Meet Seby Martinez

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Seby Martinez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Seby, thank you so much for making time for us today. We can’t wait to dive into your story and the lessons you’ve learned along the way, but maybe we can start with something foundational to your success. How have you gone about developing your ability to communicate effectively?

I’m obsessed with the concept of “resistance” when it comes to things like communication, human interaction, art and storytelling. In “The War of Art,” author Stephen Pressfield discusses this concept at length — to boil it down, resistance in this context is based in the idea that we, as humans, are typically conflict-averse, and pick the path which is most obvious or which provides the most instant gratification, and we tend to shy away from, or outright reject, those things that challenge our comfort zone or default trajectory. Resistance is the force that keeps us from doing our laundry, or finishing that screenplay, or calling your aunt.

I’ve had some OCD tendencies in life, and one of them has always been to describe instructions or requests with immense detail, leading to many long emails. This is because I tend to envision all the things that can go wrong with a situation, and I tend to anticipate the elements of my message that may go misunderstood — I like to picture myself glancing into a billion branching futures, like the famous Dr. Strange meme.

But does a long wall of text constitute “effective communication?” I’d say that most of the time, it doesn’t! We live in the “I ain’t readin’ all that” era — but I also disagree with the played-out take that it’s an issue with the modern attention span. Frankly, I think that inefficient communication is disrespectful of your audience’s time, and time is the most valuable commodity in existence.

So reading “The War of Art” helped me frame communication in a new light, around this concept of resistance. While heaps of details are given with the intent of preventing error, your message will still fall at the hands of entropy if you don’t *present* it in a clear, appealing way, that reduces the resistance inherent in trying to beam your thoughts and ideas into someone else’s brain. Successful presentation, in written form, may look like bullet points instead of a wall of text. It may look like subcategories, wherein distinct concepts are separated from one another, as opposed to being tacked together in a large soupy jumble. Instead of simply imagining all the things that can go wrong if someone doesn’t understand your message, zoom out even further and ask yourself, “what if my message sucks to *look at*?” Don’t just reduce the resistance between the person and their ability to understand your message; reduce the resistance between the person and their *desire* to understand your message.

Clarity and effectiveness in verbal communication is perhaps more difficult, but in many ways very similar. We all have unique perspectives and our own internal worlds, infinitely complex and vastly different from person to person. Empathy isn’t just something you’re born with, it’s a muscle that you can train and grow, as I’ve strived to do over many years of trial and error as my limited perspective began to expand. Strive to be someone who doesn’t suck to talk to, and people will want to hear what you have to say.

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?

My company Negative Kitty makes animation and video for bold brands and bands who need to stand out with their next visual endeavor. Rebellion is at the heart of what we do, and we create our best work in service of off-kilter people whose audience shares in their appetite for colorful, provocative content that goes against the grain. We also produce original work like our upcoming cartoon pilot Beef Creek and our nearly finished video game Kitty Pellets. You can learn more at www.negativekitty.com or follow us @negative_kitty on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

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?

Confidence, Humility, and a Sense of Humor.

Confidence and humility are two sides of the same coin: you must have genuine conviction and faith in yourself that you’re capable of doing great things, while also remaining humble at all times and remembering that everyone is on their own journey and in the grand scheme of things, you’re not really “better” than anyone else.

Having a healthy sense of humor has helped me personally in life — not just because I make comedic work, but because it’s a great defense mechanism against the often bleak and dismal nature of modern life. It helps to maintain a mindset of finding something to laugh about, even in the roughest situations.

Can one train up these characteristics? Probably. When it comes to your confidence and humility, try and remember the golden rule and keep perspective and empathy when communicating and presenting yourself. When it comes to developing a sense of humor, especially in the context of less-than-ideal situations… you could always try watching some Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?

I’ve actually been on a massive growth kick over the past 12 months. It’s all had to do with gradually replacing unhealthy habits with productive habits that serve as long-term investments in myself. I’m working out 3x/week and walking more, drinking less, quit smoking, and have replaced some of the less-productive hobbies I’ve had in the past with my recent studies of chess and Japanese language. I can’t say for sure what exactly kicked all this off — I think I just got to a point where I was sick of not being my best possible self. Even when it’s stressful or tough to keep this up, or if I lapse a bit, I constantly remember that slow, incremental change is the name of the game. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.negativekitty.com
• Instagram: @negative_kitty
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/sebyxmartinez