The Paradox of Being an Artist, with Imari Tuakli

SUMMARY

The conversation explores the idea of making career shifts and finding fulfillment in life. The guest, Emari, shares his journey from working in the film industry to becoming a life coach and motivational speaker. They discuss the importance of self-awareness and staying connected to oneself as an artist. Emari emphasizes the need for artists to create from a place of authenticity and to prioritize their own well-being. They also touch on the challenges and pressures that come with success in the entertainment industry. Imari discusses his return to creating his own content and the importance of self-expression. He emphasizes the need to prioritize self-expression over external validation and the dangers of seeking validation through social media. Imari advises artists to establish good habits early, such as not reading comments or obsessing over follower counts. He encourages artists to focus on what is truly important to them and to optimize their actions based on their values. Imari also discusses the importance of freedom and self-acceptance in the creative process.

KEYWORDS

career shift, fulfillment, film industry, life coach, motivational speaker, self-awareness, authenticity, well-being, success, entertainment industry, self-expression, validation, social media, habits, values, freedom, self-acceptance

TAKEAWAYS

• It's possible to make a career shift and find fulfillment in a different field.
• Self-awareness and staying connected to oneself are crucial for artists.
• Authenticity and creative integrity are important for artists to maintain.
• Success in the entertainment industry can come with challenges and pressures.
• Prioritizing personal well-being is essential for sustainable creativity and fulfillment. Prioritize self-expression over external validation
• Establish good habits early, such as not reading comments or obsessing over follower counts
• Focus on what is truly important to you and optimize your actions based on your values
• Embrace freedom and self-acceptance in the creative process

TITLES

• Finding Fulfillment Through Career Shifts
• The Importance of Self-Awareness for Artists The Power of Self-Expression
• Prioritizing What Truly Matters

SOUND BITES

• "When the world is upside down, it's the artists who save us."
• "Life is a lot of suffering. We should counteract that with beauty."
• "To feel fulfilled, ask yourself what actually moves you."
• "I literally feel spiritually sick if I hold my ideas in."
• "Establish good habits now, like not reading comments no matter what."
• "Prioritize self-expression and you won't end up unfulfilled."

CHAPTERS

00:00
Introduction and Career Shifts

01:25
Connection and Location

02:06
Work in the Film Industry

06:18
Shift in Career and Finding Fulfillment

14:38
Fulfillment and the Illusion of Success

21:02
Staying Connected to Inspiration and Creativity

29:18
The Connection Between Physical and Mental Wellbeing

30:20
The Shift in Imari's Career

31:24
The Importance of Self-Expression

33:31
Navigating the Pressure of Social Media

34:49
Establishing Good Habits and Prioritizing Self-Expression

38:17
The Illusion of Viral Success

42:07
The Meaning of Freedom Fighter

42:59
The Importance of Freedom and Self-Expression

45:22
The Curiosity and Wonder of Children

48:23
The Importance of Self-Acceptance

51:01
Supporting Artistically Minded Children

54:00
Encouraging Curiosity and Authenticity

57:47
Working with Visionaries and Leaders

58:35
WOW Outro.MOV

Creators & Guests

Host

Kim Rapach

Creator & Host - The Work of Warriors

Guest

Imari Tuakli

Imari is a self development coach for high performing leaders and creatives, who found himself depressed, despite going viral and becoming successful and respected in his field. He takes us on his journey of self discovery, and transition to a purpose driven life coach for those who have lost themselves.

Editor

Mac Rapach

Editor, Designer, Composer - The Work of Warriors

Producer

Mike Rapach

Producer - The Work of Warriors

What is The Work of Warriors?

A warrior is defined as one who is in conflict and sacrifices themselves for the
good of others. Sadly, in the entertainment industry, and the world of
entrepreneurship, this perspective is dangerous. To stay alive, amidst our
struggles, we must first fight for ourselves and then fight for the masses. My
name is Kim Rapach and I am an integrative coach on a mission to end celebrity
suicide. My life’s work is to help entrepreneurs and entertainers escape the
darkness that often accompanies high levels of success. What an honor it is to
have crucial conversations around entertainment, entrepreneurship, and mental
health. “The Work of Warriors” is a series of brave conversations with talented
entertainers, and entrepreneurs who are not only using their gifts to make the
world a better place, they are modeling mental wellness in ways that inspire
others. For our purpose of bringing healing to the world, a warrior’s task is to take
great care of themselves, so they may take great care of others. The work of a
warrior, for us, is someone who has radical self-acceptance and uses their gifts to
make a profound impact on the world. If we are going to have a positive impact
on the entertainment industry, we need to do THREE things: 1. Normalize candid
conversations around mental health 2. Redefine success so that it aligns with
mental wellness 3. Engage with each other from a place of self-love, and healthy
boundaries When we fight for ourselves, we heal the world. Therefore, the world
needs more people who are willing to fight for themselves. As warriors on the
front lines, it is our greatest hope that these conversations will inspire high
achievers to care well for themselves and ask for help when they need it.
Together, we are all warriors, redefining mental health as mental wellness, and
healing the world, one warrior at a time. SPECIAL NOTE To all entertainers,
without all of you, we have nothing. Sincerely, thank you for your work, for using
your gifts to heal the world. If you are struggling, please reach out to your local
community resources, or call the National Suicide Hotline, 988.

Kim Rapach (00:22.368)
Hey everybody, welcome back. I'm glad you're here. You know, oftentimes when we have found ourselves in a career that we love, a career that we're good at, and maybe even we're really successful at, we can often get caught up with the idea that that's where we're gonna be forever. But the truth is, and the beautiful thing about today's world, and...

you know, ingenuity and entrepreneurship is that we can shift. We can make a shift. You know that I used to be a therapist and now I'm a mental wellness coach in the entertainment industry. And today's guest was also in the entertainment slash film industry and made a huge shift and is now a life coach and a motivational speaker. You can find him on YouTube. He has a TEDx talk about living with purpose.

and I love his story. Today will be my first live conversation with him, so I'm so excited to introduce to you today's guest, Emari Tewakli.

Imari (07:43.771)
Hey, hey.

Kim Rapach (07:44.832)
Hey, Amari, how are ya?

Imari (07:46.967)
What's up? What's happening? How you doing? It seems like...

Kim Rapach (07:49.088)
I'm going to make your picture a little bigger. There we go.

Imari (07:52.221)
Amazing, I love that full screaming. It seems like you're like a delay with the audio. Can you talk real quick?

Kim Rapach (07:59.136)
Hello, hello, hello. Okay, sometimes it takes a sec. Hi, it's so nice to meet you.

Imari (08:00.837)
Never mind, you good. Okay. Hello, hello. What's up? What's happening? Good morning.

Kim Rapach (08:09.216)
Thanks for taking the time to be here. I don't even know where you are, but it looks amazing. Where are you?

Imari (08:14.109)
It's so funny people always say that it's it's funny so in front of me right now is I live in Topanga, California Most people don't know where it is, which is crazy to me because it's the best part of like Los Angeles But in front of me there's like this hillside in this canyon, but it's reflected in the glass behind me So it looks like the hills are behind me, but it's all in it part of me Yeah What's up, where you at?

