The Chase Jarvis Live Show

A short while ago I had the great pleasure of taking the stage at the Seattle Interactive Conference with my dear friend and creative superstar Cal McAllister (Founder, Wexley School for Girls + Paper Crane Factory) for a very pointed conversation on inspiration, unlocking your best creative work, and how the eff to stand out in today’s noisy, crowded market. Hint: it’s not what you think.   IMHO this conversation oozes with value specifically because both Cal and I are: a) lifelong professional creators who care deeply about making this easier for people who want to be more creative; b) we both took very non-traditional paths to find our respective successes - so that path YOU’RE on won’t seem all that strange; and c) are both are transparent AF about exactly how we’d approach it today if we were doing it all over again… Oh, and the audience / Q&A is always a favorite of mine at any public appearance because so often we’re all struggling with the same things.   A sample of other topics we cover….  Why “

After more than a decade covering conflict, photographer and filmmaker Ami Vitale couldn’t help but notice that the less sensational—but equally true—stories were often not getting told: the wedding happening around the corner from the revolution, triumphs amidst seemingly endless devastation. As a result, she re-committed herself to seeking out the stories within and around "the story". Ami is a photographer with National Geographic magazine, yet this episode of the podcast isn't expressly about photography. It's about human connection, how we listen to our inner compass and surface work that helps us find our true direction in life. In this episode: The stories we find in the headlines are only one view of the world. Yet if we just lift our head and gain a new perspective, we might see a completely different and untold story. Patience, hard work, and commitment open doors and opportunities. Real relationships with people or places takes time to build but with it comes powerful stories. What we tell ourselv

Let’s face it, despite being more digitally connected than ever before, we’re more isolated and lonely. The cure for this loneliness epidemic? Human connection. That’s why I am excited to have entrepreneur, best-selling author, and researcher, Dan Schawbel on the show. Throughout his career, he’s interviewed over 2,000 people from celebrities to CEOs to politicians and even two astronauts on the future of learning and working. He’s synthesized these conversations into tactical insights on how to make technology work for us (not control us) and foster a more socially connected, productive, and fulfilled career and life.  In this episode: There’s no such thing as an overnight success. Dan shares his personal stories of rejection and failure with persistence and stamina. The dark side of remote working. While we glorify the flexibility and comfort from working outside the office, it also can contribute to isolation. Dan shares some strategies to combat this. We spend 1/3 of our lives working. Yet, so little of

Harley Finkelstein bounced from DJ gigs to a t-shirt business to law school before joining a small internet startup in 2009 dedicated to helping creators and entrepreneurs make money doing what they loved.  Today, he's the Chief Operating Officer of that same “startup" called Shopify now serving more than 600,000 businesses - and worth more than $15 billion.  In this episode we cover a lot of ground - from his early gigs, through struggle, failure, rejection and rebirth…and now thriving. I’ve had the good fortune to know Harley for nearly a decade now and his personal journey is both an inspiration and a play book of sorts for anyone who wants to tap into their life’s work - and what to do when you catch the ride of your dreams. You’ll also be inspired to know that: Building and creating may feel like a lonely process, but you're not alone. Harley shares his time tested strategies to get through the tough times and find inspiration to keep going. It’s an exciting time for creators. No longer do you need to g

There's some crazy stat -- 80% of people fail to achieve their New Years resolutions. Yet here we are, back to reflecting on how the past year has gone and what we'd like to do different.  Honestly, I love this time of year. Reflection & pausing is a way to have stamina. It's a necessary part of learning from our past. After all, you can only connect the dots looking backwards. If we never lift our head, it’s easy to miss the signals that we might need to course correct. But change is hard. That's why I'm a firm believer in not just focusing on the goal, but the behaviors you will need to do or change to get there.  If you've been following me for awhile, you've heard me talk before about how I track 10 habits every day. In this episode, I take a deeper dive into those habits, and how I take stock in what went well, what didn't go so well, and what I need to change to achieve my new goals in 2018. In this episode: I share a series of simple questions I ask myself as I look back, including the obvious w

