What is Create More?

You can now view our sessions from 2023 here on this page!

Diving deep into all aspects of the creative life and discovering how to CREATE MORE together.
Our goal is to share heartfelt artist-led stories and encourage you to do the same as we help our fast-growing community navigate roadblocks, find inspiration and stay motivated. We thrive on honest, authentic conversations from the creative community and beyond.
Run by Jeff Straw and Martin Cuevas - we hope you can join us!

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Purchase official Create More Gear Here

September 18th: Business Basics

August 2023: Operating in the Unknown

May 2023: Overcoming Writer’s Block

April 2023: Originality

February 3rd, 2023: Balance

We all have our own balance of everyday life, the human necessities. Beyond that, we have obligations to family, career, friends, art, social circles, and hopefully finding some time for ourselves. To say that this is a delicate balance is to put it lightly.
This month we explore how to achieve a balance in life that serves us. That allows us time to create, grow and thrive.

"I believe in the balance between dreaming and building."
- Neri Oxman

"There is no decision that we can make that doesn't come with some sort of balance or sacrifice."
- Simon Sinek

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving."
- Albert Einstein

As always, we invite you to reflect on the topic and join us in our monthly discussion on our live call on the Zoom platform this coming Friday at Noon Pacific / 8pm UK.

ZOOM Link: bit.ly/CreateMore2023

January 13th, 2023: Setting Intentions

New Year is always a good time to look at our goals and intentions for the year, so I thought this would make a terrific topic for us this month. We will look at the benefits of setting intentions, differences between intentions and goals, and hopefully inspire everyone to start their year off right!

Time for the session is Noon Pacific, 8pm UK on Friday, January 13th.

Please note, new link: bit.ly/CreateMore2023

December 2nd, 2022: Focus

Do you struggle with focus? I know I do!

I think that there is always room for improvement around our focus habits - whether major or incremental.

In this session, I will be distilling wisdom from a few authors, looking at different focus techniques, and sharing what has worked for me personally.

We hope you can share some of your own personal wins around focus and productivity with the group on Friday.

HOSTS: Jeff Straw and Simon Shackleton

FB Event Listing: https://www.facebook.com/events/1298075954359941

As always, we invite you to reflect on the topic and join us in our monthly discussion on our live call on the Zoom platform, Friday December 2nd at Noon Pacific and 8pm UK
ZOOM Link: bit.ly/CreateMore2022

November 4th, 2022: Branding

Yes, folks... This is the one you've all been waiting for! (or maybe not)

I'll be distilling some of what I do for clients and the classes I teach into a Create More session. This is one you want to catch.

For the session image, I went with one of the world's most iconic brands - Coca Cola as the background intentionally. Odds are pretty good that if you are human, you have some sort of an association with the Coca-Cola brand... So we will explore why people make those deep ties with brands, I'll showcase some concrete fundamentals on how to create your own brand, and we will how fans and consumers perceive you. Distilling lessons from the Branding course I wrote for Icon Collective, my work with countless clients, and observations of two and a half decades working as a professional in the music industry. You don’t want to miss this one.

October 7th, 2022: Perspective

How do perspectives impact our creative work? How do we cultivate a healthy perspective?

“Having a dope mindset and good energy is rare, and you just putting a little bit of your light into someone else can change their whole perspective on life just doing that." - Cordae

"What I have is a malevolent curiosity. That's what drives my need to write and what probably leads me to look at things a little askew. I do tend to take a different perspective from most people." - David Bowie

"I'm just really interested, when a band plays and they think they sucked from a band perspective. A band’s best and worst shows really aren’t that far apart"
-Pat Smear (ref: Nirvana's last show)

As always, we invite you to reflect on the topic and join us in the discussion in our live call on the Zoom platform.