Kim Rapach (08:21.886)
Okay.

Kim Rapach (08:32.128)
It's amazing. That's I was wondering. Yeah, that's amazing. So I'm outside of Chicago.

Imari (08:41.309)
Oh, OK, that makes sense, central time. It's all coming together. Yeah, very much so. I actually should be outside. I know, but it probably wouldn't be very good for our audio, so I figured. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (08:43.776)
Yeah. So that hence why I'm not outside.

I know you're not outside, but it looks like you're outside.

Kim Rapach (08:54.24)
Right, right, right. Yeah. So you and I were connected, Amari, through a mutual connection, I believe, right, Ian Chi? How do you know Ian?

Imari (09:03.417)
Mm -hmm. Yes, correct. Accurate. Well, besides loving that man, he's just a very inspirational, wonderful human being. I feel like the embodiment of everything that is creative. But we worked together at Jubilee, which is the company that I used to direct videos for, and he was the creative director. And that's where we crossed paths for the first time. But we've been friends ever since, even though we both have moved on to different chapters of our lives.

Kim Rapach (09:32.576)
Yeah, yeah. So can you say a little bit about your work in the film industry? Because, you know, that's the work of Warriors is primarily dedicated to the entertainment industry, to the creative arts, to filmmaking, actors, musicians, etc. And I know you have a lot of experience and I want to talk about your shift as well. But can you say a little bit about what you've done in the film industry and how you got there?

Imari (09:33.883)
Yeah.

Imari (09:40.285)
Hmm.

Imari (09:47.163)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Imari (09:55.997)
No.

Imari (10:00.893)
Yeah, 100%. I'll give you the short to medium history so that we don't bore anybody. But first of all, I've just always, specifically recently, but I think throughout the course of being Amari, I've always found life to be fascinating, interesting, and worth commenting on. Just the human experience. I feel like none of us reflect on it enough. And I think...

Kim Rapach (10:26.4)
Get green.

Imari (10:27.697)
people who have that perspective often find themselves as artists because I think they are trying to make sense of what it means to be a human being. And so, in high school, I didn't really care about education. I was just doing it because that's what I was supposed to do. And then I ended up in a film class, I guess you would call it, like junior year.

And I remember the first time that I knew that this was gonna have an impact on my life because it was the first time I ever worked on a school project where I lost track of time. Right? Most of the time, you know, in school projects, you're like watching the clock, like, oh my God, it's only been seven minutes, you know? But editing a video, you know, it was a little short film I did, but it was the first time I looked up and I was like, oh, that was nine hours. And I was like, oh, wow. And so that was kind of my introduction to film.

And then so I studied it in college. I got my media degree and I started my first production company in college. And it was all about me wanting to make videos that I felt commented on the human experience, inspired the human experience. So I had plenty of opportunities to do things that would have made me more money than those things. But I was committed. I was very, for better or for worse, I was...

captured by this idea of making content that I feel like matters and that would inspire people. And so I did that for a couple years, probably like six or seven years. And eventually I went to Oakland and I was assistant directing over there. And then I got asked to direct videos at Jubilee. So left my company behind, left the other companies behind and I started directing at Jubilee. When I started working at Jubilee, they had like 300 ,000 subscribers. And the only reason just to be frank and...

transparent. The only reason I even said yes to Jubilee is because they had a mission, right? Their mission was like, how can we make videos that bridge people together? How can we create empathy through these videos? And in my mind, prior to moving to LA, I was like, oh, everybody in LA so Hollywood and nobody makes anything meaningful. So I was I was actually never going to move to LA. So, you know, for what it's worth, shout out to Jubilee for making me make that move. So yeah, I ended up at Jubilee and I

Imari (12:47.645)
I created a couple series for them that did very well. And, you know, now that there are 8 million subscribers, if not more, but we started at 300 ,000 subscribers when I got there and I created a lot of series for them that really brought a lot of my thought patterns and ways that I view the world into some of their work and really stretch the, stretch the imagination of what we could do with this video thing that would inspire people to.

be human and be better humans and reflect on themselves and the world and those kind of things. So officially I directed videos for like nine years across my career and I left that stage of my life in 2018, 2019. Kind of hard to keep track. I need to read my Wikipedia page. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (13:42.656)
And where did you go? What was the shift and why, what happened? Because I feel like I have bits and pieces for what I've researched about you, but I want to understand. And we do similar work. And so the fact that we're doing this together and we've both had this experience of shifting careers, right? I used to be a therapist and now you've made a shift. So tell us about that.

Imari (13:51.741)
Yeah. Yeah, I hear directly from the source.

Imari (14:03.101)
Hmm. Hmm.

Imari (14:08.199)
definitely made a shift. Yeah, it's funny because the way that it stores in my mind is like actually after Jubilee, it all really got started. But I think that's not fair to the life that I lived prior, you know, I still, there was still a whole lot of chapters of my life. But and I think that this is how we get connected. And I think a lot of the resonance that we have is that, you know, I was directing videos at Jubilee and in many ways on paper, I was successful and I was

getting everything that I wanted, right? I was always like, man, I wanna create content that I care about and I wanna reach millions of people. It's like, I did that. And I got hundreds of millions of people who have seen my stuff. I mean, check the numbers, probably like half a billion now, right? There's a lot of people who have seen my work. And I have the accolades and I was depressed and I was burnt out and I was unhappy, unfulfilled and I was not on a path that was going to...

reverse, right? It wasn't going to like, the fulfillment wasn't going to happen by accident. Right? And so I, you know, Ian can attest to this, but towards the end of my career at Jubilee, I was like a shell of a man. I was like a husk. I was not inspired, which is like the exact opposite of who I am at my core. I was not inspired. I was not motivated. And yeah, it was, I was going,

down fast. And, um...

Imari (15:43.431)
I try to say this as lovingly and respectfully as possible. I think the higher -ups at Jubilee didn't know how to handle that. They didn't know how to nurture what I needed. And so when they saw that the output wasn't the same from this guy, they let me go. And they fired me. Kind of, not kind of, pretty unceremoniously. Yeah? And it...

It's one of the best things that's ever happened to me by far because it gave me the opportunity to look at the reasons why this wasn't satisfying me and what I needed and who I was as a human being. And so I actually ended up in a, coincidentally, I ended up in this like leadership development program.

That was basically like a personal development self -awareness workshop. I had no idea what it was. I didn't know. I was fired, so I had no jobs. I was like, oh, I'll just go to this workshop. It's just like not really anything else to do with my life. And so I ended up in this workshop and it just, it was like...

