Absolutely Sure, No Idea

Piper Watson & David Richardson
  • 5.0 (26)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • WEEKLY SERIES

Some paths don't come with directions. This show is for the people who went for it anyway. Absolutely Sure, No Idea is a podcast hosted by Piper Watson and David Richardson — real conversations with artists, entrepreneurs, and creative people who chose their own path and built something extraordinary because of it.

Season 1

  1. Two Friends. No Map. One Podcast. Meet Piper and David

    EPISODE 1

    Two Friends. No Map. One Podcast. Meet Piper and David

    Some people take the conventional path and spend years wondering what the other one looked like. Some people take the unconventional one and spend years wondering if they made a mistake. This show is for the second group. Absolutely Sure, No Idea is a podcast about creative people, creative career changers, and unconventional entrepreneurs who chose a path without a roadmap — and are still figuring it out. Hosted by Piper Watson and David Richardson, two people who've known each other since the nineties, grown up on opposite coasts, and each built incredible creative pathways without knowing exactly what it was going to look like. In this intro episode, they get into who they are and why this show exists — David's journey from fronting a band on the Warped Tour circuit to building a cornerstone of San Francisco's queer club scene, getting sober, and eventually becoming a substance abuse counselor. Piper's path from art school to a 3,000-mile bicycle trip through Eastern Europe to National Geographic photo camps to LGBTQ wedding photography to running a nonprofit and becoming a coach. And the moment on a mountain road in the Czech Republic where her life changed forever. What it actually feels like to not know what's next — and do it anywayThe difference between being known for something and building something that means somethingWhy the conventional path felt like it was never quite built for either of themWhat "absolutely sure, no idea" means to each of them personally Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

    34 min
  2. Amy Toensing, National Geographic Photographer: When the Work Keeps Getting Harder to Fund

    EPISODE 2

    Amy Toensing, National Geographic Photographer: When the Work Keeps Getting Harder to Fund

    Making a living as a documentary photographer has never been easy — but right now, it's a different kind of hard. National Geographic contributor Amy Toensing has spent over two decades doing the work anyway, and this conversation is about what that actually costs, and why she keeps doing it. Today, Piper and David sit down with Amy Toensing — award-winning documentary photographer, visual journalist, and longtime National Geographic contributor whose work has taken her from Indigenous communities in Australia to opioid-ravaged towns in rural Ohio. Amy co-directed INHERITANCE (2024), a vérité documentary 11 years in the making that premiered at Slamdance and toured communities across the country. Amy didn't pick up a camera because she wanted a career — she picked it up because it made the world feel more legible. What followed was two decades of fieldwork, a creative partnership with her filmmaker husband Matt, a production company, a kid, and an 11-year film nobody was really paying them to make. The industry she built that life inside of has been quietly contracting ever since. This is a conversation about what staying in it actually looks like. Piper and David are surprised to hear why Amy's most meaningful image isn't from Papua New Guinea or Uganda — it's from a quiet lakeside campsite in the Adirondacks Hear what happens when an industry that trained you to hide behind the camera suddenly tells you to put yourself in front of itSit with the question Amy and her husband revisit almost every week — and why there's no clean answerUnpack what it actually takes to follow one family for 11 years when documentary funding only goes to celebrity stories and true crimeHear about the easier path that would have required her to stop creating entirely — and what she did with it Send this one to the creative person in your life who's been quietly wondering if staying scrappy is still a valid plan. LINKS: INHERITANCE (2024): https://www.inheritancethemovie.com Amy Toensing: https://www.amytoensing.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amytoensing If this one resonated, our conversation with Keenan Newman— a documentary filmmaker who made peace with using commercial work to fund the stories that actually matter — covers similar territory from a different angle. And our episode with Kim Manfredi, painter and yoga studio founder, gets into what creative reinvention actually looks like when you're doing it midlife without a roadmap. Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

    1h 1m
  3. Music Was Cheaper Than Therapy. Musician Terra Lopez On Industry Burnout, Grief, and Falling Back in Love With Creating

    EPISODE 3

    Music Was Cheaper Than Therapy. Musician Terra Lopez On Industry Burnout, Grief, and Falling Back in Love With Creating

