Create Your Art

Darren Cooper
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  • Entrepreneurship
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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. 2d ago

    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

  2. Jul 14

    Why Charging for Work You Love Feels So Terrifying

    Most experts assume the hardest part of building a platform is the skill. It is not. It is the moment you decide to charge for the work closest to your heart. Christine Hakkola built a multi six figure coaching company, sold it, and built again, and she still says charging for the first time was shocking, terrifying, and overwhelming. In this conversation she breaks down the idea of the responsible risk, the small, survivable step that carries you from invisible to found, and why your passion is the very thing that makes putting a price on your work feel dangerous. ➡️ FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ The fear of being seen does not vanish when you succeed, it just gets easier to recognize as a liar ⚡️ Charging for the work closest to your heart is uniquely vulnerable because failing feels like failing at the thing you love most ⚡️ A responsible risk is small enough to survive being wrong and real enough that being right counts ⚡️ Big businesses are built from a series of responsible risks, not one giant leap ⚡️ Hearing your struggle named by a peer can be more powerful than hearing it from an expert TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — The fear that never goes away 01:00 — Why peers change everything 01:49 — Starting to charge for the first time 02:43 — Shocking, terrifying, overwhelming 03:12 — The 250 dollar Facebook post 04:38 — The light bulb moment, and the fear that followed 05:35 — Why charging for what you love is so vulnerable 07:28 — Taking a responsible risk 08:54 — Building and selling a business, one risk at a time 09:23 — Hitting the first domino CONNECT WITH US: Website: https://1898creative.com Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper CONNECT WITH CHRISTINE HAKKOLAH: Website: hakkolahorizons.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-hakkola 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 #responsiblerisk #coachingbusiness #imposter #findable #thoughtleadership #expertvisibility

  3. Jul 7

    The Lie That Keeps Skilled Experts Invisible with Christine Hakkola | Create Your Art Ep. 023

    Most skilled experts believe the same quiet lie: that one more credential, one more certification, one more course will finally make them feel ready to charge, to be visible, to put themselves out there. In this episode, Darren sits down with Christine Hakkola, who built a six-figure therapy practice and then a coaching company that served more than 6,000 practitioners, to take that lie apart. You will hear the Facebook post that terrified her, the $250 offer that filled in 24 hours, why she threw out the phrase "charge what you're worth," and the reframe that protects service providers from burnout. ➡️ FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ Confidence is built by having the courage to act, not by collecting credentials first ⚡️ The credential loop is a mask for the fear of being visible ⚡️ Stop asking "what am I worth" and start asking "what price makes this sustainable" ⚡️ Reverse-engineer your price from the life you need to fund, then design the offer around it ⚡️ The strategy that will grow your business probably already exists inside it: identify, systematize, amplify ⚡️ Most successful businesses feel boring to run, and boring is what builds profit TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Cold open 00:42 — Welcome and Christine's story 02:49 — Who Hakkola Horizons serves and why 04:39 — The mindset blocks that keep founders small 06:24 — Falling into business without realizing it 11:11 — The curse of knowledge and the credential trap 14:45 — Confidence comes from courage, not credentials 20:28 — The Facebook post that terrified her 23:25 — Why charging for what you love is so vulnerable 25:08 — Responsible risk and the power of baby steps 28:54 — Why "charge what you're worth" is the wrong question 35:55 — The three stages where founders burn out 40:23 — The strategy already inside your business 45:12 — Encouragement for anyone on the brink 48:33 — Where to find Christine CONNECT WITH US: 👉🏻 Website: https://1898creative.com 👉🏻 Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper CONNECT WITH CHRISTINE HAKKOLAH: Website: hakkolahorizons.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-hakkola 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 HASHTAGS: #createyourart #businesscoaching #impostersyndrome #servicebusiness #pricingstrategy #womenfounders #entrepreneurship