Imari (17:04.253)
seeing a mirror for the first time. Imagine you've gone like 25, 30 years and you've just never looked in a mirror and you're like, oh, what, and it's just everything changes, right? And so, you know, that workshop introduced me and took me on like a six month journey of like self discovery and self improvement and self realization and all these kinds of things. And I, you know, I came out of,

the film industry a bit jaded and I didn't want to go back. And with this newfound self -awareness, I was like, okay, well, what do I do? And actually one of the first things I wanted to do is I wanted to help other artists. I was like, I want to help give the tools that I found in the self -development program to artists and use my credibility as a filmmaker and as a director with all these views to like support them in understanding what is their brand, who are they, and how can they create in a way that doesn't lack creative integrity.

Yeah. So I started to coach artists. At first I was just helping them with branding stuff. And then it became like kind of more so life coaching and self -awareness stuff. And that expanded and that grew. And I started to get like invited to like give talks and give workshops. I remember my first my first workshop was in Germany. And I like went over there and I led a workshop for.

creative company over there on like how to build a culture, how to build a creative culture that that supports artists that doesn't, you know, exploit them. And obviously coming out of Jubilee, I had a lot of things to think about and to reflect and to share my opinions on how I believe artists should be treated. Because I think that, you know, a strong statement that I strongly believe is that I think creatives and artists are our greatest human resource.

Like, without creatives and artists, I am not interested in the world that we would create. It's just like, I don't want to be there. It doesn't sound like a very inspired place.

Kim Rapach (19:05.824)
Thanks.

Kim Rapach (19:10.816)
Yeah, I believe when the world is upside down, it's the artists who save us.

Imari (19:16.093)
Yeah, yeah. And so it would behoove us to take care of them. And it's, it, so if we rely on these people, it's like, I think a lot of times, you know, art can be seen as like, oh, it's just like flimsy entertainment. And it's just like, it's like, no, not at all. If you actually allow yourself to be touched by art, you will be moved. You will be changed. You will be shifted. You will be grown. And like, that is not to be taken lightly.

Kim Rapach (19:19.84)
Yes, amen. Say that again.

Imari (19:43.933)
Like how many times has a good song gotten you out of a depression? Like how many times has a good book opened your mind? So let us take care of the people who are writing songs. Let's take care of the people who are drafting books because without them, we are screwed.

Kim Rapach (19:48.99)
A million.

Yes.

Kim Rapach (20:00.736)
Yeah, oh, I have goosebumps again. I couldn't agree more. Yeah, just the other day, it was interesting. It just caused me to stop and reflect. And I think you'll appreciate this, but we're a family. We love music. My husband just got this brand new speaker system. But he went up to test out the speakers. And then my son was in his room and he had, you know, it three different genres. I had my AirPods in and it was like, let's all just take a moment of music, but we don't want to do the same thing. So three different genres for the same 20 minutes.

Imari (20:22.351)
Hahaha

Imari (20:26.653)
Yeah, I love it.

Kim Rapach (20:30.29)
as self care, even as connection, even though we were in different rooms, it's like we need our music. And so, yeah.

Imari (20:31.899)
Yeah, 100%.

100%. Yeah, yeah, I love that frame of art as self -care. Everybody's like, self -care, massages, and facials. It's like, I remember, I'm a very organized and meticulous person, so I have a calendar, right, for just the last X number of years. Like every minute has been scheduled, right? Fortunately and unfortunately. And I remember,

Kim Rapach (20:46.368)
Mm -mm. Mm -mm.

Imari (21:02.843)
when I was making my calendar for this quarter, I said every Saturday, I need to go do something artistic. Like I need to go to a museum. I need to do that. And of course that's the first thing that I would always like trash and I'll do it next week and oh, it's not important. And then a couple of weeks ago I went to a museum for the first time in a while and I was like, like, oh my God, like there something in me that needed to be fed is now fed. And wow, I can.

physically feel the difference between what it's like when it is not fed and when it is fed. Yeah. I mean, think about it. Like, just to get philosophical, it's like life is a lot of suffering. Like, I have never met anybody who has never experienced pain. Right? So...

Kim Rapach (21:37.056)
Yeah. Yeah.

Imari (21:50.461)
We should counteract that with beauty. We should counteract that with inspiration because otherwise pain and suffering is guaranteed. But beauty in art is not. So we should make sure that there is more beauty, more art. We should do what we can to make sure that that is prioritized.

Kim Rapach (21:53.376)
Yes.

Kim Rapach (22:09.116)
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And I that this is the conversation that I want to normalize pain and suffering as part of being human. Right. But we're raising both what's been going on forever, but especially now with social media, we're raising people to believe that if they're successful, right, that that's what's going to bring fulfillment. That's what's going to finally make you happy when you, you know,

Imari (22:18.237)
Yes.

Imari (22:30.203)
hehe

Kim Rapach (22:34.272)
Whether you get the date, you get the partner, you get the job, you get the gig, you get the award. That's going to be it. And you know, you get it, you got it. And that wasn't it. And I just want to normalize this conversation that the fulfillment. Well, I'll ask you, what would you say? Where does fulfillment come from? You've climbed the tallest tree. You've had the success. You've had all the things that go with it. And you were depressed. And so for you, where does fulfillment come from?

Imari (22:38.981)
Yeah.

Imari (22:42.971)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Yep.

Imari (22:53.437)
Hmm. Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Yep. Yep.

Yeah.

Imari (23:04.893)
Oh, we're gonna figure this out together. Cause I was literally just having a conversation about this yesterday. Just yesterday. Cause you know, with these kinds of concepts, I wanna, you know, even when I do coaching, it's very important to me that we don't stay abstract, right? Like we stay as like practical as possible because otherwise, you know, the abstract can only do so much for us. So I think, you know, we can attempt as best as we can in live, live form, try to.

Kim Rapach (23:09.504)
Alright, let's talk.

Imari (23:32.093)
to figure out where does fulfillment come from. I think that fulfillment.

I'll give a quick story. So two days ago, right behind me in the room that's behind me, I was hosting a poetry event. Right. And.

I'm very intentional about how I design all my events. To me, it's an art. It's crafting and experience, right? And so I was crafting it with my business partner and we invited these artists and we designed the room and made everything beautiful and went through tech issues and whatever. And you know, people came by and people had a great time and it was amazing. And the next morning we both woke up and we were having a conversation and we said that we don't feel fulfilled by that.

And we were like, what is that? Why is that? Because I've been working on a lot of different projects and I've noticed a pattern where I'll finish a very difficult project and I don't feel fulfilled. But at the same time, there are projects that I put a lot of effort into and I do feel fulfilled. So I was trying to deduce, what's the difference? Why is that? And I think that, I do think that there is...

something to say about fulfillment being tied to giving your best, like doing your best, right? I don't know how likely you are to feel fulfilled by something you half -assed, right? But I do think that there's a question like, what, even beyond that, like what do I need in order to feel like this was worth it, was worth the time and worth the effort? And is it like, it makes me feel a sense of purpose?

Kim Rapach (25:02.048)
Mm -hmm.

