We often hear about bad bosses, but we think it’s important to talk about the good ones because we hope that by giving folks examples of how to be a good boss we can inspire future bosses to be better, to do better for their employees and all stakeholders.

Christian Meesey

The best boss I ever had was master caricaturist and cartoonist Tom Richmond. Even before he was drawing for MAD Magazine, he was a masterful teacher, and he taught all of us artists that worked for him how to level up if we were willing to work hard. After high school, I wanted to be a comic book artist, but my work was unrefined. I was making and selling homemade zines but wasn’t ready for prime time. My comic art showed enough promise that Richmond hired me to draw caricatures with a handful of others, including the great Ed Steckley, at his new Six Flags St. Louis caricature stand. I was pretty rough around the edges when I first started. The combination of Richmond and Steckley’s teaching and the long hours spent drawing live caricatures for a few consecutive summers led to me growing as an artist faster than ever. Read more>>

Kennedy Scott

Hands down, Alan Jackson. My duo, “Carolina Pine,” and I got to tour with Alan Jackson as his supporting act in 2020. While some of those shows were rescheduled due to the Pandemic, the time we got to spend on his tour was incredible. This was our first major tour so the only things we knew to expect were what we had heard from other friend’s experiences, which were “pay your due” types of things. Alan shattered all of those expectations. We were treated just as he treats the rest of his crew: exceptional. Alan paid us above average, had his merchandise team sell our merchandise, had his manager and booking team help us in many ways, and even let us ride his band’s tour bus and/or flew us to each show. This is absolutely well above the average standard in country music, and we felt so blessed by it. Read more>>

Andrea Guzzetta

All of my Best Bosses have had one thing in common: trust in my work as a creative and in me as a person. One of my favorite bosses ever was Dave Fode, whom I worked under at Conrad-Schmitt Studios. He has since passed, so sharing stories about him feels more meaningful than ever. In 2011 I graduated art school with little to no direction on how to make a living. I started doing murals and other odd jobs before getting hired as a painter at Conrad Schmitt Studios. I did some faux finishing and stencil work before Dave Fode took me under his wing in the stained glass department. Read more>>

PJ Hargraves

I have an amazing mentor named Eddie Dominguez. I first met Eddie as my professor when I got to graduate school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Eddie was such a supportive faculty, always encouraging me even though I was making some wacky weird things. My favorite quote from Eddie during my grad years was, ” PJ, you’re not making good work now, but I am confident one day you will”. After earning my MFA degree I started working for Eddie as a studio assistant. Our relationship changed. We shed the formal aspects of the teacher, student relationship and became family. Eddie would make a home cooked meal with love pretty much every day we worked together. Over the two years I worked for Eddie he became my friend, brother, and I would argue second dad. Read more>>