The New PuttyTeam: Introducing Janet, Josh & Bev!

First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you who responded with enthusiasm to last week’s announcement. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so supported in my life. Your responses only strengthened the love I feel for the multipotentialite community and for Puttylike. It made me want to deliver tenfold. So thank you! I’m already deep in research for my forthcoming book and I have half a dozen new blog post ideas.

But this post isn’t about me.

Without further ado, please, give a warm welcome to my new Putty Teammates, Janet, Josh and Bev!

Meet Janet

Janet Brent has been involved in the Puttylike and Puttytribe communities for a long time. I can’t even remember when we first met. I think I discovered her excellent, inspirational blog, Purple Panda shortly after launching Puttylike, and we’ve been friends and fans of each others’ work ever since. Janet’s kind, compassionate, spiritual, creative, and smart. I think you’ll really enjoy her work.

The Q&A with Janet

Why are you qualified to write about being a multipotentialite?

Actually, when Emilie approached me about writing for Puttylike, I couldn’t help but think I was unqualified for such a task but that was my own fear (lizard brain) talking. I trust Emilie’s (objective) judgment in choosing the right contributors for the site and was extremely honored. I think what qualifies me is my immersion in the Puttylike community in general, and in Puttytribe. I’m successfully leading a ‘multipotentialite’ life that sustains me, by way of various creative projects and partnerships that leave me feeling excited and refreshed and never bored!

How did you learn that you were a multipotentialite?

Like most people, I hadn’t heard of multipotentialites until I discovered Emilie’s site, but I knew right away that this was a place that really resonated with me. I’d always thought of myself as a renaissance soul, and I discovered Emilie fairly early on.

Why are you excited about writing for Puttylike?

I love this community and I love to write. It fulfills my multipotentialite cravings to add variety to my day since I’m mostly doing things with design but wanted to have more writing in my life. I couldn’t think of a more perfect place to contribute or subject to write about. With other sites or guest posts, things feel more forced but with Puttylike, I know I can flow easier since it’s just part of who I am.

What are some of your current passions, projects, and fascinations?

I’ve got a lot of new stuff on my plate that’s brewing. My background is graphic/web design and I love it. Aside from client work and some writing, I’m about to start some collaborations that involve e-zines, online courses, and other fun stuff. On the backburner, I’ve got a lot of “personal projects” with writing a conscious living manifesto and erotica. I’m always interested in cross-cultural things, and “bridging the gaps.” I’m also fascinated by the processes from idea to creation and helping people launch online businesses through branding, design and tech wizardry.

If you could go back in time and talk to yourself as a young multipotentialite, what would you say?

I would just say enjoy the process. You won’t be on a traditional path but just enjoy the ride because it’s an immense gift! I see my work as having more personal meaning, so it’s already a success. Try not to compare yourself so much even though it’s hard not to. You’re doing exactly what you’re meant to do.

Connect with Janet at byjanet.net and on Twitter @janetbrent.

 Meet Josh

Joshua Lundquist joined the Puttytribe last year and almost immediately, he was everywhere (actually he was everywhere in the Puttylike comments even before joining the Tribe). He was initiating discussions in the forums, organizing groups and initiating collaborative projects. He even once sent me a sample-based, hilarious music track he’d created about being a multipotentialite, just for the heck of it. Wildly creative, and interdisciplinary, with a unique spin on the world and a love for collaboration, that’s Josh.

The Q&A with Josh

Why are you qualified to write about being a multipotentialite?

I think anyone who has experienced the frustration of being pushed to choose one thing, while being in love with multiple things is qualified to write about being a multipotentialite.

As for my experiences, I have been making music since I was 15 and never settled on a genre. It has been a struggle for me, and now I embrace it. Yet I keep it on the down low because in music I don’t see a whole lot of multipotentialites. Except for Ween or Madlib, maybe.

I also have found the perfect outlet for my multiple creative interests / abilities in a sort of dark comedy podcast I made with a friend for two years. It allowed me to do writing, comedic acting, improvisation, recording, editing and producing skits and music with occasional video projects. We chose a process and a situation that allowed us to create anything in any genre, ultimately making us experts in making random ideas fit together–a multipotentialite strong suit.

In terms of envrionment, I think adapting to a foreign culture has helped me to be take a mental respite from the culture I was raised in and entertain other ways of seeing life. In Japan there is a word for “multipotentialite” actually, which is Tanno. It’s a person skilled in many areas. It’s a good thing here, but I don’t know anybody who knows anybody who attributes that title to themselves.

How did you learn that you were a multipotentialite?

I think I put “I have too many interests and don’t know what to do with my life” in Google search. I found Emilie’s page the same day via Michelle Ward’s “When I Grow Up Coach” page. I had been skeptical of epiphanies or moments where you realize something great about your life and the shadows are burned away by the sun–but that is exactly how it felt for me, like a part of me that had been in the dark suddenly saw the light. As typical as that may sound, I can’t say it any other way.

Why are you excited about writing for Puttylike?

I want to write for Puttylike because it’s a lively community of people that feel like family, and to newcomers, I am excited because of the answer to the above “Why are you qualified?” question.

I feel like going through life without knowing that there are others out there like you is incredibly hard and yet multipotentiality / being a generalist up until now has hardly been discussed or allowed to be a way of existing (and it polarizes people), so many of us have trouble shaking off the stigma we’ve absorbed from a society that rewards specialists–and to some degree perhaps we haven’t let us be our best selves.

