In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Tony Gapastone, a writer, director, producer, and chief braid maker. Tony shares a pivotal personal story about abandoning a safe, conventional path to follow his creative calling, emphasizing that ignoring one's creative design leads to a feeling of death inside. He advises aspiring creators to seek mentors and build relationships by shadowing professionals, stressing that connections are essential in the creative world. His core business advice is to identify and focus on a specific audience rather than trying to please everyone. When reflecting on his younger self, he urges immediate action, self‑identification, and relentless pursuit of one's lane. Tony defines happiness as deep self‑acceptance, embracing quirks, and recognizing a higher creator, which removes the feeling of work. He cites Austin Kleon’s books—Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work—as influential, highlighting the value of borrowing ideas and sharing work publicly. He concludes with his online presence (TonyGapp.com) and his nonprofit BraveCreativeMaker.com, which supports artists in achieving their goals.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Tony Gapastone with us. He's the chief braid maker at Braid Maker and a writer, director, and producer. So welcome to the show, Tony.
Hey, thanks for having me.
Of course, thanks for joining us, man. We appreciate it. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Tony, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
You know, for as long as I can remember, I wanted to be in the creative world. I wanted to be an actor, a storyteller. I wanted to make things and bring things to life, but that wasn't always the most practical thing or the thing that would make money, right? From all of the voices that I heard growing up, whether it was family or people in the educational system. So I decided to try to play it safe, and playing it safe really was not satisfying. I didn't plunge into my dreams. I kind of held back and tried to go into a job that would, quote unquote, pay the bills. But really, for me, I had this kind of supernatural experience where everything changed for me, and I realized if I didn't risk it and go into the creative world, that I would feel like literally like something inside me would die. So my, my message and my life story is you have to go after your dreams, because if you don't, you are not living out to your creative design, who you're meant to be.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
You need to find mentors and people who you— who are doing the things that you want to do. So the most valuable thing I could say, if you want to be in the creative industry, if you want to be a filmmaker, if you want to be a writer, whether it's screenwriting or novels or whatever, is find people who are doing the work you want to do and ask them if you can shadow them, show up on their job for a day or on set, ask for help and literally say, can I just get 15, 20, 30 minutes of your time to ask questions so that you could learn about what you want to do? 'Cause that's how it starts in the creative world. It's all about relationships. Yes, it's about what you can do and what you make, but you have to have relationships. In order to move forward in the creative industries.
And what is your best piece? It might tie in, but what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
Yeah, I mean, I would say find your audience. You can't reach everyone. Okay. So your message and your work is not for everyone. So stop trying to please and reach those people who don't like you or don't want your work. You have an audience. Find them and work with them.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Is don't wait for someone else to make your dreams come true. Get up, go out, make it happen. Identify who you are, accept who you are, identify your lane, and go hard in it.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
So for me, my key to happiness is really just accepting who I am, accepting all of my quirkiness, all of my awkwardness, all my strength and abilities, and not comparing myself to others. When you have a deep awareness and love for yourself, that for me comes from an awareness of the fact that we have a Creator who created us and runs and sustains the universe as well as our life with love. That's going to make you happy. That's why I feel like my work really isn't work, because I know who I am and I know what I'm meant to do.
Yes. And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Oh man, I'm a huge fan of Austin Kleon. He's got two books, but the first book that really got me was called Steal Like an Artist. And the underlying theme there is, you know, there's so many things out there that we can learn from and we can add to and we could in some way reinvent and regurgitate, and it's okay. To give homage to other creators, to other makers in your work. Just use it, and it's okay. Move forward in that way.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
And it would be from Austin Kleon's second book, which is called Show Your Work. Again, this goes back to don't wait around for other people to make your dreams come true, to do the work that you want to do and get paid for it. Put your stuff out there. Make good work and be okay with putting it out there, whatever form it is, and learn from the critique. And don't find your value in the haters, but find your value in the fact that you get to make things that you love and enjoy. And hopefully those things are impacting and changing the lives of others.
Amazing, man. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you, man, before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
Yeah, my website is TonyGapp.com. T-O-N-Y-G-A-P.com. You can find all my socials there. And I would love for you to check out Brave creativemaker.com as well. That's the nonprofit arts organization that I started to help empower and coach artists to reach their creative goals.
Perfect, man. Thanks again. We really appreciate you coming on.
All right, man. Thank you.
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