What’s good pals?🙋🏿‍♂️

It’s been a minute huh?😅

I know you’re probably wondering why I haven’t been sending newsletters for the past couple episodes, and I would love to explain, but first:

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS!

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SIKE! I wish we had some cotdam sponsors😭

But in all seriousness, I address why I haven’t been sending newsletters towards the end of this newsletter, so if you’re impatient, feel free to scroll down to the Pol’s Takeway section.

But if you’re not in a rush: adjust your standing desk to your desired height, kick ya feet up, and let’s get mf’n creative 🤘🏿😝 because this was a very special interview!

‘Twas the first in-person interview I’ve ever done and it was also with one of my closest pals, so I was definitely a lil bit nervous going in, but once we hit RECORD and my guest got over his stage fright, it was smooth sailing from there.

And yes, you read the headline right, this episode is the season finale, so if this is your first time reading:

And while you’re at it, check out the most popular episodes HERE!

Preview:

• Watch/Listen Now

• Pol’s Takeaway

• Coming Soon (sort of)…

Watch/Listen Now

On episode 35, I have a very special #CreativeConversation with one of my nearest and dearest OG pals, Lee Rutledge.

Fun Fact: Lee actually produced this podcast's theme music, but wait… there’s more!

He's also an up-and-coming artist/producer that performs under two different monikers: Kakuyon and thomTide which are derived from his two middle names, Kakuyon and Thomas.

Raised in New Jersey and currently based in San Diego, Lee became serious about creating music in high school due to inspiration from other creatives he met as a member of the track team. One of these creatives, Shotta Spence, is a former P&P guest!

Initially solely focused on producing, Lee decided to start writing lyrics to his own beats and it resulted in the release of his debut album, "Now Go And Flourish" which was later followed up by his collaborative E.P., "Castling: Sky".

While planning his next project, he realized that his vision wouldn't tie in well with the Kakuyon style/branding, so he decided to create a whole new alter ego as thomTide. This led to the release of his episodic album/playlist/series, "Seasons" where he released 1 song every 2 weeks for a year straight!

In this episode, we discuss:

· how music was always in his bones (5:44)

· the making of "thomTide" (23:41)

· wanting to quit as a creative (31:20)

· the effect of Computer Science on his creative process (41:53)

· why being comfortable is a struggle (51:54)

Pol’s Takeaways

Because my interviews are focused on my guests telling their story, I try to give them as much Talking Time as possible.
“Pol’s Takeaways” is a space for me to share my thoughts on the interview.

No New Newsletters?

If you immediately scrolled here after reading the intro, the answer to the question is pretty simple:

I didn’t feel like writing newsletters anymore.

It was getting to a point where it literally was the least favorite part of my podcasting workflow, but it was something that I had committed to so I felt that I couldn’t let my pals down. But when it got to the point where I felt like I was forcing myself to write the newsletters, I knew that’s when I had to ask myself why?

Why?

Weirdly enough, I feel like this episode was meant to be.

Towards the end of it, Lee says

we have to find that balance between continuing to grow while also staying true to yourself

and it made me think about my current balancing act in regards to work, personal life, and extracurriculars like this podcast.

I tend to justify my time by making sure I’m doing something productive and if I’m not then I feel like I’m not using my time wisely. This led me to overextend myself at times and commit to things when my heart wasn’t 100% in it because I didn’t want to disappoint or appear unavailable.

This is something that I’ve been reflecting on especially in the last couple of months, and I’m glad to say I feel like I’m starting to figure it out, but it definitely has been a journey.

The Journey

If there’s one common theme from all the Words of Advice my pals have shared, it’s that they wouldn’t have been able to share these words if life wasn’t a journey.

And speaking of advice, below are some of the action items I plan to execute on my journey moving forward:

• reducing commitments and only doing more of the things I truly want to do

• putting myself in a position to master a skill I’ve always had an interest in by enrolling in a coding bootcamp

• and probably the biggest step is I finally decided to try out this whole therapy thing

I guess we’ll find out in Season 2…

Coming Soon (sort of😅)

When I first started Pol and Pals, I initially didn’t want to do the show in a season format because I felt that podcasts seasons have to be restricted to a theme and each episode has to be related to that theme.

But I recently realized that that’s a pretty limited view of seasons.

Releasing in seasons also gives you the ability to execute a full redesign if needed, learn from what’s worked and not worked, and most importantly, take some time off.

As for how long that time will be, I can’t release that specific date (yet), but I can promise you that it will be worth the wait.

And regardless, even without any new episodes: I hope that you always remember… to stay creative :)

p.s. I’m doing some analysis on Season 1, so if you want Season 2 to be 2x better, reply with your favorite/least favorite aspect (episode, release frequency, podcast format etc…) from this season and let me know why!

p.p.s If you prefer a lil anonymity🙈, leave a review here!