How Do I Deal With Constant Failure?

Jake Parker

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Is Fiverr a scam? What makes a pro different from an amateur? How do you deal with constant rejections? And how do you “choose your pain” as a professional illustrator? This week, Jake Parker and Lee White discuss these questions with special guest host David Hohn.

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Whitney Simms

@davidhohn !!!!! Awesome fill-in on the podcast! Hope Will is doing well.

Dealing with the rejections. Great pick me ups. I can't believe there are actionable takeaways from that. I'm totally going to make a game of rejection letters. A goal this year is to start pitching to companies that license. If not this year, definitely next. I'm going to pass this episode specifically to my class of surface pattern designers. It's scary putting yourself out there and not taking rejection or lack of interest personally. You can't though. It's okay. And always remember that your worth as a person is not connected to your art. Your art is not you, it is something you create. Love the book suggestion Jake! Totally going to read that. I'll look it up to be sure I got it right. Something with GRIT. I think looking at a visual wall of rejections or just stones in our way that we overcome/overcame is just a way to remind ourselves of how far we have come. A way to look and say, this wasn't easy, but it was so worth it. "You will come to know that what appears today to be a sacrifice will prove instead to be the greatest investment that you will ever make." -GBH

Okay, anyone else think it was funny to hear David Hohn be star struck at Mr Jake Parker! Don't worry, we all are. I get a pin when I preorder a book from the Pumphrey brothers. Tell me Beverly Cleary wouldn't make a freaking adorable pin! Lee, you need to get in on the pin business as well.

Lee, my husband geeks out over taxes too. I have to keep all my records because I know Jan 1 he will start plugging in our stuff in turbo tax. Also, what ever happened to the patterns you were making? That still needs to happen!

jdubz

I think the money discussion is really interesting and probably one that will always be a bit of a struggle to wrap our heads around. We make a lot of assumptions, like the person that's taking those vacations isn't in the same situation as we are. I mean, social media in general will make you feel like you are missing out. It's the highlight reel of everyone's lives, so that's inherently baked in.

The number of people I personally know that make currently (or had made when I worked with them) well over $100,000 a year, but still live paycheck to paycheck is shocking to me every time I think about it. That's part of the reason I stopped striving to climb that corporate ladder. Because it was never about how much money I could make at the company. It was always 100% on my end and what I did with the money I made. That "if only" mentality stays with you no matter how much money you make. That's the reason why so many lottery winners end worse off than before they got the influx of cash. It's soooo hard to fight that "grass is greener" mentality because that's just how we're wired.

Jake really hit the nail on the head when he talks about determining what kind of person you are and matching your work to your personality. Not everyone is wired to run a business and is a complete stressed out mess. Other people (like me lol) feel so constrained "working for the man" and putting in 40 hours to a company.

Jeremy Ross

Loving the humility in this episode, wow!

For anyone that struggles with rejection and failure, just remember the quote from Les Brown:

“When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up!” - Les Brown

Personally, I keep all my rejections in a gratitude file and appreciate each person for taking their valuable time to get back to me.

Each failure is an opportunity to learn. We should try to detach emotions from failure. Rather, constructive feedback is a gift. Open it and learn.

When the wind breaks the branch, the tree remains rooted with determination and ready for the next storm. It does not give up.

Coreyartus

I echo @Jeremy-Ross observations--this episode seemed much more real than theoretical and a lot of that had to do with @davidhohn and his willingness to just get down to bare bones and share. Consider having him host again. His honesty and willingness to expose his struggles was a level of genuineness that I, personally, could associate with deeply. I'm not saying Jake and Lee and Will don't deep-share when they can, but there is really a lot that the three of them simply can't share. I needed to hear the unvarnished truth and this one seemed more unvarnished than usual.

Miranda Branley

I really appreciate this episode.

I'm currently struggling with this. I was rejected over 100 times when I first got out of college and I didn't understand why. Since then, I've been improving my craft, I'm enjoying the content I'm creating, and I have been constantly updating my portfolio.

I definitely am afraid to head back out there and show off my work because of the rejections, but I know I'm on a path to success if I keep working on my portfolio and applying myself places for projects.

As for social media, I can't take it. I have ADHD and I struggle to keep from posting impulsively, I can't manage the time to post consistently, oversharing, and because of constant fear of doubting myself, I hyperfocus on my post. It's another hill that I have to climb over.

I'm also working a full time job and struggling with dealing with that as an artist. It's a "creative" job but I found out that "creative" is now a subjective word for everyone.

carlianne

@Miranda-Branley your work is wonderful, keep going I know you’ll get there ️