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

Sam, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

So a little over a year ago I thought to myself “Why not start hormone replacement therapy?”. I’d heard estrogen is great for growing your hair out and I was dealing with a bit of thinning round the temples. Obviously I was aware that people would hear I’m taking estrogen and think I was trans, I am, but at the time I was just looking to grow some hair. When I went into Planned Parenthood and told them it “Seemed like it was time” I was able to get a prescription for estrogen the same day, that was awesome. I can’t remember the exact date but I’m almost certain I did it on April 20th because I thought it would be really funny, and it is.

Anyways it wasn’t long after starting hormones that I realized I not only felt good, but I felt better than before. For the first time in decades I was feeling comfortable in my own body again. I also grew my hair out. Win-win.

Sam, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I call myself NoRespassing, it’s kind of a mouthful, and I’m an indie cartoonist, which means I like to make comics and not money. Since I need money to live I take on a lot of client work doing graphic design, email development, really anything that I think will give me an excuse to make more art. Besides making everyone read my comics, my ultimate goal in life is to make everyone and everything as weird as I am, so when I take on client work I try and encourage them to indulge their strangest impulses and desires. Things are more fun that way! If I had to pitch myself to future readers/clients/friends I would say I don’t think it’s possible to be too weird or too horny or too unmarketable, and when people look at my work I want them to feel like they’ve gotta free pass to just be a little weirder in their day to day lives.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my audience through sheer time and energy, and when you get down to it that’s the only surefire way to build a social media audience. If you post more, people see your work more, and the algorithm rewards you with more engagement. You’ll drive yourself mad constantly chasing the latest get engagement quick scheme.

Posting isn’t easy, of course, you only have so much time and energy to give. That’s why I encourage artists to put as little effort into posting as possible. It doesn’t matter if it isn’t aesthetic or funny or if it gets no engagement. You don’t work for these companies and they don’t deserve your time or energy. Post your flops, your fails, anything your wicked little heart desires.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

If you’re gonna be an indie artist, you gotta learn to recognize a scam. There are so, so many people who want to take advantage of you, and since being an artist is one of the most unprofitable careers out there it can be tempting to jump at the first chance you see to make a buttload of cash. The harsh truth of it is that nothing is ever that easy, and the money that these scams make come out of your pocket.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://norespassing.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/norespassing