The relief of not just knowing that I don’t have to be about only one thing, but that there are others out there who are the same way and that we need each other is amazing. I want to contribute to that feeling for people.

What are some of your current passions, projects, and fascinations?

Currently I’m creating music at the intersection of UK Bass music and 80’s Boogie music. I have always loved 60’s soul, funk & psychedelic music since discovering the indie radio station in my town as a teen and that got me started looking back for influences.

I’m not trying to fuse all these genres / era’s all together under one name, but doing all of them at once under totally separate monikers, which is the most satisfying thing to me. They do influence each other, though, I’m sure.

Writing and recording skits, music and motion graphics for a series where David Lynch meets SCTV and Harmony Korinne.

I have a passion for figuring out people’s learning styles and mental blocks and helping them overcome the resistance of learning new things.

Fascinated with the idea of writing / designing a ridiculously funny, surreal, beautiful video game.

If you could go back in time and talk to yourself as a young multipotentialite, what would you say?

I would tell myself not to not goad myself into clinging on to one medium or form of expression just because everyone else seems to, and to reject the feeling like I should be more of something I’m not. I’d tell myself to figure out a way to make all those things work, instead of waiting for one to be the weakest link and cut it off.

I would also tell myself about Stephen Pressfield and Barbara Sher, for sure, that resistance is a thing that exists, and that I’m not wrong for changing my interests all the time. I would also tell myself to get started figuring out ways to make money off of each interest instead of putting that pressure on just one thing (especially music, where I just hoped that one day I’d get signed and the world would create a way for me).

Connect with Josh at anincrediblewasteoftime.com and on Twitter @lundquistjoshua.

Meet Bev

Bev Webb has been amazingly helpful in the Puttytribe. She is one of the wisest and warmest women I know, and she’s always making new puttypeep feel comfortable in the bi-monthly Euro-Timezone-Friendly huddle that she organizes and leads. Bev really goes above and beyond in reaching out and helping our multipotentialite community flourish. She’s also got an impressive background in the arts, and knows a TON about creativity and moving through creative blocks.

The Q&A with Bev

Why are you qualified to write about being a multipotentialite?

I’ve been a multipod my whole life, although for a long time I didn’t understand why I was different (or even that I was different). I also didn’t have a name for it back then, but that didn’t stop me from pursuing everything that interested me.

After uni, I started to develop a portfolio career which would allow me to encompass the majority of my interests. Creativity has always been my core overarching theme, and this has enabled me to do everything from performing in a fire circus and managing a hip-hop dance company, through to web consultancy, jewellery design and running community arts projects.

I like being able to break down boundaries and think it’s high time we had a wider definition of what’s considered “normal.”

How did you learn that you were a multipotentialite?

My first hint that I might be a multipod was when I incurred the wrath of my headteacher when applying to sixth form college (the equivalent of 12th grade in the US).

I thought it was totally normal to choose to study both art and maths. It made perfect sense to me and I couldn’t get my head around why this was such an issue to everybody else.

And the pattern just sort of continued from there. My interview for university went something like this:

Interviewer: “So what do you see yourself specialising in?”

Me: “Well, I’m quite interested in sculpture and 3D work, but I’d also like to do some printmaking, photography, animation, film-making and live art.”

Interviewer: “Yes, but what do you want to specialise in?”

Me: “All of them.”

Interviewer: “But you won’t be able to SPECIALISE in ALL of them!”

So to cut a long story short, my final degree show did indeed contain elements of all of the above. I was determined to prove that if I wanted to do all of them, then I darn well WOULD do ALL of them.

Why are you excited about writing for Puttylike?

Because it’s like coming home. I get to write about everything I find interesting and don’t have to pretend I’m something I’m not. The freedom to be me.

I mean seriously, what more could anyone ask for?

What are some of your current passions, projects, and fascinations?

Hmmm, that’s always a challenge as it varies week to week! Currently I’d say I’m totally intrigued by 3D printing, learning Italian, jewellery techniques, laser cutting and shoe-making.

Projects wise, I’m currently experimenting with creating online retreats for artists and creatives. Loneliness and isolation is a key issue for many creatives, who spend a lot of time working solo, so I’m exploring ways of bringing people together. We have the digital technology to make this happen, so let’s use it.

If you could go back in time and talk to yourself as a young multipotentialite, what would you say?

“For goodness sake, chill out!” I really wish someone had told me that it wasn’t some kind of ‘problem’ with me. That I wasn’t alone in my crazy ambition to follow so many interests.

Then (and this is going to show my age!) I’d say, “One day this amazing thing called the internet will be invented and you’ll be able to connect with people world-wide. People just like you. People who thought it was a problem with them too. Relax, you CAN do ALL the things you’re interested in … it WILL happen.”

Just knowing it would be possible would have been so reassuring. It would have saved me all that time and emotional energy which I invested trying to figure things out on my own!

https://youtu.be/FIqFthu0gQ8

Connect with Bev at Kickass-Creatives.com and on Twitter @creativekickass.

Your Turn

You’ll be hearing from Janet, Josh and Bev in the upcoming weeks. For now let’s give them a warm, multipod welcome in the comments!