January 27, 2020 • 49 mins
Have you ever conceived and built a hotel chain?
Jeremy is a living, breathing idea machine. Not the type who sits in his basement daydreaming, most of his ideas become reality. He's one of the few people who have actually found and acted on their calling. He's overcome some of life's most tragic moments, suddenly losing his brother, adopting two children from Haiti, being diagnosed with a neurological condition, all formidable challenges and obstacles, but he doesn't let anything hold him back from pressing forward and accomplishing.
He’s the founder of a global photography movement, Help-Portrait, a mobile social networking app called OKDOTHIS, and an online teaching platform, See University. His latest endeavor is The Purpose Hotel, a planned global for-profit hotel chain designed to fuel the work of not-for-profit organizations.
Jeremy’s new book “I’m Possible: Jumping Into Fear and Discovering a Life of Purpose” is based on Jeremy’s viral life story video that was released in 2015 and launched Jeremy’s speaking career where he has delivered this message to tens of thousands across America ever since. The book dives much deeper into all of the stories and projects Jeremy has done and ultimately encourages people of all ages to jump into fear in order to find their own purpose in life.
In this episode, Jeremy talks about the day to day challenges he faces and the approach he takes to press on into his calling.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the groove with Devin Pense and
Reggie Ham.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
You have to take risks that will be
disappointments and failures anddisasters as a result of taking
these risks.
This task was acquainted to you,and if you do not find a way,
red moments are born, greatopportunity, and that's what you
(00:28):
have here in the end.
That's all we really are.
I just stories.
Stories are what our lives aremade up of.
Stories, how we remember peopleand stories make us feel a
little less alone in the world.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Welcome to the groove podcast.
This is Devin Pence and this isReggie ham.
Here on the group, we talked topeople from all walks of life,
all areas of life, to sharetheir stories about pivotal
moments, struggles.
We all face what it takes torise above challenging
circumstances, heartbreak,setbacks, to find what we call
the group.
(01:05):
Uh, you can find me at[inaudible].
Follow me around on instagram@devinpense and my website at
devinpense.com.
You can find me at Regie Hamm onFacebook.
That's one G, two M's.
Be sure to head over to thegroove, podcast.com for more
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(01:27):
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Any love would be muchappreciated.
Much, much a man.
I'm super excited.
(01:48):
I know I say this about everyepisode, but I'm really excited
about the show today.
We have Jeremy coward on, uh,many of you have probably heard
of of Jeremy.
He's, he's literally all overthe place.
Um, he was named the mostinfluential photographer on the
internet.
That's the internet folks byHuffington post, Forbes and
(02:08):
Yahoo.
Uh, Jeremy, he's an awardwinning photographer, artist and
entrepreneur whose mission is toexplore the intersection of
creativity and empathy.
Jeremy's published four booksand as a sought after speaker
having presented at TEDx, uh,the United nations and creative
conferences across the country.
(02:30):
His latest endeavor is thepurpose hotel, a planned global
for profit hotel chain, designedto feel the work of not for
profit organizations.
He's the founder of a globalphotography movement, help
portrait a mobile socialnetworking app called okay, do
this.
And an online teaching platformcalled C university.
(02:52):
Yeah man, his new book, I'mpossible.
It's impossible, but if you putup an apostrophe, it makes it,
I'm possible.
Jumping into fear anddiscovering a life of purpose is
based on Jeremy's viral lifestory video that was released in
2015 and launched Jeremyspeaking career where he has
(03:12):
delivered this message to tensof thousands of people across
America ever since the bookdives much deeper into all the
stories and projects Jeremy'sdone and it ultimately
encourages people of all ages,all walks of life.
Any anybody, no matter where youare, to jump into the fear in
order to find your purpose inlife.
(03:35):
A lot of what we do here on thegroove,
Speaker 4 (03:37):
so be sure to check out the show notes, um, to get
more information.
You can find his website there.
It's, it's just Jeremy cower.comand we're just going to be
talking about a lot of differentstuff today to hopefully help
encourage you.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Jeremy coward.
Thank you for being on the grouptoday.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
Of course.
It's great to be here.
Thank y'all for having me.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Yeah, we are really thrilled at something that I've
wanted to have you on ever sinceI started the podcast and Reggie
joined up.
We've, we've talked about, youknow, if we can just get Jeremy
coward on the show, man, we'llhave made it, you know, but nah,
seriously.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
Now after this, Jeremy, do we get our million
dollar checks?
Is that how it was?
I'm like sitting here superflattered.
I feel like a nothing burgerlately.
So thank yo for all theflattery.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Hey, what I thought I'd do, I just wanted to kind of
kick it off cause you knowJeremy, you know we've go way
back.
I mean I think we met like wayback in 2002 ish or three when
you were doing a graphic designand that kind of thing.
I don't know if you rememberthis or not, but I just have a
quick story.
I wanted to kick this thing offwith you.
At one point you, you'reNashville now, right?
(04:43):
Um, but at one point you movedto LA for awhile.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
Yup.
Yeah, it did.
A year and a half fell through.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Yeah.
Which is like a 12 years in, uh,you know, I said LA years, LA
years and I can remember, uh, Idunno what the situation was.
I was doing a shoot or somethingand I called you up and I asked
you if I could borrow one ofyour lenses and you're like,
yeah, sure man, don't you know,you know, absolutely.
(05:09):
You said, well, the only thingis is we're not going to be home
so I'm going to leave it on thiscredenza.
So just kind of open our frontdoor and then it will be sitting
on this credenza and you hadthis, I can remember this really
cool, like ornate house andthere was very distinctive
things about it.
And in the front, you know, thebest that I could remember,
cause we'd come over for a partyone time and we had to park in
(05:30):
the street.
And I remember that little gate,like you had a little gate that
kind of went to your front yard,you know, so this was like in a
late afternoon and you know,this went in.
I'm like, God, this guy leaveshis door open, you know, and
unlocked in LA and he must bevery trusting.
But you know, so it was prettysimple.
I opened the door, grabbed thelens, you know, you use the
(05:50):
lens, so forth and so on.
We returned it and, and I can'tremember it, it must have been
maybe year or so later.
Uh, I'm a bit of a horror fanand my wife and I went to the
theater to see, uh, rememberthose paranormal activity
movies.
Like there was like they madefour or five of them of course.
And as we're watching it, we'regetting to the very end and it's
(06:12):
kind of like this, the climaxscene when everything is going
down and the camera moves acrossthe street and I'm watching it
and I'm like, that looksfamiliar.
Like I seen that little gatebefore and I whispered to my
wife that looks like Jeremy'shouse.
I mean there's no way it couldbe.
And as the camera like went upthe steps, the front door opened
(06:35):
and there was that same credenzathat I grabbed those lenses off,
which made the movie like itscared me even more.
Texted you later and you'relike, yeah man, they, they took
over our house.
I mean that was crazy for me.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
It was crazy.
Especially because like thedemonic room, the main scary
room was my daughter's bedroom.
And so it was a super surreal towatch that later.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Did, uh, did any of the evil spirits get into you
dev?
Just as a curious question dude.
No, I got in and out of there soquick.
I mean they would have to bereally fast.
Uh, cause it was like, I justwant to make sure you're okay.
And as far as I know, they, theycould be lying dormant and come
out at any given moment.
(07:22):
I don't know.
But Hey, let's, let's, let's getinto this man, Jeremy, just real
quick.
Can you kinda just want to kindof tell everybody where they can
find you?
We're going to talk about thisat the end of the show too, but
where can people find more aboutJeremy coward?
Speaker 5 (07:36):
Yeah.
Uh, just my website, Jeremy,cower.com.
I'm at chairman carrot on allthe social channels.
Um, yeah, that's pretty much it.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Yeah.
We were kind of talking a littlebit earlier.
You've had so much success, um,with all your, your artwork,
your photography, you know, yourbook, the, the purpose hotel,
which we'll want to talk about,um, you know, help portrait all
of these things that you've doneit.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
I mean, we know about yoursuccesses.
What about the struggles thatyou face, you know, every day.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Yeah, I mean, uh, it's funny, all of those things
sound like successes, butthere's a lot of failure and all
those things.
You just mentioned them in.
They're not all that, you know,I guess it looks amazing from
the outside, but yeah, there'sno doubt that all of those
things were not successful.
Um, and some of them areobviously still in process.
(08:29):
It turns out it takes a longtime to build a hotel chain from
scratch.
So that's a long ongoing journeythat I'm sure we'll get into.
But, uh, but yeah, I mean, Iwould say I'm 42 right now.
I would say at the age of 42,I'm dealing with more internal
fight and voices and, you know,doubt than I ever have in my
life.
(08:51):
Um, and so I would say the doubtand the hardships only increased
rather than decreased.
Uh, so I don't know if that's anage thing or midlife crisis or
what, but, uh, you know, there'sno doubt I have my long list of
challenges just like anybodyelse.
Speaker 6 (09:09):
Jeremy, I, uh, I love everything, literally everything
about your story.
One of the things that I, that Ilove about how you approach your
life, your success, yourfailures, whatever.
And I think this is a realinstructive thing for everybody,
is that I, I recognized in you areal sense of following the muse
(09:30):
wherever it takes you.
And that is something I thinkI've struggled with.
I think a lot of people strugglewith when once they decide what
they are, quote unquote, uh,sometimes they have a hard time
morphing that into whatever thenext thing is.
You know what I mean?
Uh, you know, like you decide,you decide you're a drummer and
a, and then all of a sudden anopportunity comes along that is
(09:52):
not drumming, but it might opena skill set for you that you did
not even know you had.
In my case, it was, uh, it wasbook and blog writing.
I, you know, I, I'd had thiscareer as a songwriter and then
all of a sudden I wrote a blogessentially trying to find
people who had other people whohad Angelman syndrome in their
(10:12):
life.
And that launched a whole careerfor me that I didn't even know
really existed.
I see that happened in yourjourney a lot in that you, you
just kinda took what wasavailable there and what you
had, you know, in front of youand you, you keep walking
forward.
Um, and you just talked aboutthe struggles that you're having
right now.
And I think I, I mean I'll takethis opportunity to encourage
(10:36):
you because in your own, in yourown journey, uh, I find
encouragement.
I, I watched, uh, a couple oflittle episodes of something
last night about how some movieswere made and one of the things
that you realize in every storyof anything that's significant
or important or that's ever beendone of, of note is that while
(10:58):
it's being made, nobody knows.
They're making a classic.
Nobody knows they're there doingsomething special.
It's you, you're in the battle.
And at every turn it's likeClickList.
Like you're on a high wire andat every, every moment you feel
like you can fall off, this canbe, this can be a story of, of
absolute tragedy.
You know what I mean?
(11:19):
And then you look back on it andthat's when it looks like
success.
You know, once it's, it's the,it's the afterwards that you
look back and go, Oh, okay, wellthat was, that worked.
But while you're in it, youdon't know if it's going to
work.
