Teaching

VCU Brandcenter/ Professor

WHY I TEACH.

I believe I have something to give. I believe I have something to learn.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Failure is beautiful. Risk is necessary. With love anything is possible. Make it personal.

LOVE AND GREATNESS

The pursuit of love and greatness is a noble, exhilarating,  uncomfortable, courageous, foolish, hilarious, romantic, painful, reckless, terrifying, yet extremely gratifying journey. If you're willing to experience rejection, setbacks, embarrassment, humiliation, failure, ridicule, imbalance, loneliness, heartbreak, disappointment, more failure, make sacrifices, dare fate and laugh at your mistakes, there's a good chance, you can have the loves of your life and almost everything else you desire.

Define love for yourself and apply it to everything you do. Define greatness for yourself and work towards it in every living moment. Remove the word can't from your vocabulary and stop making excuses for anything. Only complain when things are too easy. Challenge yourself. Stay out of your comfort zone. Refuse to let lesser minds stifle your growth. Hunt your dreams. Run from mediocrity. Celebrate the uniqueness of you. Commit to this way of life and you will create a world unlike anything anyone ever told you was possible. This is not about being great at advertising, design, strategy, digital, brand management or any other discipline in the communication arts. This is about being great at living.

My class will attempt to inspire you to think with your heart, make sacrifices for whatever craft you chose, be vulnerable to your ideas and be fully engaged in and committed to your opportunities. Being paid to dream, make, see, write, design, be curious, tell stories, analyze culture and solve problems through creativity is one of life's purest blessings. Don't take it for granted. The last thing this industry needs is another person who does not love their craft, their ideas or their opportunities. Even worse is someone who is afraid of greatness.

REQUIRED READING: THE BOOK OF YOU

One of the most important books you can ever read is, THE BOOK OF YOU. However, before you Google the title or search Amazon to purchase a copy, remove the word “YOU” and insert your name. You’re the author and your life is required reading for this class.

This book is the most expensive book you'll ever own, but the binding can be cheap, so invest in your memories.   It is the easiest book to find, yet the hardest to get through. It contains your hopes and dreams, your triumphs and failures, your misunderstandings and intuitions, your fears and insecurities, your courage and your confidence. Everything you discover in this book has the ability to impact your work, your ideas, your vision,  your perceptions and your point of view.  While many people get to contribute to THE BOOK OF YOU, only you have the power to create new storylines, change the plot and start new chapters. Don't give away your power or your creative license.

This book is filled with children’s stories, comedies, adventures, dramas, self-help essays, tragedies, coming of age profiles, art, photography, film, poetry, literature, science, love stories and thousands of other subjects and experiences you have encountered throughout your life. This book was started the day you were born and won’t be completed until the day you die. This book can help you develop your voice, create a unique body of work or simply find the courage to survive a moment you have to survive to get to the next chapter.