We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zach Sollie a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Zach, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

In a word, Resilience.

I’ve tried a number of different creative ventures over my life, from naively thinking I could film a home video version of The Lord of the Rings to pursuing podcasting and writing as ways to earn an income. When you try crazy things that are off the beaten path like those, you’ll find out really fast that failure is a constant companion. (Yes, the Lord of the Rings home movie never saw the light of day).

As I grew up and tried my hand at harder things, I found the failures persisting. But I also discovered that the only way to ultimately fail at a goal, venture, side business, is to give up and let failure have the final say.

That’s where Resilience comes in for myself. I recently had the privilege of getting a short story published in an anthology. Through the process, I had to build up my email list, find a place to host my personal book launch party, and market the book to my friends & family.

There were times I felt like giving up; when the first couple places said no to hosting my event, when I didn’t get the number of subscribers I wanted, or when the sales were moving slowly. It felt like failure. But I also know that if I learned from those perceived failures, then I gained something and the failure lost all the power.

So I leaned into Resilience, pivoted, and kept working hard. And guess what? I found a place to host the party. I reached my goal of subscribers and sales. It’s not always been easy, but I’m found out the best things in life require effort.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve always been interested in creativity. As a teen, I got involved in theatre, bought a small video camera and started making home movies. In college that translated to trying out both English and Film as possible degree options.

I landed on English and started pursuing writing with the hope of being a published author one day. However, life threw a few challenges my way in the form of depression and anxiety which caused me to pause most of my career pursuits for years while I learned strategies and developed the resilience to best overcome the mental health challenges I faced.

Fast forward and I joined a program called The Author Conservatory where I further developed my writing, marketing, and business skills under the guide of industry professionals. As a capstone project in that program, I took a short story through the development processes and got it published in an anthology along with ten other of my classmates.

For me, I want my writing to encourage and inspire people by showing characters learning resilience and hope in the face of darkness.

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

My tendency is towards perfectionism. In the past, I’d never try something new or pursue a new creative endeavor unless I felt I had the perfect plan going into it.

When I joined The Author Conservatory, one of their sayings was to “Get it together by going.” This idea flew in the face of my previous way of doing things (or not doing things, as I’d get caught up in forming a perfect plan and never take a step forward).

Under the guidance of coaches like Brett Harris, I was able to start to unlearn my way of doing things and began taking steps forward without the perfect plan.

This skill has been so valuable in my life and continues to be something I strive toward today.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Growing up, I thought the most rewarding part of creativity would be the applause and accolades. Boy, was I wrong. As I’ve had the privilege of producing creative content in writing, podcasting, and other outlets, I’ve found that hearing stories of how my work has inspired, encouraged, or impacted people has become the most rewarding part.

A handful of years ago I did a stint as a writing tutor. Recently, I’ve reconnected with a couple of my former students and they have said very kind things about how I encouraged them to continue writing and helped them get to where they are today. That meant a lot to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.zachsollie.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachsollie/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zachsollieauthor/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ZachSollie
• Other: https://linktr.ee/zachsollie