  4. Jun 30

    Why the Strongest People Run Toward the Storm

    This week was heavy, and Dustin Pead met it with one of the most grounded pictures of courage I have heard in a long time. We get into the difference between the fear that runs your life and the fear you actually respect, why you should plant something even when you do not know what will grow, and the image that stuck with me most, the buffalo that runs straight into the storm because the fastest way out is through. If you are in a hard season and tempted to shrink back, this one is for you. FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ There is a fear that breaks you and a fear you respect. Learn to dance with the second one. ⚡️ When you are in a new field and do not know what to plant, plant anyway. You learn from what grows. ⚡️ Quitting is the only guaranteed outcome. Going through the storm is the only path that leaves room for a different one. ⚡️ The pull you feel to create is not an accident. It is how you were wired. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — The fear that runs you vs the fear you respect 1:25 — Work hard and trust God 2:00 — When you do not know what to plant, plant anyway 3:23 — The only way through the valley is to keep walking 5:17 — Why the buffalo runs at the storm 6:45 — The guaranteed outcome of quitting 7:38 — You were wired to create, so go down swinging CONNECT WITH US: 👉🏻 Website: https://1898creative.com 👉🏻 Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper 👉🏻 Dustin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dustinpead If this story moved you, please: 👍 Give it a thumbs up 💬 Share your biggest takeaway in the comments 🔔 Subscribe so new episodes land automatically 📲 Send it to one person who needs to hear it HASHTAGS: #createyourart #1898creative #networking #careerpivot #smallbusiness #entrepreneurship

  5. Jun 23

    Why Your Contacts List Is Worth More Than You Think

    Twenty years of creative ministry ended for Dustin Pead on a single Friday. By Monday, the reality of a wife, kids, and a mortgage was staring him down. In this segment, Dustin walks Darren through how he rebuilt his livelihood from nothing, using the one asset he already had and had never thought to count: his contacts list. It is a story about the difference between simple and easy, the network you build without trying, and what it actually takes to start asking. FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ The move that saves you is rarely a new tactic. It is usually the relationships you already have. Your network is an asset you build slowly, long before the day you need it. ⚡️ Reaching out is simple but not easy, because it means admitting you need something. ⚡️ Working your contacts list on purpose, a few times a year, compounds over time. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Twenty years ended on a Friday 0:30 — The two questions that started everything 1:00 — The phone call that opened the first door 1:48 — Simple, but not easy 2:37 — Where the instinct to connect came from 4:01 — The friend who coached him free for a year 5:00 — Building a creatives meetup from a contacts list 5:58 — How to work the list with intention 7:26 — The scariest part, fear of losing the house 8:25 — The day job search and the nonprofit bridge 9:17 — The friend who covered the mortgage CONNECT WITH US: 👉🏻 Website: https://1898creative.com 👉🏻 Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper 👉🏻 Dustin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dustinpead If this story moved you, please: 👍 Give it a thumbs up 💬 Share your biggest takeaway in the comments 🔔 Subscribe so new episodes land automatically 📲 Send it to one person who needs to hear it HASHTAGS: #createyourart #1898creative #networking #careerpivot #smallbusiness #entrepreneurship

  6. Jun 16

    What 20 Years in Ministry Taught Him About Starting Over with Dustin Pead | Create Your Art Ep. 022

    Dustin Pead spent twenty years in creative ministry before that chapter ended in a way he never chose. With a wife, kids, a mortgage, and no plan, he rebuilt his career one phone contact at a time. He shares the question that became his catalyst, why he runs toward fear instead of away from it, and the purpose statement that keeps him steady on the hard days. This is a story about starting over with nothing but the one thing you are already good at. FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT: https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️Start with what you are already good at, not what you wish you were good at ⚡️Your existing contacts are the cheapest and warmest place to begin again ⚡️The fastest way out of a storm is straight through it ⚡️Separate the calling, which is settled, from the capability, which you rebuild daily ⚡️Systems, not last minute hustle, are what make excellence repeatable TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — The night he thought he would lose the house 00:39 — Welcome to Create Your Art 01:30 — Putting the co-host in the guest seat 02:24 — Twenty years in creative ministry 06:35 — The slow build of discontentment 09:50 — Pushed out of the boat 12:34 — The Rolodex that restarted everything 19:41 — What he was really afraid of 22:17 — A word from 1898 Creative 23:00 — Learning to dance with fear 27:38 — The buffalo and the storm 29:21 — Did he ever regret it 35:00 — What he does on the days he doubts himself 37:45 — Chief Creative Partners and the power of systems 44:15 — Different impact, not lesser impact 45:50 — His purpose statement 46:30 — Where to find Dustin 48:34 — Create your art CONNECT WITH US: 👉🏻 Website: https://1898creative.com 👉🏻 Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper 👉🏻 Dustin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dustinpead 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 HASHTAGS: #createyourart #entrepreneurship #faithandwork #creativebusiness #startingover

