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We shouldn't be looking at other people as the enemy. We should be looking at each other as

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other people who can help one another to grow together, to improve one another. And even if

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we disagree with each other, talking with other people, having conversations is a crucial part of

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life. Welcome back to another episode. This is episode 29 of the Nick Amp podcast. I'm really

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glad that you tuned in. I appreciate you coming in to listen to what we have to say and I hope

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that you can take something away from this. Before we get any further, if you're watching this on

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YouTube, make sure you hit that subscribe button, leave a comment below saying what's up, share it

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with a friend if you found it helpful. If you're listening on the streaming services, Spotify,

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Apple Music, any of those good ones and you don't want to see my face and you still want to help

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the podcast out, go ahead and leave a five-star review, share it with a friend. This is how we

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can get this podcast out to more people and helping them out and giving them insightful

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information about the creative industry, entrepreneurship, self-improvement, and watching

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some young guy understanding life and figuring it out as he goes, growing. Because I know I'm not

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the best interviewer, but I'm trying to get better every single time and I really appreciate you guys

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all tuning in. And even if it can just help one person, my day is complete. Thanks again for

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tuning in. And with that being said, the guest we had on today is Mr. Gabe Foustay. He's based out

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of Florida. Amazing guy, creative. He's a photographer. Met him a couple months ago back

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in Yosemite. And I think you're going to take a lot of information from what he has to say.

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He has been in the industry for a long time, has some insightful information,

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really good wisdom, also a man of Christ. And we talk about how he navigates all these different

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topics, whether it's the creative industry, balancing the household in different aspects.

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And I hope you really take something from this and I'll stop talking about it and we'll cut right to

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the episode. Hope you enjoy. All right. Episode 29, we're here with Gabe Foustay. This is a guy

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who's based out of Florida, creative, photographer, video, works on a black magic. He is a beast. I

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recently just met the guy back in Yosemite, has a lot of wisdom and I can't wait to hear what he has

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to share with all of you today. You are in for a treat. I am telling you. So Gabe, it's a pleasure

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to have you on brother. Oh man. Thank you so much for even extending this invite for me.

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It's truly an honor to be able to share with you and talk to you about a lot of the interesting

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stuff that you have in store for me to ask. And I just want to throw out in there. I was really

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cold in Yosemite, man. It was beautiful, but I was freezing. Miami boy. Not used to the cold weather,

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huh? No, man. I was so cold. At one point I forgot that I was like, I just took off my gloves and I

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was trying to take pictures. My hands froze. Like I couldn't close them. It was hilarious.

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Dude. So I mean, off the bat, you have more wisdom than probably a lot of us. I mean, everyone there

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in terms of just life and then pairing that with the creative path, ups, lows, in the middles,

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everywhere in between. I'm a ripe age of 24. I don't know anything about anything still. I'm

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still learning a lot. And a lot of my listeners are closer to my age. So from your perspective,

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what is one thing that you could share with a young audience that you would

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bestow upon them in terms of wisdom as they're entering this creative journey?

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I think for me, it's just jumping in. A lot of times we're fearful and doubtful

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to enter any new space just because it's human nature. But I think once you dive into something

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and even though you're going to make mistakes or you're going to fail, it's fine because a lot of

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those things are what guide us and teach us to get better in our craft. And I know at least for me,

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personally, I didn't study this. So a lot of this I learned by trial and error and reading

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and kind of guiding myself and understanding how things function and work just because I love to

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learn. So I made a lot of mistakes. Honestly, I made a lot of mistakes. I didn't know a lot of

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things, a lot of technical things. But in the end, I kept fighting and kept pursuing because it's

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something I love. I truly do enjoy it. And if you enjoy something, just go for it. Don't worry about

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the failure because that's inevitable. It's about the success that comes after it.

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So failure has something that a lot of people talk about and everyone has to go through it.

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Everybody has to overcome it. But as you've endured more than I have at this point, probably,

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because you're just being on this earth, you've been here longer than me, do you ever get used to

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it? Man, that's a tough question. I want to say no, you don't get used to it. I think what you do

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inevitably does happen is that you turn to be built a tougher skin towards it just because

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every failure is different. None of them are the same. But you learn to adapt and

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kind of like acclimate yourself to understand that there's something after that failure.

