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Chris Martin Studios

Getting Work To Work

Sprinkled throughout today’s conversation is a phrase I absolutely love. No matter the situation or the statement, the response is simple, “Let’s talk about it.” Chanda Coston is a Navy Veteran, PMP, and Business Strategist who helps purpose-driven entrepreneurs—especially women over 40—turn chaos into clarity and grow businesses that make sense (and money). In our time together, we talk about the need for clarity, the importance in telling our stories, and having people in our corner. Chanda also talks about her life as a professional pivoter, the reality that nothing happens overnight, trusting yourself, starting over and carving new paths, and systems as self-care. If you’re looking to make some changes, let this sink in: If Chanda can do it, so can you.

Show Links

Chanda Co. Strategist

Chanda Co. on Instagram

Free Ebook: Barriers to Breakthru

1:1 Tiny Challenge ($21)

The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months • by Brian P Moran and Michael Lennington

 • Episode photo from Envato Elements: 
Study Of Patterns And Lines

“Let’s Talk About It” with Chanda Coston (GWTW869)

I’ve been slowly waking up to the reality that I’ve been running my business and living my life on autopilot for far too long. It’s been six years since I really felt like I was in control and not operating by the whims of others and the seat of my pants. But here I am, staring at 2026 off in the distance, ready to shake the sleep from my eyes and do something completely different. In this episode, I’m going to share why I’m ready to shake things up, how I’m reconnecting with my vision, passion, and action, and how you can, too.

Reflection Questions, Part One

Before I go any further, I have some reflection questions for you. It might be useful to open your notes app or get a journal and pen out to write down your thoughts to these four questions:

 1. How loud is your fear?

 2. What is your fear saying to you?

 3. Do you know where you’re going?

 4. How long has your autopilot been engaged?

Reflection Questions, Part 2

Okay, before I dive into what these three words mean for me and my future, take a few moments in your notes app or journal and write down some initial thoughts to these three questions:

 1. What is my vision?

 2. How does my passion help bring that vision to life?

 3. What actions am I taking to make sure that my vision and passion become a reality?

Reflection Questions, Part 3

Now that I’ve shared a little about my own vision, passion, and action, I want you to return to your notes app or journal and go deeper with these questions:

 1. What really is my vision?

 2. What are my passion levels teaching me?

 3. What is the next action I need to take?

Show Links

Airplane! (1980)

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Innovators of Vancouver

 • Episode photo from Envato Elements: 
No people in empty captain cabin with dashboard navigation

Turn Off Your Autopilot (GWTW868)

I always enjoy meeting people who think deeply about the work they do, but also have a lot of fun doing it. Izzy Poirier is a designer, brand strategist, zine publisher, and community builder. From her earliest years, she’s been intrigued with the nature of people, their stories and identities, and making sure that they have a place to belong. In our conversation, we talk about the intersection of design, brand strategy, community building with the Ottawa Design Club, craft, and the art of zines. We also dive into Pivotal Moments, a zine featuring stories from creatives around the world, produced in collaboration with the Ottawa Design Club and New York Design Club. Izzy shares what went into producing the zine, curating the stories, the impact, and how a single font changed everything in the design phase of the project. If you’re looking for some inspiration as you consider new projects or pivots in your own future, then this is the episode for you.

Show Links

Izzy Poirier

Ottawa Design Club

New York Design Club

Pivotal Moments

Heather Crank (Crahmánti)

Bend Design

Cadillac LYRIQ

The Running Man (2025)

Non Foundry

Non Ophelie

TYPE01

Xerox – Graphic & Print Design Solutions

Brand – International Brand Design Magazine

“The Intriguing Nature of People” with Izzy Poirier (GWTW867)

Even if you’ve never had a hamster for a pet, you’ve witnessed the spectacle of them running in a hamster wheel. They step inside a giant wheel in the center of their captivity and run, and run, and run. It’s so adorable when they do it. But what if I could tell you we have human hamster wheels, in the center of our captivity, and we run, and run, and run? They aren’t literal wheels, but they serve the same purpose: keep us distracted from the reality that we aren’t where we want to be, not doing the work that matters to us, and somewhere along the way, we took a wrong turn. It’s never been easier to numb out and just keep running, but one day, the call will come from inside the house, it’s time to answer the call, step off the wheel, and jack in to life.

