Meet Aaron Roberts

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aaron Roberts. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aaron below.

Aaron, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?

I picked this question because I feel it is the most important piece in the puzzle of being a creative in today’s society. Self-care surrounds our world, but the people who need it most are usually still stuck running on auto pilot, and I was one of them. It could easily be pointed at my ego and boy do creators can have egos. From not graduating high school, to completing multiple associates and a bachelor’s, I always did things my way. During my late 20’s I even took multiple golds metals in a martial arts Nationals Tournament I trained for very hard. I was doing all the right things on paper for the first time, but the instant life got hard I quickly fell hard with it. I battle alcoholism, depression, social anxiety, self-esteem issues, and all that fun stuff. After all the great achievements I ended up hiding in a bar and behind a bottle for many years just working and drinking away my creativity. Part of that reason was because I wasn’t ever focused on taking care of self. Pipe dreams until one day I had to face myself and grow the hell up. A great example is in a podcast interview with The Futur Chris Do. Talking about Branding and I’m paraphrasing he said, “you won’t like this, but the first thing you must do is get a therapist”. “Get A Therapist,” sounds simple but it’s going to bring up your entire emotional and reactional world so get ready. Today my actions for self-care are as simple as seeing someone like a therapist regularly. Staying the “F” sober to be a better person in all my life. Giving myself time and space is huge. Then, picking small goals to obtain and keep my direction moving forward no matter how down I get. I simply gave myself the goal of one sketchbook drawing a week created into a t-shirt. One a week is still my goal and probably will forever. If you can simplify the rat race in your head, you do have time for the joys of life. You can find time for the family, the joys, and even time to drift off into a free creative mind ready to explore. If you are searching for your Self-care than you will find it, but remember it takes work.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am creating a personal Art, Design, and Merch brand called Planetary Disaster. I named it after the early years of a life of disaster I lead. The name also sounds hard like a cool Wu Tang Clan or rap name. This right away gets me in trouble because 1; don’t want all work to be about planetary disaster and 2: I am not a hardened rapper at all. I do not advise this approach to anyone. I am sticking with this name because without my disaster I wouldn’t be the person I am today. Also, my website is about me and my art, not about how many t-shirts I can sell. Now, with all the freedom in the world I can embrace wherever my brain wonders and capture it on paper. Then, I can turn it into some really wild art, illustration and design. Having this freedom gives me the challenge that pushes me and excites me to keep moving forward and pushing my artistic creation to new worlds.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Never give up and keep creating are the two best fraises that anyone can keep on their mantle or tattooed on their forehead. Somewhere and maybe a therapist said, “If You stop, they win”, and I’ve also always loved that one too. The figurative “They” is super important to me. I can’t have the abstract goons out there beating me at life, oh no. So, I keep pushing on and constantly remind myself I am creating so I am moving forward no matter the sales or not. If you are branding yourself, you better commit to it and be ready for the long-term. Finally, be kind to yourself. For my fully artistic side hustle I see it could maybe take 5 years to gain any traction, so I keep creating and try, try to not look for instant gratification.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

The number One obstacle for me is to keep creating and be proud of the process and not let the numbers game bring me down. I haven’t spent any money on advertising, and I am only promoting my work through social networking. Also, I am still in my first year, so I am working very hard to just keep the work up and produce. Build it and hey maybe they really will come if the product is raw and true from my heart so that’s what I do, art.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

All Me 🙂

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Productivity
Where do you get your work ethic from?

We’ve all heard the phrase “work hard, play hard,” but where does our work ethic

Productivity
Tactics & Strategies for Keeping Your Creativity Strong

With the rapid improvements in AI, it’s more important than ever to keep your creativity

Productivity
From Burnout to Balance: The Role of Self-Care

Burning out is one of the primary risks you face as you work towards your