And I speak to that a little bitbecause I believe that, I
believe you're one of thosefighters out there who fights
through that.
I would encourage you just righthere on the podcast to continue.
(11:41):
I think that the world needs youto, uh, because you're an
inspiration to so many people.
But I think people look at, youknow, that they just saw you at
a corporate event.
They just saw your Wikipediapage.
They just saw your video.
They just saw it, read yourbook, whatever they think you've
quote unquote made it.
I don't know.
I think maybe there's fivepeople in the world who've made
it like Paul McCartney, BruceSpringsteen, you know, other
than that, I don't know whomakes it.
(12:04):
I don't know where it, I don'tknow where it is.
You know what I mean?
We have to get up everyday andget back in the struggle.
Talk about that.
Speaker 5 (12:09):
Yeah, I definitely don't think I've made it cause
like you said, I've got to keepworking my tail off on a lot of
things.
So I'm definitely never feelthat I've made it in any way,
shape or form.
Um, but yeah, I mean it, that'sa really beautiful reminder
about the filmmaking process.
Now everybody or nobody feelslike they're making a classic,
(12:31):
they just see the heart, youknow, the journey and helps up
and as, and that's certainlywhere I met right now.
You know, I had a idea to builda hotel in 2012.
It's 2020 right now.
So almost eight years ago I hadthis crazy idea to build a
hotel, spent three years doingnothing about it cause I was so
afraid of it, but I knew everyday that it was still the right
(12:54):
idea, the right thing to pursue.
So it wasn't in 2015 that westarted taking it seriously,
launched, launched it to thepublic in 2016 mean we call it,
uh, building it backwards.
Cause it's like we hung our signin the sky first and then we've
had to then go and figure outhow to do it.
(13:15):
Whereas most hotels develop andbuild on the background for
seven or eight years.
And at the very end they hangtheir sign on the building.
So I would say doing it the waywe're doing it is much harder
because you're settingexpectations sky high.
You know, it's one thing tolaunch an idea, but it's, you
know, execution S especially thescale is just infinitely
(13:40):
challenging, especially whenyou're also trying to disrupt
the industry entirely.
Speaker 6 (13:45):
Yeah.
Talk about that.
What's the, what's thedifference in your hotel and any
garden variety Marriott that youcan check into?
[inaudible] let's talk aboutyour hotel talk.
Tell us what's the difference inthat.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
Sure.
Well, I am, you know, I'vetraveled to over 30 countries as
a photographer and I was alwaysamazed, you know, stayed in the
worst hotels and the nicesthotels.
I've been in every form ofhotel.
And I'm always amazed that eventhe most expensive and luxury
hotels are still orange in myopinion.
(14:16):
Sure.
They may be luxurious and mighthave a nice pool.
They might have great suit, theymight have nice design and
furniture and fixtures.
But at the end of the day, theindustry fell, still felt like
soulless to me.
Like there was nothinginspiring, there was nothing
that moved the human spirit.
So in 2012, I had an idea tobuild a, uh, basically a social
(14:40):
good hotel where every elementin the building was doing
something to make the world abetter place.
He knew whether that was theroom service feeding a child in
need through for the hungry orthe rooms sponsoring a child and
tell them their story or theinternet fighting human
trafficking.
This hotel would be all thosethings that just listed three
(15:00):
ideas, three connection ideas.
There's about 50 of those in thepurpose of tow.
That's the name of it, by theway, as the purpose of though.
And so the idea is that just bystaying at this hotel, you will
be quote unquote changing theworld in your sleep.
You know, everything you do inthis building is connecting to
something bigger than yourself.
(15:22):
And so inspiration will beeverywhere in this building.
Um, and, and cause baseconnections will be everywhere.
And so it's a really, really bigidea that is kind of, you know,
I like to say that, um, mosthotels are inward focused.
You know, they're all saying wehave the best price or we have
(15:43):
the best comfort or we have thebest food, or where the, where
the head office, you know, whatthe new ACE hotel, uh, whereas
the purpose hotel is saying,yeah, we're all those things.
We have great pools, great food,great whatever.
That's not the point.
We're great because we're makingother scrape.
We're giving back.
We're investing in thecommunities locally,
(16:04):
domestically around the countryand around the world.
So we are outward focused, notinward.
Speaker 6 (16:10):
I love this idea because, and I'll speak for
myself only, not necessarily forthe group podcast or for Deb or
even for you, but, uh, formyself, uh, I, I see people who
want to change the world.
And very often they channel thatinto politics.
And as if the only people whocan create effective change are
(16:34):
people who have the controls ofgovernment or the leavers of
power at their disposal.
I, I personally like the idea ofpeople out in the private sector
doing something like this.
You could, you could apply this,this concept to more than
hotels.
You could apply it torestaurants, you could apply it
to movie theaters, you couldapply it to it, right?
(16:55):
Just pretty much any kind of,any kind of enterprise out
there, you could apply thesesame principles I would imagine.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
Oh for sure.
And that's exactly what we'redoing cause we will have within
the building and we'll havecoffee shops and fitness and
restaurants and coworking andoffices.
And so yeah, absolutely it canbe applied to anything.
Speaker 6 (17:13):
And that's what we're looking for as a society is
sustainability in how we changethings, how we affect things for
the better.
Um, and you know, how cool wouldit be?
Is it, if you just, you know,getting in a certain car and
driving to a certain hotel andchecking in and ordering your
meal and doing everything younormally do, just just those
(17:35):
activities alone effect, youknow, a measurable amount of
change in, in, in the negativequotient of, of society where,
where there, whether you'reeffecting, you know, trafficking
or whatever it may be.
I don't even know all of the,all of the strings that you have
attached to it, but even thethree, the three things that you
(17:56):
listed, I mean, that's, that'skind of the dream, right?
Speaker 5 (17:59):
Yeah, for sure.
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Jeremy, where are you guys at on the project?
Speaker 5 (18:04):
We, uh, have our land secured, which will be downtown
Nashville, Tennessee, right nextto the main convention center.
Um, we have, uh, our management,we have renderings from our
architects.
We have, gosh, it's a big teamalready, but, um, and we're
currently fundraising this year.
We hope to break ground at theend of this year or early next
(18:27):
year.
And then it's about a two tothree year build from there.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
That's amazing, man.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
PayPal people are buying into this.
I mean, it's not just, it's notjust in your head anymore.
You, you've got it's actionablestuff out there, right.
You can get people drawing.
You got people, you know, bootson the ground, I guess you could
say actually making this thinghappen.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
Oh yeah.
In a, in a big way when we fedall of that developing for about
a year now.
Um, but yeah, a lot to lots ofboots on the ground.
It's a, it's a big ship already.
It's kind of crazy.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
That's awesome.
Hey, let's, let's help overendless.
Let's talk about your book for asecond because I think that's a
good jumping off point herethough.
It can kind of lead us down tosome of the things that we want
to talk about.
And it's like your book'scalled.
I'm possible jumping into fearand discovering a life of
purpose.
What prompted you, I mean, Ithink, I know, but tell us what
(19:18):
prompted you to write that bookand talk a little bit about, you
know, what it's about and thatkind of thing.
Speaker 5 (19:23):
Yeah.
Um, uh, years ago, my buddy Johnasked me to speak at his
conference and I told him, I waslike, man, I'm not a speaker.
I don't have much to say.
And then, so I told him no, butthen I kinda came back to him.
I was like, you know, I thinkI've got a good idea to
literally illustrate my storyand make a video where I kind of
, you know, document my journeyas an artist.
(19:45):
And, uh, so I did it for hisconference and it kind of
exploded immediately.
Like there was a standingovation.
Everybody was crying.
And then I've found that I keptgetting asked to do it over and
over, and every time I would doit, I'd get a standing ovation.
Everybody was crying.
So I was like, man, this isreally having it much deeper
(20:06):
impact than I was expecting.
And I think it helps that it'sall visual and has music.
And so it's really like you'rewatching movie that I'm
narrating.
And so, um, every time I do it,I would get asked, where can I
watch the Sunline to send otherpeople?
So finally release it online afew years ago and it kinda blew
(20:27):
up, you know, millions of views,uh, tens of thousands of people
posted it to their Facebookpages, which for a 30 minute
video that, that was a reallysurprising, um, and uh, and then
that kind of accidentallylaunched a speaking career and
then, then it turned into a bookand, you know, and so it's been
(20:48):
a wild journey.
I never intended, you know, tobe publishing a book or, you
know, traveling as a speaker.
Um, so you gotta be careful whenyou say, uh, when you say yes to
things might just surprise me.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
That's true.
I think some of the things I've,I've experienced throughout my
life, you know, certainlynothing like that.
I've made people cry, butprobably not for those reasons.
But, uh, you do kind of, youkind of get into your thing or
whatever, and then you're askedto do something else.
And, and I, I've been throughthat myself.
(21:26):
You new year, I was asked to dosomething and I'm like, man, I
don't do that.
I, I'm not, you know, I'm notthis or I'm not that.
And then there's something inyou, you, like you said, like
you just, you do it and thenlike it literally just opens up
doors and it kind of, you kindof, it kind of pushes you
through, um, you know, read, youtalked about it a little bit
earlier, how you kind ofaccidentally stumbled into a new
(21:49):
career and just, I mean it's,it's just an interesting road
and I think the most importantthing in life and what I try to
encourage people to do is to,you know, these ideas, like, you
know, this hotel idea of yours,like you said, you know, you
thought about it and then youjust kind of sat on it and, and
then at some point somethingprompted you, you, you pushed
(22:12):
the gas pedal.
And I always try to tell you, Ijust tell this to my kids, you
know, and they were growing up.
I'm like, you know, life iskinda like, you know, driving a
car.
Like you can sit in it, it canbe running, but you know, if you
don't put it in gear and moveforward, you're not going to
experience anything.
So I think it's important to,um, you know, have ideas, do
(22:34):
things, be encouraged, but stepinto those things, you know,
step into that fear and stepinto that.
Because sometimes in the fearand sometimes in the darkness,
like that's where, you know, wefind the best thing that could
ever happen to us.
Jeremy, do you do, do you findthat saying yes is the key?
Speaker 5 (22:54):
I do.
I mean, obviously there has tobe some research on like, yes,
like for me, I always bounce itoff those closest to me who will
be really honest.
You know, when I have an idea,I'll run on Obama wife and
she's, I'm just crazy dead on usabout ideas, most ideas.
She, she's just not a big fan of, uh, you know, it's, it's rare
(23:18):
that she supports, but thensometimes I realize like to,
even if she doesn't likesomething, she's not in my
industry, she doesn't know thetarget fee, you know, the
creative industry.
So then I seek feedback frompeople within my industry who
will also be almost with me.
And then I, you know, I'll wait.
(23:38):
Cause ideas always seem amazingat first and then over time you
realize maybe they're not thatgreat.
So I typically, uh, buy thedomain names.
I'm like a domain name, Paul gab, tons of them.
Um, yeah, for sure.