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And at least within my belief system, because I am Christian,

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it is a part of our life. Nothing was made to be easy. There is some struggle, but at the end,

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there is victory. So that's kind of how I look at it. I don't know if that answers your question.

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But that's kind of my take on it. 100% that answers my question. Yes, you're absolutely

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right, brother. I mean, what do you have to fear outside of God? You're with God,

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not much else to fear about. You're with Him. What can we take away from us? Correct. Victory at the

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end, brother. Amen. Speaking on top of this, I mean, you're someone, you're a family man.

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And your terms, how do you balance family, the industry, the demands, all of the above? I mean,

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what kind of piece of advice could you give to someone who is thinking about starting a family

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and going about trying to navigate this? Oh, this is a good question.

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I'm trying to figure out how to navigate this. For this, it balances something very difficult,

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I believe, to achieve. But when it comes to like your family or let me rephrase that,

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when it comes to the sets of your priorities, because it all comes down to priorities. If you

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don't align that properly, then everything gets out of whack. So in terms of like my life, my

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priority is always first God, because that is my belief system. And I've created that relationship

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with Him. And I feel like whenever that doesn't align properly, everything else kind of like gets

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dismantled. So once I put God first and my family and then everything else, it kind of works

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simultaneously. And you have to be intentional about these things. So if I, obviously because I

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own my own business, and I've done this for a while, if I just pursue work, and I just pursue

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my business, then my family is going to suffer, my relationship with God is going to suffer.

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But if I in turn say, I'm going to dedicate X amount of hours a day for my family, X amount

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of hours a day for my work, X amount of hours a day for God, then it allows me to understand that

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these blocks of time are specific to that particular topic or that particular relationship or that

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particular business. And it allows me to almost find that balance. It's never perfect because

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there's always hiccups or roadblocks along the way. But as long as you make it intentional, then

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you're able to set that time apart and know what the priorities are for that.

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You answered it very well. I mean, some people may have no idea, like, what the heck? And putting

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God first, I mean, forefront, everything else falls in a line, right? That's what we're supposed

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to believe. And that's the goal. And hearing you prioritize that is an important thing. And to piggy

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back off this, the household is a staple of God's word. And from your point of view, how important

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is the household to going off to do other things? Does that make sense? Having that in check.

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Yeah. And then going into the creative industry, how important is that? What

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importance should we be putting on this? Man, I feel the household is probably one

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of the most important things that if that's not aligned or in check, like you said, everything

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outside from that won't function properly. Because for instance, if I, you know, being married and

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have my kids, if I don't prioritize or put my family first, you know, aside from putting God

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first and then putting my family, if I don't do that, then my wife is going to feel neglected.

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My kids are going to feel neglected. And then in turn, that's going to cause friction and stress

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in my other, like in my business or my creative flow. So then it won't allow me to function and

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properly work effectively. And then everything else kind of starts to window down because you

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start to carry a weight saying like, you know, I'm stressing everybody out or I'm not giving

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enough time for my family or for my wife or my kids. And they're not feeling my love or my

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commitment to them because at the end they deserve that first and anything else.

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A hundred percent. And with that being said, so it dwindles down. I hear you. I'm following with

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you here and your work in the creative, in the industry, whatever you're doing starts to also

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suffer and you're not acting into the best of your abilities, whether it's treating others with love

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and respect or just performing at a good level. Right. So from your point of view,

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from your point of view, having that household being strong, it allows you to love others more

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properly. If that makes sense, if what I'm saying. And so the point of views that I'm saying is here

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is when you have that, you don't have that. Can you imagine, could you imagine how the way you

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would be treating others in the industry and how much success would be harder to find? If that makes

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sense. Yeah, it makes sense. I feel like if, I feel like in, I would like to say that if I,

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if my household isn't good or if my family isn't good or if they feel a lot of stress because I'm

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not spending quality time with them then, but yet I'm almost re-divert, re-diverting that,

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that attention towards everyone else and then treating them a certain way. I feel like I would

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be a hypocrite because if I can't treat my family correct, why should I, you know, how can I

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prioritize like a community or friends or, you know, other loved ones over my like immediate family?

