Every product, every service, every
piece of music reflects, fundamentally,
the creator's intentions.
It's simply impossible to build
a business, or develop a career,
if there is an inconsistency
with your true beliefs
and your values and the way that you see
the world, and ultimately the product
that you bring to fruition.
So it's absolutely
critical for every founder
of a business, or every creative
person, to go through this process
where they're
systematically reconnecting
with that initial intention that
you had behind your creation.
It's a really interesting
challenge to just self-reflect.
I do believe sometimes we get a little
attached to our titles, you know?
When you can say you're a global
creative director at Nike,
that opens a lot of doors.
And I think really
realizing who you are,
and putting yourself first in that
way, is just a really eye opening
experience.
The EP that we just put out, I
did every single detail in there.
It was true to what I wanted.
A lot of people tell me, it's so
funny, I listen to your music,
and it's you in the record.
It's what you are.
And it's all about my heritage.
Everything about the different
cultures, the Aztec cultures,
and the Native American, will
always seep their way into my life,
and give it color and a
different perspective.
Even if a lot of people
have told me, like,
what are you doing with
the tribal flutes in there?
If you feel it in your
gut, there's a reason.
When you bring a team together to
bring those intentions to fruition,
you want to give them the space and
the ability to bring their own ideas,
and their own hearts and minds into
whatever that creative process is.
Take this studio for example.
It's important that before
the people come together,
that they understand the
intentions of the message
that the songwriter is
trying to communicate.
When I am envisioning
something in my head,
I'm envisioning the best of the
best-- concepts for choruses.
And some the best
concepts and choruses are
full choruses with lots of vocals in
them, that have three-part harmony.
Now, have I tried concepts and
felt like, that doesn't work?
Or that doesn't feel good in this song?
Yes.
And how do I get to that?
I listen to it, and
it just didn't hit me,
it didn't touch me the way the idea
in my head felt, or was touching me.
No matter how good a team you have,
no matter how much money you have,
you cannot fundamentally paper
over any deficiencies that exist
in the intention of what
you're trying to say,
if the core and the essence of it are
missing and they're disconnected from
who you are as a human being.
I believe that the real
core of a person-- and I
think the real core of humanity--
is about helping each other.
These abilities that we have to
help other people, I call intention.
I call them intentions--
they're individual abilities.
Like I intend to help
people tell their story.
I'm good at helping
people tell their story.
And it's what led me to make Avid.
So the intention is
the source of energy.
The beliefs-- what you
believe-- you call values.
I think of beliefs as the environment
that holds your intentions--
Almost a framework or sorts.
Right.
And the actual engine of
the work is the invention.
And what happens is life triggers you.
You see things that are wrong.
And you realize you can change it.
And if you allow yourself, and
you let that energy start flowing,
you'll find that you can.
When we look at the
entrepreneurs that we
admire, from Leonardo
da Vinci to Henry Ford
to people today like
Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos,
their companies are reflections of
the way that they see the world.
In my situation, my passion
was to help musicians.
And my purpose was to
create this platform that
made it easy for them to connect
with any promoter anywhere,
no matter who they were or
what passport they carried,
or what music they played.
So when you're going through
this process, asking yourself,
what is my passion?
What do I care?
How do I see the world?
What are my values?
Who are the people that I care
about, and are important to me?
With your purpose-- how do you
intend to go about something?
What is the direction
that you want to pursue?
Fusing these two, along with
ultimately what you're very good at,
is absolutely key and
critical to success.