Uh, you know, and then I'd justwait it out and uh, and see what
(23:59):
I think, you know, and I thinkthe good ideas actually, there
are still a lot of good ideasthat I think are still worthy of
pursuing, but at some reason, atsome point you just reach your
bandwidth.
You know, there's only so muchyou can do.
So I have a lot of great ideasthat there's a couple ideas that
are now multimillion dollarselling products that I see in
(24:20):
stores everywhere.
And I had those ideas longbefore they came out, so,
Speaker 6 (24:25):
Oh, don't we all have those?
Speaker 5 (24:27):
Yeah.
So sometimes you have to grieve,grieve the babies that were
never born.
You know, like it's a, it's acrazy journey.
Uh, being an idea person andhaving to choose which ones to
pursue
Speaker 6 (24:40):
with, with the, with the, uh, when it comes to the
wife, uh, conversation, I have avery similar situation as you
and you know, the old sayingbehind every great man is a
woman rolling her eyes.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
You know, Jeremy, you're talking about earlier we
were talking before we startedrecording, um, you have having
all these ideas and, and doingthese things.
You, you made a comment similarto, uh, sometimes you feel like
you've got too many jobs andthat that seems cool to a lot of
people, but where, where is thebandwidth?
(25:18):
Where is the cutoff?
When you, when you're an ideamachine and they're not just,
you know, sitting in a corner,they're all moving in, in
churning.
Where's the cutoff for you?
Speaker 5 (25:29):
Yeah, to get questioned.
I think I'm always trying tofigure that out.
Um, you know, I've got four kidsand Somali life really is, I'm
about as suburbia dad as you canget, you know, um,
Speaker 6 (25:41):
say no more.
The idea start stops at eighto'clock in the morning.
I know exactly how[inaudible]
Speaker 5 (25:46):
yeah, exactly.
The idea is start at 9:00 AM forme it's 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM is
all dad duty, you know, uh, andthen really 6:00 PM or 5:00 PM
to 10:00 PM as also dead duty.
So I've got a very limitedwindow that I can, um, you know,
perform and do things.
(26:06):
And so, uh, yeah, like I wastelling you earlier, like it can
seem sexy to be doing all thesethings and the older I get, the
more fun that that's just sooverrated, you know, crave more
simplicity as I get older.
And so, um, I'm definitelytrying to wind a few things down
so that I can only do a couplethings and, and be more focused.
Speaker 6 (26:31):
Where's your primary love man?
If, uh, you know, if they cameto you and said, Hey, in 2020,
Jeremy, uh, we, you can only dolike two things.
W w where's that gonna land foryou?
Speaker 5 (26:42):
Yeah.
Love anything that involvescreativity and giving back.
In fact, I came up with amission statement a couple of
years ago that said, my missionis to explore the intersection
of creativity and empathy.
So as long as it's artistic andhas a social good element than
the normal, and
Speaker 6 (27:04):
you're, you're such a great photographer.
Is that, is that the kind of thetip of the creative spear for
you or is it, is it just a meansto a bigger end?
Speaker 5 (27:17):
No, uh, I mean, I love painting.
I love drawing up and doing alot of fun art over the last
year, you know, but exploring,even really pursuing that as a,
as another side hustle career,um, looking into galleries, I'm
all like, it's a painting likecrazy.
Um, and that's where my lovestarted.
(27:37):
Is that struct or my favoriteartists on the planet?
Well, I doesn't live anymore.
It's not alive anymore.
But John Michel Basquiat was apainter in the 80s, and, uh, so
he's[inaudible].
Yeah, he was an abstract artistand you know, some obsessed with
abstract art.
Um, you know, so I think, Ithink in my core, I really am a
(27:59):
painter, but the camera is justbecome one of the tools over
time that I also love using.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
And one of the things I love that you've been doing
lately, um, that I've, you know,cause I've, you know, I follow
you around the inner webs is howyou've been opening up your
studio and you know, cause you,you, you know, you were known
as, you know, a, a, a celebrityquote unquote celebrity
photographer.
(28:25):
You know what I mean?
It's kinda like a label that's,that's cause you, you know, you
are, you're, you're talented,um, and that space and you've
got a lot of great opportunitiesand then you open up your studio
and you, you know, you, youshoot just whoever wants to come
in and, um, pay to have theirportrait done.
Like, you know, that kinda thing.
(28:46):
And, and the, where you've takenthat I think is really cool, but
there's an element I wanted youto kind of respond to and to
kind of talk about a little bitbecause I paid a lot of
attention to that because I, I'malways trying to figure out same
kind of thing.
Like how can I push myselfcreatively and in my directing
or whatever it is I do.
(29:08):
And I noticed that, you know,you always, as you said earlier,
you always with what you do, yougive back.
So you, it's not like you haveany kind of Jeremy coward secret
sauce that you like, aren'tafraid to like, you know, give
out.
You've put out so many things.
Uh, you got the, the onlineschool thing and I was kind of
(29:31):
reading a lot of the commentsand things and then you were
basically encouraging otherphotographers.
You know, the photographycommunity, it's kind of a, you
know, it's a humongous, I meanit's just, I don't think people
realize just how many people,just because anybody can pick up
a camera, you know, doesn'tnecessarily make them a
photographer.
But there are people who aretrying to make a living.
(29:53):
And I remember you, you werekind of giving some advice like
here's how you know, here's whatI did and here's what you can do
as well.
Like this is kind of a formulafor, for that.
And I can remember even readingin some of the comments, people
were kind of coming back at youa little bit like, well that's a
little unfair.
You know Jeremy and I'mparaphrasing, but you know,
(30:14):
cause you, you know, you had a,you got to shoot for your
famous, you know, people knowwho you are and all that kind of
stuff.
And, and it kind of bothered mea little bit because people
don't want to put the work inand people want to immediately,
you know, go from, you know, inmy field, they want to go from
straight out of, you know, fullsail or college or you know,
(30:36):
from being a PA to a directorand without putting the, the
years of what you have to putinto to get to that.
Um, can you talk about that alittle bit?
Can you respond to that?
Speaker 5 (30:48):
Yeah, it is weird.
I think not to be that guythat's dissing the younger
generation, but I mean there isthis, you know, need that's been
around for several years and Iwork, people just want to be a,
be an influencer right away.
You know, they, we have the bigfollowing in the name and all
that.
And um, I've actually had a lotof interesting conversations.
(31:10):
I always try to give back bymeeting with up and comer
creatives.
Um, uh, you know, I always say,you have to, you have to
influence first to be aninfluencer.
You have to put in your, youknow, your quote unquote 10,000
hours of doing somethinginteresting.
That's the only reason I've hada little small pocket of people
(31:32):
following me is that I did adecade of the typography, you
know, and I worked really hardlearning and shooting and
failing and trying and, you know, um, I now feel like I'm really
learning all over again, but I'mjust always curious and always
diving deeper and trying newthings and experimenting and
(31:53):
reinventing.
Um, and so I think you reallycan't even think about the, the
fame or the influence, whatever.
You just got to keep your headdown and start, you know,
cranking out stuff and the restwill come if you're good.
You know, I always always sayfind, find out what you have to
say and how to say it in aunique way so he can figure out
(32:15):
those two things.
Like you're golden, you know,finding your voice and how to
make it unique.
Speaker 6 (32:22):
I, I'm so with you on this, Jeremy, I, when I'm in a
meeting with someone in, I hearthem say the words I'm, I want
to affect the culture.
I kind of politely excuse myselfbecause I know that probably
what the last thing is thatthey're about to do is affect
the culture.
Because that's not how you, youknow what I mean?
(32:42):
You don't, I don't think you gointo it planning to effect the
culture.
You go into it planning tocreate great work and work
that's meaningful and work thatmoves you and works on a heart
level for you.
And then that, and then that's,you know, it works one by one.
I don't, I don't,
Speaker 7 (33:01):
I don't, uh,
Speaker 6 (33:03):
I don't think you, you, you know, if you're, if
your desire is to be, you know,they're the rock star standing
in front of 100,000 people, youmay not get there because that,
that in itself is not the goal,right.
That that is sort of a, aoutgrowth of the goal.
You, you to play stadiums.
Not because they wanted to playstadiums, they play stadiums
(33:25):
because they wrote these greatsongs that, that lots of people
want to hear, you know, and sothe stadium, the stadium
experience is just a, it's alike a necessary part of, you
know,
Speaker 7 (33:38):
uh,
Speaker 6 (33:39):
it's, it's sort of the function, uh, you know, the,
the, the, the end resultfunction of something that
happens deeper and moreinternally than that.
Right?
Speaker 7 (33:49):
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (33:52):
You, uh, you've had, man, I, you, you, you said this
and I think it's wonderful thatyou, you got to find out what
you want to say.
I, I'm a firm believer that youhave to live to, uh, and I tell
all young writers, they asked,they asked me, what's the key
to, you know, writing in a, andI always say, go complicate your
(34:13):
life.
Um, you know, if you've lived areally protected life, if you've
lived a life without tragedy, ifyou've lived a life without
pain, if you have avoided all ofthat stuff, you probably don't
have anything to say to anybody.
Speaker 7 (34:29):
Yeah.
Um,
Speaker 6 (34:31):
you sir, have had all of those things and talk about
that a little bit to talk abouthow that, uh, informs your art,
how that informs your journey.
Uh, you've, you've had, youknow, if any, anybody that wants
to go watch your video, we'llget the, you know, the, the
rough start that you had and allof that stuff and all of those
(34:52):
things you, that you overcame.
It's totally inspirational.
But, um, just to maybe touch ona subject that might be a bit
painful, but to talk about yourbrother a little bit and how
that situation informs yourmoving forward and how it's
informed your art.
Speaker 7 (35:06):
Okay,
Speaker 5 (35:06):
sure.
Yeah, I've certainly had myshare of, of loss and, and
hardships.
Uh, my brother was, uh, 43 whenhe suddenly passed away of a
heart attack.
Now it was, gosh, five or sixyears ago now.
Um, and we had no idea.
He knew he had anything wrongwith him with that he was
(35:27):
healthy as can be.
And so, um, he had a suddenlylose a brother, certainly
changes a lot of perspective andall the, um, now the adopted at
children, but two of them areadopted from Haiti.
And, uh, you know, I've faced asignificant challenge with one
of them every day, um, becausehe endeared a lot of hard stuff
(35:50):
while he was in Haiti and thatcan cause a lot of brain trauma
for children.
Um, and so what was done to himhas made him very, um, you know,
challenging.
Speaker 6 (36:02):
How old is he?
Speaker 5 (36:03):
Oh, he's now, uh, about to turn nine years old.
And so he has a lot of greatdays too.
But man, the hard days are thehardest thing I've ever faced in
my life.
And, um, you know, thatcontinues to, to, you know,
happen.
Uh, and never knew which day isgoing to be good or hard, you
know, good or hard day.
And so, um, and they're, youknow, I'm now facing my own
(36:27):
health challenges.