Imari (25:17.085)
Right? It makes me feel like, like, am I trying to create connection from these things? Right? Like Tony Robbins, who I'm sure, you know, people are pretty familiar with, he talks about the six core needs and the six core needs are like the things that motivate people to do anything. Right? And it's like, you're doing something because A, you want certainty or B, because you want variety or three, because you want significance or contribution or growth. And, you know, people can look up what the...

whole list is. But I remember like, if you are trying to, if you're trying to do something and get one of those needs met, that actually isn't important to you, then you're going to feel unfulfilled, right? Like for example, I think you brought up like the idea of like, you got famous, so significance, right? But then maybe you get significance and you're like, that's actually not what I wanted. Maybe what I wanted was connection, right? And I think that,

For me, I know that one of my prime motivators is connection. So if I do a poetry event and I don't feel like super connected to people or I don't feel very seen or understood by people, then it doesn't actually feel very fulfilling, right? So I think that in order to feel fulfilled, everybody has to truthfully ask themselves, really hold up the mirror, what actually moves you? What actually makes you feel?

Kim Rapach (26:19.432)
for watching.

Imari (26:43.389)
complete. Right? I don't think it's going to...

Kim Rapach (26:44.416)
Yeah, yeah. Oh, sorry. I was just like connection is not simplistic either because for me, I want authentic connection with other creative, kind humans. But also what I had to learn through my journey was I was connecting with a lot of people and I was impacting a lot of people, but I wasn't fully connected to myself. So I think that.

Imari (26:59.453)
He he.

Imari (27:11.069)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Kim Rapach (27:14.048)
is also just really important to understand what does that mean? You know, how do you do that? What makes you feel alive? What brings you joy? And so that we're not dependent on that other connection because I think we connect better with each other when we're taking care of ourselves.

Imari (27:21.711)
Right. Right.

Imari (27:30.365)
Yeah, and I think that's a great thread because, you know, we're on this podcast to talk about artists and creatives, right? And I think that I don't think artists make good art if they're not created, if they're not connected to themselves, right? And I have seen and been the artist who is creating because that's what's expected of me or like I have, you know, some producer who needs me to do whatever. I'm not connected to what actually moves me.

And if I don't know what actually stimulates me, what actually generates my curiosity, what actually... Then it's like telling somebody to write a poem about trees when they don't care about trees. It's like, the poem's not gonna be very good. It's not. But if you know somebody who's just fascinated by how bark looks like this and how trees have gnarled fingers and you have them write a poem, it's like, okay, cool, poem's gonna be different. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (28:29.312)
Yeah. Well, and that's... Go ahead. Can you say that one more time?

Imari (28:30.205)
So I think artists being connected to themselves is so important.

I just think that that's why artists being connected to themselves and knowing what moves them, touches them is massively important. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (28:44.256)
Yeah, well, it makes me think, you know, when like what you're talking about, if you have a producer or someone else, you know, dictating your art, it can lead to burnout and frustration and you lose you lose your inspiration, right. And I just think also, you know, I was talking to somebody the other day and they were like, Well, I just wish and you know, I won't say what they do, but I wish that thing that I do would just take off a little more, right.

Imari (28:55.517)
Yes.

Imari (28:59.067)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (29:12.352)
And I think we lose the reality that if you're an artist, you're an artist. If you're a musician, you're a musician. And only you need to decide how far you want or need to go with that. Because I think sometimes artists forget that once you quote unquote, make it to where, you know, society says you're supposed to, which I don't buy into. You lose a lot of freedom. You lose a lot of creative freedom. You lose.

Imari (29:18.141)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Imari (29:25.627)
Mm.

Imari (29:35.163)
Mm -hmm.

Imari (29:40.125)
Mm -hmm.

Kim Rapach (29:40.672)
Financial freedom you lose trust, you know now you have people in your life who want something from you They want what you can produce There's loss that comes with success Would you agree with that?

Imari (29:43.867)
Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Yeah, I mean, for privacy reasons, I'll keep her name confidential. But I was talking to a friend yesterday, you know, I live in LA, so it's very, you know, we see the extremes of this spectrum. And I was talking to a friend yesterday and her, one of her family members is essentially like Hollywood royalty, right? Like extremely well -known person. And she was talking about how that person,

loves what they do, right, that is their craft. And at the same time, when it was revealed how talented they are and they got all the success, now they feel like they can't trust people because now everybody wants something from them and da da da da da. And I think that it is the paradox of being an artist, right? It's like, I do think that there is, for me personally speaking, like this inherent...

Kim Rapach (30:31.84)
Yep. Yeah.

Imari (30:46.301)
call to share, right? Like not just to create, but to share and to like show something, be like, hey, this is how I'm looking at life. What do you think about it? Right? And you know, I think that in of itself is a scary process because you're allowing yourself to be judged and people are like, oh, that's gross or that's weird or that doesn't look very good, but that's weird, right? But then what if you do show somebody and all of a everybody's like, wow, they make really cool stuff. And now all of a sudden,

people who don't understand where that art comes from are trying to put it in a box and matriculate it and, you know, like adjust it and manipulate it and in a way are manipulating and putting you in a box as well. When it's just like, hey man, I just want to express. I just have to express, right? And I think that, you know, my heart goes out and my compassion goes out to every single artist. Cause I know how difficult it is to balance those two things. Especially when you...

Kim Rapach (31:43.072)
Yeah, well, and like you said, that, yeah, for sure. And you said at the beginning, you know, artists create to express how they're experiencing life, right? And when, when, when someone else starts to manage that or produce that or edit it their own way, they're saying, well, no, actually, this is how you see it. Like they're taking your reality and making it someone else's to please the masses, if you will.

Imari (31:45.309)
Get the celebrity stuff in.

Imari (31:53.853)
Yes.

Imari (32:04.061)
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Imari (32:11.165)
Right, right.

Kim Rapach (32:11.904)
And then there's, you know, you and I both have just seen it all too often. There's just, you know, not only the loss of everything we just mentioned, but the loss of self. And that's devastating.

Imari (32:21.627)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah, and that's just going to be another burnt out, dried up artist who is just like another person in the pipeline that there's like, all right, we're done using this one. Where's the next one that we can just kind of squeeze dry? And it's like, oh, don't that's that's not sustainable. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (32:39.968)
Yeah, yeah. So how do you as an artist, because even, you know, and again, we haven't even talked to what you're doing now, but as an artist, what do you do on a regular basis? You said, you know, you do kind of like, I don't know, is it like a Julia Cameron artist date, you know, on Saturdays? Are there other daily negotiables that you do to stay connected to yourself and your inspiration and your creativity?

Imari (32:47.589)
Haha.

Imari (33:03.677)
That's a very good question. So, you know, a lot of this conversation has been about the overlap between self -awareness and artistry, right? And I think that...

Hmm. So I journal every day, right? I journal every day for like maybe like 30, 45 minutes, right? And it's part of just getting what is in me out. Right? And a lot of times, you know, I'll be journaling about, you know, I feel this way about this girl or, oh, I'm, you know, I'm hungry or, oh, trauma or whatever. And then a lot of times, like just in the self expression process, all of a sudden I'll have an idea or have a thought about life. And then I'll, I will.

in midstream of the journaling, it'll turn into like a poem. Right? It's like, it goes from like, oh, the girl in breakfast and oh my God, the idea of breakfast and what is love and breakfast? And like, all of a sudden it becomes like a thing, right? So I think that making that time from my mind to just do what it wants to do is like quintessential for me. And I do that first thing in the morning before I, you know, get sucked up in what everybody else needs from me and meetings and blah, blah, blah.

