than $10,000! For them, in most cases, it represented about a half year of income, hardly enough to retire on….and Social Security checks, are most certainly not going to give them a comfortable retirement. So yes, I do believe in hard work, but more importantly, in SMART work! By this I mean….show up every day, and do your work, and you will get incremental increases, benefits and yes….layoffs as business dictates. Read more>>

Scott Morrison | Videographer, Video Editor & Business Owner

“If you do what you love, you never work a day in your life.” This just isn’t true, but “doing what you love” does make your work easier and more rewarding. 🙂. Read more>>

Danny McGee | Adventure Photographer & Filmmaker

The typical advice that I got and almost everyone else gets is to “Go to college and then you’ll be successful”. That advice is ingrained into us since the time we’re little kids. Successful and “smart” people go to college. Less successful people don’t. I don’t know why this is so deeply pounded into our heads from such an early age, but in my experience it could’t be further from the truth. There are SO man incredible thins you can do without a college degree. Trades, starting your own business, doing what I do. But usually and definitely in my case when I told everyone I was dropping out of college I was looked down upon. Everyone said I was really screwing up but in the back of my mind I knew I wasn’t. College isn’t for everyone, and honestly some of the most successful people I know never went. Read more>>