I've got a near a logicaldisease and I'm fighting every
day and trying to figure out howto, how to beat it.
Not that I can beat it allhabits the rest of my life, but
how to take care of myself.
Um, you know, and so, um, like Isaid, I'm 42 and so, uh, yeah,
there are certainly a lot of,uh, challenges dealing with my
(36:48):
parents who are aging and have aslew of health issues.
You know, uh, life is, life isfull of challenges right now.
For sure.
Speaker 6 (36:58):
Well, and how does this D, do you channel this into
your art?
Can you channel it into yourart?
Does it, does it, does it informyou in a, like an oblique way
where maybe you don't, maybe itcomes out in ways that you don't
even think about consciously?
Speaker 5 (37:12):
Yeah, I think so.
I think it keeps me, um, veryhumble for sure, but very, um,
understanding and empathetic toothers.
You know, uh, I don't see myselfas any, any different from, you
know, the, the lady who cleansthis building and washes the
toilets.
(37:32):
You know, I, I think of myselfas just some other version,
finding his way through life.
I don't think of myself as likean influencer of celebrity.
None of this stuff.
I live in very normal, quietlife, especially these days.
Um, but all of those thingscertainly in influenced the way
I approach people when Iphotograph them.
(37:52):
Uh, the RMA, the, the approachthey'll take when speaking and,
and then talking to people afterI speak.
It approaches him in a, uh, aninforms the approach we're
taking on the purpose of Intel.
You know, how to relate topeople.
Um, it informs the book that itjust did.
I mean, yes, certainly, uh, is,affects all of it
Speaker 6 (38:15):
to a, how does it, how does it affect how you, how
do you, uh, photograph people?
That's interesting to me.
What, what, in what way wouldthat w would that affect?
It?
Does it, does it change whatyou're looking for out of a
shot?
Speaker 5 (38:28):
I think so.
Yeah.
Cause people walk into photos todo and they're really, really
intimidated.
Uh, they're, they're nervousabout how they look.
They'd never done this before.
They feel awkward.
They're intimidated by beingphotographed by a well known
photographer, all that stuff.
And then to break all thosebarriers down and just to pour
(38:48):
into them and love on them andask them about their life and
get to know them, it suddenlybecomes this super laid back,
you know, fun experience and youget much better results because
of that, you know, when theysuddenly feel like a friend is
photographing them, they almostforget the camera is there.
(39:09):
And so yeah, there's, there'smuch better results that way.
Speaker 6 (39:12):
And you, and it sounds to me, you know, I'm just
outside looking in, but it, itwould, it would sounds like what
you're looking for in aphotograph in a shot in a, in
the capturing of a moment is, issomething real and something
expressive and something that,that actually sort of captures
them as opposed to just a prettypicture.
(39:34):
Right.
Speaker 5 (39:35):
Yeah, for sure.
And I'll be honest, I don't, Idon't have a specific plan on,
never do a comment, wait andwatch a, try a bunch of things
really quickly and I, and uh,look at the results and I like
recently heard any Liebowitzspeak and I loved hearing her
talk because she has the sameapproach.
He lets, lets the scene and, oryou know, unveil itself.
(39:59):
She's not this master directorthat knows exactly what she's
going to get.
I'm the same way.
Some of the third rows are thatway.
They'd see the shop before ithappens.
And um, I really, um, I'm anartist with, with the way I use
light.
I don't say that to be whatever,but like I have this insane
process that mixes led lightswith projection with, uh,
(40:23):
strobes that change every time Ishoot and I'm projectors
changing the backdrop every twoseconds and all the led lights
are rotating in.
So I kinda throw people intothis just total chaos of
experimentations with light.
Then I direct them, then I toldthem and then just start having
a conversation.
(40:44):
And while we're doing that, allthe scene around them is
changing.
And so for me it's just a wayto, let's just see what happens.
Let's throw you in the blenderand see what flavor comes out.
It's really,
Speaker 4 (40:57):
what kind of smoothie are you?
I think the LSD helps too, rightJeremy?
When you just kinda like givehim a little at the beginning
and they kind of LSD when yougive him the LSD,
Speaker 6 (41:14):
I think we all know that LSD is a prime ingredient
to all all art.
I mean, I think that's kind ofon the table.
Well,
Speaker 4 (41:20):
one thing I, I, I can, I can attest for, I can
attest to, I mean it's, I thinkit's a lot about authenticity.
Um, and people can sense that.
People know when you're beingfake and they know when you're
being real.
Um, and you're, you're able to,anytime you're able to, and it
can be an a negotiation or youknow, in a photo session or, or
(41:43):
whatever it is.
And when you, when someone canfeel that you're just, you're
connecting with them and youfind a way to connect with them,
uh, at a heart level, it's sortof like the walls.
You can almost just kind of seethe walls come down and, and
things open up.
Speaker 5 (41:58):
Yup.
For sure.
Every time,
Speaker 6 (42:01):
you know, Jeremy, as I get older, uh, we're, we're in
this, we're in this world, inthis culture, uh, where
everybody is kinda geared toquote unquote bring it right.
You know, we've got the, thevoice and American idol and
America's got talent and allthese shows where everybody is
sort of, uh, encouraged to, youknow, man, just bring your best
(42:22):
and you've got to, you know, reraised to another level and
this, and this and this and thisand it's, and it's all very, it
tends, it can lend itself toartifice.
Right.
Uh, and I find I'm moreinterested.
Uh, I had a conversation with afriend of mine who wants to do a
record and, and he, he was, he'sbrilliant.
He's, he's great.
He absolutely should do arecord.
(42:42):
And he's like, man, I just, Ijust want it to be, I don't know
if it's going to be good enough.
And the acid mint, buddy, we, wedon't really need you to be
good.
We need you to be, you.
Speaker 5 (42:53):
[inaudible]
Speaker 6 (42:54):
and I F.
F that's what I'm really lookingfor more now in whatever
artistic expression I'm, I mean,obviously there's a bar of
technical expertise.
You don't want to see, you know,a movie that's not done
technically.
Right.
You know, where you can't hearthe dialogue and you can't see
the, you know, you can't seethis and you can't see that.
(43:15):
Obviously we want to, we want tosee something shot well, but at
the, at the end of it, I reallywant to see authenticity.
I want to see a heart, I guessis the only way to put it.
That's one of the things that Ireally appreciate about
everything that you've doneartistically.
I feel like I get that.
Do you think the quote unquotecelebrities who you've shot, you
(43:38):
think that's one of the reasonsthey come to you?
Speaker 5 (43:40):
I would hope so.
I mean, a lot of times, youknow, celebrities or even their
handlers have no idea who I amas a person.
Um, you know, at typicallytypically get hired because of
my portfolio and my artisticapproach.
Um, but yeah, I hope then I'mable to really comfort them or
make them feel comfortable onset because I'm a laid back
(44:04):
demeanor, whatever.
And so, um, yeah, I hope it allplays into it.
Speaker 4 (44:08):
Um, one thing as we kind of wrap up here, what we
try to do and talk about on thegroove or our goal is to share
other people's stories of, youknow, sometimes you know,
you're, you're in the groove,sometimes you're out, sometimes
you're in it, sometimes you getkicked out.
Um, as we kind of wrap up here,can you, do you have any kind of
like, you know, words ofencouragement for people that
(44:30):
are, you know, whether they becreative or artistic or
whatever.
Um, do you have any kind of likewords of encouragement that,
that, that you could kind ofimpart?
Speaker 5 (44:40):
Yeah, I would just say too, you know, kind of were
talking about earlier, it'sreally trying to figure out like
what do you, what do you love?
You know, what do you love todo?
You know, cause I think a lot ofpeople, I think part of the
midlife crisis thing is peoplerealizing they thought they
wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer,a physical therapist, a teacher,
and then they realize years intoit that way.
(45:03):
I don't actually love doingthis, you know?
So it's important to figure thatout first.
Then how can you, you know, saysomething within that industry
that's in a unique way, youknow, so as a photographer,
it's, it's one thing to takegreat pictures of the thing you
love, but chances are there'shundreds if not thousands of
(45:23):
people that are also takinggreat pictures of the thing.
So how do you then tweak it andmake it your own?
Then you've really gotsomething.
You're doing something you lovehere.
You're telling the story in a,in a unique way.
And I think that can be appliedto so many different careers,
you know?
Um, and so yeah, and it'sultimately the million dollar
(45:46):
question, you know, it wasfinding your vision.
Uh, it's, it's always an ongoingjourney.
I mean, for me, you know, 15years into this, it's still the
ongoing journey is figuring outwho I am and what I'm just
saying.
Speaker 4 (45:59):
That's awesome, man.
Your book is called, I'mpossible jumping into fear and
discovering a life of purpose.
Um, and they can find thatagain.
Uh, Jeremy just said, Jeremy,cower.com.
Well, thank you man so much forbeing on the show.
Um, it's been a real honor tojust to eighties, just to get to
catch up into, uh, always, youknow, get a little bit of your
(46:21):
insight.
Um, it's, it's you, I can tellyou for a fact you've inspired
me in my career and things that,that have been, I have found
success in that, that I have,uh, gained a lot of inspiration,
um, just following you around.
So, um, I encourage everybody,you know, hop on and follow, you
(46:41):
know, hop on the Jeremy Howardtrain falling around.
You'll see some authenticity,you'll see some great art.
Um, and you'll also see somefunny tweets have to say this
before we go, cause I follow youon Twitter and the other day,
um, you, you sent out a tweetabout, does anyone know how to
get rid of bad smells?
(47:01):
Did you ever get cause what'dyou say?
Like your studios sandwichedbetween like a, a restaurant
and, and smoking some likesmoking or something
Speaker 5 (47:10):
like in an old factory and then I'm next to
seafood restaurant.
The public restrooms are rightoutside that door and there's
people that smoke out some mydoors all the time.
So I'm like in a turd sandwichover here.
So yeah, I'm always trying tofigure out how to make us
[inaudible]
Speaker 4 (47:28):
so that just, you can still make beautiful, amazing
art with the stench of lifesurrounding it.
Right around my best.
Speaker 6 (47:38):
You're doing great man.
Thank you so much for being onthe, on the show and I'm sure
you've inspired people outthere.
You've certainly inspired us anduh, that's how you stay in the
groove man.
Speaker 4 (47:49):
Exactly.
Thank you guys for having me.
Really appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (47:53):
Thank you man.
That was just amazing.
It was inspiring.
Head over to the groove,podcast.com for the show notes
Speaker 3 (48:01):
and to learn more about Jeremy, you're gonna want
to do that.
And just as a reminder, don'tforget to hit that five star
rating and give us a thumbs upwherever you listen to your
podcasts.
It really does help push theshow on and get us noticed.
Um, also if you'd like to helpsupport the show, head over to
the group, podcast.com and clickon the support tab and you'll be
(48:22):
directed to our Patrion page.
Thank you guys.
We need the love.
Oh, we just love us.