Six ways to ditch the hamster wheel:

 1. Incorporate experimentation and research and development into your creative process.

 2. Look for ways to increase diversity in your work.

 3. Before you offload tasks to someone else or another system, make sure that what you’re building isn’t just a larger hamster wheel in disguise.

 4. Offload repetitive tasks to virtual assistants, employees, or AI and automation systems.

 5. Batch recording is great until it’s not.

 6. Don’t fool yourself, the hamster wheel is pernicious, don’t be afraid to step away.

Show Links

The Running Man (2025)

Neuromancer • by William Gibson

Starship Troopers (1997)

Showgirls (1995)

 • Episode photo from Envato Elements: 
A playful hamster runs energetically on its wheel inside a bright, colorful cage

Human Hamster Wheel (GWTW866)

You might look at today’s title and think I’m trying to be humorous or sensational or clickbait-y, but I’m absolutely serious. It’s such an important question that it demands me to say it aloud right now: Is your business killing you? When you first start your business, you don’t think about the ways it overtakes your life, you let it gladly, because that’s the price you pay for building something that statistically could end in five years or less. But then, over time, you just keep letting it control your life. Social media and email dominate your existence on and off hours. Any hiccups in payments or acquiring new clients results in prayer, drinking, or worse, loans from online payment providers. Shutting it off means the potential for losing everything, or so you tell yourself. Before you know it, you’ve lost your vision and passion, but you keep powering on because at some point along the way, it’s what you do, and you’re also unemployable. If this is resonating with you, grab a cup of tea, take a seat, and let’s talk, because the truth is going to hurt.

Show Links

 • Episode photo from Envato Elements: 
Various spices on stone table

Is Your Business Killing You? (GWTW865)

It’s that time of year again, when pumpkin spice invades your latte, kids dress up like their favorite heroes, villains, nightmares, and corporate superstars hoping for a bag full of candy, and gough, your favorite Australian filmmaker, shows up on Getting Work To Work to talk about his latest film, Trick Or Treat. Armed with the biggest budget in the history of BeernutsProductions.com, a stable of actors dishing out sketches and monologues, 27 costumes, and nature balls, gough’s latest film pulls no punches against Halloween. In our conversation, we talk about the struggles he faced making the film in both casting and costumes, how he works through challenging emotions, stupid advice actors have received from their teachers that they have brought to the set, and all the hilarity fit for print and podcast.

Show Links

Beernuts Productions • 

Trick Or Treat

Mr Eligible

Mr. X.
 • 

Treehouse of Horror

2M3C

ilia chidzey

Goat Track Theatre

Neighbours (TV Series 1985–2025)

Home and Away (TV Series 1988–)

Danielle Collins

Taia Favale

A Musical Life hosted by Scott Whatman

The Recording Room

Uncanny X-Men

Howard Hughes

One Battle After Another (2025)

Roofman (2025)

Channing Tatum Punches Back While Eating Spicy Wings | Hot Ones

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Magnolia (1999)

Recency bias

George Carlin on YouTube

Kampala, Uganda

“Tales of Tricks & Treats” with gough (GWTW864)

Weaving through the design, data, stories, and statuses on social media, I witnessed the human need to be seen; the longing to be discovered. I like this word, “longing.” I recently came across a book by Sue Monk Kidd called, Writing Creativity and Soul and she writes a lot about longing as a creative, a writer, woman, and a mother. What a word to sit and reflect upon: Longing. Merriam-Webster defines longing as “a strong desire especially for something unattainable.” In this episode, I explore the building blocks of the soul: deep questions that take time to answer.

