Create Your Art

Darren Cooper

I'm Darren Cooper, and I believe something that might sound crazy...every one of us is an artist. Not the kind with a paintbrush. The kind that looks at their life, their message, and decides it's worth giving to the world. Every episode, I sit down with ordinary people doing extraordinary things with their one life (coaches, leaders, entrepreneurs, pastors), those who had something worth creating, and finally stopped waiting for permission. My hope is simple. That somewhere in their story you hear your own. And that you walk away convinced that your voice matters and your art deserves to e

  1. 5 days ago

    What Happens When You Stop Waiting for the Map

    Erik Cooper started college as a music major, graduated with an accounting degree, spent two or three years at a CPA firm, and then landed in full time ministry completely by accident. Twelve years later, a phone call brought him back to the family business he now leads. He never saw any of it coming, and that turns out to be the point. Darren sits down with his brother Erik, president of The Stone Table, to talk about open doors, gray hair, royalty checks that barely cover Chili's, and why not being able to see the whole plan might be the most useful thing that ever happens to you. ➡️ FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ Conviction rarely arrives before the decision. Erik had no early whisper about ministry. He had a plan that specifically excluded it. ⚡️ Nothing in your background is wasted and nothing in it is sufficient. The music and the accounting both mattered, and neither looked like preparation at the time. ⚡️ Internal restlessness came first, external confirmation came second. He was already paying attention before there was anything to confirm. ⚡️ Whatever forces you to trust more is working for you, not against you. ⚡️ You only see the shape of it in arrears. Obedience for the next step is the entire assignment. ⏰ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 The plan that did not include ministry 00:52 A recovering accountant with an accounting degree 01:50 The call back to the family business 03:14 What about Erik 03:41 The family pattern of walking through open doors 04:11 Why you do not get to see the whole picture 05:37 What twelve years in ministry actually meant 06:03 The music major who graduated in accounting 07:25 Writing songs before writing songs was cool 07:50 The forty seven cent royalty check 08:17 When God winks at you 09:08 Seeing faithfulness in arrears 💼 CONNECT WITH US: Website: https://1898creative.com Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper The Stone Table: https://www.thestonetable.org CRF: https://crf.net If this episode helped you, please: 👍 Give it a thumbs up 💬 Share your biggest takeaway in the comments 🔔 Subscribe for weekly content strategy insights 📲 Share with a fellow entrepreneur who needs to hear this HASHTAGS: #createyourart #faithandwork #businessasmission #nextstep #calling #entrepreneurship #thestonetable #findable

  2. 1 Sept

    Why Your Monday Matters as Much as Your Sunday | Create Your Art Ep. 027

    Erik Cooper spent twelve years in full-time ministry, then walked back into the business world and could not answer one question. Why does God care at all about renting apartments? The search for that answer led him to a room in Seymour, Indiana, where six grown men wept at the front after he shared some notes he describes as terrible. It also led to The Stone Table, a giving organization that has channeled millions into global missions over the last decade. Erik is president of The Stone Table and serves in executive leadership at Community Reinvestment Foundation, the nonprofit affordable housing company his father Dave Cooper co-founded in 1992. He is also Darren's older brother, which makes this the second half of a family story that started last week. ➡️ FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit 🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ You never feel ready, and readiness was never the qualification for the next step ⚡️ Insecurity in a leader is not a private problem, it costs the people around you ⚡️ The message you assume everyone already knows is usually the one nobody has said out loud ⚡️ You cannot replicate what someone built, but you can replicate why they built it ⚡️ Culture takes three to five years to shift, and moving faster can break what you inherited ⏰ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Cold open 00:52 Welcome to Create Your Art 01:47 Comparing notes with Dad's episode 02:45 What pulled him out of twelve years in ministry 04:05 A recovering accountant with a degree in it 05:28 The conversations that started before anyone said them out loud 06:57 Walking through the next open door 08:24 What a decade in music ministry actually meant 10:18 Writing songs before every church wrote songs 12:35 Why you only see it in arrears 13:31 The day he walked in as the dumbest guy in the room 15:58 Dealing with your fears before they hurt someone else 16:50 Why are we really in this business 18:08 Was affordable housing the point or the opportunity 20:01 Selling the portfolio and the next pivot 20:45 Sponsor break 21:15 The art of creating a new reality 22:18 Different artistic skills for different seasons 24:13 None of us reflect the fullness of our creator alone 26:23 The artist in us is an insecure little child 27:48 How CRF actually works in thirty seconds 29:12 Pastor Tom Paino and a second mantle 31:49 You do not step in because you are worthy 33:18 Why they named it The Stone Table 36:37 Channeling is the big word there 37:36 Why does God care about renting apartments 38:29 The books that started to answer it 39:26 Six men weeping at the front of the room 40:23 Fifty years in business and nobody told him 41:12 A different seat, the same calling 44:00 Honoring what came before without going stale 46:15 Three to five years to shift a culture 48:09 Be humble, be patient, be courageous 52:23 Your first domino 💼 CONNECT WITH US: Website: https://1898creative.com Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper The Stone Table: https://www.thestonetable.org CRF: https://crf.net If this episode helped you, please: 💬 Share your biggest takeaway in the comments 🔔 Subscribe for weekly content strategy insights 📲 Share with a fellow entrepreneur who needs to hear this HASHTAGS: #createyourart #faithandwork #businessasmission #marketplaceministry #leadership #succession #callingandwork #entrepreneurship #thestonetable #podcast

