Life Update + a Tip For You

Speaker A: Hi, everyone. It's been a hot minute since I recorded an episode. You're probably all wondering, where are you, Leanne? What have you been doing? So I wanted to give you a little update, but also give you a little piece of advice. Um, for those of you that are looking to get into this line of work using your motion design skills for the innovation industry. So first the update and then I'll give you this little tip. So what have I been doing? I have been. I made a decision to focus on my other business. So for some of you, you may not know this, but I have like three things going on and I have two kids, which is kind of crazy. I look at this now, I'm like, what are you doing, Leanne? You have way too much going on. So I have my freelance work. Um, so you all know, like, that's what I'm teaching in, you know, podcast and what I'm doing. But I also have this business that I have been running with Storytelling for Innovation, trying to teach you all what I do for my day job. But I have another business that is teaching people how to take on a personal project outside of their day job. So it was called Epic Bones, but now I'm switching it to my name. So you might have noticed leannbrennan.com used to be my freelance site, but it is now my. My coaching for creatives where I'm helping them take on a personal project outside of work. And epicbones. Com is going to be my art. So that's my personal art where I make like card decks and illustration about mindset and manifestation. So I guess now I have four things going on. So yes, I am definitely all over the place. But I made a decision to kind of put Storytelling for Innovation on hold for a little bit until I could get these other businesses to where I wanted them. So for some of you following, you may have joined my wait list for my course for Storytelling for Innovation. So I have a self led course coming. I promise I'm going to finish it. I have not finished it yet. I have not even touched it. I had my beta testers give me amazing feedback and I am going to make those changes and publish this course to the world. But I have decided to wait until next year to do that. So for all of you who are hoping to get in there, I'm sorry for the wait, but I'm, you know, following my intuition on this and there's just this big tug from the universe for me to get my other businesses to a place where I felt really solid and then come back to Storytelling for Innovation. So I haven't abandoned you. Um, this work is still out there for you. I myself have a freelance gig coming up any day now. The contract is coming, um, and I'm going to be starting probably next week. Week on a project that I just, like, I've been talking to you all about. It's these very low fidelity videos that I'm going to be making. Um, getting paid like way more than you would think is possible in the traditional industry because it is for, um, user testing and these ideas are not fully formed. So I'm helping the team figure out, like, what would this look like? How do we, how do we get the information that we need out of the people that they're going to show these videos to? So this work is still out there. If you're wondering like, oh my gosh, am I ever going to get into this? Yes, you are. You have to stay the course. The feedback I have gotten from people who, the students that I brought through my accelerator program when I was doing that live, is that when you're reaching out to people, they, the success was coming. Reaching out through email versus LinkedIn. So don't message people on LinkedIn. I guess that has always worked for me, but maybe that's because I'm more established in the industry. I don't know. But that's the feedback I got. So they're using those like email finding softwares to like find the person's email. And also like, don't give up. You know, like, everyone just gives up so easily. It's like, oh, this isn't working. It's like, well, okay, maybe the messages you're sending aren't worded appropriately. Like, do some work to like change things and reword things and maybe even like take a class on like outreach. Like, there's plenty of people teaching this stuff. You know, don't just throw in the towel because no one got back to you and be like, this isn't working for me. This is possible for you. You have to hold that belief if you want this and just, you know, stay the course. But be open to changing what you're doing. If it's not working, don't just like quit and say like, this isn't for me. And I know that that is hard to do, but that has always worked out for me. It's like, okay, well what do I need to change to make this work? And that's what I'm doing with these other businesses right now. It's like, I'M still freelancing because they're not profitable in the way that I need them to. These other businesses that I have with like Epic Bones and with my personal project coaching, it's like, okay, well let's keep going and see how I can make this work. It's this like just self belief that like everything is always working out for you. It's just a matter of time. So that's my one little tip, one little pep talk. But my real tip here is, and this is like something I don't think I covered in this podcast that is very important is to sell them what they want and give them what they need. And by this I mean my clients come to me thinking that I'm like a really amazing animator, illustrator, motion designer. That's how they talk about me to their teammates. They're like, you know, when they're introducing me, when the project kicks off, they're like, oh my gosh, Leanne is so amazing. She's like such a great animator and we're so happy to have her on the team. And to the outside motion design