Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sam Pagan. 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 Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk I’ve taken in my career was declining a job offer to start my own business. After finishing my contract at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in 2022, I had a job offer from an animation studio in Vancouver. But I had to leave Los Angeles behind, and that’s when I stopped to think. I questioned the direction my life was taking. Did I want to keep moving from one city to another? Why couldn’t I control where I lived? A few hours later, I called and canceled my job offer.

For 7 years, I had worked hard to get to Nickelodeon, but my priorities had changed. Now I cared about having control over where I lived and where my income came from. Through the years, I learned about the many risks that come with depending on studios for income. I was willing to take the same amount of risk with entrepreneurship.

On January 11th, 2023, I started my online coaching business for animation artists. There was no stable income, no guarantees that it would work. I started with a simple LinkedIn post offering a free portfolio review. To my surprise, six people signed up! At the end of the review, I asked them if they were interested in mentorship. Three of them said yes! That gave me the affirmation I needed to make this my career.

In the past 21 months, I’ve worked with students from Dubai, Argentina, Canada, England, and all over the USA. With my guidance, I’ve helped students get hired by Netflix, Paramount, and Pixar. I’ve hosted online events with over 300 people, all while working from my home in Puerto Rico. This aligns with my goal: “Control where I live and where my income comes from.”

Everything is a risk. I could have taken that guaranteed job in Vancouver and have a “secure” income. But I wouldn’t have become the person I am today – someone who believes in himself enough to take control of his life. This has been the best risk I’ve taken in my career. I wouldn’t change it for anything.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

For those who don’t know me, my name is Sam Pagan. Former CG Artist at Nickelodeon Animation Studios. Born and raised on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. My journey in animation started in 2015. After 5 career changes, I found a school in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, for 3D animation. I enrolled in the university. I quickly became obsessed with learning. I became known at the university for my hard work. I also led a team called “The Animation Super Team.” The team had more than 13 students who were eager to break into the industry. We traveled together and entered many film festivals on the island. Because of that, in 2018, a studio in San Juan called “Gladius” hired the 13 of us to be part of their team. Our hard work paid off, and I worked there for 3 years.

In my last year, I had a colleague/friend called Roiliz who wanted to see me work at a bigger studio. She bet $100 that I wouldn’t apply to a big studio within 6 months. Feeling challenged, I worked on my portfolio. I applied to Nickelodeon 1 day before the bet expired.

A month later, Nickelodeon called me and gave me an interview. After 3 months, I reached the top 5 finalists for the Nick Artist Program. After my last interview, Nickelodeon offered me the job. I was fortunate to get it.

In the end, I relocated to LA and took roles in two shows: “Rugrats” and “Star Trek Prodigy.” After my contract ended, I decided to share the knowledge I had gained over the years. That’s when I began my coaching business for animation artists.

In my coaching sessions, I help students gain clarity on how to break into the industry. I point out flaws in their portfolios. I help them make their work appealing to big studios. I also run online workshops for those wanting more technical knowledge.

I’m proud to have helped students get hired by big studios like Netflix, Paramount, and Pixar. In my sessions, I teach deep topics like visual communication and storytelling. Also, I cover the business side of animation. These are the core elements that will get you hired by big studios. I also help with their productivity skills. I find that the biggest problem artists face today is the ability to focus and execute their daily goals. If we fix their productivity, they can run on their own.

“Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime.”

I want to be known for producing content that people find easy to understand. I want to help as many people as possible. I want to be the best at simplifying hard topics for the average person. If I can do that in my career, that means mission accomplished!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

There are 2 lessons I had to unlearn to get better at business. The first one was making things complicated. As an artist, I often found myself overcomplicating things in the name of creativity. When I got to business, I realized it was the complete opposite. It’s about how you can simplify and get the most out of things. That’s when I learned about systemizing your tasks. This is how I learned that lesson:

In my first year of business, I was offering free portfolio reviews so I could get new clients and new emails. I gave 108 free portfolio reviews that year. That means 108 hours to get 108 emails. Almost 2 years later, I found someone doing the same thing I did but in a smarter way. He went to LinkedIn and offered a free portfolio review for 3 lucky winners. Hundreds of people signed up and gave their emails away. I was astonished! He got more emails with 1 post than I did in a whole year! Then I saw he limited his portfolio review to 30 mins each. I spent 108 hours! He spent 1 hour and a half! I was genuinely furious at myself and in admiration of his approach.

That’s when I learned about simplifying and systemizing things. This person had a system! He created a couple of rules and optimized for his time. Which leads us to the second lesson: “Do what works.” I had this notion that I had to be original in the way I approached problems. But now I just observe how other people do it and pick what has worked for them. I save time and get what I want. So next time I do a free portfolio review, I will do what this guy did.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

My most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been hosting online events. I’ve seen a significant increase in conversions since I started doing live events. These events allow people to see the real me and build trust quickly. I’ve even had Zoom calls with over 300 attendees, which has led to a steady stream of clients for months. I highly recommend giving live events a try.

My go-to tools for hosting these events are Eventbrite and Zoom.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sampaganacademy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sampagan10/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sampagan10/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sampagan10/
• Twitter: https://x.com/SamPagan10
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sampagan10

Image Credits

Rugrats Cover – Nickelodeon Animation Studios