    When burnout finally catches up with you, it doesn't always arrive as exhaustion — sometimes it arrives as a blood transfusion and a doctor telling you your heart might stop. Musician and mental health advocate Terra Lopez has spent over a decade making music as Rituals of Mine, building a career in an industry she loves, and quietly burning out doing it. Today, Piper and David sit down with Terra Lopez — Sacramento-born musician, activist, NPR podcast host, and Community Manager at Backline, the nonprofit connecting music industry professionals with free mental health resources. Terra fronts the electronic R&B project Rituals of Mine, has toured with Deftones, Alice in Chains, and The Mars Volta, and hosts This Is What It Feels Like, which won NPR's Best Interview Award in 2024. Terra started making music because it was cheaper than therapy. What followed was a decade of wearing every hat — artist, publicist, activist, podcast host — until her body made the decision she wouldn't. This conversation is about what happens after that, and what it actually looks like to fall back in love with something you almost walked away from. Hear the story of the week Terra was ready to quit music entirely — and the unexpected guest the universe dropped in her lap in returnUnpack how she found work to truly sustain her music, and the key thing to look for.Hear why momentum isn't just a ‘nice to have’ for her — but a prescription for mental wellbeing. If this one hit close, our conversation with Amy Toensing — National Geographic documentary photographer on keeping a creative career alive when the industry keeps getting harder — covers similar ground from a different angle. And our episode with Kim Manfredi gets into what it looks like to rebuild your creative identity after you've let one version of it go. Terra Lopez: https://www.instagram.com/terralopez Rituals of Mine: https://www.instagram.com/ritualsofmine This Is What It Feels Like / TIWILF Project: https://www.instagram.com/tiwiflproject Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

    51 min
  4. Jinji Fraser, Raw Chocolate Maker: On Building a Business Without a Plan and Honoring Family Legacy

    EPISODE 4

    Jinji Fraser, Raw Chocolate Maker: On Building a Business Without a Plan and Honoring Family Legacy

    Jinji didn't go into this thinking she'd own a business. She arrived, looked around, and thought — how has this even happened? Thirteen years later she's still asking that question, just from a much deeper place. This conversation covers what it actually feels like to stay inside something without a plan, let it evolve, and trust that the next version of it will make sense when it gets here. Today, Piper and David sit down with Jinji Fraser — award-winning craft chocolate maker, founder of Jinji Chocolate, and collaborator with Cacao Road Media, a documentary series amplifying stories of resilience across the cacao supply chain. Jinji has spent over a decade working alongside her father and best friend, advocating for women- and family-owned cacao farms, and building a business that keeps revealing new reasons to exist. We explore what it looks like when a business finds you instead of trying to plan it to a tee.The breakfast conversation with her dad that completely changed her personal mission behind the chocolate.Where the work is going next — and why it has nothing to do with chocolate bars Jinji Chocolate: https://www.jinjichocolate.com Cacao Road Documentary Series: https://www.instagram.com/cacaoroad If this one resonated, our conversation with Terra Lopez — musician, activist, and someone who's rebuilt her relationship with her own creative work from the ground up — is worth your time. And Amy Toensing's episode gets into what it looks like to keep going inside a life you've built when the conditions around it keep changing. Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

    51 min
  5. Whoever Cuts the Check Sets the Deck: Rapper DDM on Artistic Integrity and Funding Your Vision

    EPISODE 5

    Whoever Cuts the Check Sets the Deck: Rapper DDM on Artistic Integrity and Funding Your Vision

    DDM has been building a creative career in Baltimore — a city he'll be the first to tell you wasn't designed for it — for over two decades. He's done it mostly on his own terms, mostly with his own money, and with a clarity about the difference between art and fame that most people spend their whole career trying to figure out. Today, Piper and David sit down with Dapper Dan Midas, a.k.a. DDM — Baltimore rapper, performer, culture commentator, and host of the Secretary of Shade YouTube channel, which has amassed over 23,000 subscribers through live book readings and sharp political and pop culture commentary. DDM currently stars in the short film F^¢k '€m R!ght B@¢k, which premiered at Sundance and is streaming on Paramount+ and Showtime. DDM came up in the rap battle scene not to be a battle rapper, but because that's how you got noticed in Baltimore in 2005. In the following two decades of self-funded projects and a vision that was always bigger than the budget, DDM shares an honest reckoning with what the public actually wants from you versus what you want to make. This episode went places we didn't see coming and has more genius one-liners per minute than anything we've ever recorded! The conversation goes from rap battles to wrestling to anxiety to his mom visiting mid-episode — and somehow it all connects He's got a theory about art and fame that will make you rethink your creative decisions And how to build a creative career from a city that doesn't manufacture fame If you’ve ever been stuck between making art you want and making what sells, give this episode a listen. Secretary of Shade: https://www.youtube.com/c/SecretaryOfShade DDM on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dapperdanmidas/ If you liked this episode, our conversation with Terra Lopez — musician and activist on burnout, creative identity, and making art on your own terms — covers similar ground from a different angle. And Jinji Fraser's episode gets into what it looks like to build something without a roadmap and trust it anyway. Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