If you’re already a professional creator, then you know that you had to hear a lot of “no” for every “yes”. If you’re not yet a pro, or perhaps more importantly if you are a pro whose enjoyed a taste of success, then hear this: Get Used To Hearing “No”. Quite honestly, understanding this will be some of the best medicine you'll ever take - because once you get it...you GET it, and it will be with you forever.  The powerful result of taking this medicine TODAY is that the word NO will change from bumming you out to inspiring you and driving your actions to get to the next YES.  As such, enjoy this tasty medicine ;) This week's episode is a short and sweet reminder: Let “no” serve as a motivator. Let “no” keep out the other people who don’t want it as bad as you do. Let “no” remind you that this job isn’t for everyone, especially the uncommitted. Let “no” turn you into a better artist. If you're not hearing “no”, you’re not really getting your work out there enough, pushing what’s possible, pushing yourself.

With so much information, and gadgets and access and hustle and email and …and.. aren’t you overloaded at work!? It’s understandable and it’s a real problem. If this describes you or someone you love…you’ll LOVE this episode of the show.   Enter: Jason Fried.  He’s the brilliant NYT best-selling author and co-founder of the software firm, Basecamp.  Since long before meeting Jason in person he’s always caught my eye as perhaps THE outspoken thinker / critic of the current status of work, our unhealthy habits around our jobs, and our addictions to busy-making. Whether it’s the toxic hustle, the grow-at-all-cost mentality, or the idea of working your fingers to the bone…Jason helps us all see why 99% of this approach is rubbish. And within 3 minutes of meeting him / listening to this episode, I’m banking you’ll be in agreement with him. The one refreshing difference with Jason?  He also gives us a roadmap to fix what we’ve broken. In this episode we talk about is latest book (co-authored with previous cjLIVE po

Stop me if any of this sounds familiar: You’re lurking a peer’s social media account, and what started as a cursory browse quickly takes a detour down the rabbit hole of self-doubt and envy: “S/he is so much better at X or Y than I am – I’ll never catch up! Look at his/her amazing X or Y and s/he’s always hanging with X or Y celebrity and nobody even knows who I am – ugh, I should just quit and do something else, I’m just not cut out for this” – and so forth. If the above scenario rings painfully true for you, it’s because you’ve felt the power of something embedded deep in the semi-conscious, caveman part of our brains: a powerful engine for comparison – one that works with ruthless efficiency. Occasionally we have the wherewithal to AVOID that ruthless voice in our heads that doesn’t serve us – and it’s common knowledge that we’re doing ourselves a favor when we do so.  But – at the risk of taking an unpopular stance here, I believe that comparative thinking can be — in fact, MUST be — a part of any creativ

Let’s face it. We all have our inner journeys and the compulsion to improve, yet how can we both be growing and improving without feeling less than or inadequate?  It’s a trap. ENTER: Danielle LaPorte - a best-selling author (White Hot Truth, The Fire Starter Sessions, and The Desire Map), poet, former think tank executive and business strategist - and she’s on the podcast today to help us, among other things, to reconcile these competing principles. As one of Oprah Winfrey’s “Super Soul 100 Leaders”, Danielle is a sage at helping us answer life’s biggest questions for ourselves. And, while taking care of one’s self + staying true to who we are seem both obvious and something that should be easy…but why - if you’re at all like me- is doing both waaay harder than it should be.  Again, Danielle to the rescue in this amazing episode of the show, served up nicely for you ;)  Also in today's episode, Danielle and I discuss: SELF LOVE.  How to love yourself now, even though you are not where you want to be. Moder

I’m a huge believer that so much of ‘THE GAME’ is mental. Mindset is everything. I’ve shared my thoughts before on this podcast, on my youtube channel, and my blog about one of the most powerful tools in my toolbox to harness positivity in a seemingly tough situation: a daily gratitude practice. Many of you have asked me what that is, how I do it, and how you can start. As we head into Thanksgiving here in the states, I wanted to dig a little bit deeper and actually walk you through my practice. You can listen in if your curious, or use it to jump start your own. If you’d like to fast forward directly to the guided practice, skip to about 6 minutes in the episode. Enjoy!