Please join us, Friday October 7th at Noon Pacific and 8pm UK

Facebook Event to RSVP: https://fb.me/e/2SBNM1V1d

ZOOM Link: bit.ly/CreateMore2022

June 3, 2022: Finding Inspiration

Inspiration is all around us. It is also incredibly elusive at times. How does our own mindset help or hinder us finding that inspiration?
Where do you go to find inspiration? Is it usually an internal journey, or external one?
What sort of artist and medium inspires you the most?
Where is the most surprising place you've found a spark of inspiration?

“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" - Pablo Picasso

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." - Jack London

As always, we invite you to reflect on the topic and join us in the discussion in our live call on the Zoom platform - this Friday at noon Pacific / 8pm UK

Please join us, Friday June 3rd at Noon Pacific and 8pm UKZOOM Link: bit.ly/CreateMore2022

May 6th, 2022: Self Sabotage

This month we explore some of the benefits of saying “No” at different points in our creative careers and our daily routines.

“Focusing is about saying no.” - Steve Jobs

“Serenity comes from the ability to say yes to existence. Courage comes from the ability to say no to the wrong choices made by others.” - Ayn Rand

As always, we invite you to reflect on the topic and join us in the discussion in our live call on the Zoom platform - this Friday at noon Pacific / 8pm UK

Please join us, Friday May 6th at Noon Pacific and 8pm UK

April 1st, 2022: Self Sabotage

This month we will be taking a look at those negative habits that consistently undermine our creative efforts, and share some strategies we can use to help overcome them.

Self Sabotage can take many forms, such as overworking, procrastinating, overcommitting, isolation, comparison, perfectionism, and many more.

Join us on April 1st at Noon Pacific and 8pm UK
ZOOM Link: bit.ly/CreateMore2022

March 4th, 2022: Creating Video

The medium of video has become more and more of an important art form as well as a marketing tool for creatives and brands of all shapes and sizes.

This month Simon and Jeff share their insights and approach to the video creation process including storytelling, finding your voice, cameras, lights & sound, video titles, thumbnails, and why consistency and the cycle of work are so important in this area.

“Done is better than perfect” - Peter McKinnon

Join us on March 4th at Noon Pacific and 8pm UK
ZOOM Link: bit.ly/CreateMore2022

February, 2022: Procrastination

All of us struggle with Procrastination in some form or another. Hell, the fact that you are on Facebook right now, may very well be a form of procrastination
So we will look into the driving force behind procrastination, the general categories of it, and most importantly some strategies to help us move past it and be more productive with our time.

"I hate wasting time."

- Robert Plant

January 2022: Networking

Join us on January 14th at Noon Pacific and 8pm UK
ZOOM Link: bit.ly/CreateMore2021

To kick off the new year, we are focusing on the topic of Networking. We want to discuss this art of relationship building, why it's so important to our success, and to give some pointers on ways to successfully network both online and in-person.

"Networking that matters is helping people achieve their goals." - Seth Godin

December 2021: Environment & Resources

We are back! This month we are discussing Environment and Resources, and how they impact our Creative Process.

"Sometimes a creative environment affects what happens within it." - Peter Gabriel

How does our environment affect our output? From our own personal experience of the many studio setups over the years, do we need an "inspiring" space in order to create great art? How does access to resources and materials (digital and physical) impact us?

November 2021: Goals vs. Expectations

This month we are discussing Goals and Expectations.
"It’s not about the goal, it’s about growing to become the person that can accomplish that goal." - Tony Robbins

We will discuss the distinctions between setting goals and having expectations. The importance of having realistic goals that we can tackle, as well as stretch goals that call us into action. Strategies for setting goals that have worked for us, and we look forward to hearing what has worked for you in your creative journey!

September 2021: Imposter Syndrome

This month we are discussing Imposter Syndrome. That's the nagging inner voice that tells many of us, that "If they only knew I was a fraud, they wouldn't ..." and we fill in the blank with any number of made-up scenarios. They wouldn't like my music, they wouldn't hire me as a photographer, they wouldn't watch my videos, or come to my concerts, etc. Since this can be a fairly common mental space for us as creatives, we thought we would take the opportunity to shed some light on it and discuss strategies for pushing through to the other side.