  7. Jun 9

    The Clock Hidden In The Logo For Sixteen Years

    Sean Kirby grew up with a clock in his family firm's logo and never knew why. When he finally asked his dad, the answer reframed his entire approach to wealth: time is the only asset you can't buy more of. In this conversation, Darren Cooper and Sean unpack how one buried idea changed the questions he asks clients, why he's trying to hand a seven-day-a-week business owner his life back, and what it actually means to be an artist even in the financial field. FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT: https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ Your most valuable idea is usually hidden in plain sight, unspoken because it feels obvious to you ⚡️ Where do you want to be" beats "how do I save on taxes" every time ⚡️ Real wealth gets measured in time and presence, not only in dollars ⚡️ The first hundred thousand (and the first deposits of any kind) are always the hardest ⚡️Imposter syndrome usually signals you're moving in the right direction, not the wrong one TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — The clock hiding in the logo 01:00 — Time is the only asset you can't buy more of 02:00 — Becoming a guide, not just an advisor 03:10 — Reframing money around the next twenty years 03:50 — The client who does everything himself 06:10 — Bigger than saving dollars 06:40 — Are financial advisors artists 07:10 — Imposter syndrome and the game of doubles 08:10 — It's not about me CONNECT WITH US: 👉🏻 Website: https://1898creative.com 👉🏻 Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper 👉🏻 Dustin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dustinpead CONNECT WITH SEAN: 👉🏻 Email: sean@performancegroupindiana.com 👉🏻 Website: https://performance.financial/ 👉🏻 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PerformanceGroupIN 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 HASHTAGS: #createyourart #financialadvisor #timefreedom #thoughtleadership #podcast #wealthbuilding

  8. Jun 2

    The Only Asset You Can't Buy Back with Sean Kirby | Create Your Art Ep. 021

    He spent his twenties chasing a million dollars by thirty. He got four kids instead. In this conversation, financial advisor Sean Kirby breaks down why time, not money, is the only asset you cannot buy more of. He walks through the exact goal sheet he uses with clients to stop lifestyle creep, build a real scoreboard, and decide on purpose where your life is actually going. If you have ever hit a number and felt nothing, this one is for you. FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT: https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️Time is the only asset you cannot buy more of, and most people never act like it ⚡️Run a yearly self assessment wheel before you ever touch a budget ⚡️Your net worth statement is a scoreboard, and most people are losing without knowing it ⚡️Give every dollar a job before lifestyle inflation gives it one ⚡️You can automate money, but the daily deposit into health, faith, and family is on you TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — The millionaire goal that changed 00:31 — Why "invest your time wisely" became the mantra 05:45 — The clock in the logo, and the question nobody asked 14:16 — Three practical first steps, starting with a budget 16:36 — The fishbowl problem and lifestyle inflation 21:53 — A word from 1898 Creative 22:18 — The goal sheet, step by step 23:42 — The self assessment wheel 25:32 — How to do a net worth statement 27:41 — The richest guy at the airport 29:38 — Your wins are not worth what they cost 34:48 — Why "peace" is now the goal at the top of the list 41:21 — The two year gap and the imposter syndrome 47:23 — It is not about the 99, it is about the one 52:27 — Three things to remember CONNECT WITH US: 👉🏻 Website: https://1898creative.com 👉🏻 Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper 👉🏻 Dustin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dustinpead CONNECT WITH SEAN KIRBY: Website: https://performance.financial/ 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 #investyourtimewisely #financialfreedom #goalsetting #netbeforegross #podcast #thoughtleadership

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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

Information

  • Creator
    Darren Cooper
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Darren Cooper
  • Show Website
    Create Your Art