We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ross Theisen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ross below.

Hi Ross, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

There’s often a very strange disconnect between those in the “corporate world” and those in he creative world, which tends to create a discourse when someone is hiring for creative services. I think it comes down to a few things. I might sound a bit harsh here, but I’m sharing my honest thoughts via experiencing many…many examples over a decade.

First, lack of understanding. This could also be a “unwillingness to learn”. I’ve noticed many corporate folk over the years who aim to hire for a creative service, don’t necessarily want to learn why a creative process matters, or the “why” behind where their money is going. They only look at the price tag and don’t often look past that. No, they don’t need to know how taking a photo works, but they need to understand what they’re hiring for is beyond only the cost.

Second, tunnel vision. Business owners often are focused on only one thing while hiring creatives, and don’t tend to think outside the box. They tend to ask the wrong questions and aren’t focused on a plan, they tend to want “right now”. They don’t tend to think in steps to build toward something, they only look for instant gratification in the now. At least, with creative marketing elements.

Third, all of this gets wrapped in a lack of trust. Clients of corporate nature lead with distrust in my experience, and don’t totally believe what the creative is offering them, even if they asked for it. It’s a strange back and forth they tend to create. I understand business is about money, so they don’t want/have to think about the artsy-ness and whimsical creativity that creatives live in, but when you lead with distrusting of a process or disbelief that creativity and marketing matters, you’re dooming the process from the start.

Can and have all of these things been worked-around before? Of course! Communication goes a long way, but I have seen a very weird inability by many corporate clients to actually have that conversation. They believe the classic want it “fast, cheap and high quality” is acceptable, due to base misunderstanding that just because someone creates art for a living, means they just do it for “fun” and shouldn’t be paid accordingly. I’m truly not trying to be negative here, but there’s a major lack of understanding many people have about hiring for creative work. I could dissect this more, but, we’ll save that for another time!

Ross, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

So, I’m a self-taught maker of many things. I’ve learned to label it all under the tag of “Creative Director” and I create through many avenues, ranging from many passion projects to client work. I’m a Filmmaker, Podcast Producer, Writer, Actor, Photographer, Designer & Social Media Manager. Yeah…if you think of the term “freelance creative” I’ve got it covered!

My biggest thing within any endeavor, and why I openly pursue many things, is that I’ve really focused in on my “why” behind things, keeping much of what I do being built from an authentic place. Personal projects to client work, I get to enjoy what I do much more knowing I’ve made the effort to make sure I truly care about what I’m doing.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I’ve gotta go with a podcast referral here. It’s a show called “Short Story Long”. Hosted by Chris ‘Drama’ Pfaff (Rob & Big, Fantasy Factory) he sits with successful people from many different fields, and digs into their life journey that led them to where they are in their careers. While it’s no longer active, I mention this one because it’s archive feed is filled with good stuff. Years ago I was at my lowest point in my creative journey and genuinely giving up. I was debating on applying for “regular jobs” and thinking of just letting creativity be the hobby again. Discovering this podcast changed my mindset completely and helped me take some better actions and make the changes I needed to continue down the Entrepreneurial path.
The episodes are very valuable IMO because the conversations dive into the guest’s lives and you get to hear how they’ve done what they’ve done, talking about all the hard parts where it didn’t work too. This majorly helps remind us we’re not alone on the journey and there’s valuable info on how to get past the hard times scattered everywhere in the show. Lots of value!
It changed my life enough I wanted to try and do the same for others which led to me creating my podcast ‘What You Don’t Hear’ built off the same idea of conversations.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I just want to connect with others and be a storyteller. I can really break it down to those things as my “why”. I love storytelling, in any form, so for me, getting to do that in nearly any facet, makes me fulfilled. In the same way, I love connecting with people (and on a further level, helping them) My goal is truthfully self fulfillment, and to simply live a happy life getting to freely experience things and share with others.
I know that sounds overly-positive and almost a little too simple, but it’s true. Sure, I want to make money doing things I love. I want to make cool stuff. But I really I just want to build a life where I am able to tell stories in many, many different avenues, and connect to people in many, many different ways.

Contact Info:

• Website: whosrosstheisen.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/rosstheisen
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whosrosstheisen/
• Youtube: Youtube.com/RossTheisen
• Other: I produce 3 different podcasts, all made for different interests! ‘What You Don’t Hear’ is a more serious, life story interview podcast that basically become open therapy sessions. Find it @wydhpod ‘Whose Life is it Anyway?” is what it sounds like, an improv comedy podcast! It’s all about fake life stories and fake characters…where the points DO matter. Find it @whoselifepod ‘Honestly, Same’ is geared at a more round-table group chat style discussion between myself and my friends Leah & Brittani as we discuss different general life topics like childhood, adulting, movies, toxic friendships, relationships & a lot more. Find it @honestlysamepod