Kim Rapach (34:17.024)
Yeah, yeah, well, that's such a way to connect, right? Connect to yourself. Are you familiar with Julia Cameron, the artist way? Yes, I think her name is Julia Cameron, but she talks about morning pages where, you you write four pages handwritten first thing in the morning before you do anything to clear everything you've carried over. Yeah, so that you can get to the good stuff. So that's what I think of when he says that.

Imari (34:17.757)
It's like.

Yeah. Yeah.

I'm familiar with Arthur's Way, yeah, I didn't know it was Julie Cameron. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Imari (34:37.149)
Just get it out. Yep.

Yeah, 100%. And honestly, I think that's where something I'm trying to work on right now is like, I can tell that's when my best ideas come out. It's actually not so much like when I have a 2 p .m. brainstorm meeting and you know, it's actually, that's not where my best stuff comes. My best stuff comes when it's just like, just an orgasm of ideas at the beginning of the day. It's just like, here's everything, let me just throw it out, right? And because there's not that.

container that's being forced around it and it's not like There's no agenda to it. That's when like the best stuff comes the best stuff

Kim Rapach (35:19.04)
So I'm super curious because this is something that I work on. It's one of my daily non -negotiables. But do you journal before you look at your phone? Yeah. Yeah. I think once we do this, for me, it's over. Once I look at my phone, the rest of the world just entered my space and my brain and even my bed, right? Like it's there. And now I have to respond. So oftentimes, it's a hard shift for people to make to.

Imari (35:23.931)
Uh huh.

Yes, 100%. Yeah, because if...

Imari (35:33.085)
Yeah, yeah. Once you've done that, the day is done.

Kim Rapach (35:47.36)
tend to themselves in their own journaling, creativity, whatever it may be before they let the rest of the world in. But I think it's so important. Yeah, yeah, essential.

Imari (35:49.115)
Mm -hmm.

Imari (35:56.893)
Yeah, yeah, essential, absolutely essential. I think it's one thing I do, not just journal, but I also read my journals. So like at the end of the month, I go back and I just read what did I write every single day for the last 30 days. And it's just very, it's just so useful.

Because one, I get to just see patterns of ways of thinking or people that are bugging me or whatever. But then sometimes I'll wander upon a poem and be like, oh, wow, this is amazing. I forgot I wrote this. So that's great.

Kim Rapach (36:29.792)
I go through the cycle of like, I want to write, I am a writer, and then I write and I'm like, I'm not a very good writer. And then I go back and read it and I'll transfer it like to a document. I'm like, that was really pretty good. It's like going through. Yeah. Yeah.

Imari (36:41.403)
It was amazing. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. 100%. 100%. Like the poetry event I told you about the other day, I read some poetry. And like when I was performing and I was like, this is okay. And then like somebody recorded it and I watched it after I was like, oh, I like that. That was great. Yeah, I know. It's wild. I wish we could.

Kim Rapach (37:00.608)
Our own worst critic, right? Any other daily non -negotiables that you have?

Imari (37:08.829)
Mm -hmm. I have a couple. I mean, like I have a morning routine, move my body, get blood flowing, you know, but those aren't necessarily related to my artistry. Take regular breaks, yada, yada, yada. But.

Kim Rapach (37:27.232)
Yeah, I think the physical stuff is just all connected to the mental stuff too though. I think it does help because again, it's that connection.

Imari (37:32.015)
100%. Yeah, I think it's, yeah, and I think it's what you're saying about like clearing out the mind. I do think that there's like this idea of clearing out the cache, right? Sometimes if I'm like stuck mentally and then I go on a run or I do a workout and then I come back and I'm like, oh, okay, cool. Like there is more creative possibility here than I thought before, right? So I would encourage people not to think that there is a, that,

Kim Rapach (37:54.144)
Yeah. Yeah.

Imari (38:01.341)
there is not a tie between your physical wellbeing and your artistic and creative inspiration wellbeing. Like those are definitely tied in together. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (38:07.488)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So do you wanna talk about the shift that you made and the exciting things you're doing now?

Imari (38:15.833)
Yeah, sure. Yeah, it's a very interesting time in my life because, you know, like we talked about earlier in the episode, it was like, okay, cool, Marv's a filmmaker for like eight or nine years. He got disillusioned from a lot of that. And then I moved into coaching and speaking, and I've been doing that for six, seven years now. Spoken all over the world, spoken in Google, spoken at Harvard and get my Ted talk and all these cool things. And it's interesting. It's like,

beautiful full circle moment because I feel I don't find myself feeling the pull to get back into film industry necessarily but I do find myself getting back interested in the idea of like creating my own content because I again this idea of like you know I was coaching and I was helping people for a while but there was this artistic itch that wasn't being scratched right like outside of helping people I just want to express my ideas about world and life and culture and all these things right so

that itch has been getting louder and louder in the last like year or two. And so a couple months ago, I just committed to just being like, you know what, I'm back in. I might as well use this film industry ability that I have to like, you know, set these cameras up and get these lights moving. So yeah, I started a little YouTube talk show with a friend of mine a couple months ago and very excited about that. And it's actually really relevant to what you're talking about. It's like,

I know I'm not doing this for views. I know I'm like not motivated by like subscriber count. It's like I've done that. I've been there. I already know what that is like, right? I'm literally doing this because I want to express myself. And like, if I don't, I know that there will be a part of me that is always unfulfilled and always unsatisfied. Yeah. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (40:09.344)
Yeah, just feels like I can feel the authenticity.

Imari (40:14.077)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Tony Robbins six -coordinates that I was talking about earlier, I feel like he should add one more, which is just expression, self -expression. I feel like people sometimes are motivated to do something because they just want to express. And that's where I'm at. I literally feel spiritually sick if I hold my ideas in.

Kim Rapach (40:44.672)
Wow. Yeah.

So with your experience of having millions of views and having your work take off and being successful and having it not promise what the world tells us it'll do for you, what would you say to someone who is an artist, maybe a young artist or a new artist or in the middle or an artist who feels like, well, haven't quote unquote made it, but there's this pressure of social media?

Imari (41:03.483)
Yeah.

Imari (41:14.789)
Mm -hmm.

Hmm.

Kim Rapach (41:18.464)
You know, and it's, I think we can so easily get caught up in like, who did, how many people did see my video? And you know, it's that like, well, only a thousand people saw it. And it's like, well, but if a thousand people stopped you on the street and said, good job, I really like what you're doing. We would be blown away. Yeah. But how do we, how, what would you say to an artist who's like, how do I, how do I navigate the social media pressure?

Imari (41:32.677)
Right. All right. Ecstatic. Yeah, 100 percent.