Legend alert!!! Seth Godin is a force of nature and a shaman to so many creatives and entrepreneurs. He has taught and inspired millions of entrepreneurs, marketers, leaders, and fans from all walks of life, via his blog, online courses, lectures, and his 18 (yes, count them - 18!) bestselling books. If you’ve been following his work, you’ll know he’s one most brilliant marketing minds of our time. Seth’s latest book, This Is Marketing, helps reframe how thinking small is the new big! More precisely how we will find success if we at first make our products - whatever they are — for the smallest viable audience.  Seth believes your most generous and insightful work needs this help - YOUR HELP - finding the people it’s meant to serve.... If there has been a guest that can speak directly to that little voice in your head - and help you get this marketing stuff RIGHT - it’s Seth. Pure sage. And purely actionable.   In this episode: The riskiest thing you can do it make average stuff for average people and pitch

AJ Jacobs is a multiple NYT bestselling author, a journalist, a lecturer as well as a warm and hilarious human soul.  He’s on this weeks podcast and is…SO GOOD. In this show we learn why AJ intentionally puts himself in the most extraordinary circumstances ... like when he strove to be “the world’s healthiest man” going from Dad bod to ultimate health (Book = Drop Dead Healthy). Or when he lived according to the bible for a year, beard, goats and all... (Book = The Year of Living Biblically). In this episode we have a blast, learn and laugh a lot, and discuss AJ’s new book Thanks a Thousand, which chronicles his journey of gratitude in the same lovable - but brilliantly insightful - way.  AJ has more tools in his toolbelt for being happy, healthy and productive than nearly anyone I’ve met. And because he’s experimented so deeply with each of these tools, he knows just when to put them to good use. He’s the rare blend of incredibly relatable and wildly successful at the same time. If you know his work already

David Bach is a legend in the personal finance space — a master at helping creators and entrepreneurs make -and keep- more of the money we earn. He’s one of America’s best known financial gurus, having put nine consecutive books on the NYT best sellers list.  In short, when David Bach talks - and you’re a creator who wants to make money - you listen.  We had David in the CL studios not long ago to share wisdom from his epic class Start Late, Finish Rich.  Some of this material was so fundamental for creators making a living and a life doing what they love that I felt was crucial to get it seen by as many people in our community as possible.  So much so that in addition to the class on CL, I wanted to share it here on the podcast, for free.  So…in this episode, David covers so many things, among them the mindset around how to best get paid…AND how to pay yourself first (as in pre-tax and pre-debt collectors).  If this sounds curious already - it’s a must listen.  Think you got it all sorted and don’t need fina

Julien Smith is a long-time friend and familiar face on the podcast. I first brought him on in 2013 to talk about why not caring about what others think is a useful skill to have as a creator in any field (translation: he penned a LEGENDARY blog post called 'the subtle art of not giving a f*$k' - which went crazy viral and later inspired a best selling book by Mark Manson...).  And now Julien is BAAACK…this time talking about both his best selling books (The Flinch, and Trust Agents) and…drumroll please... his latest startup venture called Breather - an amazing service the provides on-demand meeting and studio space all across North America, which has raised more than $100M to date.  When I need recording studios for the podcast on short notice in LA or NYC?  I use Breather.  A quick headshot where you don’t want to rent a photo studio for $3000.  Yep, Breather again.  $150 bucks.  You get the picture. But more than anything,  this episode is simply rich with a dose of reality that all of us creators and entr

Scott Belsky is an entrepreneur, author, and early investor in companies like Pinterest, Uber, and Periscope, and others. He also co-founded Behance in 2006, sold it to Adobe in 2012 and recently became Adobe’s Chief Product Officer.  But more than his list of accomplishments, Scott is a passionate advocate for creativity. He has that rare perspective of the world-class artist and entrepreneur with the ability to communicate VERY clearly about the ups, the downs of the messy middle. ... And that just so happens to be the title of his new bestselling book which just dropped last week. In this episode of the podcast, we go deep into that book, The Messy Middle:  finding your way through the most crucial part of any bold venture. It doesn’t take long to realize that as creators we love to talk about the thrilling start of something new, and our victorious - or fiery - end! Yet, what we need to be talking about (and nobody is…) is the crazy ups and downs that are inevitable in anything worth doing.  The MIDDLE i

