I know I am, but what are you?

How to know if you’re a stARTist

When she was 14, my kid called me a “stARTist”, and since then I have thought name-calling is an okay thing.

At the time, however, I said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones…but…are you calling me that just because I didn’t finish your baby book? Because no one finishes those.”

Turns out, as memory served, she called me a stARTist because I had a lot of projects going on and she wanted me to start something new, for her. It wasn’t a commentary on how, when, what or whether I finished.

The term had already been coined during some family banter, and no one remembers quite how. I defined it in my book, Start More Than You Can Finish.

The mission of this newsletter is to help you, dear reader, become the best stARTist you can be, and that starts with daring to call yourself a stARTist. Give it a try. It feels amazing.

The big speed bump in asking people to declare themselves stARTists is that most people don’t think they qualify. They think it defines only people who make artistic creations like music, visual arts, or theater. Yes, of course, artists are absolutely bona fide stARTists living their best stARTistic lives. But you don’t have to be making art to act on your ideas and put something new into the world.

This month, my hip, local magazine IN Kansas City featured its annual list of Influencers and Innovators, and it gives me the perfect checklist to show you how stARTistry shows up in all of us.

I love how the writer of the article, Katie Van Luchene, says it, “Our diverse group shares one common trait: the desire to create, whether it's tangible or something as ethereal as hope.”

IN Kansas City, July 2023, photo by Jim Barcus

StARTists start. And success in starting leads to more starts, more confidence, and more inspiration for all of us.

Take for example, starting on the left, Lindsey Rood-Clifford. She’s the first female President & CEO in the 73-year history of Starlight, one of the country’s most celebrated outdoor theater venues. She’s a theatrical being and stARTistic leader, but Lindsey’s stARTistic skills take her beyond her artistic job requirements. Sure, she starts shows, but she also leads Starlight’s growing not-for-profit enterprises – all to build community, provide theater education for marginalized youth, and make live theater accessible for all residents. Her biggest legacy may be the fresh cultural perspective she’s creating at this historic venue.

StARTists give life to their ideas, on and off the job. They can’t help themselves. Take David Manica, (second from left) of MANICA Architecture world renowned designer of sports arena and stadium projects. After creating massive structures in his day job, he and his stARTistic wife, Noelle, are creating chic local bars, like Verdigris and The Mercury Room.

StARTists create jobs of never-ending starting places. Like Erin Jenkins, whose history of entrepreneurship began with a lawn-care service at age 12. Now, she’s the first executive director at the Young Entrepreneur Program. One young person at a time, she launches relationships and creates experiences to keep them in Kansas City once they graduate college.

StARTists turn setbacks into restarts. Jewelry designer Clarissa Knighten started a jewelry business, Rissa’s Artistic Design, as a side hustle. Then when she lost her day job, she leaned in, using her stARTistic fearlessness to enter fashion shows, design new collections and create large-scale installations

StARTists let their talents conspire to create things that only they could conceive. Like musician, writer, dancer, and techie Camry Ivory who invented Coloratura, an instrument that lets her paint with music. This curious nerd (her words, not mine) discovered the therapeutic powers of her creation, especially for kids, and is starting collaborations with groups like The Harmony Project.

StARTists are storytellers and conveners. Like Alan Carr, (continuing right in the photo) the Visit Kansas City, Kansas, Executive Director whose team recently hosted the Midwest Travel Network conference. They also leveraged a passion for food, story telling, and culture to create attention for his flavor-rich city with Taco Trail, a local dining campaign, which you can learn about in this glowing Forbes article.

StARTists create strategies that turn into more than they imagine. Take Daniel Smith and Charon Thompson (seated), who launched The Porter House KC to support budding entrepreneurs, and learned that powerful creativity comes in stARTing partnerships. Their “Scale Deep” philosophy became the basis of a grant program that has attracted impressive national partners to help underrepresented small businesses in Kansas City.

StARTists start things that come from their own experience. They can’t help themselves. Like health care professionals Dr. Michael Weaver and Jamila Weaver, who inspire Black and Brown students to envision careers in healthcare through their nonprofit, Mission Vision Project. The Weavers are building access, hope, and resources for the caregivers of tomorrow.

Or Mike Mike Talamantes, (not pictured in the photo) the decorated Park University volleyball coach. He creates teams, plays, and athletic careers all year long. But Talamantes, transplanted from California, also started a women’s beach volleyball team in beach-free Missouri.

StARTists are inspired by both good events and bad. Take Shane Evans, author, illustrator, artist, and songwriter who was inspired to start a crowd-funding campaign to get his book We March distributed when it showed up on a list of banned books. He blasted through his goal of $1,111, raising more than $7,000 to get his banned books into libraries, schools, community centers. (Not pictured in the photo.)

If these twelve stARTists don’t make you want to be one, I don’t know what else to tell you.

Wait…maybe I do.

I want to tell you that YOU ARE A StARTIST. You have ideas, things to make happen, change to inspire, and hope to offer. Just haul off and declare it.

If you already know it, YAY! Here’s a button.

We are ALL better when when more ideas get started…when more stARTists find their creative bliss and learn their power.

Speaking of creative bliss, the July issue of IN Kansas City also has a little interview with me. It’s short, and it has a story about me burning soup. Just click on my face (or HERE).

While you’re getting excited about your own startistic superpowers, join me in being a STARTIST SUPPORTER! Think how fun it would be to support ALL of the influencers and innovators in this story if you live in Kansas City. Or how cool would it be to find stARTists in your community and give them a shout out, some business, a donation…or a button? Or maybe a book?

Start More Than You Can Finish is A Creative Permission Slip to Unleash Your Best Ideas. I wrote it for the startist in all of us. Buy the book HERE.