Kim Rapach (41:45.472)
without losing myself? How do I stay authentic without losing myself? Because I'm always like, I can't do the performance videos. If you see me doing a video, it's because I think it was really funny or cute, or it was just something I just really had to get off my chest. But I can't, you know, how do people, what would you say to an artist who feels that pressure that we're all kind of, you know, all entrepreneurs and artists are feeling?

Imari (41:45.533)
Hmm. Hmm.

Imari (41:55.087)
No.

Imari (41:58.811)
Exactly. Yeah.

Imari (42:10.845)
Yeah, I get it and like deep compassion and deep empathy because have been there as well, right? And I think my advice is different depending on where you are in your creative journey. I think if you are at the beginning of your creative journey or beginning a new creative project like I am with this new talk show, it's like establish good habits early, right? Right now, it's important when you have one subscriber.

And one of my new habits is I do not read comments. I'm not gonna open them. I don't care if it's people being like, wow, he's the most handsome and hilarious, well -spoken, but I don't wanna see it. I don't wanna see it. I don't wanna watch my follower count. I don't wanna watch these numbers because I know that is the slipperiest slope. So I just am establishing a habit for myself, just don't open the comments no matter what.

even though it's so tempting and they make it so easy. So the notification pops up, so many comments. It's just so easy to press it, right? But just make a habit now so that when you have 500 ,000 comments, you don't find yourself for hours scrolling. It's just establish a good habit now, right? Because look, man, it's almost cliche how many times we've heard the story of the artist who gets burnt out or gets caught up in...

you know, what people think about them. And it's like, we've heard this before. We've heard the story of the person who seeks the validation and doesn't end up happy more times than we've heard about people who seek validation and end up happy. Right? So we know that that doesn't work. So take the advice that is being offered and the lesson that's being offered by the world. But you've never heard an artist who says, I prioritize my self -expression and who ends up unfulfilled.

So prioritize that, focus on that. That is your most important thing. That at the end of the day, you can say, I said what I needed to say, I made what I needed to make, prioritize that, let that be the most important. And I know it can be difficult when you start talking about like, oh, what if I turned my art into my livelihood and now there's money connected and I get it, I get it. But you have to establish really early on, like what is the most important thing to you here? Like.

Imari (44:36.445)
is the most important thing to you to be self -expressed, is the most important thing to make money, is the most important thing to validation. It's like all those are fine, right? But just get super clear and optimize for that. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (44:47.584)
Yeah, yeah, such good wisdom.

Imari (44:50.269)
Yeah, so that's my advice. If you're just starting out, just don't wait until you have pressure to form new habits because that's not gonna work. That's not gonna work. You wanna be able to like, actually I'm very grateful to Young Amari because early in my film career, I committed to making videos that mattered. I was like, I'm not going to make.

dumb commercials about Colgate. I'm not gonna do it, right? And I knew that that meant there were gonna be times where I was broke. And there were, 100%. There definitely were. But I was like, I know what my priority is from the beginning. But if at the beginning I was like, oh, I just wanna make videos, then it's like, ooh, that can be a, that can get dangerous. That can get real dangerous real fast. So I would say.

Honestly, wherever you are on your journey, stop, pause, and ask yourself, what's actually important to me? What kind of content is important to me? What results are important to me? What do I want the process to feel like while I'm creating? And how can I design that in a very practical way?

Kim Rapach (46:04.256)
I love that. And don't worry about the numbers or the views or the follows or the likes or comments. Yeah.

Imari (46:10.311)
Yeah, honestly, you get the views and likes and it's like not even a big deal. It's really like, because all of a sudden it becomes not about people. Like now it's a number. You don't think about a million people. You just think a million followers. And it's like a number. I just, yeah, exactly. I distinctly remember the night where I got my first million view video.

Kim Rapach (46:27.456)
Yeah, so it's like another form of objectification.

Imari (46:36.541)
And this was before everybody got millions of views. This was like back in the day. And I remember, yeah, my first time where a video went viral. And I was like, I feel no different.

Kim Rapach (46:45.566)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Imari (46:46.909)
And I actually, I just feel more pressure to make sure the next one goes viral. So it's like, I don't want to set myself up for that. It's not a lifestyle I look forward to.

Kim Rapach (46:55.744)
Yeah, yeah. Thank you for your honesty because I again, I'm so, well, what's the word I'm looking for? I'm concerned about our youth who are being raised by that goal. You know, that going viral is going to change your life. I know people who have gone viral and it changed their life, but not in the best way. Yeah.

Imari (47:10.757)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah, yeah.

Imari (47:23.453)
not the way that you wanted.

Kim Rapach (47:25.44)
And even when it does go well, it doesn't give you, there's nothing that can fulfill you if you're not fulfilled within yourself. And if you're not being true and authentic to who you truly are. And when you are, you know, attuned to yourself and truly authentic, then you have boundaries. Then you can stay aligned to your own values. Like you were talking about early in your career, you're like, I know what I want. I know what I'm willing to do. I know what I'm not willing to do.

Imari (47:37.531)
Yeah, yeah.

Imari (47:47.549)
Mm -hmm.

Imari (47:53.469)
Yeah.

Kim Rapach (47:53.696)
And I love myself and I radically accept myself to the point where no one's gonna shift that. And that's powerful. And I think people are more successful that way because they're more fulfilled. So you get to define success instead of outsiders or your followers or whatever.

Imari (47:59.581)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Imari (48:12.157)
Yeah, it's getting clear on principles and values. What is actually important to me? Right? And then also, you know, for people who might not be as practice in this kind of like self -awareness work, it's just like, just ask why, like 10 times. Ask yourself, what do you want? And then ask yourself why. Well, why? Well, why? And then eventually you'll find something, right? Like for me, I was like, I want to make videos. Okay, well, why? Because I like...

Ideas being spread. Okay. Well why because I think that if people have different ideas then they Do different things and that's how they change and I was like, okay So what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to change people. I'm trying to impact people. I'm trying to create viral Adjustments to how we as humans operate, right? It's like and videos helped me do that because it's like not just an idea in my head anymore now It's an idea in a million people's head now. It's an idea in 10 millions people

So I know if I'm spreading an idea, I want it to be an integrity, an idea that I feel good about. So rather than I just want to go viral because I did a backflip on Mount Everest. It's like, okay, well, yeah. What did this do for anybody?

Kim Rapach (49:24.224)
Yeah. Yeah.

So ask like 10 layers of why, right? Really get to the root. And I think people would be astonished by what they find when they get seven to 10 layers deep. And that's where you really get to your heart. There can be a lot of emotion that comes with that, sometimes a lot of grief. Yeah. Yeah. But it's the real reason why you're here and what you're called to do.

Imari (49:30.917)
Why? Why, why, why? Yeah.

Imari (49:39.429)
Mm -hmm.

Imari (49:44.123)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, exactly. And that's gonna be what moves you through the sometimes inevitable struggle of being an artist.

but you're not gonna have a lot of motivation to move through struggle if you don't even know why you're doing it in the first place.