Love us, love us.
Uh, no, just kidding.
Uh, thank you guys for joiningus and remember that anywhere
you are, no matter who you are,no matter how old you are, no
matter what failures you've had,no matter what your vision is,
you can find the groove.
(48:44):
That's what we're looking forhere to find the groove.
We'll see you next time.
Thanks guys.
Speaker 2 (48:53):
[inaudible]
Speaker 3 (48:53):
you've been listening to the group with Devin Pence
and Reggie ham.
You're listening to the groove with Devin Pense and
Reggie Ham.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
You have to take risks that will be
disappointments and failures anddisasters as a result of taking
these risks.
This task was acquainted to you,and if you do not find a way,
red moments are born, greatopportunity, and that's what you
(00:28):
have here in the end.
That's all we really are.
I just stories.
Stories are what our lives aremade up of.
Stories, how we remember peopleand stories make us feel a
little less alone in the world.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Welcome to the groove podcast.
This is Devin Pence and this isReggie ham.
Here on the group, we talked topeople from all walks of life,
all areas of life, to sharetheir stories about pivotal
moments, struggles.
We all face what it takes torise above challenging
circumstances, heartbreak,setbacks, to find what we call
the group.
(01:05):
Uh, you can find me at[inaudible].
Follow me around on instagram@devinpense and my website at
devinpense.com.
You can find me at Regie Hamm onFacebook.
That's one G, two M's.
Be sure to head over to thegroove, podcast.com for more
info about us and to check outthe show notes from this episode
and you can do us a huge favorby subscribing and hitting the
(01:27):
five star rating whenever youlisten to our, to our podcast
and I look their five starpodcast, hit the five star.
Also, if you would like to helpsupport a our currently sponsor
list podcast, join our Patrionpage.
Any love would be muchappreciated.
Much, much a man.
I'm super excited.
(01:48):
I know I say this about everyepisode, but I'm really excited
about the show today.
We have Jeremy coward on, uh,many of you have probably heard
of of Jeremy.
He's, he's literally all overthe place.
Um, he was named the mostinfluential photographer on the
internet.
That's the internet folks byHuffington post, Forbes and
(02:08):
Yahoo.
Uh, Jeremy, he's an awardwinning photographer, artist and
entrepreneur whose mission is toexplore the intersection of
creativity and empathy.
Jeremy's published four booksand as a sought after speaker
having presented at TEDx, uh,the United nations and creative
conferences across the country.
(02:30):
His latest endeavor is thepurpose hotel, a planned global
for profit hotel chain, designedto feel the work of not for
profit organizations.
He's the founder of a globalphotography movement, help
portrait a mobile socialnetworking app called okay, do
this.
And an online teaching platformcalled C university.
(02:52):
Yeah man, his new book, I'mpossible.
It's impossible, but if you putup an apostrophe, it makes it,
I'm possible.
Jumping into fear anddiscovering a life of purpose is
based on Jeremy's viral lifestory video that was released in
2015 and launched Jeremyspeaking career where he has
(03:12):
delivered this message to tensof thousands of people across
America ever since the bookdives much deeper into all the
stories and projects Jeremy'sdone and it ultimately
encourages people of all ages,all walks of life.
Any anybody, no matter where youare, to jump into the fear in
order to find your purpose inlife.
(03:35):
A lot of what we do here on thegroove,
Speaker 4 (03:37):
so be sure to check out the show notes, um, to get
more information.
You can find his website there.
It's, it's just Jeremy cower.comand we're just going to be
talking about a lot of differentstuff today to hopefully help
encourage you.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Jeremy coward.
Thank you for being on the grouptoday.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
Of course.
It's great to be here.
Thank y'all for having me.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Yeah, we are really thrilled at something that I've
wanted to have you on ever sinceI started the podcast and Reggie
joined up.
We've, we've talked about, youknow, if we can just get Jeremy
coward on the show, man, we'llhave made it, you know, but nah,
seriously.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
Now after this, Jeremy, do we get our million
dollar checks?
Is that how it was?
I'm like sitting here superflattered.
I feel like a nothing burgerlately.
So thank yo for all theflattery.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Hey, what I thought I'd do, I just wanted to kind of
kick it off cause you knowJeremy, you know we've go way
back.
I mean I think we met like wayback in 2002 ish or three when
you were doing a graphic designand that kind of thing.
I don't know if you rememberthis or not, but I just have a
quick story.
I wanted to kick this thing offwith you.
At one point you, you'reNashville now, right?
(04:43):
Um, but at one point you movedto LA for awhile.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
Yup.
Yeah, it did.
A year and a half fell through.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Yeah.
Which is like a 12 years in, uh,you know, I said LA years, LA
years and I can remember, uh, Idunno what the situation was.
I was doing a shoot or somethingand I called you up and I asked
you if I could borrow one ofyour lenses and you're like,
yeah, sure man, don't you know,you know, absolutely.
(05:09):
You said, well, the only thingis is we're not going to be home
so I'm going to leave it on thiscredenza.
So just kind of open our frontdoor and then it will be sitting
on this credenza and you hadthis, I can remember this really
cool, like ornate house andthere was very distinctive
things about it.
And in the front, you know, thebest that I could remember,
cause we'd come over for a partyone time and we had to park in
(05:30):
the street.
And I remember that little gate,like you had a little gate that
kind of went to your front yard,you know, so this was like in a
late afternoon and you know,this went in.
I'm like, God, this guy leaveshis door open, you know, and
unlocked in LA and he must bevery trusting.
But you know, so it was prettysimple.
I opened the door, grabbed thelens, you know, you use the
(05:50):
lens, so forth and so on.
We returned it and, and I can'tremember it, it must have been
maybe year or so later.
Uh, I'm a bit of a horror fanand my wife and I went to the
theater to see, uh, rememberthose paranormal activity
movies.
Like there was like they madefour or five of them of course.
And as we're watching it, we'regetting to the very end and it's
(06:12):
kind of like this, the climaxscene when everything is going
down and the camera moves acrossthe street and I'm watching it
and I'm like, that looksfamiliar.
Like I seen that little gatebefore and I whispered to my
wife that looks like Jeremy'shouse.
I mean there's no way it couldbe.
And as the camera like went upthe steps, the front door opened
(06:35):
and there was that same credenzathat I grabbed those lenses off,
which made the movie like itscared me even more.
Texted you later and you'relike, yeah man, they, they took
over our house.
I mean that was crazy for me.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
It was crazy.
Especially because like thedemonic room, the main scary
room was my daughter's bedroom.
And so it was a super surreal towatch that later.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Did, uh, did any of the evil spirits get into you
dev?
Just as a curious question dude.
No, I got in and out of there soquick.
I mean they would have to bereally fast.
Uh, cause it was like, I justwant to make sure you're okay.
And as far as I know, they, theycould be lying dormant and come
out at any given moment.
(07:22):
I don't know.
But Hey, let's, let's, let's getinto this man, Jeremy, just real
quick.
Can you kinda just want to kindof tell everybody where they can
find you?
We're going to talk about thisat the end of the show too, but
where can people find more aboutJeremy coward?
Speaker 5 (07:36):
Yeah.
Uh, just my website, Jeremy,cower.com.
I'm at chairman carrot on allthe social channels.
Um, yeah, that's pretty much it.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Yeah.
We were kind of talking a littlebit earlier.
You've had so much success, um,with all your, your artwork,
your photography, you know, yourbook, the, the purpose hotel,
which we'll want to talk about,um, you know, help portrait all
of these things that you've doneit.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
I mean, we know about yoursuccesses.
What about the struggles thatyou face, you know, every day.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Yeah, I mean, uh, it's funny, all of those things
sound like successes, butthere's a lot of failure and all
those things.
You just mentioned them in.
They're not all that, you know,I guess it looks amazing from
the outside, but yeah, there'sno doubt that all of those
things were not successful.
Um, and some of them areobviously still in process.
(08:29):
It turns out it takes a longtime to build a hotel chain from
scratch.
So that's a long ongoing journeythat I'm sure we'll get into.
But, uh, but yeah, I mean, Iwould say I'm 42 right now.
I would say at the age of 42,I'm dealing with more internal
fight and voices and, you know,doubt than I ever have in my
life.
(08:51):
Um, and so I would say the doubtand the hardships only increased
rather than decreased.
Uh, so I don't know if that's anage thing or midlife crisis or
what, but, uh, you know, there'sno doubt I have my long list of
challenges just like anybodyelse.
Speaker 6 (09:09):
Jeremy, I, uh, I love everything, literally everything
about your story.
One of the things that I, that Ilove about how you approach your
life, your success, yourfailures, whatever.
And I think this is a realinstructive thing for everybody,
is that I, I recognized in you areal sense of following the muse
(09:30):
wherever it takes you.
And that is something I thinkI've struggled with.
I think a lot of people strugglewith when once they decide what
they are, quote unquote, uh,sometimes they have a hard time
morphing that into whatever thenext thing is.
You know what I mean?
Uh, you know, like you decide,you decide you're a drummer and
a, and then all of a sudden anopportunity comes along that is
(09:52):
not drumming, but it might opena skill set for you that you did
not even know you had.
In my case, it was, uh, it wasbook and blog writing.
I, you know, I, I'd had thiscareer as a songwriter and then
all of a sudden I wrote a blogessentially trying to find
people who had other people whohad Angelman syndrome in their
(10:12):
life.
And that launched a whole careerfor me that I didn't even know
really existed.
I see that happened in yourjourney a lot in that you, you
just kinda took what wasavailable there and what you
had, you know, in front of youand you, you keep walking
forward.
Um, and you just talked aboutthe struggles that you're having
right now.
And I think I, I mean I'll takethis opportunity to encourage
(10:36):
you because in your own, in yourown journey, uh, I find
encouragement.
I, I watched, uh, a couple oflittle episodes of something
last night about how some movieswere made and one of the things
that you realize in every storyof anything that's significant
or important or that's ever beendone of, of note is that while
(10:58):
it's being made, nobody knows.
They're making a classic.
Nobody knows they're there doingsomething special.
It's you, you're in the battle.
And at every turn it's likeClickList.
Like you're on a high wire andat every, every moment you feel
like you can fall off, this canbe, this can be a story of, of
absolute tragedy.
You know what I mean?
(11:19):
And then you look back on it andthat's when it looks like
success.
You know, once it's, it's the,it's the afterwards that you
look back and go, Oh, okay, wellthat was, that worked.
But while you're in it, youdon't know if it's going to
work.
And I speak to that a little bitbecause I believe that, I
believe you're one of thosefighters out there who fights
through that.
I would encourage you just righthere on the podcast to continue.
(11:41):
I think that the world needs youto, uh, because you're an
inspiration to so many people.
But I think people look at, youknow, that they just saw you at
a corporate event.
They just saw your Wikipediapage.
They just saw your video.
They just saw it, read yourbook, whatever they think you've
quote unquote made it.
I don't know.