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I think that doesn't equate properly. And I feel that going to, I feel like I'm kind of

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answering your question, but if I didn't treat them well, then I feel like also you would almost

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release that stress on somebody else. And then you would in turn not be effective in what you're

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doing. And at the end, at least in my point of view, like in terms of like community or the

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creative community, my goal has always been one to help and to assist, but most of the time,

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to help and to assist, but most of all to shed light on the good news. How can I do it effectively

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if I'm not living that in my own house? 100% brother in keeping this conversation going,

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pushing it a little bit forward, going in a little bit of a different direction. How do you

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go about having a walk with Christ and then also being in the creative industry? Because the

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creative industry is very expressive as we know, and just how do you navigate that? How do you

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find where you have your creative outlet and how do you balance that with also being a Christian?

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In the very beginning, like when I first started promoting more or at least using social media to

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express my creativity, I was kind of like battling between that, whether I took pictures of

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landscapes or did I do portraiture or did I go more into like a creative realm? And I came to

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a conclusion having a conversation with a friend saying, if it makes you feel uncomfortable,

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then you shouldn't do it. And I feel like that's where I got a little bit more of an understanding

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pursuing my creative outlet, because as you know, a lot of creatives, like we think outside the box

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and a lot of our thinking revolves around certain things that can affect our belief system. But

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how do you get that outside thinking and then bring it into our belief system? And have a

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positive influence on the people that see it. And I feel like over time, I've developed a better idea

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and how to do that. And I'm going to use an example, like one of the most recent projects

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that I've been working on personally for myself, which is Netflix series. And I try to take

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something secular and see how that secular either show or movie or whatever,

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can translate to something that's within our faith or within the living work.

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Yeah, you hit that on the spot. I mean, first one, if it makes you uncomfortable, that's your

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conscience. You don't want to violate your conscience. And being in the creative industry as

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people who are believers, I mean, it's not, you don't see it as often. I don't know if you've

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seen a lot of them, but for me, I haven't. And it's very interesting. And I think that's

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the thing. And it's very interesting navigating that because if you feel like you're in your own

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little area, if that makes sense. Yeah, you're not doing the creative people, but then also

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like the Christians are like, Hey, like you're a little like, you know, I'm like, bro, I'm still

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good. But it's as well as this curious, because I don't know many people who are in the creative

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industry and also share their Christian beliefs. And so I was just really wanting to pick your

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brain about that because it's different. You have to watch yourself. You're right. And you do.

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And I mean, how long, I mean, how long have you been in the creative industry? If you don't,

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I mean, when did you enter it? When did you enter the scene?

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Well, first, I've always loved the arts. I've started drawing since, I don't know, like four

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years old. And I've always drawn, I've always sketched. And I've always done that. But it

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wasn't until I actually started going to church that they gave me an outlet to kind of start

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dabbling in other areas. One of them started with graphic design. And I want to say this was

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probably like 14 years ago, I even started like, I used a program called GIMP, which is free.

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And I started dabbling in graphic design. And then one day they gave me a camera and they said,

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you know how to record and this is where I go about like failure. I was like, yeah, I know how

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to record. I had no idea how to record. I didn't even know how to use a camera. I didn't know where

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to turn it on. I didn't know what anything meant. And I just started recording. And little by little,

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and little by little, all of that started kind of like evolving. And then it wasn't until maybe like

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two, two and a half years ago, I want to say, maybe towards the end of COVID, where I started to

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actually display my work. And when I mean my work, I started displaying like videos and photos,

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I never actually shared everything else that I do. So I want to say like two and a half years ago,

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where I really started like showcasing that. And I took more of an interest saying like,

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maybe this is something that I can do where I can inspire others. It wasn't for the likes or for the

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follows. It was more to inspire. But that's kind of where I ended up like kind of really displaying

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my work, maybe like two and a half years ago. Every sheet matters, even if it's just one.

