Official blog of The Great Discontent.
@greatdiscontent
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Want to know what initiative looks like? Read this interview with James White. He grew up in a small town where the schools didn’t offer art programs. Even so, James loved drawing from a very young age and explored his interest in art with encouragement from family. At 18, his high school guidance counselor gave him a brochure for a graphic design course and his life trajectory was forever changed. He studied graphic design and then moved to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, to work at an agency—but that’s only the beginning of the story. James’ prolific body of self-initiated work has led high-profile clients to knock on his door and, as a result, Singnalnoise Studio was born. James continues to push the boundaries of his work and challenges all of us to chase after what we love to do—because no one is going to do it for us.
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The story of 37signals is widely known among those who use and love the company’s web-based apps, but what about the story of Jason Fried, President and co-founder of 37signals? We had the pleasure of talking with Jason, a fellow Midwesterner, who recalled his path prior to 37signals. Although he originally pursued a finance degree, an interest in developing software led him to working on the web and the rest is history. In addition, his early job experiences taught him about the kind of company he wanted—and didn’t want—to build as well as the kind of culture he wanted to create. And he set out to do just that. Read on to learn about Jason’s personal path and to gain a deeper understanding of the philosophies that have shaped the way he does business and why he’s most interested in making something that stands the test of time.
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We did it!!!
“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” —Mother Teresa
We met our charity: water campaign goal and raised over $5,000—all of which will go straight to providing clean water for people who need it. And we couldn’t have done it without all of you! We’d like to express our gratitude to everyone who donated: our readers, friends, and family. Together, your money will bring clean water to 256 people and that water will change their lives.
We’d also like to give a special thanks to our friend, Josh Long, who was our biggest cheerleader along the way and helped us reach our goal by donating sales from his book, Jenius, to our campaign. Thank you, Josh!
Update: The campaign is closed and thanks to a few last donations, 259 people will get clean water!!!
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On a beautiful Friday afternoon, we joined the urban art duo of Patrick Miller and Patrick McNeil at their Greenpoint, Brooklyn, studio for an interview. The pair, along with their team of assistants, were busily preparing for FAILE’s upcoming collaboration with the New York City Ballet. After touring the studio, admiring their work up close, and taking a few photographs, we sat down to talk with FAILE about their journey. Miller and McNeil—as we’ll call them in the interview—opened up about their paths as artists, how their work found its way onto the street, and the evolution of FAILE over the last 13 years. Plus, we’ve included some amazing bonus content at the end—don’t miss it! Thank you FAILE for inspring us with your work and your story, and big thanks to our friend, Meryl, for making this happen!
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Amazing things can happen when we say, “Yes,” and Esther’s story bears witness to the power of saying yes over and over, even without knowing the outcome—and even in the face of fear. Esther picked up her first camera at a young age, but it would be years before she would find herself at home behind the lens or realize the fullness of her calling to photograph people for who they are and not their circumstances. After seven years of journeying around the globe to photograph for a variety of nonprofits and causes, Esther’s story continues to unfold. As you read about her path, may you be reminded that anything is possible if you are willing to say yes and give it a shot, because your potential is greater than your circumstances.
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Update: TGD Meets charity: water Campaign
On Tuesday, February 12, 2013, we published an interview with charity: water’s Scott + Vik Harrison and launched a TGD charity: water campaign.
Our goal is to raise $5,000 for charity: water—all of which will go directly to providing clean water to people in developing nations. We’ve now raised $3,540, which means we need to raise $1,460 more before our campaign ends on May 11th.
There are two ways you can help us reach our goal:
1.Donate directly to our TGD charity: water campaign
OR
2.Buy our friend Josh Long’s new ebook, Jenius, and he’ll donate money from sales to our campaign until it ends on May 11th.
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A big thanks to everyone who has donated and helped us spread the word so far!!!
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Stories are powerful reminders that we are never alone and we’ve been continually reminded of that since beginning TGD in August 2011. Over and over again, we’ve received responses from readers who have felt a connection with the experiences of people we’ve featured. From the beginning, we have encouraged those we interview to be as open and honest as they’re comfortable with—those moments of vulnerability are the moments of deepest resonance. This is Brad’s story, uncensored. Drawing upon his wealth of experiences, he offers us what he’s learned about business, risk, purpose, community, and finding success in the unlikeliest of places—because sometimes success first looks like failure.
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It’s an honor to finally have Matthew Smith on TGD! We have followed Matthew’s work online for some time and finally had the chance to meet him in person last October at Brooklyn Beta. This guy is the real deal! He is super talented and has a heart of gold. After a long journey from hopeful fine artist to designer and entrepreneur, Matthew’s path has taken shape to reveal a man who truly cares about the work he does, but it goes beyond that. His desire to make a meaningful mark on those around him is evident in all he has accomplished in the last few years and we know this is just the beginning. Read on to learn about Matthew’s journey, be encouraged by his story, and be challenged by his bravery to ask the tough questions about the work we do and what really matters.
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Simply put, we love Sara’s illustration work! Wanting to know more about the person behind the art, we reached out to Sara, who invited us to do an interview at her studio. There, we conversed about her path from growing up in Virginia to living and working in New York City, how she came to find such a distinct style of illustrating, the people who have impacted her the most along the way, and how she balances freelance work with a day job. In short, she works her ass off, which is her advice to all of us—we couldn’t agree more! Talent is an essential foundation, but the willingness to work hard and break a sweat is crucial to success. Thanks for reminding us of that, Sara!
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On Tuesday, February 12, 2013, we published an interview with charity: water’s Scott + Vik Harrison and launched a TGD charity: water campaign.
Our goal is to raise $5,000 for charity: water—all of which will go directly to providing clean water to people in developing nations. We’ve raised $2,880 so far, which means we need to raise $2,120 more before our campaign ends on May 11th.
There are two ways you can help us reach our goal:
1.Donate directly to our TGD charity: water campaign
OR
2.Buy Josh Long’s new ebook, Jenius, and he’ll donate money from sales to our campaign until it ends on May 11th.
OR
3.Buy a tee from Favor & Union and they’ll donate 10% of proceeds to our campaign for the week.
P.S. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has already donated to the campaign!!!
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