065: Building Flexibility Into Business with Evan La Ruffa

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This is your time. How can we earn twice as much in half the time with joy and ease while serving the highest good? That is our guiding question here at the Freetime Cafe, your home for heart based business. I'm your host, Jenny Blake. Join me for conversations with authors, friends and fellow business owners as we explore ways to free your mind, time and team to do your best work. Now onto today's show.

Hello friends. I am so excited to bring you today's guest, Evan Larufa. Evan is a creative problem solver. He makes, builds, organizes, curates and connects. He believes in a better world and he likes to create solutions and approaches to big problems. I met Evan through our beloved mutual friends who are practically family, Stephanie and Jonathan Fields. And I feel like I've known Evan and his wife Lindsay for so much longer than I actually have, so maybe that's wishful thinking. Evan is an entrepreneur celebrating his 10 year anniversary of founding I Paint My Mind 10 years ago, which is a really incredible nonprofit. Combining his passion for art with philanthropy with beautifying public spaces and giving more artists a chance and a voice. Evan, welcome to the show.

Thanks so much for having me. I'm excited to catch up with you and chat.

One of the things we're talking about is structuring business in a way to allow for life to come through. Lindsay said, one of the things you're particularly great at is being able to spend a bunch of time with your two littles, your two kiddos and having a thriving business that it's not just you. This is a good sized organization now. So I'd love for you to tell us a little bit about what is I paint my mind and what is your philosophy on how you structure work to enhance family life and not steamroll.

Over it being, as you mentioned, a husband and a father that thinking about how the organization fits into life is something that I'm kind of always thinking about. I paint my mind as this really rad nonprofit organization that is really all about getting art and giving back. So a lot of what we do are art installations, so gallery installations, custom murals, and different art projects and experiences that then help us as a nonprofit, fund all these arts programs that we deliver free and low cost to local communities. So it's really kind of like an entrepreneurial way to always be working with art and artists and supporting the creative community while giving back to local schools and really helping solve this problem of less and less funding for creativity and the arts and music and these things in schools which we all know really help people come into their own and help kids come into their own. Thinking about what it means for me personally and how I fit that in. Family has always been really, really important to me. So it's something that I'm always thinking about how it fits into whatever it is that I'm doing. One of the benefits of being an entrepreneur or running a small organization is that it is up to you. Right? So there's a double edged sword there. If you're spread too thin and you're playing whack a mole and you're not really set up to do things in impactful ways. For me, it's always kind of like coming back to like, all right, like I have to take the kids to school in the morning, so ensuring that that happens first and that really important big work happens early in the day. And for me, that's one really incredible way for me to think about what are the top things that if I got done by noon, I would be okay if I didn't really work the rest of the day. And so that's one question that I come back to a lot, actually.

How old are your kids now?

Enzo is five, almost six, and Uma is three, almost four next month. That's another piece that is interesting, right. I think the kids being young now, it was always really thinking about family and how it fits in. Lindsay and I are really talking about it and keeping it top of mind as far as, you know, the time in their lives to really have a lot of flexibility for us is when they're young. Starting next year, they'll be in school all day and I'll have no other choice but come back to the work. Right. Also kind of just thinking about these phases of life and how things can kind of change or adapt to work really well for us in that particular phase.

So you must have been hit pretty hard with the pandemic. And it sounds like one of them is young enough that it wouldn't have made as big of a difference but must have been a really trying time to be juggling kids at home. The pandemic, all the shifts that that was creating with your work at I Paint My Job. And was there a low point that you experienced around all this and that you had to kind of redesign the way that you were both operating? Because I know Lindsay works with glp, with Jonathan, and she's the wizard behind the Good Life Project podcast, but it must have been really kind of stressful just trying to juggle all this.

It has been speaking with friends of ours who are also parents, like, we have plenty to commiserate about. It was kind of interesting because I think the pandemic and just where I was at with I paint my mind as an organization in our operations. There was kind of a turning point there at the beginning, actually. Like, Lindsay didn't get Covid, but was ill for a little bit. And so we had like, basically a month where she really had to rest up. And so all kinds of balls were dropping. It's kind of interesting because all of this is not getting done. Which balls should we drop? And that's another question that we had to double down and really make sure that Lindsey's health was the number one thing. Luckily, we have family to really, really help and support in that way. But how are we going to get all this done when really the question is like, which pieces don't even need to happen?