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Right. They all matter. And I mean, you're someone, you, your whole team, the Arturo,

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you guys really inspired me to just, by the way you guys carry yourselves, even before I met you

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guys, the way you carry yourself in terms of caring more about the relationships than the likes,

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the vanity, the metrics, all the showy stuff. And a lot of people can learn from that and

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all what you said. I mean, yeah. Can I inspire one person? I mean, that's a chain effect, brother.

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I mean, you inspire one person, you inspire maybe 10 more than that 10 goes to a hundred.

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And just think about that. That blows my mind. I mean, I'm sure that gets you excited. I see that

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I see the look on your face. Like, how cool is that? If you can do one, bro, you're doing a lot.

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Yeah, you really are. And that's a really exciting stuff. And so you, you started with drawing and

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then you had these opportunities in church to be in the creatives where there's graphic design,

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recording and all of that. And during all that whole time, did you ever imagine you doing more

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than just helping out there? Or was it just kind of like a, let's get to it? Or was it a gradual

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like buildup? Like, okay, maybe, maybe we're gonna share more out to the public. Or maybe it was just

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like, all right, today, I guess I'm going to start, I'm just going to do it. I think it was a little

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bit of both. I feel like the, the church itself, which I feel like a lot of people don't know this.

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I was actually having this conversation with my pastor that, which is a really good friend of mine.

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He's the one who taught me like audio and video and photography. He taught me a lot of what I know.

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Super smart guy, great guy. And what I feel like is a lot of people don't really realize is within

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the church world, there's so much you can learn. And there's trial and error without like judgment

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or repercussion. Because you can make mistakes there and not get like, punished or ridiculed for it.

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Like they almost love you and they want you to do good. Correct. They love you. And they're like,

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you can do better. Like they encourage that creative, at least for the creative, they

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encourage that for you to get better. And so I feel like it was a gradual thing. And then

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I remember vividly even past few years, because I had had originally launched something in my

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Instagram more towards like the graphic, like design type. And it was, I wanted to do it on

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the seven deadly sins. So I designed the graphic based on the seven deadly sins. And I started

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with lust. And I remember that I launched that and I was like, I kind of sat back and I looked at it

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and I was like, I don't know if this is gonna attract what I'm looking for. Like what I'm looking

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for is to inspire. And I feel like this is like a really hard hit right off the bat.

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And then fast forward, maybe like a couple months, like I was sitting with my wife, I had just finished

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like recovering from COVID. And I was like, listen, I want to get out of the house. I can't

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be in this house anymore. We've been stuck here for like, like 10 days and I got to get out of here.

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And I remember that we drove an hour and a half. So Florida is known for palm trees, beaches. We

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don't have a lot of mountains. We don't, that's not our thing. We have water, palm trees and a lot of

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sunshine, which is beautiful, but I wanted something different. And we found this like, kind of like

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preserve sanctuary is called blowing rocks over here. I actually took on doodle to see that.

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And that's where I started filming with a drone. That was the first time I took it up. That's the

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first time I did anything with a video. And I was like, I'm gonna post a series. And coincidentally,

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when I started that I doodle had just started like kind of messaging him and he was starting a

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project that was within, I think seven days, seven reels or something like that. I can't remember

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exactly the terminology he used, but I was like, I'm going to do the same thing. I think he was

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doing with pictures and I started doing with video and I challenged myself for seven days to post.

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And I think that's what really took me like catapult, like catapulted me to go dive deeper into

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that. So, okay. I got you. Okay. So gradually did it or two rows, seven days, seven reels. I mean,

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I don't know. I'm a big believer in this. You have motivation, but you need to take action to

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create it. It's there, but you have to build the momentum to build on top of it. They keep going.

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So it's interesting the way you thought about the topic you were trying to talk about.

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What do I, is this what I want to get out of it? And a lot of people, they do things and they don't

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think of the repercussions and maybe that's just you having more wisdom than the younger generation.

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And the younger generation doesn't think about repercussions and not everyone, but some,

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normally they think about it less than someone who has been through a couple of things.