world, if you were to look at my work and you'd be like, um, she is not a good animator. And like, I know I am not. I'm not like very fancy flashy. My skills are like just barely good enough. But the teams that are hiring me are hiring me from the vantage point that I am a, uh, really good motion designer and animator. So I sell that, like I'm passionate about animation, motion design, illustration. Like this is my core skill set. I'm not selling them that I like love innovation and I love human centered design and that I love design thinking. They don't care if I love that. That's, that's not why they're coming to me. They're not coming to me because they need an expert in design thinking. They're coming to me because they need these videos made. Right? But what they don't realize is what they need is someone that understands their process, understands human centered design, design thinking, how these videos are going to be used. That's why I am so perfectly suited for these gigs, is because I know that when they say like, oh, we need videos for user testing, I'm like, cool, you need low fidelity videos. And I'm not going to get all like tweaky on like the style and details and like impress everyone with like how beautiful I can get this like device or this room or this character. Not only is that not necessary, but it's actually counterproductive to the reason these videos are out there, because you don't want to include a lot of details when you're doing user testing, because then the participants you're putting these videos in front of will get distracted on like the shape of the device or the buttons or the colors or whatever. Because user testing, these are like prototypes and they're looking for big picture, uh, responses that are going to guide the development of this new to the world service or product. So my advice is like, sell them what they want. Give them what they need. Sell them what they want. What do they want? They want videos, they want animations. What do they need? They need someone that understands that these videos are going to be used for something other than outward facing content that we're all used to producing as motion designers in the traditional industry, which is for commercials or advertising or marketing, whatever. We need to understand that what we're creating is for something different. That is what they need. They need that understanding. But we want to sell them what they want and what they think they're getting is like, you know, an amazing animator and motion designer. And like, sure, if you're an amazing animator and motion designer. Cool. Just know if you're taking on one of these projects, you've gotta scope it in a way where you're doing like a fraction of what you're capable of. Because if you don't do that, you're gonna shoot yourself in the foot. And like I said, it's actually not conducive to, um, what they need with this work. So hopefully that makes sense. I just thought I'd pop in here and just chat with you all because it's been so long. Um, I'm like looking now at my history. When's the last episode? Oh my gosh. The last time I posted was the interview with Stephanie, which was in February of this year. Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's been this long. So keep on the path, you guys. This podcast is like filled. If you go back in the episodes, if you're new to finding me, like, just go back and listen to every single episode. You will find gold in all of those interviews. And I promise I have my course coming. I'm sorry you have to wait until next year, but that's just how it goes. Um, and that's it. That's all I've got. I'm excited about my other projects and stuff I have going on. For, for those of you that are curious, you can go to leannbrennan.com and you'll see My coaching services for people who are looking to take on a, uh, creative practice or personal project outside of their day job. And this is, like, a real struggle, you guys. This is a real thing where there's so many of us. We go to art school, then we go to work at some, like, fancy studio, and then we look back after 10 years and we're like, oh, my gosh, I have not made one thing for myself in, like, a decade. And then we get super depressed. So I am trying to help people get back in the groove with their personal creative work because I know how hard that can be. So I'm your gal for that if you're interested in checking that out. And then I'm still chipping away at my own personal work, which is over on epicbones.com I, um, have a new card deck coming out on Money Mindset. I'm making a Money Mindset affirmation deck. Um, so I am super excited about that. So, yeah, I hope everyone is doing great. And I don't know what. I'm gonna have another episode coming, but I just wanted to let you all know, like, I have not forgotten you. And I know there's not a lot of information out there on this niche, so I do still feel called to, to, like, bring this to light. Because, uh, again, like, like, I've shared. I feel like the wave is coming and there's going to be a big need for this. And every project I take on, um, like, every client, there has always been a story of, like, some project where they had some illustrator or animator try and do something, and they just did not get it. And they just made something that didn't quite work. It was, like, too finished or, like, too specific too. It's, like, too good. And I look at this stuff and I'm like, of course they didn't get it. How are they supposed to know? Like, nobody's teaching this part of storytelling for this specific purpose. So I'll let you all go. I hope you're doing great. And I will be back on when. When I can, I guess, is how I'm gonna leave it. Okay, take care, everyone.