  3. 25 Aug

    Why 48 Is The Perfect Age to Start Something New

    At 48 years old, Dave Cooper started the work that would define the next 30 plus years of his life. Before that, he taught ninth grade business math for exactly one year, audited hospitals for a health insurance company in Philadelphia, and became a CPA only because a job required it. He never planned any of it. He kept walking through the next open door and letting the room tell him the truth. Darren Cooper sits down with his dad to trace the 25 unremarkable years that made the remarkable ones possible, and to answer the question a lot of people quietly ask themselves. Is it too late for me? ➡️ FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit 🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ Starting at 48 is not a late start, it is an accumulated one ⚡️ You cannot think your way to clarity, you have to walk into the room and let it answer ⚡️ Quitting a job in twelve months is not failure, it is being willing to be corrected by reality ⚡️ The season where nobody is watching is usually the season doing the most work ⚡️ Availability opens more doors than qualification does ⏰ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - Some people are washed up at 26 00:45 - Graduating in 1968 and the year of teaching ninth graders 02:00 - The Medicare audit job and the move to Philadelphia 03:25 - A homecoming, a joke, and a phone call from Indianapolis 04:44 - The ketchup factory lesson 05:35 - Becoming a CPA at night while working full days 07:03 - An empty office, a dark winter, and what have I done 08:28 - What kept him from retreating 09:17 - That must be where your son gets it 💼 CONNECT WITH US: Website: https://1898creative.com Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper If this episode helped you, please: 💬 Share your biggest takeaway in the comments 🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations on creating your art 📲 Share with a fellow creator who needs to hear this HASHTAGS: #createyourart #firstdomino #bryanneale #podcasting #getunstuck #entrepreneurship #creativeentrepreneur

  4. 18 Aug

    Why It Is Never Too Late to Start Something That Matters | Create Your Art Ep. 026

    At forty-eight, Dave Cooper had a resume full of half-finished chapters and no master plan. A ninth grade teacher who quit after a year, a ketchup factory shift he never forgot, a CPA firm he walked away from over lunch. Then one dinner conversation became Community Reinvestment Foundation, a nonprofit real estate engine that now sits on more than a hundred million dollars and funnels millions into missions work around the world. Darren sits down with his dad to trace a life built one open door at a time, and the quiet conviction that turned the next logical step into a legacy. ➡️ FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit 🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ The failure is almost never in the process. It is the failure to start. ⚡️ Going broke is a math problem, not a verdict on who you are. ⚡️ You climb out of a hole one step at a time. The trampoline never works. ⚡️ The first domino is smaller than you think (a registration page, a seventy-five dollar LLC, a phone call). ⚡️ You will never feel ready, so that cannot be the requirement. ⚡️ Discipline creates freedom, even for a visionary. ⏰ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - The lunch where he quit 00:48 - Welcome to Create Your Art 01:46 - Thirty years, millions given, one conversation 09:27 - Starting at forty-eight and why it is never too late 10:55 - The ninth grade classroom he left after a year 13:48 - A joke at homecoming becomes a job in Indy 19:48 - Quitting over lunch and calling home 23:08 - Building a nursing home company from the next step 28:52 - A quick word from 1898 Creative 30:00 - Setbacks, a lost deal, and a plane crash 44:56 - How he pushed through discouragement 50:09 - Why he built it to give it all away 54:46 - The closing charge for anyone sitting on an idea CONNECT WITH DARREN: Website: https://1898creative.com Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper ABOUT CREATE YOUR ART: This podcast exists to help mission-driven entrepreneurs and service providers find their voice and create the impact they're meant to make in the world. Hosted by Darren Cooper, founder of 1898 Creative. If this episode helped you, please: ⬇️ Drop your "art" in the comments — what's the thing you're here to create? ✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations with industry artists 📲 Share with a fellow creator who needs to hear this Ready to start your podcast? Book a call at https://1898creative.com HASHTAGS: #createyourart #entrepreneurship #legacy #faithandwork #missions #startnow #buildsomething