I think maybe there's fivepeople in the world who've made
it like Paul McCartney, BruceSpringsteen, you know, other
than that, I don't know whomakes it.
(12:04):
I don't know where it, I don'tknow where it is.
You know what I mean?
We have to get up everyday andget back in the struggle.
Talk about that.
Speaker 5 (12:09):
Yeah, I definitely don't think I've made it cause
like you said, I've got to keepworking my tail off on a lot of
things.
So I'm definitely never feelthat I've made it in any way,
shape or form.
Um, but yeah, I mean it, that'sa really beautiful reminder
about the filmmaking process.
Now everybody or nobody feelslike they're making a classic,
(12:31):
they just see the heart, youknow, the journey and helps up
and as, and that's certainlywhere I met right now.
You know, I had a idea to builda hotel in 2012.
It's 2020 right now.
So almost eight years ago I hadthis crazy idea to build a
hotel, spent three years doingnothing about it cause I was so
afraid of it, but I knew everyday that it was still the right
(12:54):
idea, the right thing to pursue.
So it wasn't in 2015 that westarted taking it seriously,
launched, launched it to thepublic in 2016 mean we call it,
uh, building it backwards.
Cause it's like we hung our signin the sky first and then we've
had to then go and figure outhow to do it.
(13:15):
Whereas most hotels develop andbuild on the background for
seven or eight years.
And at the very end they hangtheir sign on the building.
So I would say doing it the waywe're doing it is much harder
because you're settingexpectations sky high.
You know, it's one thing tolaunch an idea, but it's, you
know, execution S especially thescale is just infinitely
(13:40):
challenging, especially whenyou're also trying to disrupt
the industry entirely.
Speaker 6 (13:45):
Yeah.
Talk about that.
What's the, what's thedifference in your hotel and any
garden variety Marriott that youcan check into?
[inaudible] let's talk aboutyour hotel talk.
Tell us what's the difference inthat.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
Sure.
Well, I am, you know, I'vetraveled to over 30 countries as
a photographer and I was alwaysamazed, you know, stayed in the
worst hotels and the nicesthotels.
I've been in every form ofhotel.
And I'm always amazed that eventhe most expensive and luxury
hotels are still orange in myopinion.
(14:16):
Sure.
They may be luxurious and mighthave a nice pool.
They might have great suit, theymight have nice design and
furniture and fixtures.
But at the end of the day, theindustry fell, still felt like
soulless to me.
Like there was nothinginspiring, there was nothing
that moved the human spirit.
So in 2012, I had an idea tobuild a, uh, basically a social
(14:40):
good hotel where every elementin the building was doing
something to make the world abetter place.
He knew whether that was theroom service feeding a child in
need through for the hungry orthe rooms sponsoring a child and
tell them their story or theinternet fighting human
trafficking.
This hotel would be all thosethings that just listed three
(15:00):
ideas, three connection ideas.
There's about 50 of those in thepurpose of tow.
That's the name of it, by theway, as the purpose of though.
And so the idea is that just bystaying at this hotel, you will
be quote unquote changing theworld in your sleep.
You know, everything you do inthis building is connecting to
something bigger than yourself.
(15:22):
And so inspiration will beeverywhere in this building.
Um, and, and cause baseconnections will be everywhere.
And so it's a really, really bigidea that is kind of, you know,
I like to say that, um, mosthotels are inward focused.
You know, they're all saying wehave the best price or we have
(15:43):
the best comfort or we have thebest food, or where the, where
the head office, you know, whatthe new ACE hotel, uh, whereas
the purpose hotel is saying,yeah, we're all those things.
We have great pools, great food,great whatever.
That's not the point.
We're great because we're makingother scrape.
We're giving back.
We're investing in thecommunities locally,
(16:04):
domestically around the countryand around the world.
So we are outward focused, notinward.
Speaker 6 (16:10):
I love this idea because, and I'll speak for
myself only, not necessarily forthe group podcast or for Deb or
even for you, but, uh, formyself, uh, I, I see people who
want to change the world.
And very often they channel thatinto politics.
And as if the only people whocan create effective change are
(16:34):
people who have the controls ofgovernment or the leavers of
power at their disposal.
I, I personally like the idea ofpeople out in the private sector
doing something like this.
You could, you could apply this,this concept to more than
hotels.
You could apply it torestaurants, you could apply it
to movie theaters, you couldapply it to it, right?
(16:55):
Just pretty much any kind of,any kind of enterprise out
there, you could apply thesesame principles I would imagine.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
Oh for sure.
And that's exactly what we'redoing cause we will have within
the building and we'll havecoffee shops and fitness and
restaurants and coworking andoffices.
And so yeah, absolutely it canbe applied to anything.
Speaker 6 (17:13):
And that's what we're looking for as a society is
sustainability in how we changethings, how we affect things for
the better.
Um, and you know, how cool wouldit be?
Is it, if you just, you know,getting in a certain car and
driving to a certain hotel andchecking in and ordering your
meal and doing everything younormally do, just just those
(17:35):
activities alone effect, youknow, a measurable amount of
change in, in, in the negativequotient of, of society where,
where there, whether you'reeffecting, you know, trafficking
or whatever it may be.
I don't even know all of the,all of the strings that you have
attached to it, but even thethree, the three things that you
(17:56):
listed, I mean, that's, that'skind of the dream, right?
Speaker 5 (17:59):
Yeah, for sure.
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Jeremy, where are you guys at on the project?
Speaker 5 (18:04):
We, uh, have our land secured, which will be downtown
Nashville, Tennessee, right nextto the main convention center.
Um, we have, uh, our management,we have renderings from our
architects.
We have, gosh, it's a big teamalready, but, um, and we're
currently fundraising this year.
We hope to break ground at theend of this year or early next
(18:27):
year.
And then it's about a two tothree year build from there.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
That's amazing, man.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
PayPal people are buying into this.
I mean, it's not just, it's notjust in your head anymore.
You, you've got it's actionablestuff out there, right.
You can get people drawing.
You got people, you know, bootson the ground, I guess you could
say actually making this thinghappen.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
Oh yeah.
In a, in a big way when we fedall of that developing for about
a year now.
Um, but yeah, a lot to lots ofboots on the ground.
It's a, it's a big ship already.
It's kind of crazy.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
That's awesome.
Hey, let's, let's help overendless.
Let's talk about your book for asecond because I think that's a
good jumping off point herethough.
It can kind of lead us down tosome of the things that we want
to talk about.
And it's like your book'scalled.
I'm possible jumping into fearand discovering a life of
purpose.
What prompted you, I mean, Ithink, I know, but tell us what
(19:18):
prompted you to write that bookand talk a little bit about, you
know, what it's about and thatkind of thing.
Speaker 5 (19:23):
Yeah.
Um, uh, years ago, my buddy Johnasked me to speak at his
conference and I told him, I waslike, man, I'm not a speaker.
I don't have much to say.
And then, so I told him no, butthen I kinda came back to him.
I was like, you know, I thinkI've got a good idea to
literally illustrate my storyand make a video where I kind of
, you know, document my journeyas an artist.
(19:45):
And, uh, so I did it for hisconference and it kind of
exploded immediately.
Like there was a standingovation.
Everybody was crying.
And then I've found that I keptgetting asked to do it over and
over, and every time I would doit, I'd get a standing ovation.
Everybody was crying.
So I was like, man, this isreally having it much deeper
(20:06):
impact than I was expecting.
And I think it helps that it'sall visual and has music.
And so it's really like you'rewatching movie that I'm
narrating.
And so, um, every time I do it,I would get asked, where can I
watch the Sunline to send otherpeople?
So finally release it online afew years ago and it kinda blew
(20:27):
up, you know, millions of views,uh, tens of thousands of people
posted it to their Facebookpages, which for a 30 minute
video that, that was a reallysurprising, um, and uh, and then
that kind of accidentallylaunched a speaking career and
then, then it turned into a bookand, you know, and so it's been
(20:48):
a wild journey.
I never intended, you know, tobe publishing a book or, you
know, traveling as a speaker.
Um, so you gotta be careful whenyou say, uh, when you say yes to
things might just surprise me.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
That's true.
I think some of the things I've,I've experienced throughout my
life, you know, certainlynothing like that.
I've made people cry, butprobably not for those reasons.
But, uh, you do kind of, youkind of get into your thing or
whatever, and then you're askedto do something else.
And, and I, I've been throughthat myself.
(21:26):
You new year, I was asked to dosomething and I'm like, man, I
don't do that.
I, I'm not, you know, I'm notthis or I'm not that.
And then there's something inyou, you, like you said, like
you just, you do it and thenlike it literally just opens up
doors and it kind of, you kindof, it kind of pushes you
through, um, you know, read, youtalked about it a little bit
earlier, how you kind ofaccidentally stumbled into a new
(21:49):
career and just, I mean it's,it's just an interesting road
and I think the most importantthing in life and what I try to
encourage people to do is to,you know, these ideas, like, you
know, this hotel idea of yours,like you said, you know, you
thought about it and then youjust kind of sat on it and, and
then at some point somethingprompted you, you, you pushed
(22:12):
the gas pedal.
And I always try to tell you, Ijust tell this to my kids, you
know, and they were growing up.
I'm like, you know, life iskinda like, you know, driving a
car.
Like you can sit in it, it canbe running, but you know, if you
don't put it in gear and moveforward, you're not going to
experience anything.
So I think it's important to,um, you know, have ideas, do
(22:34):
things, be encouraged, but stepinto those things, you know,
step into that fear and stepinto that.
Because sometimes in the fearand sometimes in the darkness,
like that's where, you know, wefind the best thing that could
ever happen to us.
Jeremy, do you do, do you findthat saying yes is the key?
Speaker 5 (22:54):
I do.
I mean, obviously there has tobe some research on like, yes,
like for me, I always bounce itoff those closest to me who will
be really honest.
You know, when I have an idea,I'll run on Obama wife and
she's, I'm just crazy dead on usabout ideas, most ideas.
She, she's just not a big fan of, uh, you know, it's, it's rare
(23:18):
that she supports, but thensometimes I realize like to,
even if she doesn't likesomething, she's not in my
industry, she doesn't know thetarget fee, you know, the
creative industry.
So then I seek feedback frompeople within my industry who
will also be almost with me.
And then I, you know, I'll wait.
(23:38):
Cause ideas always seem amazingat first and then over time you
realize maybe they're not thatgreat.
So I typically, uh, buy thedomain names.
I'm like a domain name, Paul gab, tons of them.
Um, yeah, for sure.
Uh, you know, and then I'd justwait it out and uh, and see what
(23:59):
I think, you know, and I thinkthe good ideas actually, there
are still a lot of good ideasthat I think are still worthy of
pursuing, but at some reason, atsome point you just reach your
bandwidth.
You know, there's only so muchyou can do.
So I have a lot of great ideasthat there's a couple ideas that
are now multimillion dollarselling products that I see in
(24:20):
stores everywhere.
