Episode 12: RJ Shay Some careers are planned. RJ Shay's just kept going. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Bob, known professionally as RJ Shay, a St. Louis illustrator, caricaturist, and commercial artist with more than 50 years of work behind him and no intention of stopping. Bob grew up in East St. Louis in the 1950s and 60s, when it was one of the fastest growing cities in America. He graduated, walked into Obata Design, and was hired on his second day. He moved to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1974, ran four or five freelance jobs simultaneously the entire time he was there, and left after nine years because his freelance income was three times his salary. He has been on his own ever since. We talk about what it actually meant to be a commercial illustrator before digital tools existed. Drawing artwork to fit newspaper column shapes. Scaling with a proportional scale. FedExing finished pencils from vacation stops to meet deadlines. Drawing by the light of a campfire on a float trip and shipping it the next morning. He did all of it. He loved almost all of it. Bob also talks about designing 38 coffee table books for a historian friend from East St. Louis who recently passed at 87, running the illustration section at the St. Louis Art School for seven years, and his alter ego Bad Bob, a caricature of himself on a 1975 Harley Super Glide that he rode solo across the country for 32 days. And then there is the thing he says that most creative professionals never figure out. There is more than enough work out there for everybody. He has never once been jealous of another artist. Not one time in 50 years. This one is for the creatives, the lifers, the people who found the thing they were made for and never let go of it. _________________________________________________________________ Arrows in Motion Most podcasts about business and marketing tell you what to think. Arrows in Motion asks better questions. Hosted by Scott Heaton, Arrows in Motion is a long-form conversation podcast that goes deep with entrepreneurs, executives, and marketing professionals who've built real things, and learned hard lessons along the way. Each episode explores the gap between how success looks from the outside and what it actually takes to get there: the strategy, the grind, the pivots, the moments nobody posts about. Whether you're a Fortune 500 VP rethinking what career advancement really costs, a small business owner trying to figure out if your marketing agency is actually on your side, or a fitness entrepreneur building something from scratch with nothing but drive, there's a conversation here for you. For early-career marketers and marketing students trying to break into the industry, Arrows in Motion is the mentorship most people never get access to. Real talk on salary negotiation, building professional confidence, navigating agency culture, and what marketing careers actually look like beyond the job description. No gatekeeping. No fluff. For experienced professionals, it's a mirror, and a reminder that the smartest people in the room are still asking questions. New episodes drop on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Subscribe wherever you listen. Topics include: marketing strategy, entrepreneurship, career development, personal branding, agency vs in-house marketing, small business growth, corporate leadership, women in business, fitness entrepreneurship, professional development, entry-level marketing, marketing career advice, how to break into marketing, business podcast, career coaching, work-life balance, startup mindset, marketing for beginners, first job in marketing, college to career. Topics include: marketing strategy, entrepreneurship, career development, personal branding, agency vs in-house marketing, small business growth, corporate leadership, women in business, fitness entrepreneurship, professional development, entry-level marketing, marketing career advice, how to break into marketing, business podcast, career coaching, work-life balance, startup mindset, marketing for beginners, first job in marketing, college to career.
