63. Build The Foundation, Lose The Costume, Keep Your Soul

Send us a message.We sit down for our annual year-end conversation, reflecting on 2025 and mapping out intentions for 2026. The discussion moves between practical revenue planning and deeper questions about identity, authenticity, and what it means to build a creative life without losing yourself in the process.We explore the tension between chasing grandiose visions of success and learning to be present with who we actually are—people who source vintage records, make photographs, create videos, and build websites. The conversation touches on the difference between "playing the part" of a successful creator versus doing work that genuinely reflects our interests and values. We discuss building infrastructure: getting websites live, returning to photography, potentially publishing short stories, and establishing outlets for work that's been internal for too long. Both of us grapple with the pull of consumption and distraction versus the slower work of being present, disciplined, and engaged with the actual world.The episode ends on the idea of returning to being generalists rather than specialists—people with broad interests and connections across different areas of life, people who haven't traded their souls for narrow visions of achievement. -AiSupport the show If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving us a rating and/or a review. We appreciate and try to read all of them. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you in the next episode. Links To Everything: Video Version of The Podcast: https://geni.us/StudioSessionsYT Matt’s YouTube Channel: https://geni.us/MatthewOBrienYT Matt’s 2nd Channel: https://geni.us/PhotoVideosYT Alex’s YouTube Channel: https://geni.us/AlexCarterYT Matt’s Instagram: https://geni.us/MatthewIG Alex’s Instagram: https://geni.us/AlexIG