Michael Hebb is an artist, activist, restaurateur, long time friend of mine and probably the closest thing that comes to an expert on death. He is a hyphenated renegade, seemingly more comfortable swimming upstream and addressing taboo subjects than he is going with the crowd. He co-founded Portland’s unsanctioned underground food movement, was my co-conspirator for Songs for Eating and Drinking, and he recently wrote a powerful book about death that will change the way you view life. Let’s Talk About Death (Over Dinner) is a tactical guide for having the most important conversations with yourself and your loved ones about what you want when you die, but more importantly what you want out of life. This book and this conversation is about tapping into the human experience to help you live a more fulfilled and creative life. Thinking and talking about death will make you laugh more, bring you perspective and clarity onto your life, and will bring you closer to those around you.  You'll also be glad to know, Yo

Scott Harrison is the founder and CEO of one of my favorite non-profits:  charity:water which has brought clean water to 8.49 million people around the world. They’ve raised $320 million to date—and put it to good work. Scott just released his first book Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World and it’s about time. He’s an incredible storyteller and, both in his book and in this episode of the podcast, he shares stories of personal struggles, vices, darkest times and their ensuing transformation with vulnerability and openness. This episode is also a crash course in marketing through story. Scott’s rowdy past as a nightclub promoter taught him how to get people excited about joining his party, and he brought those skills to charity: water. He shares many of his tactics, and foundational frameworks about how to reinvent an industry through language and transparency. In this episode, you'll also be glad to know: If you feel lost, morally bankrupt, or you’re on

You know him, you love him, you’ve heard him here before… today’s podcast guest is A DEAR friend and a legend by any measure. It’s the one and only, Mr. Tim Ferriss!  Author of five #1 New York Times best sellers, including his most recent Tribe of Mentors, star of his own TV show The Tim Ferriss Experiment, and host of one of the most popular podcasts in the world, The Tim Ferriss Show which has over 300 million downloads to date. In today's episode, we focus on Tim’s shift from writing as a central pillar of creation to a world where his podcast is central to most of the other media he creates (books, videos, blog posts etc). To say that this episode is “rich” with insight would be a dramatic understatement. In this episode we tear into… - WHO are his epic guests, how does he choose and land them? - WHY is he focused on his podcast? There’s some really good reasons... - HOW he does it…exactly what’s his workflow and key equipment - WHEN / where and all the rest of it ;)  Tim also has mastered the ability

One of the world’s most powerful women in business, Beth Comstock, recently left a 27 year career at GE as their Chief Marketing Officer and Vice Chair to go in a completely different direction - to a new life beyond the enterprise-exec world where her new areas of focus include writing, art, exploration and discovery.  Rarely do we see or hear of these evolutions - where someone like Beth who is so accomplished in big business reveals very publicly and vulnerably that she’s just excited to “do something new” and figure it all out along the way.  It’s simultaneously brilliant, empowering, and refreshing all at the same time.  And that’s in part what makes this episode of the podcast so extraordinary.  We talk about this journey she’s been on and this is among her very first interviews where she share’s key insights from her new book Imagine It Forward: Courage, Creativity, and The Power of Change. If you are interested in transformation, leadership, overcoming fear or the intersection of creativity and busine

Detlef Schrempf is certainly a hometown hero for myself and my 90’s Seattle basketball brethren...but he’s also a living example of a self-described “awkward” kid who, after stumbling his way into basketball as a teenager, discovered something he loved...and pursued it. Schrempf went on to play at pinnacle of his sport where he was a 2-time Olympian and a 3-time NBA All Star with the Seattle SuperSonics. That said, we learn in this interview that Detlef won’t be defined *just* by his career as a professional athlete... but also by his role as a father, a husband, and a role model in his community.  Of course I wanted Detlef on to talk about what it takes to be an elite athlete as the show is always aiming to get insights from the worlds top performers, but what really emerged from this episode is his sagedom on all things personal growth, community and how to think about choosing priorities in life. In today's episode: Whether you’re playing sports or building a business, your team needs to have the right b