Yes. Oh, my goodness. Was there anything that you were able to drop when you asked yourself that?

Honestly, so much fell off in that moment. Lindsay needed my support and we had to really kind of just focus on health because all the platitudes about health being everything really, truly is right. It's kind of the platform for which we can engage with the rest of our lives in an awesome way. And so I think it kind of made us even more grateful for the moments where our health is good. But it was really eye opening because so much was able to fall off. And so a lot of times we're staying way too busy or we feel a certain level of busy then justifies kind of our commitment to the project or the mission or the business. And I think that's kind of just a place where our culture kind of leads us astray. Actually taking a break and doing less is how we can deliver more for the people and the communities that we care about.

I'm curious about your team at I paint my mind both how many people you have. Is anyone full time, how many are contractors or part time? And also I think it's very interesting. You as an artist and an artistic, creative person, 10 years ago created this thing that actually is a living, breathing organization. And not many artists make that transition, or want to, from doing the work and being the enigmatic artist. As you know, I'm married to one.

Yes, you are.

Versus, like running a business and running a nonprofit. And I wonder like, just how you've set that up and how you've carved yourself out of it or created systems that enable you to be with your family, do your art and run this business without getting overwhelmed too much by the business side. But I love that you have that side of you.

It's interesting for me because I kind of come at it from a few different angles. The artist piece for me is something that really has kind of been something that I've embraced more as a result of the work that I've done over the last 10 years. I kind of look back and I've been making art my whole life. But there was a hesitancy to call myself an artist. I felt way more at home in kind of the entrepreneur seat or the organizer, rallyer, bringer together a people seat. Kind of going back to like, I paint my mind and our structure and stuff. I'm the only full time employee, although we have basically like, let's see, eight contractors now all over the world, really. So our web team is in the Philippines, Our video editor is in Indonesia. We've had contractor doing social media and stuff in Houston. And then we kind of have like a core team here of contractors that help with our different services and our board of directors, it's like eight or 10 of us total, super distributed. And I think also kind of one of these instances where there's more flexibility in the models for how we operate. I paint my mind being a nonprofit as opposed to a for profit. Really seeing that kind of the things that have happened in entrepreneurship over the last 10 years, really as far as being able to build and coordinate distributed teams has meant that we've been able to kind of build as a nonprofit in a really kind of lean and agile way that I'm super, super proud of. And yeah, it's been kind of a really cool way to make it a global project on some level as far as, like, how we're coordinating all this, as far as delegating and building myself out of different aspects of the business. You mentioned our good mutual friends Jonathan and Stephanie Fields and the Good Life Project. I was, let's see, was it 2014? I was in the Good Life Project immersion program. And that was kind of the beginning of me thinking, like, okay, I can't work harder, right? It's not just about going to 11 all the time or chaining myself to the desk is just one kind of phrase that I come back to as well. I cared the most. Check. I was working hard. Check. But I think that was kind of the beginning of what has been kind of like an ongoing process. I honestly don't know if it ever really ends. As far as staying curious and engaged with the ways in which the organization needs to or should adapt. It's super clear to me, really at this kind of 10 year point that we're at that I have really awesome people supporting me that can really help us take this to a whole new level. And that it really is about continuing to take things off my plate that I shouldn't be doing. So I can do that really high value stuff that makes the kind of moonshot mission impact stuff really as far as expanding what we do nationwide possible.

See, that's already so interesting. What have you identified that is unique to you that helps you go for those moonshots? And also that ambition to go nationwide is very interesting. And then what have you realized you could step out of? Because I'm curious this line between what we think we need to be involved in and what we don't. And like you said, when someone gets sick or things happen, we realize how little actually does probably require us. What have you found is in your zone of genius that you want to keep? And then what was something edgy that you delegated or gave to a team member that maybe you wouldn't have ever thought that was possible?