  5. 11 Aug

    The One Small Action That Changes Everything

    Most people never fail at the plan. They fail at the start. In this conversation, Super Bowl official and sales coach Bryan Neale breaks down the idea he has taught from stages for years: the first domino. It is the smallest possible action that turns a stuck idea into a moving one, and it is almost never the thing you think it is. From registering for a marathon to buying a podcast kit to his own decades long climb to the NFL, Bryan shows why waiting to feel ready is just a polite way of never beginning. ➡️ FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit 🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ The failure is rarely in the process. It is in the failure to start. ⚡️ The first domino is the first action, and it is usually the smallest one. ⚡️ Planning the whole path scares people out of ever beginning. ⚡️ You will never feel ready, so readiness cannot be the requirement. ⚡️ Small, steady movement beats one massive push every time. ⏰ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - Little action beats massive action 00:52 - Climbing out of bankruptcy one small step at a time 01:10 - The first domino principle explained 01:40 - Why register is the real first domino for a marathon 02:34 - The seventy five dollar first domino for starting a podcast 03:52 - What the road to the NFL taught Bryan about starting 06:02 - The flying lessons demo and why you will never be ready 💼 CONNECT WITH US: Website: https://1898creative.com Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper 🎙️ CONNECT WITH BRYAN NEALE: Website: https://www.bryanneale.com Blind Zebra: https://blind-zebra.com The Advanced Selling Podcast If this episode helped you, please: 💬 Share your biggest takeaway in the comments 🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations on creating your art 📲 Share with a fellow creator who needs to hear this HASHTAGS: #createyourart #firstdomino #bryanneale #podcasting #getunstuck #entrepreneurship #creativeentrepreneur

  6. 4 Aug

    The Failure Isn't in the Process, It's in Not Starting | Create Your Art Ep. 025

    Most people think the reason they haven't started the business, the podcast, or the book is that they aren't ready yet. Bryan Neale, founder of Blind Zebra and a Super Bowl NFL referee, went bankrupt before he built any of it, and he is convinced readiness was never the requirement. In this conversation, Bryan and Darren dig into the reframe that pulled Bryan out of shame, why the first domino is never the one you expect, and how a lifelong visionary discovered that discipline is what creates freedom. If you have been almost starting something for years, this one is for you. ➡️ FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit 🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ The failure is almost never in the process. It is the failure to start. ⚡️ Going broke is a math problem, not a verdict on who you are. ⚡️ You climb out of a hole one step at a time. The trampoline never works. ⚡️ The first domino is smaller than you think (a registration page, a seventy-five dollar LLC, a phone call). ⚡️ You will never feel ready, so that cannot be the requirement. ⚡️ Discipline creates freedom, even for a visionary. ⏰ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Cold open 00:41 Welcome to Create Your Art 02:06 Standing at the center of a Super Bowl 02:30 Why the pressure is in the buildup, not the game 04:40 Reps, the ten thousand hour rule, and an empty stadium at 6am 09:00 Before Blind Zebra, there was bankruptcy 15:42 You are not a bad person, you just cannot add 20:00 The first domino is never what you think 25:52 A word from 1898 Creative 27:50 The birth of Blind Zebra 33:10 Building an operating system, and discipline creates freedom 45:27 Detach and play the next play, and the 24 hour rule 50:52 What he would tell you, and the war of art 53:36 Why you have to use video, and closing CONNECT WITH Bryan Neale: Bryan Neale and Blind Zebra: https://blind-zebra.com Bryan's podcast: The Advanced Selling Podcast ABOUT CREATE YOUR ART: This podcast exists to help mission-driven entrepreneurs and service providers find their voice and create the impact they're meant to make in the world. Hosted by Darren Cooper, founder of 1898 Creative. If this episode helped you, please:⬇️ Drop your "art" in the comments — what's the thing you're here to create?✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations with industry artists📲 Share with a fellow creator who needs to hear this Ready to start your podcast? Book a call at https://1898creative.com HASHTAGS: #createyourart #firstdomino #BlindZebra #podcastforcreators #juststart #entrepreneurship #foundstory #salesleadership #courage #contentcreation