And I had those ideas longbefore they came out, so,
Speaker 6 (24:25):
Oh, don't we all have those?
Speaker 5 (24:27):
Yeah.
So sometimes you have to grieve,grieve the babies that were
never born.
You know, like it's a, it's acrazy journey.
Uh, being an idea person andhaving to choose which ones to
pursue
Speaker 6 (24:40):
with, with the, with the, uh, when it comes to the
wife, uh, conversation, I have avery similar situation as you
and you know, the old sayingbehind every great man is a
woman rolling her eyes.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
You know, Jeremy, you're talking about earlier we
were talking before we startedrecording, um, you have having
all these ideas and, and doingthese things.
You, you made a comment similarto, uh, sometimes you feel like
you've got too many jobs andthat that seems cool to a lot of
people, but where, where is thebandwidth?
(25:18):
Where is the cutoff?
When you, when you're an ideamachine and they're not just,
you know, sitting in a corner,they're all moving in, in
churning.
Where's the cutoff for you?
Speaker 5 (25:29):
Yeah, to get questioned.
I think I'm always trying tofigure that out.
Um, you know, I've got four kidsand Somali life really is, I'm
about as suburbia dad as you canget, you know, um,
Speaker 6 (25:41):
say no more.
The idea start stops at eighto'clock in the morning.
I know exactly how[inaudible]
Speaker 5 (25:46):
yeah, exactly.
The idea is start at 9:00 AM forme it's 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM is
all dad duty, you know, uh, andthen really 6:00 PM or 5:00 PM
to 10:00 PM as also dead duty.
So I've got a very limitedwindow that I can, um, you know,
perform and do things.
(26:06):
And so, uh, yeah, like I wastelling you earlier, like it can
seem sexy to be doing all thesethings and the older I get, the
more fun that that's just sooverrated, you know, crave more
simplicity as I get older.
And so, um, I'm definitelytrying to wind a few things down
so that I can only do a couplethings and, and be more focused.
Speaker 6 (26:31):
Where's your primary love man?
If, uh, you know, if they cameto you and said, Hey, in 2020,
Jeremy, uh, we, you can only dolike two things.
W w where's that gonna land foryou?
Speaker 5 (26:42):
Yeah.
Love anything that involvescreativity and giving back.
In fact, I came up with amission statement a couple of
years ago that said, my missionis to explore the intersection
of creativity and empathy.
So as long as it's artistic andhas a social good element than
the normal, and
Speaker 6 (27:04):
you're, you're such a great photographer.
Is that, is that the kind of thetip of the creative spear for
you or is it, is it just a meansto a bigger end?
Speaker 5 (27:17):
No, uh, I mean, I love painting.
I love drawing up and doing alot of fun art over the last
year, you know, but exploring,even really pursuing that as a,
as another side hustle career,um, looking into galleries, I'm
all like, it's a painting likecrazy.
Um, and that's where my lovestarted.
(27:37):
Is that struct or my favoriteartists on the planet?
Well, I doesn't live anymore.
It's not alive anymore.
But John Michel Basquiat was apainter in the 80s, and, uh, so
he's[inaudible].
Yeah, he was an abstract artistand you know, some obsessed with
abstract art.
Um, you know, so I think, Ithink in my core, I really am a
(27:59):
painter, but the camera is justbecome one of the tools over
time that I also love using.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
And one of the things I love that you've been doing
lately, um, that I've, you know,cause I've, you know, I follow
you around the inner webs is howyou've been opening up your
studio and you know, cause you,you, you know, you were known
as, you know, a, a, a celebrityquote unquote celebrity
photographer.
(28:25):
You know what I mean?
It's kinda like a label that's,that's cause you, you know, you
are, you're, you're talented,um, and that space and you've
got a lot of great opportunitiesand then you open up your studio
and you, you know, you, youshoot just whoever wants to come
in and, um, pay to have theirportrait done.
Like, you know, that kinda thing.
(28:46):
And, and the, where you've takenthat I think is really cool, but
there's an element I wanted youto kind of respond to and to
kind of talk about a little bitbecause I paid a lot of
attention to that because I, I'malways trying to figure out same
kind of thing.
Like how can I push myselfcreatively and in my directing
or whatever it is I do.
(29:08):
And I noticed that, you know,you always, as you said earlier,
you always with what you do, yougive back.
So you, it's not like you haveany kind of Jeremy coward secret
sauce that you like, aren'tafraid to like, you know, give
out.
You've put out so many things.
Uh, you got the, the onlineschool thing and I was kind of
(29:31):
reading a lot of the commentsand things and then you were
basically encouraging otherphotographers.
You know, the photographycommunity, it's kind of a, you
know, it's a humongous, I meanit's just, I don't think people
realize just how many people,just because anybody can pick up
a camera, you know, doesn'tnecessarily make them a
photographer.
But there are people who aretrying to make a living.
(29:53):
And I remember you, you werekind of giving some advice like
here's how you know, here's whatI did and here's what you can do
as well.
Like this is kind of a formulafor, for that.
And I can remember even readingin some of the comments, people
were kind of coming back at youa little bit like, well that's a
little unfair.
You know Jeremy and I'mparaphrasing, but you know,
(30:14):
cause you, you know, you had a,you got to shoot for your
famous, you know, people knowwho you are and all that kind of
stuff.
And, and it kind of bothered mea little bit because people
don't want to put the work inand people want to immediately,
you know, go from, you know, inmy field, they want to go from
straight out of, you know, fullsail or college or you know,
(30:36):
from being a PA to a directorand without putting the, the
years of what you have to putinto to get to that.
Um, can you talk about that alittle bit?
Can you respond to that?
Speaker 5 (30:48):
Yeah, it is weird.
I think not to be that guythat's dissing the younger
generation, but I mean there isthis, you know, need that's been
around for several years and Iwork, people just want to be a,
be an influencer right away.
You know, they, we have the bigfollowing in the name and all
that.
And um, I've actually had a lotof interesting conversations.
(31:10):
I always try to give back bymeeting with up and comer
creatives.
Um, uh, you know, I always say,you have to, you have to
influence first to be aninfluencer.
You have to put in your, youknow, your quote unquote 10,000
hours of doing somethinginteresting.
That's the only reason I've hada little small pocket of people
(31:32):
following me is that I did adecade of the typography, you
know, and I worked really hardlearning and shooting and
failing and trying and, you know, um, I now feel like I'm really
learning all over again, but I'mjust always curious and always
diving deeper and trying newthings and experimenting and
(31:53):
reinventing.
Um, and so I think you reallycan't even think about the, the
fame or the influence, whatever.
You just got to keep your headdown and start, you know,
cranking out stuff and the restwill come if you're good.
You know, I always always sayfind, find out what you have to
say and how to say it in aunique way so he can figure out
(32:15):
those two things.
Like you're golden, you know,finding your voice and how to
make it unique.
Speaker 6 (32:22):
I, I'm so with you on this, Jeremy, I, when I'm in a
meeting with someone in, I hearthem say the words I'm, I want
to affect the culture.
I kind of politely excuse myselfbecause I know that probably
what the last thing is thatthey're about to do is affect
the culture.
Because that's not how you, youknow what I mean?
(32:42):
You don't, I don't think you gointo it planning to effect the
culture.
You go into it planning tocreate great work and work
that's meaningful and work thatmoves you and works on a heart
level for you.
And then that, and then that's,you know, it works one by one.
I don't, I don't,
Speaker 7 (33:01):
I don't, uh,
Speaker 6 (33:03):
I don't think you, you, you know, if you're, if
your desire is to be, you know,they're the rock star standing
in front of 100,000 people, youmay not get there because that,
that in itself is not the goal,right.
That that is sort of a, aoutgrowth of the goal.
You, you to play stadiums.
Not because they wanted to playstadiums, they play stadiums
(33:25):
because they wrote these greatsongs that, that lots of people
want to hear, you know, and sothe stadium, the stadium
experience is just a, it's alike a necessary part of, you
know,
Speaker 7 (33:38):
uh,
Speaker 6 (33:39):
it's, it's sort of the function, uh, you know, the,
the, the, the end resultfunction of something that
happens deeper and moreinternally than that.
Right?
Speaker 7 (33:49):
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (33:52):
You, uh, you've had, man, I, you, you, you said this
and I think it's wonderful thatyou, you got to find out what
you want to say.
I, I'm a firm believer that youhave to live to, uh, and I tell
all young writers, they asked,they asked me, what's the key
to, you know, writing in a, andI always say, go complicate your
(34:13):
life.
Um, you know, if you've lived areally protected life, if you've
lived a life without tragedy, ifyou've lived a life without
pain, if you have avoided all ofthat stuff, you probably don't
have anything to say to anybody.
Speaker 7 (34:29):
Yeah.
Um,
Speaker 6 (34:31):
you sir, have had all of those things and talk about
that a little bit to talk abouthow that, uh, informs your art,
how that informs your journey.
Uh, you've, you've had, youknow, if any, anybody that wants
to go watch your video, we'llget the, you know, the, the
rough start that you had and allof that stuff and all of those
(34:52):
things you, that you overcame.
It's totally inspirational.
But, um, just to maybe touch ona subject that might be a bit
painful, but to talk about yourbrother a little bit and how
that situation informs yourmoving forward and how it's
informed your art.
Speaker 7 (35:06):
Okay,
Speaker 5 (35:06):
sure.
Yeah, I've certainly had myshare of, of loss and, and
hardships.
Uh, my brother was, uh, 43 whenhe suddenly passed away of a
heart attack.
Now it was, gosh, five or sixyears ago now.
Um, and we had no idea.
He knew he had anything wrongwith him with that he was
(35:27):
healthy as can be.
And so, um, he had a suddenlylose a brother, certainly
changes a lot of perspective andall the, um, now the adopted at
children, but two of them areadopted from Haiti.
And, uh, you know, I've faced asignificant challenge with one
of them every day, um, becausehe endeared a lot of hard stuff
(35:50):
while he was in Haiti and thatcan cause a lot of brain trauma
for children.
Um, and so what was done to himhas made him very, um, you know,
challenging.
Speaker 6 (36:02):
How old is he?
Speaker 5 (36:03):
Oh, he's now, uh, about to turn nine years old.
And so he has a lot of greatdays too.
But man, the hard days are thehardest thing I've ever faced in
my life.
And, um, you know, thatcontinues to, to, you know,
happen.
Uh, and never knew which day isgoing to be good or hard, you
know, good or hard day.
And so, um, and they're, youknow, I'm now facing my own
(36:27):
health challenges.
I've got a near a logicaldisease and I'm fighting every
day and trying to figure out howto, how to beat it.
Not that I can beat it allhabits the rest of my life, but
how to take care of myself.
Um, you know, and so, um, like Isaid, I'm 42 and so, uh, yeah,
there are certainly a lot of,uh, challenges dealing with my
(36:48):
parents who are aging and have aslew of health issues.
You know, uh, life is, life isfull of challenges right now.
For sure.