Show Links

Writing Creativity and Soul • by Sue Monk Kidd

Austin Kleon

 • Episode photo from Envato Elements: 
Close-up view of the wooden craft products

The Building Blocks of the Soul (GWTW863)

How far am I willing to go? How much work am I willing to do? Two powerful questions today’s guest asked herself at the start of her writing journey as she considered what it meant to be a writer. Barbara DeMarco-Barrett is a writer, podcaster, teacher, and publisher on the show to talk about writing, podcasting, and her latest book, Pool Fishing, a collection of stories connected by place and featuring characters who live on the fringes of society. In our conversation she shares insights into the act of writing and being a writer, the fluid nature of creativity, the challenges present in short stories, why writing dark fiction can help us make sense of the world, and rejection. We also talk about her podcast, Writers on Writing, which started as a radio show in 1998. 27 years later, it continues as a way for her to learn more about the writing process and share what she discovers with writers around the world.

Show Links

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Writers on Writing

Pen on Fire

Pool Fishing • by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

IngramSpark

Podcast Movement

Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts • by Matt Bell

Scott Turow

The secret structure of great talks • by Nancy Duarte

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles • by Steven Pressfield

 • “I apologize for such a long letter – I didn’t have time to write a short one.” – 
Quote from Mark Twain

Orange County Noir

Double Indemnity (1944)

Kelp Books

Richard Bausch

Kelley Baker

Margaret Atwood

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience • by Kelton Reid

 • Episode photo from Envato Elements: 
Stairs of an indoor pool with clear water

“Noir, Pools & Podcasts” with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett (GWTW862)

I’ve heard this phrase way too often in the past 25 years: “If you’re ignoring [enter the trending or disrupting technology], then you’re already behind.” While the phrase may be technically true, it does require a major assumption: equality. It assumes that every person has equal access to the technology, responds with openness and trust instead of skepticism and caution, and can actually see value through the veil of hype, fear, and propaganda. Those are big assumptions, but even bigger are the promises and the corresponding bubbles. Don’t worry about what doesn’t seem to be right, just go all in, because you’ll be able to cash out. Or so the “logic” goes. Do you want to know what I’ve never heard in relation to this notion of being behind? That you’re right on time. So, that’s what I’m going to focus on today because not only is it an accurate statement, it is also life-giving and dream-fulfilling.

Show Links

Diffusion of innovations

 • Episode photo from Envato Elements: 
Steampunk mechanism

You’re Right On Time (GWTW861)

How do you push creative boundaries and embrace opportunities as they come? You solve problems and focus on the people around you. Today’s guest on Getting Work To Work, Josh Simons, is no stranger to the creative business world. According to his bio, “he ran a record label, publishing function, film production company and was the lead singer of Australian indie rock band Buchanan.” Now, Josh is the Chief Executive Officer of Vinyl Group, Australia’s only ASX-listed music company, and founder of Vampr. In our conversation, Josh shares lessons he learned in his journey from recording studios to boardrooms. He talks about his curiosity with people and what motivates them, bands as a lens for looking at the business world, the objective nature of success, the creativity present in writing songs and leading people, why the asshole creative shouldn’t be the model for success, and how to manage the emotions in your mind with sticky and transient solutions.

Show Links

Josh Simons

Vinyl Group

Vinyl.com

Vampr

Bandcamp

Sam Fender

Harland Highway Podcast

 • Episode photo from Envato Elements: 
Spinning Record Player With Vintage Vinyl, Turntable Player And Vinyl Record

“The Business of Creativity” with Josh Simons (GWTW860)

I spend a lot of time in my work week thinking and writing. Yesterday, as I was writing my Chris Martin Studios newsletter titled “Old Tech and Some Bullsh*t,” I pulled a book off the shelf and started reading the introduction. I was hoping for some inspiration, it was about craftsmanship after all, but I couldn’t find a way to connect it to my main idea. So, I left it on the workbench. Today, struggling with an idea for a monologue, I saw the book sitting there, I picked it up, wrote down some of the quotes about craftsmanship, and before I knew it, I had something to say about being a beginner and the wonder of craftsmanship.

Show Links

Old Tech and Some Bullsh*t | Chris Martin Studios Newsletter

Working with Wood: The Basics of Craftsmanship • by Peter Korn

Why We Make Things and Why It Matters: The Education of a Craftsman • by Peter Korn

Korn – Blind (Official HD Video)

 • Photo by 
Elmer Cañas • on 
Unsplash

The Wonder of Craftsmanship (GWTW817)

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