Kim Rapach (50:08.32)
Yeah, yeah, good stuff. So for the sake of this podcast, the work that I do as a coach and just having these conversations, a warrior is someone who fights for themselves first, takes care of themselves so that they can have a greater impact. What I, you know, what is your, you do coaching, you do a lot of speaking. What is a freedom fighter?

Imari (50:09.629)
Yeah. Yeah.

Imari (50:21.915)
Mm -hmm.

Imari (50:25.509)
Hehe.

Imari (50:33.093)
I love that. Good question. Ironically enough, so my name, Amari Adeola Samora Anderson Tewakli, three of those names are, I was named after freedom fighters in there fighting for different things. So this is a very fun question for me. For me, freedom is like my top value. I think that without freedom,

I wouldn't be able to find fulfillment, for example, right? Because then I'm, if I'm in a box, then I'm chasing somebody else's fulfillment. I'm chasing somebody else's ideas. And so I think that there are people, at least people that I really resonate with, that have this inner urge to make sure that the life that they are living is theirs, that they are not confined by...

tradition that they don't subscribe to. They're not confined by expectations that they didn't agree to. They're not taking jobs that they were expected to. They're feeling like, I don't want to leave this planet without knowing that that was my life. I designed it. Only I could have lived it. And in order to do that, that takes another level of commitment because you have the world's pressure.

telling you be like this, talk like this, do like this and like fit into this box. So it is going to be a fight. If you do nothing, you will just be molded and you will become what somebody else wants you to become. It's like if every moment of your life and every day you just asked your parents or you asked your boss, well, what should I do? What should I do? Then they're gonna tell you what.

college you should go to, they'll tell you what major you should take, they're gonna tell you who you should marry, they're gonna tell you what you should name your kids, and then all of a sudden you look up and you're like, well, why didn't I get to decide any of what my life looked like, right? And you know, for some people that's not important and they're okay with going with the script and that's fine, but that is not me and that is not why people come to me. People come to me because they are like, I feel like I'm out of integrity with who I am.

Imari (52:56.413)
and it eats at me and I can't sleep and it bugs me and there is like a physical just dissonance that I feel, right? And that's why I would call a freedom fighter somebody who's like, I think that there could be more to.

There's more, there's a question that is not being asked in my life, individually or in general, that I need to ask before I go.

Kim Rapach (53:25.6)
I love that. When you were talking about, you know, someone who looks up and says, well, why didn't I get to decide? It made me think of all of the many artists and entrepreneurs who, again, you know, much like yourself, who have climbed the tallest tree. And they're like, I did everything. I did everything I was told to do. I did everything my followers told me, my manager, my parents, my spouse. I did everything I was supposed to do.

Imari (53:32.027)
Anyway.

Imari (53:46.523)
Okay.

Imari (53:50.013)
Hahaha.

Imari (53:54.973)
Yeah.

Kim Rapach (53:55.2)
and then miserable.

Can you speak to that just a little bit?

Imari (54:01.501)
Yeah, I try not to project my values onto people because I know they're subjective, but I would say I believe, I don't think that you can.

Do what everybody else tells you to do for your entire life and end up happy. I just don't think that that's the case because nobody knows what you need. Nobody knows, right? Like how would they know? Literally only you could know.

Kim Rapach (54:30.976)
Right, give yourself permission to know, to know yourself and to know your desires and your own values. Like you said, I don't want to project my values, but you don't want anybody else to have to live by yours, right? And it just all lines up.

Imari (54:33.819)
Yes.

Exactly, exactly, because...

Imari (54:46.557)
Exactly, 100%. Yeah, it's like, we can make a stupid, facetious example. It's like, if every time you were hungry, somebody said, well, eat a hot dog, eat a hot dog, eat a hot dog. At some point, you'd ask yourself, do I like hot dogs? Do I really want this right now? And if I weren't going to eat this hot dog, what would I eat?

Kim Rapach (55:03.072)
You

Imari (55:14.813)
Because I think that you would, on your deathbed, after eating a lifetime of hot dogs, be like, I wonder what chicken tasted like. I feel like I should have tried that. You Yeah, come on now. You don't want to... Don't live a hot dog life.

Kim Rapach (55:22.61)
Thank you.

Kim Rapach (55:28.384)
Yeah, we don't want those kind of regrets.

Kim Rapach (55:35.904)
Right, right. And I think if our youth can learn that earlier than, say, I did, we will have more peace. We will have more creativity. We will have more inspiration because we won't have people subscribing to what their peers and social media and all those, you know, irrelevant numbers offer. Yeah.

Imari (55:40.413)
Yeah. Mhm.

Imari (55:47.325)
Mm -hmm.

Imari (55:58.429)
Yeah, 100%. And I think that, like, how is that any different than self -acceptance? Right? Self -acceptance is just saying, oh, this is what makes me unique, different, maybe bad, maybe good, but okay, this is me. Right? And that's just what it is. And I think that if you can do that, if you can look at the part of yourself that might not be, you know,

common in your community or expected by your parents and be like, I love it anyway. I'm gonna lean into it anyway. I'm gonna be curious about it anyway. Then all of a sudden, yeah, I think then you'll find you'll be much closer to fulfillment. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (56:42.176)
Yeah. Hmm. What would you say to parents who are raising creatives, like artists, kids who maybe don't fit the mold, maybe don't want to play football, maybe have something entirely different than the family name that's been, you know, everybody's doctors and this kid doesn't want to be a doctor's kid wants to paint or saying or whatever. What would you say to that parent?

Imari (56:56.123)
Yeah.

Imari (57:00.317)
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I have a lot of like, it's a funny idea. I have like a lot of proxy empathy for parents who are not artistically minded who have artistic children, because that must be so confusing.

Like, you just must be like, you just have like no frame of reference for what that is. Because I think that if you are an artist parent and you have an artist kid, you get it. Like, you're like, I know what that feels like, to feel like, ah, I have something I need to get out, right? But, you know, I have empathy for parents who just don't understand it. But I think that most, if not all parents want to see

their child fulfilled. I assume that most, if not all, parents want to see their child happy. And I would encourage you to have some curiosity of like, well, what if them following their passions is actually the only way they are going to get that fulfillment that you say you seek for them, you seek that happiness for them. Because even if you're like, oh, I want them to be a doctor, why do you want them to be a doctor? Because I want them to have stable income. Why do you want them to have stable income?

Oh, so that they're happy and they're fulfilled. Okay, great. So you want them to be happy and fulfilled. That's actually what you're desiring right here. Right? So what if this artist becomes a doctor and they have a stable income and they hate it and they know that they're like, this was not worth it. Because I've seen plenty of people who have died before they got to the death bed. Who...

Kim Rapach (58:51.808)
Yep.

Imari (58:53.361)
move through every day, going through the motions, dead, bored, uninspired, waiting for the casket. And it's like, I would never want that for my child, personally speaking.

