The Niche Beat
Floyd Norman: Walt Disney’s First African American Animator
Aptitudes, Skill And Knowledge Floyd Norman admits he was very fortunate to have grown up in the community of Santa Barbara, California in the era before the second World War where he had access to all the cultural amenities that allowed him to learn and hone his craft as an artist. If you saw Mr. […]
Hollywood Films & Business Themes
Filmmakers Are An Entrepreneurial Bunch. Their movies often weave story lines illustrating the public’s fascination with becoming their own boss. If you had to quickly list entrepreneurial-oriented films Michael Douglas in Wall Street, Justin Timberlake in Social Networking, or Decaprio in Howard Hughes might come to mind…or not. But the themes are easily found in all […]
Fish Flops Supports Wildlife Organization
Fish Art Contest Contest open to public, private and home schooled students k-12 Top winners will receive merchandise from teenager Madison Nicole’s line of colorful aquatic footwear. Press Release Describes contest http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20140108a Texas.gov Education, Art & Conservation http://www.tpwd.texas.gov/spdest/visitorcenters/tffc/education/fish_art/ Views: 39
How a Dream Inspired Words to a Hit Song
Illustration by the Colorist Casey Klahn New School Color thecolorist.blogspot.com Wildfire Aspiring entrepreneurs who literally dreamt their way into a successful business have been featured in earlier posts. Here’s an intriguing story I discovered last week about the business of music. Asleep on his friend’s floor after a grueling collaborative session in the late 1960’s, […]
Jessica Lange’s Artistic Photography
It’s about a Little Bird Lang’s October appearance on PBS’ Tavis Smiley replayed recently, and several interesting topics were discussed: Humorous account of the real life Italian canary that inspired Lang’s new book for children. And Lange offers an inside glimpse of how to make artistic hand drawn photography prints versus mass-produced digital photography, which she […]
Choosing an Unlikely Niche
Talk Show Insights Lawrence Brownlee Despite naysayers, the 5’6” African-American tenor discusses his choice of music and his classical niche instead of a career in law despite not being the typical opera singer. Brownlee Tavis Smiley November 2013 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/lawrence-brownlee/ NPR April 2007 Lawrence Brownlee: A Rising Star Arrives at the Met http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9722214 Martha Plimton Award-winning […]
Small Unique Businesses
New York Originals The award-winning PBS series profiles mom and pop retailers that point out a number of takeaway lessons: All skills cannot be outsourced overseas You can compete successfully against cheaply made imported products if you counter with quality and skill and if there are enough people willing to pay for a quality product. See […]
Trading Gold Nuggets For Chocolate
Rethinking Dreams of Wealth Etienne Guittard traveled to the United States during the California gold rush of the 1800’s to seek his fortune in gold. He brought French chocolate to trade for mining supplies, but after three years of searching the foothills, Guittard had nothing to show for his labor. Ironically, Guittard had unwittingly engaged […]
Fish Flops
Aptitudes in Action + Marketplace Smarts Fish Flops Featured in major Korean Newspaper! http://news.mk.co.kr/newsRead.php?year=2013&no=967527 You can’t make a living with art. Sez who? The designer behind the Fish Flops company and the footwear sold at Nordstrom is 15-year self-taught […]