    53 min
  6. Yoga Studio Founder to Contemporary Artist: Kim Manfredi on Reinvention and the Tension Between Art and Livelihood

    EPISODE 6

    Yoga Studio Founder to Contemporary Artist: Kim Manfredi on Reinvention and the Tension Between Art and Livelihood

    Abstract painter Kim Manfredi ran one of Baltimore's most beloved yoga studios for 15 years. Before that, a decorative painting company for 15 years. She was just waiting for the moment to say yes to painting again. This one's for anyone who's walked away from an opportunity because something else needed them more — and wondered for years whether that was the right call. Today, Piper and David sit down with Kim Manfredi — abstract painter, founder of Charm City Yoga, and one of Piper's former teachers. Kim earned her MFA from MICA studying under Grace Hartigan and Joyce Kozloff, and her painting Sillmangreen was acquired by the Palm Springs Art Museum for its permanent collection. She has an upcoming solo exhibition and outdoor public commission at the Laguna Art Museum in 2026. Kim was represented by C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore and walked away from it to stay committed to the yoga community that had grown out of the carriage house where her decorative painting company worked. She went back to graduate school twenty years after her undergraduate degree. When the art path presented itself again, she recognized it. This conversation is about what it takes to keep choosing the same thing across a life that keeps changing shape around it. Walking away from a promising opportunity with the Grimaldis Gallery in her early career to run a businessThe "old lady role models" she found when she needed proof that being found later was still possibleHow she structures each body of work so she can find freedomWhat it actually looks like to sell enough to support a practice Kim Manfredi: https://www.kimmanfredi.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimmanfredi/ If you liked this episode, our conversation with Melanie Mishler — on walking away from a successful creative business to follow what you were actually called to do — covers similar territory. And Amy Toensing's episode gets into what it looks like to keep a creative practice alive when the conditions keep changing around it. Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

    1h 7m
  7. Jeff Bratton, Indie Record Label Founder: On Building a Career Around Music You Love

    EPISODE 7

    Jeff Bratton, Indie Record Label Founder: On Building a Career Around Music You Love

    Most people who love music stay fans. Jeff Bratton started reaching out to labels he loved while still working corporate PR — and just kept leaning into whatever door had give. That was the late 2000s. Cascine Records came out the other side of it. Today, Piper and David sit down with Jeff Bratton — founder of independent record label Cascine and artist manager for Yeule, Casey MQ, and Com Truise. Cascine has become a genuine touchstone in indie, electronic, and experimental music, built without a major label, a blueprint, or any particular certainty about what came next. Jeff grew up in Maryland, fell in love with music in the DC and Baltimore rave scene, and spent years working in corporate PR before reaching out to the labels he actually cared about and offering to help for free. This conversation is less about how he built Cascine and more about what he believes made it worth building — and what it actually takes to survive in a creative industry when there are no guarantees. Hear why community isn't optional when you're making something without a blueprint. And what he and David found in each other early on — and why wise friendships might be the whole thing Cascine: https://www.cascine.us Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cascine Gallerie: https://www.gallerie.us/ Listen to our conversation with DDM — on building a creative career entirely on your own terms — it covers similar territory. And Jinji Fraser's episode gets into what it looks like to stay inside something without a plan and trust where it leads. Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

    1h 3m
  8. Melanie Mishler, Manifestation Coach: From Wedding Photographer to Hiding Your Woo to the F**k It Moment That Changed Everything

    EPISODE 8

    Melanie Mishler, Manifestation Coach: From Wedding Photographer to Hiding Your Woo to the F**k It Moment That Changed Everything