Kim Rapach (59:04.2)
Wow, I love that. Yeah. I had the fortunate experience to rediscover creativity, essentially when my child was born. That was when I discovered Brene Brown and my son was probably maybe eight, maybe a little younger. I don't even remember, but it started with like creative journaling and then that led to writing and it led to like, I just like came alive like.

Imari (59:11.325)
discover creativity. Essentially...

Hmm.

Imari (59:19.707)
Hmm.

Kim Rapach (59:32.768)
Oh, I have to, like, I need color in my life. I need, I need play, I need paint, I need, you know, I need to, I need to do creative things. And that was painting furniture and it was all this thing, but fortunately it allowed me to look at my child and be like, yeah, do whatever you want. And interestingly enough, he is a young filmmaker and wants to, you know, make his own, his own movies and he's got a very creative spin, but.

Imari (59:35.901)
Yeah.

Kim Rapach (01:00:03.008)
I'm just grateful that I learned that even though I may not understand or he may not, you know, fit how society says he should be navigating the world, it just proves over and over. I watch it over and over how things come together when you are true to yourself, when you are processing life the way that you need to without anybody else's permission.

Imari (01:00:17.595)
Mm -hmm.

Imari (01:00:23.185)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, yeah. There's like a piece that can happen, right? And we all want peace for the people that we love, so yeah. And you know, there's an irony there that I want to point out. It's like...

Kim Rapach (01:00:28.832)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

Imari (01:00:40.477)
Most people, unless you're like weird, love kids, right? And love little babies. It's like why? Because they look at the world and they're like, wow, it's so new.

That is creativity, like in real time. And we look at that, we're so inspired by that, we're like, wow, he's so curious about the world. It's like, well, don't ruin that. Let that live for as long as possible. Because the only reason that goes away is because it's taught away. And it's like, oh, no, no, no, no, don't ask those questions. Or, oh, no, no, no, no, you know, don't put those things together. Oh, no, no, no. It's like, eventually you're just taught to not look at.

Kim Rapach (01:00:57.802)
Yeah.

Kim Rapach (01:01:09.16)
right?

Kim Rapach (01:01:17.554)
you

Imari (01:01:22.141)
the world as if it's an inspiring place to be. But that doesn't make any sense because everybody looks at the people who are inspired and they're like, wow, you're so inspired. It's like, yeah. So don't ruin it.

Kim Rapach (01:01:24.576)
Yeah.

Kim Rapach (01:01:34.528)
Right. Right. And that's a lesson for everybody, right? Like, I feel like this part of the conversation, if not all of it, is just so divine because literally two days ago, a picture popped up. We have one of those screensavers on our TV where it's our, you know, pictures. And it was a picture of my son when he was little. And I was like, oh, I miss, I miss that. Like, like I don't miss him. I'm not, not happy with him, you know, at 18. But I, and I was like, what do I miss? Right.

Imari (01:01:49.851)
Eh -heh.

Imari (01:01:58.557)
Yeah.

Kim Rapach (01:02:03.136)
stay curious and compassionate. I miss his innocence. I miss his view of the world before it beat him up, which it does happen to all of us, you know, especially that middle school age. But like, I just miss that, that innocence, like all the wonder, seeing the everyday wonders as opposed to like, someday I'll be happy. It's like, no, I'm happy right now. Look at this rock, right? Yeah. And so can we all...

Imari (01:02:07.739)
Mm.

Imari (01:02:12.861)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Imari (01:02:22.685)
Hmm. Hmm.

Imari (01:02:28.999)
Yeah, 100%. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (01:02:33.524)
foster that and help each other and not try to talk people out of anything that might be unconventional or more creative than you know what to do with and just stay curious and keep encouraging each other. Yeah.

Imari (01:02:35.067)
Mm -hmm.

Imari (01:02:47.773)
Yeah, yeah. For the good of them as individuals and for the good of us as humanity, right? Because if everybody who has made amazing things in the world, whether it's rocket ships or paintings or statues or songs, if all those people had gotten jaded, we would all be worse off. So, yeah.

Kim Rapach (01:02:53.888)
Yeah, absolutely.

Kim Rapach (01:03:11.264)
Yeah, I agree. Yeah. Yeah, I love your perspective. I love your energy. I'm really grateful that you're here and that you've participated in the work of warriors. You're coaching and you're speaking. And so I think it's worth noting, how can people find you?

Imari (01:03:22.193)
Likewise.

Imari (01:03:33.117)
Yeah, of course. So you can always find me through my website, amari .com. I'm just a good way to book me for speaking, good way to find me for coaching, et cetera, et cetera. And I'm all over the internet. You can just type my name, you'll find something. No guarantees on what you'll find though. Yeah, so I'm all over, but the best way to just find me direct, especially for any like work related stuff.

Kim Rapach (01:03:52.448)
Okay.

Imari (01:04:02.909)
It's just a mar -

Kim Rapach (01:04:04.832)
Yeah. Who would be like your ideal coaching client? Like how would someone, if they're an artist, how would they know like, this is a good fit if.

Imari (01:04:15.771)
Very good question. The one word that comes to my mind is visionary. Like if you are a visionary, an ambitious visionary, you're like, I am here to make, be or do something that is beyond anything that has existed before, then we should work together. Right? Like if you're, you know, I've worked with people in the past who are just like, oh, I'm just trying to like, you know, be more confident. It's like I've helped them. But like the people who really...

find the best success and who I most personally enjoy. People who are artists, people who are visionaries, people who are leaders, right? It doesn't necessarily have to be creative painting music types. I work with startup CEOs who are visionary. I'm trying to create something that has never been created before. And those are the people who I love working with. Because like we just talked about in this conversation, it's like...

So much of what you create and the satisfaction of what you create comes from, do you know who you are? And can you own who you are? Have you asked why enough times? Do you, you know what I mean? Like those kinds of conversations. And that's a lot of what comes up in the coaching container is like, how can we really find out who you are as a leader, as a visionary, as an ambitious creative? And then how can we form your life around that so that it's, yes, financially sustainable and.

all these things, but more than anything, it feels authentically stable. Like you can create and stay who you are the whole time.

Kim Rapach (01:05:50.272)
Well, I hope everyone who listens to this checks out your Ted Talk and your website. And yeah, I will be contacting you offline for some other stuff, but thank you for participating in the work of warriors. I know it's going to make an impact and it'll hit the right people. And it just means a lot that you would take the time to offer your insight and your wisdom. And again, really great.

Imari (01:06:00.381)
Hahaha.

Imari (01:06:13.021)
My absolute pleasure. Absolute pleasure. And thank you for, I can tell and I can feel based on how you show up to this call and also just based on the fact that you have this podcast that you really care about creatives. And I think that, like I said at the beginning, creatives really need somebody to care about them because it can be hard. So thank you for your compassion. Thank you for your awareness. And thank you for just taking care of the people who need it.

Kim Rapach (01:06:37.056)
Thank you.

Imari (01:06:38.205)
Yeah. Cool. All right. Looking forward to it.

Kim Rapach (01:06:39.624)
All right, I will chat with you soon. OK.