  7. 28 Jul

    Why I Stopped Asking Permission to Be an Artist

    Most of us are waiting for someone with authority to tell us our work counts. PJ Towle waited too, until a college professor stood him up in front of a color theory class and made him defend why his work was even art. In this segment, PJ tells Darren about growing up the artist kid in a black and white house, the moment that rejection nearly killed the thing he loved, and how it turned into the freedom to create on his own terms. It is a story about who actually gets the final say on whether you are an artist. Spoiler, it is not the person grading you. ➡️ FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ Nobody outside of you gets the final say on whether your work is art ⚡️ Rejection can be a fork in the road, not a verdict ⚡️ Creative energy does not disappear when one door closes, it redirects ⚡️ The people who need your work are rarely the ones grading it TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — The artist kid in a black and white house 01:50 — Trombone, bass, and learning to create in front of people 02:50 — A call to ministry at sixteen 03:20 — Declaring an art major as the hedge 04:30 — When the department turned on him 05:30 — Made to stand up and defend why it was art 07:15 — The freeing moment hidden in the rejection 08:30 — Creativity redirected into music 09:30 — Graduating early and what came next CONNECT WITH US: Website: https://1898creative.com Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper CONNECT WITH PJ TOWLE: Website: https://www.fortythreecreative.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pjtowle If this episode helped you, please: 👍🏻 Give it a thumbs up ⬇️ Drop your "art" in the comments — what's the thing you're here to create? ✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations with industry artists 📲 Share with a fellow creator who needs to hear this HASHTAGS: #createyourart #findyourvoice #artistmindset #creativeentrepreneur #personalbranding #podcast

  8. 21 Jul

    Why I Stopped Trying to Be a One Man Band with PJ Towle | Create Your Art Ep. 024

    Most creatives believe the lie that they have to build it all themselves. PJ Towle spent close to twenty years pouring his creativity into the church, lost his love of art to a college professor who told him what did and did not count, and walked away from a secure job with two kids at home and no plan beyond a single prayer. What he found on the other side was not a bigger hustle. It was a band. In this conversation, PJ and Darren get into why creative collaboration is the most overlooked commodity in business right now, how to trade a scarcity mindset for an abundance one, and what actually carries you through fear. ➡️ FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ Being told what your art should be can shut a door in you for years, and reopening it is a choice ⚡️ Leaving was not quitting a job, it was stepping into the next adventure ⚡️ You help people amplify their story, you are the producer, not the artist ⚡️ Creative collaboration is the biggest missing commodity in creative businesses right now ⚡️ The antidote to fear is movement, and not being alone TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Cold open 00:46 — Welcome and introducing PJ 02:50 — Twenty years of creative work inside the church 06:18 — Declaring an art major and the professor who killed it 09:33 — Walking away from art and pouring it into music 14:47 — Taking the worship job and building creative teams 17:32 — Art has a purpose beyond being creative 25:03 — The start of forty:three (and the PM Design origin story) 29:45 — Renaming to forty:three creative and a new song from Psalm 40 31:— 40 Leaving the church and a full client book in a weekend 33:13 — Scared out of my mind, the crossroads 35:31 — The dinner with the in-laws 36:28 — A word from 1898 Creative 37:24 — Leaving a job or choosing an adventure 42:00 — The amplify epiphany 44:52 — Why I stopped trying to be a one man band 49:43 — Collaboration as a core value 54:03 — Scarcity versus abundance for creatives 01:02:38 — Advice for the person wrestling with the leap 01:06:33 — Movement and not being alone CONNECT WITH US: Website: https://1898creative.com Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper CONNECT WITH PJ TOWLE: Website: https://www.fortythreecreative.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pjtowle If this episode helped you, please: 👍🏻 Give it a thumbs up ⬇️ Drop your "art" in the comments — what's the thing you're here to create? ✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations with industry artists 📲 Share with a fellow creator who needs to hear this HASHTAGS: #createyourart #creativecollaboration #podcast #1898creative #creativeentrepreneur

About

I'm Darren Cooper, and I believe something that might sound crazy...every one of us is an artist. Not the kind with a paintbrush. The kind that looks at their life, their message, and decides it's worth giving to the world. Every episode, I sit down with ordinary people doing extraordinary things with their one life (coaches, leaders, entrepreneurs, pastors), those who had something worth creating, and finally stopped waiting for permission. My hope is simple. That somewhere in their story you hear your own. And that you walk away convinced that your voice matters and your art deserves to e