Meet Preston Craig

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Preston Craig a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Preston, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

This question actually covers two topics i.e.,resilience and work ethic. I got both from my parents. My mom was an RN before she married my dad and some of her stories revealed to me, not only the many trials and tribulations she went through in order to get her degree as an RN but also, the physical endurance she had to practice; sometimes having to work 24 hour shifts. In addition, her hard work as a mom to be able to raise 11 children. She really had to learn to cope with many issues; farm life was not easy. As for my dad, stories of his hard scrabble life after his dad abandoned his family and how he, and his siblings, struggled to survive during and through the Great Depression, really showed me how he persevered. His sacrifices to go work 4 years in the CCC camps, which were set up by Roosevelt to supply jobs for young men and relief for families who had difficulty finding jobs during this time, allowed him to earn a wage, a lot of which he sent back home to his mom and garner some work experience. He helped to improve the country’s public lands, parks, and forests. Toward the end of his stint at the camps, he enlisted into the army and ended up fighting in some of the most taxing conditions in the Pacific Campaign of WWII. His bravery as a soldier and sharp shooter garnered him several medals but he was eventually seriously wounded in one of the battles and was sent home; not having seen his family for 8 years. Lastly, his example of working at a job he hated in order to provide for his family, showed me his resilience and his work ethic.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

In brief, I am a published artist, writer, semi-retired art professor, voice over actor and business entrepreneur with an M.F.A. My days are filled with a combination of creating art, promoting my art and my duties as the President/CEO of Kids, Pets & More, Inc. In addition, I have my own business titled “Twisted Teddys®”, a series of socially relevant teddy bear illustrations/paintings, which evolved from my MFA thesis. What is most exciting/special about my company, is I set up my company so that 15% of sales from my teddy products would benefit social programs like Homelessness, Drug Addiction, Child Abuse to name a few. As a result of my Twisted Teddy® products sales, I’ve been able to give funds to a Boys and Girls Club and to a Homeless Charity. With Kids, Pets & More, I’ve set up the same dynamic. Though we don’t have any products in the marketplace as yet (we’re close), we do have a few products in the prototyping phase. Once we get a finished prototype that is production ready, we’ll give it over to our Marketing Genius to hit the ground running. One of the products is a plush teddy bear version of my character “Redneck Teddy©” A percentage of profit generated from sales will go to educational programs on racism, bigotry, etc. As a creative, I feel is it important to utilize my talent to help create positive social change. KP&M is in the middle of our fundraising phase to help bring our products to the market. You can find my Twisted Teddys on RedBubble (https://www.redbubble.com/people/1Artdude) or TeePublic (https://www.teepublic.com/user/twisted-fantasy). To get more info on KP&M, Inc., go to www.kidspetsnmore.com.

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?

Well, it took more than three but to focus on the three that were/are most impactful in my journey, I’ve winnowed it down to these: Perseverance, Adaptability and Focus. One has to set a goal or goals and no matter what life throws at you, never lose site of that goal(s). That takes Focus and a commitment to achieving your goal(s). Now, in order to achieve those goals, you may need specific knowledge or skills to do that. Remember, no knowledge is wasted. So, get educated in the areas you require in order to pursue your goals. It also helps to have a mentor or advisor along the way. In order to pursue your goals, you may need to find employment in jobs that don’t directly contribute to your goals, except for financial sustainability. One needs to be able to adapt to changing circumstances but never losing site of your goals. Connections are funny things. At that one job you feel is taking you off track, one never knows where an open door will lead. It could lead you to that one connection that will bring you closer to achieving your goals. Lastly, perseverance is key in achieving your goals. I’m stealing a line from the movie “Galaxy Quest”, which is “never give up, never surrender”. Sometimes one has to show the universe that one is serious about their goals, because life will throw all kinds of challenges at you. Be open to those challenges, adapt to those challenges but persevere in your single-mindedness to achieve ones goals. Keep working/practicing at your craft and your goals may be achieved in unexpected ways.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

Actually, there are two topics here; challenges in my business and collaborations. Most of the challenges I face has to do with time. I juggle a lot and I keep a schedule calendar to help me keep track of things I’m working on, i.e., meetings, social events, creative time, business duties, social media, fun time and follow-ups. The number one challenge I face in both my businesses is exposure. It’s a real challenge to stay abreast of and keep promoting on social media. I don’t have a crew to help with these so with Twisted Teddys®, I’m not always successful at promoting my sales and getting the word out about my teddys. My other fine art I try to promote to galleries but again, I seem to fall a bit behind in those promotions. As for Kids, Pets & More, Inc.®, the number one challenge with this is fundraising to help fund our company. KP&M is a startup so there’s a lot to do. Beside my illustration and graphic design skills, I’m called upon to help fundraise and guide some of our prototypes to completion. We have attracted a few investors, but at present, we could sure use a collaborator to either help with fundraising or an investor who sees our vision, likes what they see and wants to help us achieve our goal. What i”m doing on helping to overcome the fundraising challenge is I’ve listed KP&M with a Title3Funds campaign, which helps to attract investors to start-ups. I’m usually very good at talking about my businesses and promoting them in social situations; always looking for that open door and I’m considering starting a GoFundMe campaign.

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