The first piece, as far as what I'm best at is really kind of this connective and like curatorial piece. One of the things that I'm really proud of as far as who I am and how I show up is really being able to relate to kind of any human being. Just something that flows naturally for me. Like, I really love people. I really am curious about people inspired by people, inspired by beauty. I see beauty in people's experience. So I'm like very open and very kind of excited to understand. And so that's been really a pretty large driving force in the way I paint. My mind has developed relationships with artists, with corporations, with schools, with principals, with teachers, with supporters who believe in our unique model of sustainably funding our programs in the community. So, yeah, I mean, I think there's kind of this charismatic, gregarious, fun loving piece that I bring to the table. Is probably fun to be around, or at least I hope it is. And I think a lot of times when we're at the top, we. We think like we have to handle like all the super official stuff. Like what invoicing and taxes.

Oh my goodness, yes. Have you been able to get rid of that yet?

Heck yeah.

I mean, invoicing, yes. Taxes. I feel like I just hired Bench, which has been great so far, but oh my gosh, I just dread tax time as we sit here recording. During tax time.

During tax time. Right? Exactly. No, I totally get it. No better sign of something that should be delegated than something you hate.

That is absolutely true. Yes.

You're probably not going to do it so well at that point if you're.

That's so true.

If you're that that level of bought in. So not so bought in. I just kind of realized there's things like that that are maybe more administrative and things that are kind of pushing the paper around are the in between stuff. And that really me being fresh and rested and engaged when I'm with people in person or developing cool programs or partnerships, that. That's where we're able to really move the needle.

We'll be right back just after this.

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One thing I'm curious about, have you and Lindsay cracked this? In terms of help on the home front? It sounds like you live near family that's already fortunate and that's a good thing.

Super lucky.

Is there anything else on the home front where you two just put your heads together and you thought, a, we don't need to keep doing this or b, we can hire help for a certain aspect of the household because that's what I feel like not enough people talk about on business podcasts and I'm going to be a Little bit biased. Not that I like to be too gender stereotypey, but a lot of business books are written by men, and a lot of them have a partner who manages the home front. Let me just say that for sure.

Great point. Really great point.

And that's not my situation. Yeah. And it's more on my mind as a topic of conversation. But I feel like there's so many logistics and things to solve on the home front, especially when both are entrepreneurs. And I often joke to Michael that we need a wife, that we don't have a wife, because I'm not. I don't want that typical role. Now, if we redefine what the word wife means, yada, yada. I'm not trying to say that of course, wives should be doing any and all of this stuff, of course. But I'm just curious to hear your take of what you and Lindsay, what is unique to you two as a couple that you have solved to make householding and adulting a little easier?

I think there's still opportunities for us to delegate or pay for help in little ways where we just kind of look at that as, like, not something that we spend money on. So I think there's some ways there where we could do that. Honestly, I feel like what we've mostly done, I don't know if there's too much genius in it. There's just, like, a couple things around the house that we just each kind of lean towards, so we just handle that. That's probably something I have to reflect on more. But I think you bring up a really great point as far as the way the perspective from which a lot of these business books is from dudes who are getting a lot of support and like, all those other things around the house happening. I have a much more similar situation to you where, like, we're both hustling, we're both involved in kind of everything. And I guess maybe the little kind of tweak in there is instead of feeling like we both have to do everything, embracing those little ways in which, let's say Lindsey is much better at and enjoys doing the laundry, whereas I. Not so much. And I'll, like, rock the kitchen for sure. No problem.

Yeah.

So there's like, little things like that. I don't know if there's too much of a hack there, but as kind of being less into those typical gender norms, just the idea that we're both pitching in all the time and then coming back from that a little bit, just being like, okay, you're good at that. Let's let you do that and I'll do this other thing.

Yeah. There's so many invisible things that happen. There's a book, podcast, and even a card deck called Fair Play. And her name, Eve Rodsky. I think I'm bungling her name. But the Fair Play card deck is really interesting because you see 50, if not a hundred activities that are happening. They just might be in the background. I think it's one thing to divide and conquer when you're both equally good at or you do lean toward those things.

