We had the good fortune of connecting with Robyn Shipton and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Robyn, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The saying, “it takes a village…” applies to the success of any individual, group endeavor, organization, and business. I’ve always been the type of person who is able to manifest the right people in my life at the right time. While my own motivation, passion, and dedication to seeing an idea come to fruition is an important factor in my life as a whole, I will never be so arrogant as to claim that I am self-made because the ‘self’ is never made without the influence of others (for better or for worse). I count my blessings when it comes to the people I’ve been fortunate enough to interact with as family, friends, mentors, co-workers, and of course, my business partner, Eric Patton.
The thing that Eric and I are coming to understand as business partners is that we are free to define what success means to us. And as a nascent production company, we’re still mapping out what ‘success’ is one day and each project at a time (and it will likely grow and evolve over time too!). I would say some of the heavy hitting factors behind what I believe will make us successful in the long run are communication, balance, and levity; they are mutually inclusive.
It’s important for Eric and I, as business partners, to communicate with each other (and with ourselves) about what our needs are, what our desires in life and for the company are, our goals, our fears and weaknesses, and what excites and delights us. We consistently check in with each other about what’s working and what’s not working and how we can make revisions. When discussing what to write for this article Eric stated that, “Success will result when you find people who compensate for your deficits and encourage your strengths.” That’s the kind of dynamic Eric and I have always had and continue to build upon.
The second part of the “success trine” is healthy boundary setting. I think this country in general does not encourage it. Finding a balance can be tricky when you see a price tag on a project and you start to convince yourself that the 80 hour work weeks are worth it. I’m personally striving not to fill that mold (and perhaps that’s a privilege I’ve been afforded that others are not). I still work hard, but I’m more likely to feel satisfied with life knowing I am taking time for self care. I’m not exhausting or burning myself out for some moving target of an ambiguous idea of success that a lot of other people are killing themselves to reach. Success to me looks like showing up for myself so that I can show up for my business partner, for our projects, for my clients, and for every single person in the village who supports me on this journey.
Lastly, humor has taken us this far already. Not taking ourselves too seriously and having fun with a lot of jokes and laughter is the wind beneath our sails that will carry us farther still.
We have a couple of sayings that came from inside jokes from our mutual group of friends and ex-coworkers (part of the village). These sayings were actually born out of the same wine and whiskey Wednesday gatherings as our company’s namesake. The first quote is, “It’s not great, but it’s not wrong!” and the second is, “You eat the Kung Pao you get, not the Kung Pao you want!”. To me, the former means, not being too precious with everything you do. Sometimes you’re not always going to get it right or get it perfect. But that doesn’t mean it’s not important, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it out or try again, and it doesn’t mean it’s a failure if it doesn’t come out the way you envisioned. The latter is another way of saying, “you’re dealt the hands you’re dealt and it’s up to you to make the most of it”. Sometimes life gives you lemons and you make lemonade. Sometimes life gives you shit and you can still make lemonade. Either way, don’t waste all your energy and time complaining, just get after it and make something.
These three factors keep me grounded to the path I’m on. It’s easy to get cold feet when you’re forging a new route through unfamiliar territory. It’s also easy for your head to float above the clouds and get carried away with an unrealistic dream. As I take each next step forward, I give myself space to gather my courage (sometimes after a good cry), smell the roses, appreciate the incredible people I encounter along the way, and recognize success when we reach it for the way we’ve decided it will look and feel like. “Partnership can look like freedom, taste like heaven, and feel like fireworks.” (Chani Nicholas). Success requests that we are radically honest about the needs of everyone involved and the permission to be our authentic selves (with a squosh of snark) in every present and future form.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
It’s hard to know this early on in my career what sets me apart from others. What makes people unique in their art or craft, professional approach, and perspective is something that this shaped over time through trial and error and exposure to a wide variety of projects and collaborative partners. I’m excited to see what those experiences will bring for me personally and professionally. In the last year since starting Wine & Whiskey Productions, I’ve already gotten to work on a diverse list of projects with people in Colorado, across the country, and even internationally. I’m proud of the work Eric and I have done so far on our in-house projects and am looking forward to stepping through the doors that will open for us in the future.
It really hasn’t been easy. I lost my job in the middle of the pandemic and started a production company with very little business acumen and a whole lot of insecurity about whether I could actually support myself doing what I love. Pile on the anxieties of being my own boss, managing a small team, finding balance of self care while coping with chronic back and nerve pain, and figuring out how to function with a neurodivergent brain in a world made for neurotypical brains… voila! You have yourself a recipe for the origin story of a creative entrepreneur.
These hurdles don’t make me any more or less unique than the next person who has experienced them. But I’m fortunate to have an incredible support network of friends, family, a fairy godmother of a therapist, and a unicorn of a physical therapist (no really, I think they have magical powers of healing and wisdom). For anyone who has been through a similar journey, you know it requires patience for the process, compassion for yourself, naming your fears, standing your ground, and releasing pent up energy be it through tears or a good ol’ belly laugh -often times both. Through all of that, I’ve discovered that my professional journey is also a spiritual adventure; they go hand in hand. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In my humble opinion, showing my friends the “best time ever” in CO expands beyond the city limits. Spending time near Colorado’s most important and finite resource of water is a must. I’d take them kayaking around Chatfield or maybe up to the mountains and hike along a river. We’d spend maybe a day (two at the most) b-bopping around Denver, stopping by Mermaid’s Bakery for their delicious cupcakes, Goldmine Vintage, Alchemy Ritual Goods, House of Pod (so they can see where the magic happens), Confluence Park, and bar crawl a bit (Avanti, Pony Up, Brass Tax to name a few). At some point in the week, we’d go to Red Rocks for a show or a movie. Unless they’re a vegetarian, we’d also be enjoying a happy hour at Gabriel’s and then the greasy delightfulness of Bud’s Bar in Sedalia (no fries dammit!). Once the excitement has been spent, the rest of the visit would entail lazing around my back deck in the country taking in the sounds of the hummingbirds and the coyotes, the multicolored sunsets over Devil’s Head, and the occasional whiff of fresh cow pie.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
While there are a myriad of names deserving of recognition, the two people who most notably require a special shout out are my OG village members, my mother and sister. Even as our fierce maelstrom of emotions fluctuate and bounce off of each other, those two women are a continual source of inspiration and empowerment. They keep things passionate, silly, and intellectual. They encourage me to dream big, to love and accept myself, and to appreciate my weird 45 degree angle. They are the foundations of everything I am, have ever been, and will ever be. Any human who can find people who see them in their most raw form and still call them a perfect gem is blessed with wealth and fortune in a way no bank account can ever quantify. And I can’t think of anyone more beautiful and precious in this world than those two super rad ladies.
Lastly, my dear friend, Marshall Rosales, who nominated me for this article (forcing me to write about things that aren’t actually that easy to write about) and took some stellar photos in a sweaty little recording studio. Thank you for seeing me and hearing me and for being such a great example of excellence.
Website: https://www.wineandwhiskeyproductions.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robyn-shipton-a0b60377/
Other: Links to our projects: Dreamstalk Podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/2dnYHnp4bIqtWAIWLDOgNJ?si=pKbcUXjTS_qNUyYsFfDnrQ&dl_branch=1 @dreamstalk_podcast The Playlist Challenge https://theplaylistchallenge.com/ @theplaylistchallenge Water Is For Fighting https://www.wineandwhiskeyproductions.com/projects/waterisforfighting @waterisforfighting
Image Credits
Marshall Rosales