Speaker 6 (36:58):
Well, and how does this D, do you channel this into
your art?
Can you channel it into yourart?
Does it, does it, does it informyou in a, like an oblique way
where maybe you don't, maybe itcomes out in ways that you don't
even think about consciously?
Speaker 5 (37:12):
Yeah, I think so.
I think it keeps me, um, veryhumble for sure, but very, um,
understanding and empathetic toothers.
You know, uh, I don't see myselfas any, any different from, you
know, the, the lady who cleansthis building and washes the
toilets.
(37:32):
You know, I, I think of myselfas just some other version,
finding his way through life.
I don't think of myself as likean influencer of celebrity.
None of this stuff.
I live in very normal, quietlife, especially these days.
Um, but all of those thingscertainly in influenced the way
I approach people when Iphotograph them.
(37:52):
Uh, the RMA, the, the approachthey'll take when speaking and,
and then talking to people afterI speak.
It approaches him in a, uh, aninforms the approach we're
taking on the purpose of Intel.
You know, how to relate topeople.
Um, it informs the book that itjust did.
I mean, yes, certainly, uh, is,affects all of it
Speaker 6 (38:15):
to a, how does it, how does it affect how you, how
do you, uh, photograph people?
That's interesting to me.
What, what, in what way wouldthat w would that affect?
It?
Does it, does it change whatyou're looking for out of a
shot?
Speaker 5 (38:28):
I think so.
Yeah.
Cause people walk into photos todo and they're really, really
intimidated.
Uh, they're, they're nervousabout how they look.
They'd never done this before.
They feel awkward.
They're intimidated by beingphotographed by a well known
photographer, all that stuff.
And then to break all thosebarriers down and just to pour
(38:48):
into them and love on them andask them about their life and
get to know them, it suddenlybecomes this super laid back,
you know, fun experience and youget much better results because
of that, you know, when theysuddenly feel like a friend is
photographing them, they almostforget the camera is there.
(39:09):
And so yeah, there's, there'smuch better results that way.
Speaker 6 (39:12):
And you, and it sounds to me, you know, I'm just
outside looking in, but it, itwould, it would sounds like what
you're looking for in aphotograph in a shot in a, in
the capturing of a moment is, issomething real and something
expressive and something that,that actually sort of captures
them as opposed to just a prettypicture.
(39:34):
Right.
Speaker 5 (39:35):
Yeah, for sure.
And I'll be honest, I don't, Idon't have a specific plan on,
never do a comment, wait andwatch a, try a bunch of things
really quickly and I, and uh,look at the results and I like
recently heard any Liebowitzspeak and I loved hearing her
talk because she has the sameapproach.
He lets, lets the scene and, oryou know, unveil itself.
(39:59):
She's not this master directorthat knows exactly what she's
going to get.
I'm the same way.
Some of the third rows are thatway.
They'd see the shop before ithappens.
And um, I really, um, I'm anartist with, with the way I use
light.
I don't say that to be whatever,but like I have this insane
process that mixes led lightswith projection with, uh,
(40:23):
strobes that change every time Ishoot and I'm projectors
changing the backdrop every twoseconds and all the led lights
are rotating in.
So I kinda throw people intothis just total chaos of
experimentations with light.
Then I direct them, then I toldthem and then just start having
a conversation.
(40:44):
And while we're doing that, allthe scene around them is
changing.
And so for me it's just a wayto, let's just see what happens.
Let's throw you in the blenderand see what flavor comes out.
It's really,
Speaker 4 (40:57):
what kind of smoothie are you?
I think the LSD helps too, rightJeremy?
When you just kinda like givehim a little at the beginning
and they kind of LSD when yougive him the LSD,
Speaker 6 (41:14):
I think we all know that LSD is a prime ingredient
to all all art.
I mean, I think that's kind ofon the table.
Well,
Speaker 4 (41:20):
one thing I, I, I can, I can attest for, I can
attest to, I mean it's, I thinkit's a lot about authenticity.
Um, and people can sense that.
People know when you're beingfake and they know when you're
being real.
Um, and you're, you're able to,anytime you're able to, and it
can be an a negotiation or youknow, in a photo session or, or
(41:43):
whatever it is.
And when you, when someone canfeel that you're just, you're
connecting with them and youfind a way to connect with them,
uh, at a heart level, it's sortof like the walls.
You can almost just kind of seethe walls come down and, and
things open up.
Speaker 5 (41:58):
Yup.
For sure.
Every time,
Speaker 6 (42:01):
you know, Jeremy, as I get older, uh, we're, we're in
this, we're in this world, inthis culture, uh, where
everybody is kinda geared toquote unquote bring it right.
You know, we've got the, thevoice and American idol and
America's got talent and allthese shows where everybody is
sort of, uh, encouraged to, youknow, man, just bring your best
(42:22):
and you've got to, you know, reraised to another level and
this, and this and this and thisand it's, and it's all very, it
tends, it can lend itself toartifice.
Right.
Uh, and I find I'm moreinterested.
Uh, I had a conversation with afriend of mine who wants to do a
record and, and he, he was, he'sbrilliant.
He's, he's great.
He absolutely should do arecord.
(42:42):
And he's like, man, I just, Ijust want it to be, I don't know
if it's going to be good enough.
And the acid mint, buddy, we, wedon't really need you to be
good.
We need you to be, you.
Speaker 5 (42:53):
[inaudible]
Speaker 6 (42:54):
and I F.
F that's what I'm really lookingfor more now in whatever
artistic expression I'm, I mean,obviously there's a bar of
technical expertise.
You don't want to see, you know,a movie that's not done
technically.
Right.
You know, where you can't hearthe dialogue and you can't see
the, you know, you can't seethis and you can't see that.
(43:15):
Obviously we want to, we want tosee something shot well, but at
the, at the end of it, I reallywant to see authenticity.
I want to see a heart, I guessis the only way to put it.
That's one of the things that Ireally appreciate about
everything that you've doneartistically.
I feel like I get that.
Do you think the quote unquotecelebrities who you've shot, you
(43:38):
think that's one of the reasonsthey come to you?
Speaker 5 (43:40):
I would hope so.
I mean, a lot of times, youknow, celebrities or even their
handlers have no idea who I amas a person.
Um, you know, at typicallytypically get hired because of
my portfolio and my artisticapproach.
Um, but yeah, I hope then I'mable to really comfort them or
make them feel comfortable onset because I'm a laid back
(44:04):
demeanor, whatever.
And so, um, yeah, I hope it allplays into it.
Speaker 4 (44:08):
Um, one thing as we kind of wrap up here, what we
try to do and talk about on thegroove or our goal is to share
other people's stories of, youknow, sometimes you know,
you're, you're in the groove,sometimes you're out, sometimes
you're in it, sometimes you getkicked out.
Um, as we kind of wrap up here,can you, do you have any kind of
like, you know, words ofencouragement for people that
(44:30):
are, you know, whether they becreative or artistic or
whatever.
Um, do you have any kind of likewords of encouragement that,
that, that you could kind ofimpart?
Speaker 5 (44:40):
Yeah, I would just say too, you know, kind of were
talking about earlier, it'sreally trying to figure out like
what do you, what do you love?
You know, what do you love todo?
You know, cause I think a lot ofpeople, I think part of the
midlife crisis thing is peoplerealizing they thought they
wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer,a physical therapist, a teacher,
and then they realize years intoit that way.
(45:03):
I don't actually love doingthis, you know?
So it's important to figure thatout first.
Then how can you, you know, saysomething within that industry
that's in a unique way, youknow, so as a photographer,
it's, it's one thing to takegreat pictures of the thing you
love, but chances are there'shundreds if not thousands of
(45:23):
people that are also takinggreat pictures of the thing.
So how do you then tweak it andmake it your own?
Then you've really gotsomething.
You're doing something you lovehere.
You're telling the story in a,in a unique way.
And I think that can be appliedto so many different careers,
you know?
Um, and so yeah, and it'sultimately the million dollar
(45:46):
question, you know, it wasfinding your vision.
Uh, it's, it's always an ongoingjourney.
I mean, for me, you know, 15years into this, it's still the
ongoing journey is figuring outwho I am and what I'm just
saying.
Speaker 4 (45:59):
That's awesome, man.
Your book is called, I'mpossible jumping into fear and
discovering a life of purpose.
Um, and they can find thatagain.
Uh, Jeremy just said, Jeremy,cower.com.
Well, thank you man so much forbeing on the show.
Um, it's been a real honor tojust to eighties, just to get to
catch up into, uh, always, youknow, get a little bit of your
(46:21):
insight.
Um, it's, it's you, I can tellyou for a fact you've inspired
me in my career and things that,that have been, I have found
success in that, that I have,uh, gained a lot of inspiration,
um, just following you around.
So, um, I encourage everybody,you know, hop on and follow, you
(46:41):
know, hop on the Jeremy Howardtrain falling around.
You'll see some authenticity,you'll see some great art.
Um, and you'll also see somefunny tweets have to say this
before we go, cause I follow youon Twitter and the other day,
um, you, you sent out a tweetabout, does anyone know how to
get rid of bad smells?
(47:01):
Did you ever get cause what'dyou say?
Like your studios sandwichedbetween like a, a restaurant
and, and smoking some likesmoking or something
Speaker 5 (47:10):
like in an old factory and then I'm next to
seafood restaurant.
The public restrooms are rightoutside that door and there's
people that smoke out some mydoors all the time.
So I'm like in a turd sandwichover here.
So yeah, I'm always trying tofigure out how to make us
[inaudible]
Speaker 4 (47:28):
so that just, you can still make beautiful, amazing
art with the stench of lifesurrounding it.
Right around my best.
Speaker 6 (47:38):
You're doing great man.
Thank you so much for being onthe, on the show and I'm sure
you've inspired people outthere.
You've certainly inspired us anduh, that's how you stay in the
groove man.
Speaker 4 (47:49):
Exactly.
Thank you guys for having me.
Really appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (47:53):
Thank you man.
That was just amazing.
It was inspiring.
Head over to the groove,podcast.com for the show notes
Speaker 3 (48:01):
and to learn more about Jeremy, you're gonna want
to do that.
And just as a reminder, don'tforget to hit that five star
rating and give us a thumbs upwherever you listen to your
podcasts.
It really does help push theshow on and get us noticed.
Um, also if you'd like to helpsupport the show, head over to
the group, podcast.com and clickon the support tab and you'll be
(48:22):
directed to our Patrion page.
Thank you guys.
We need the love.
Oh, we just love us.
Love us, love us.
Uh, no, just kidding.
Uh, thank you guys for joiningus and remember that anywhere
you are, no matter who you are,no matter how old you are, no
matter what failures you've had,no matter what your vision is,
you can find the groove.
(48:44):
That's what we're looking forhere to find the groove.
We'll see you next time.
Thanks guys.
Speaker 2 (48:53):
[inaudible]
Speaker 3 (48:53):
you've been listening to the group with Devin Pence
and Reggie ham.
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