Sure.

And then I find it's very exhausting when no one wants to do the middle of the Venn diagram. So just today I said to Michael, I go, all right, I think we need to call a wash and fold service. We need to, like, figure out. Because thankfully, one of the good things about New York City is that people come to your door, Right? So back when I lived in by myself, in a studio, you can find a dry cleaner that will come pick up your stuff, do same day wash and fold, and deliver it at the end of the day. I just said to Michael, it's like, get this bedding out of here. It needs to be cleaned, but it takes me four loads. In our tiny New York washing and drying machines, I'm recording podcasts all day. Like, we have to solve this. Because I know he's definitely not thinking about the laundry and not gonna do it, but it just hangs over me. And yet it's one of these examples, like you said, if you hate it, you gotta stop doing it. But sometimes it does take creativity to go, all right, we gotta really solve this now. Let's find the service. Who's gonna come to our house? Who's gonna wash, fold it, and drop it off at the end of the day? Dreams can happen, you know, if you can dream it, you can do it. This is my new bedding laundry dream.

I love that. And I think you'll get there because you're pretty awesome at, like, sorting these things out. Even in, like, the situation where just paying for it isn't an option, it's important to keep in mind, like, not everyone can just like, oh, okay, I'll just pay for that.

But I do think if you're an entrepreneur, it's just a creative question, then it goes, how much could it possibly be? 20 bucks, let's say, all right, can I do something in the next five hours that's gonna generate me that $20 back? That's why I think it's so interesting.

100% and that's a conversation that I have with a buddy of mine who's a guitar maker, super creative genius. No one can do what he does, but there are things at the bottom of the totem pole that he could totally delegate, and that by him having his time back, he's selling another expensive guitar because he's able to do the really creative embellishments and everything else that's required from someone with his level of expertise. It's not just, can we afford that in time or money? But what is the upside? What will we do with that time, and how will that positively affect things?

One of the things you mentioned was, even before we hit record, how much reflection people have been doing during this time, especially those of us who run our own operations. It can be overwhelming and intimidating knowing how to run a business through a pandemic. One of my words and themes of 2020 was radical reimagining. I'm curious for you, in these last two years, how do you think they've changed you as a creative, as an entrepreneur? And part two of that is did you come to any new insights or ahas about how you're running things that have changed now that wouldn't have been in place, let's say, prior to 2020?

The first piece for me, as far as feeling like a lot of us, a lot of friends, acquaintances, fellow entrepreneurs, fellow leaders in business or community organizations, just like, thinking about how they want to spend their time, what's sustainable for them? Do they want to spend two hours commuting each day? And the thing about the pandemic is that the world has changed in certain ways that allow for some of these shifts. You know, as someone who's hugely grateful and lucky for where I'm at and how things are going for me in life, I think it's incumbent upon me and my peers, all of us, to kind of think about what's a more aligned, joyful, impactful, intentional way of living my life.

Were there specific changes that you have made, or at least challenges you've identified that you want to shift moving forward?

For me, it's probably the dark side to that charismatic piece, which is feeling like I need to do a lot socially, even though I have a wife and two young kids and like, all this stuff going on, obviously it was kind of through the constraints of lockdown and Covid and things like this, but I think it really just made me think about specifically, like, conserving my energy more and understanding that being with people takes a lot of that. And luckily, the last Couple years have gone really well and I feel like this focus has served us really well. So we're kind of at a point where I can zoom back, zoom the lens out a little bit. And this is also something that I said to you before we started recording, which is like your new book is so perfectly timed for me right now. I paint my mind achieving our 10 year anniversary and really kind of focusing on what we're great at, really focusing on our systems not having to do more. And so there's kind of calm, there's like an openness, like more space from which I think I'm making decisions about the organization. And so that kind of edit of like oh yeah, you don't have to be at everything, dude. Like you can just be with the people who you're supposed to be with and kind of this mix of intention and intuition and also just kind of being more nuts and bolts about. Is this something that I should be working on right now or is this something that raises to a priority for the organization? For me, I think it's really about managing my energy and being very intentional about that and kind of operating from more of a calm space of knowing things are going well and that we can be selective and strategic about how we show up as opposed to kind of the more kind of whack a mole. Trying to get everything done and it all feeling like too much.

