Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jon Olsen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jon , thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
Creativity is my vocation therefore necessity keeps it alive, but there are many other things that can influence creativity. I make instruments and games out of reused items to create innovative entertainment for all ages. If something is unique and original, it has greater appeal so I must always come up with interesting new designs in order to keep my vocation relevant. I find that thinking up new ideas calms my mind and relieves stress. If I am thinking about solutions or new creations, I am not focused on negativity or nagging everyday worries that can bring me down. Creativity lifts me up and inspires me to make the day productive. When the sun sets, if I have come up with an interesting idea, concept or design, it gives me great satisfaction.
One of the best things that keeps my creativity alive is silence. If I am busy watching television or listening to the radio, I get distracted. While these things can seed ideas, they can also be a diversion. Often I will turn off the radio in the car or leave the TV room to sit at the kitchen table so that I can be in silence. In winter I love to go out into our backyard to build snowslides for my kids, mostly because it’s fun, but also because there is really no one out there but me, and it is very peaceful. This tranquility allows me to clearly think about all the things that I need to create and provides me with better focus to explore all the different angles and ways I will use to create them.
Lastly, what mostly keeps my creativity alive is inspiration. Seeing what others have created inspires me to do the same and add my own twist. Often I lose myself in Instagram watching creative videos, but going to live shows and seeing others present creativity is the most inspiring. I absolutely love going to local presentations to watch others perform, and I find myself taking notes in my phone about their set list choices, choreography and so on.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My company is called Junkyard Symphony. Our primary business is presenting percussive comedy shows with a recycling theme for schools, day camps, community events and festivals. We make drums and circus props out of junk and everyday ordinary items, conceiving wild and wacky routines with these awesome objects to triumphantly entertain the audience. Our secondary business is inventing and building games from reused materials. We have a place called the Groovy Games Getaway which houses tons of fascinating games, many in a 3-D board game style format, while some are similar to carnival games. This magical place is absolutely fun for all ages and in our Junkyard Symphony shows we give away free admission tickets to the Groovy Games Getaway as a prize. What really makes our shows and games appealing is the originality, resourcefulness and the vibrant color scheme that we have used to decorate our reused items.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The best skill to have is patience. Many times, the ideas we have don’t work out, but even though progress can be slow, quitting is even slower. I heard somewhere that Walt Disney visited over 300 banks before he found someone willing to back his creative project. That’s determination! Most of us would have quit after visiting 3 banks and getting a “no” from each. But if you keep at it, eventually one of your ideas works, and not just works, but works well. Its worth having a hundred failures just to experience the satisfaction of one great success.
The second-best skill to have is positivity. It’s hard to get to where you want to go when you are in a dark place. Light brings out all the definition in life, so we see and think clearer when we think positively. Negativity can put the wrong spin on what we want to create and close our mind the bright possibilities we need to find. Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. Waste is worse than loss.”
Lastly, confidence is the best skill to have when creating. If you don’t think you can do something, you likely won’t be able to do it. To succeed, you have to have confidence that you will succeed. As Yoda said, “Do or do not. There is no try.”
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
The show we create is quite unique and a little bit out in left field, so a client who has an open mind and trusts that we know what we are doing is the ideal client for us. Because we make games and play music on junk, there is a stigma that the resulting product or performance can actually be “garbage”. But it is indeed the opposite. Generally what we create is absolutely awesome and if a client has an open mind, patience and faith in us enough to let us do what we do, the way we know how to do it, then magical things can be created. It takes much more energy to succeed when we are battling skepticism than if we are given positiveness by those who hire us, therefore confidence in our talent can go a long way to providing success for all!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.junkyardsymphony.com
- Instagram: @junkyardsymphony
- Facebook: Junkyard Symphony
- Linkedin: Jonny Olsen
- Youtube: Junkyard Symphony/ Jonny Olsen