    The ache that something more is possible is easy to ignore — until it isn't. Manifestation coach and somatic teacher Melanie Mishler had a successful wedding photography business, a home in Belize, flexibility most people dream about. She was also quietly suppressing the work she actually felt called to do, and her body knew it before she did. Today, Piper and David sit down with Melanie Mishler — manifestation teacher, trauma-informed somatic coach, creator of the Neuro-Somatic Manifesting™ method, host of Manifest with Melanie, and author of Women Who Want More. Melanie guides women over 40 to break free from the patterns keeping them stuck — through a blend of neuroscience, embodiment, and spiritual practice that she spent years hiding from her professional world before she finally stopped. Melanie went from somatic therapist to wedding photographer to manifestation coach — not in a straight line, not with a plan, and not without a lot of sitting on the thing she really wanted to say. This conversation is about what finally made her stop waiting, and what happened when she did. Why the more successful you are, the harder it is to pivot — and what that actually costs youThe f**k it moment — and what being messy has to do with clarityHer closing advice, which Piper immediately said should be on a t-shirt Manifest with Melanie Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/manifest-with-melanie/id1733330696 Website: https://melaniemishler.com Love the pod today? You’ll love our conversation with Kris Prochaska — licensed therapist and human design expert on identity, self-trust, and permission to be who you actually are. And Terra Lopez's episode gets into what it looks like when your body finally forces the conversation your mind has been avoiding. Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

    41 min
  9. Commercial Sets to Climate Refugees: Filmmaker Keenan Newman on Art, Activism, and Storytelling

    EPISODE 9

    Commercial Sets to Climate Refugees: Filmmaker Keenan Newman on Art, Activism, and Storytelling

    Keenan Newman built a filmmaking career on the belief that stories have power. Then he stood in a Yup'ik village in Alaska filming people tear down their homes — and started to wonder about the limits of that belief. Today, Piper and David sit down with Keenan Newman — documentary filmmaker and photographer based in Ventura, California, whose work has taken him from a Yup'ik village in Western Alaska to the West Bank to the Park Avenue Armory. His recent projects include NEWTOK, a film about the first climate refugees within US borders, and ASSEMBLY, which documents artist and activist Rashad Newsom's work toward Black queer liberation. Keenan started in commercial work because he couldn't afford film school. Ten years later he was trying to figure out how to leave it. This conversation is about what gets clarified along the way — about what your role actually is, what art can and can't do, and what it looks like to build a creative life around something you believe in. The moment in Alaska that made him question what he was doing there with a cameraGoing from wanting his name on the marquee to seeing his role as service — and what changed thatHow his definition of success in filmmaking has shifted over the last five yearsThe feast or famine reality of freelance filmmaking — and why he doesn't think it's going away Keenan Newman: https://keenan.film ASSEMBLY: https://assemblythefilm.com NEWTOK: https://www.patagonia.com/stories/newtok/video-116909.html If this one stayed with you, our conversation with Amy Toensing — National Geographic documentary photographer on keeping important work alive when the industry stops funding it — covers similar ground. And DDM's episode gets into what it looks like to make art entirely on your own terms when nobody's cutting the check. Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

    1h 6m

  10. SEASON 1 TRAILER

    Season 1 Trailer: Absolutely Sure, No Idea

    TRAILER — Absolutely Sure, No Idea If you've ever made a life path decision you couldn't fully explain — changed careers, bet on yourself, walked away from something that looked great on paper — you already know what this show is about. Absolutely Sure, No Idea is for the person who's already made some version of the leap. Not the wide-eyed beginner. The one who's been in it, had some wins, taken some hits, and is still figuring out what's next. Hosted by Piper and David, this is a show about creative careers, unconventional paths, and the honest, sometimes uncomfortable reality of building a life that looks a lot different than everyone else around you. Every episode features artists, entrepreneurs, and builders who've done something without a roadmap — and lived to talk about what that actually looked like. Sometimes funny, sometimes heart-breaking, but always thought-provoking real conversations with people who chose the harder, messier, more alive version of things. Season 1 is out now. Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode. Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

    1 min

Trailer

5
out of 5
26 Ratings

About

Some paths don't come with directions. This show is for the people who went for it anyway. Absolutely Sure, No Idea is a podcast hosted by Piper Watson and David Richardson — real conversations with artists, entrepreneurs, and creative people who chose their own path and built something extraordinary because of it.

Information

  • Creator
    Piper Watson & David Richardson
  • Episodes
    10
  • Seasons
    1
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Glitter Lunch LLC All Rights Reserved.
  • Show Website
    Absolutely Sure, No Idea

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