Oh, I just love hearing you talk about space and editing your time. That's like such an interesting thought of.

Doesn't it feel like breezy?

Ah, yes, yes, yes, yes. That was one of my big goals with the book Free time of that the experience needs to be light. A lot of what I'm doing is geeking out about systems and operational efficiency but trying to create some lightness and ease. And I love you brought up intention and intuition because I think it's hard to tap into those things when we are playing whack a mole.

Yeah, you're just going to the next thing. You're like, I don't know who's at that next meeting, but I'm supposed to be there at 10 and here I go.

It's funny like in my BFF community we're always talking about all these metaphors that are so mean to the animals. Like kill two birds with one stone.

Oh my gosh, eat that frog.

Now I'm thinking whack a mole. The poor moles were whacking them all on the head. Like I wonder we're going to have to think of.

But if you think of the video game version. It's like, I know no animals were harmed during the production of this, right?

But then how violent is it that we have like little kids? It was one of my favorite arcade games where you're just smashing these moles.

Bam, bam, bam. Yeah, for sure.

So metaphoric for life. Who knew that we were like teaching ourselves as kids?

They're like, you're going to be thinking about this for a lot of years, kid.

Yeah, that's right. This game is a metaphor for your life without good systems. Oh my goodness. Evan, if you could give fellow business owners permission to do something differently or drop something, what would it be?

I would give business owners permission to rest. And I would almost ask them what it might feel like if they worked one less day a week.

Yes.

I love that. Rest is so crucial and it's so tricky sometimes. I don't know about you, but sometimes I think I'm going at a sustainable pace and then crash.

Then hit the wall.

Then I hit the wall.

I think it happens to all of us. Yes, definitely happens from time to time. And I think especially you know, as the dad, that when, like downtime isn't exactly downtime, it means that's when you're connecting with your kids.

I don't know how you do it. Kids have so much energy.

They do.

You don't know how. I spend one day at a time with my nieces and I'm wiped out. And my incredible sister in law and brother, they go home and I'm like, they don't get that break. I get to go home and like crash on the couch and they don't get that break.

This is one of the things that I wasn't too logical about it. I kind of like just knew I loved kids and wanted to be a dad and was like, oh, I'm for sure doing that. But I think it's also amazing becoming a dad. Just seeing how just as humans as parents, how we just kind of expand to do what needs to get done. Even though it sounds insane, you're like, yeah, oh yeah. Gotta get up at 6 and yeah, nothing ends until 8. And then hopefully you've eaten something and connect with your partner and then get it going again. That feels intense. But it is pretty amazing because there's kind of like grit and handling stuff and being a dad and a family man, that is a ton of work. It's been a lot of fun to kind of meet the moment. It's like, how do we do it? I don't really know. It's a lot of fun and I feel really lucky to be able to kind of shape my time in ways that allows me to be around.

That's such a beautiful perspective and I just love hearing you talk about family, family life and as much as it's all a blur how much joy that it gives you, where can people find you if they want to learn more and keep in touch, please?

Yeah, that'd be awesome. So we're@ipaintmymind.org I paint my mind on all the socials evanlarufa.com for my projects and my photography work as well.

I will put links to all of these in the show notes and truly, Truly Congrats on 10 years. I love what you're doing with I Paint My Mind like just connecting artists with companies, creating murals in these public spaces. What a friggin venn diagram of an idea you know of like connecting all these varied interests and giving people so much opportunity to do art in the world and for people within big organizations or companies to see beautiful art when they're coming and going from these places. I just love what you're doing and everybody listening. It's really worth checking out because soon it's going to be nationwide.

There you go.

I heard you drop that.

It's happening.

You heard it here first.

There you go.

Awesome. Thank you so much Evan.

Thanks Jenny. It's been blessed.

Thanks everybody for listening.

If you've listened this far, you get a gold star.

Thank you.

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