For years, I've been connecting with interesting people and documenting insights that might help my clients and myself. What was once private is now (mostly) public.

People often ask: "How do you know all these people?" and "How do you connect these (re: random) ideas?" The answer is simple: consistent relationship cultivation and thoughtful note taking. My north star is trusting my instincts, my maps are the constellations in these reflections.

Find my Personal Archive on CultishCreative.com, watch me build a better Personal Network on the Cultish Creative YouTube channel, and follow me on social media (LinkedIn and X).

This approach has helped dozens of clients strengthen their networks and unlock new opportunities. You can:

- Steal these ideas directly 
- Hire me to implement them with you
- Create your own combination that works for you

I can't promise you'll learn from me, but you'll definitely learn something with me. Let's go. Count it off: 1-2-3-4…

Do you know Ned Russin?

Do you know Ned Russin? He's the creative force behind Title Fight and Glitterer, plus author of the novel "Horizontal Rust" - a mid-30s artist who spent years touring while honing a serious literary practice.

If not, allow me to introduce you. Ned represents small scene punk and hardcore’s evolution into new territories, moving from playing to four people in Wilkes-Barre dives to Webster Hall in New York City, all while working as a venue loader and developing as a fiction writer. I wanted to connect with him because he embodies something I value deeply: the ability to pursue multiple creative disciplines simultaneously without compromising the integrity of either.

Our conversation is LIVE now on the Just Press Record YouTube channel (and this Cultish Creative Playlist). Listen and you'll hear about growing up in Pennsylvania's DIY scene, the reality of modern touring economics, and how creative ideas complete themselves when you stay present to the process.

THREE KEY LESSONS

In the meantime, I wanted to pull THREE KEY LESSONS from my time with Ned Russin to share with you (and drop into my Personal Archive).

Read on and you'll find a quote with a lesson and a reflection you can Take to work with you, Bring home with you, and Leave behind with your legacy.

WORK: Stay Present to the Process, Not the Metrics

Key Concept: Ned highlights the danger of treating creative work like a predictable business model. Unlike traditional metrics that compound reliably, artistic success involves variables you can't control. The key is focusing on doing your best work consistently rather than trying to game outcomes. This mindset protects you from the disappointment of unmet expectations while keeping you focused on what actually matters - the quality of your craft.

Personal Archive Note-To-Self: When I told my buddy Scott, early in 2024, that I’d be starting my own YouTube channel for this Just Press Record show idea, he - like a good friend - got really excited for me, and then - also like a really good friend - said, “You’re not going to quit your day job, right?”

Scott knew me from when I was mostly doing music. We were just college kids then. He also knew how I kind of burned out when I put all the pressure to survive on music. Especially when I started making my personal life complex and - yeah. There’s a reason or a million why I lost my creativity for a decade of my life.

If you put business pressure on artistic endeavors, then much like a business, the art is going to compromise and maybe even blow up. Commercial viability sounds amazing, but it’s really hard, not to mention requires a lot of luck, to have happen.

So why force it? Ned pointing this out - that “it doesn’t scale like that” is a reminder to check your metrics and expectations at the door. Fall in love with the act of making, that’s the secret to loving what you do.

It’s taken a year to get the YouTube subscribers for this channel above 300. I have dreams but no hard objectives for how or when 400 subscribers will happen, let alone 4,000. All I know is that I have to let the work speak, keep inviting cool people into my little experiment that I believe so deeply in, and know that being a fly on the wall for introductions like this is a service to the creative world I am proud to be a part of.

Work question for you: What metrics are you tracking that might be distracting you from simply doing your best work and seeing what happens?

LIFE: Trust the Creative Process When Ideas Want to Complete Themselves

Key Concept: Ned describes those magical moments when creative ideas seem to have their own momentum and direction. Rather than forcing or overthinking, he trusts his instincts about where an idea wants to go. This requires being present enough to recognize when something has potential and confident enough to follow it through to completion, even when others might initially doubt it.

Personal Archive Note-To-Self: I love when I have an idea, it works in my head, or at least I know it feels right (like Ned playing the chord and feeling where it all could go), but then I share it out loud and realize - ugh, nobody else gets it yet. And ok, by love, I mean I hate when that happens, and what I mean is I love what comes next.

I love feeling the potential in a creative idea that’s so big I can only communicate it poorly to somebody I trust sharing it with. The look of confusion that comes back, the despair that almost seeps in, it’s awful for a moment, but the belief in your instinct is what pushes it forward.

Creativity is a birthing process. It’s a heroine’s journey more than a hero’s journey. The treasure doesn’t exist somewhere else to go off and be found (hero’s go out to find their unknown truths), it’s right there within you all along (heroines go inside to uncover their unknown truths), and you always need people who believe in you to help excavate that truth.

Ned turning a chord into a classic Title Fight song is like Dorothy realizing she’s got the ruby red slippers on all along. There are always meta-layers. It never feels like it at the time, but in hindsight, of course it’s obvious.

The point is - when you’re creating art - all the tools are inside of you, the process is the process, and your friends (and fans) are going to call it out of you and tell you what’s working (and maybe even not working) about it. Don’t get stuck. The rest takes care of itself.

Life Question For You: When was the last time you trusted a creative instinct fully and let an idea complete itself, rather than overthinking or seeking too much external validation?

LEGACY: Listen to and Support Your Community

Key Concept: Ned emphasizes that meaningful work extends beyond personal achievement to actively supporting the community around you. This means listening to what people actually need rather than imposing your own agenda, and using whatever platform or privilege you have to ensure others can pursue their creative work safely. It's about creating conditions where more people can thrive, not just advancing your own career.

Personal Archive Note-To-Self: We think about this all of the time with sports, but rarely the arts. The local sports franchise just keeps having games and finding reasons to get people to show up. Why not treat the arts like the community assets they are?

If you do something cool, you want people to notice. But the best way to get noticed is to get out there and notice others. You'll even learn from them, if you're doing it right.

Bands in small scenes where there's seemingly never enough fans or gigs to go around have an extra hard struggle. They want to make art and maybe even a living from making that art, but they also have to think about what they're supporting in their community AND what their community is supporting in them.

If you can support others, it counts. If lots of people care about being on your team - you need to nurture the relationship with the fans that support you. It's all tickets and merch and fan culture from there.

Ned's not in Wilkes-Barre anymore, but he's at a record store in DC, he's touring with his band, he's opening for acts and getting others to open for them, and he's all-the-way plugged in and committed to the communal aspect of creativity. It started with patrons, and it's turned into a team, and we need to celebrate people like him and Keith Morris who are pulling it off (and then go support AND copy it).

Legacy question for you: How are you using your creative work and community position to ensure others have the same opportunities for safety and creative expression that you've been given?

BEFORE YOU GO: Be sure to…

• Find Ned's bands Title Fight and Glitterer on Bandcamp (start with "Floral Green" for Title Fight, "Rationale" for Glitterer)

• Subscribe to Glitterer's Substack (The Glitterer Gazette) newsletter for thoughtful updates beyond social media

• Check out his novel "Horizontal Rust" for his literary work

• Support all-ages venues and DIY spaces in your community, and RIP Cafe Metropolis (+ this post too)

• Take a moment to reflect on all these ideas!

You have a Personal Network and a Personal Archive just waiting for you to build them up stronger. Look at your work, look at your life, and look at your legacy - and then, start small in each category. Today it's one person and one reflection. Tomorrow? Who knows what connections you'll create.

Last thing: Don't forget to click reply/here and tell me who you're adding to your network and why! Plus, if you already have your own Personal Archive too, let me know, I'm creating a database.