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So it's just, I think that's a really strong point that some people listening could really take from

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is this really, what do I want to gain? Someone asked me once, what do you want to gain by doing

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this? Like by literally, you literally ask yourself, if I post this, what do I gain? We

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shouldn't be thinking about what do we gain literally. Like it's not about what we get, but

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what is going to come out of this? What do I gain from this? And if it's vanity, is it fruitful to

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me? Am I being fruitful to them? All these different topics. And I really think that you hit

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really nicely on that. And to move further along, as Christians, we know that our hope is not here.

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It's elsewhere. So us being in the arts, there's this whole topic of, is art actually meaningless?

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Doesn't mean something. That whole topic, right? So for us, we know where we're going. And the

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question is, is art meaningless if nobody sees it? That's one of those other tough questions,

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because if you look back a couple of years, I don't know, maybe like 10, there was no social

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media. There was no, like this constant feed of whether graphic design or photography or video,

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or any realm of creativity, even like music or anything, anything that involves creating something.

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You had to, most of the time it just stayed on a piece of paper, or it stayed as a thought,

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or it stayed as a moment in your room playing a guitar. And I feel like it's a little bit of both.

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It's not lost because at the end, at least in my eyes, you're not really creating to

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get justification for something or praise for something. You're creating because it makes you

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feel good. It makes you alive. It makes you feel that ease. At least back then, like when I used to

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draw and paint more, it was a moment for me to relax and disconnect. Like whatever was in my mind

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that would paint it and draw it, and I would relax. And I feel like now within

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fast forwarding in time and all this instant gratification, sometimes we lose what it is,

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the meaning of creating. And we want this like instant gratification, a multitude of likes,

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a multitude of comments, and like this praise for something that originally we were going to create

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anyways. Like we weren't doing it for them. We were going to do it anyways. So it kind of gets lost

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in between. So it's like a yes and no. You shouldn't create for

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the satisfaction or the gratification that someone gives you. And it's not a lost art if no one ever

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sees it because at the end, it's something that you love and you're passionate about. How many

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things can we all reflect on and say, I created this and no one saw it? Or how many unedited

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pictures or unedited sets or unedited videos or a painting or a music or a dress or a multitude of

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things that have been done and no one has ever seen but you did them. And they're there. And you

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kind of get excited. It brings me back to a, I was doing some research for a client a couple days

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ago, and I had to dive into a company that I used to own. And when I went in there, I was able to

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see a marketing campaign that I created for it with some designs and like some of the things that

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I'm like some sketches and some numbers. And I was like, I got excited. I was like, man, I didn't

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remember I did this. Like, this is so cool that like, I was able to do this. And a lot of it never

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nobody ever saw it was just it was there as information and as a source for me to kind of

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inspire the next part or the next phase of that business. So it was pretty cool to see and how

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excited I got in the moment, like even asking myself, I can't believe I did this. No, so I think it

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kind of answers your question, kind of went a little bit everywhere. But no, you did. And you're right.

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I grew up majority in the social media generation. Most of my life that I've been alive has been

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social media has been around almost the whole thing. Facebook came out and what oh five YouTube

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came out seven, I was five and seven years old during those times. I didn't use any of that

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till I was about 13 Instagram came out. So imagine everyone's perspective who grew up with all of that.

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That's all they know. Right? All they know. And a lot of people from my perspective don't even know

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how to create art, including myself, this is something I'm learning how to do in terms of

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creating art just to express yourself just because you can because why not. And so you say,

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we shouldn't be doing this for gratification, all those different things for the people's

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praise, all that. And you're absolutely right. So my question to you is, how do we spread this message

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to help people create more art versus creating just another piece of content is what they call it.

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And how do we get people to create art and not not always have to share it? How do we do that?

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That's tough, right? Because, you know, we've by nature, like, we're like habitual creatures. So

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the habit kind of is instilled in us that.

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That keeps getting done like you, you post satisfaction, gratification, post satisfaction,

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gratification, post satisfaction, gratification, and it's kind of cutting that that cord and saying

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it's it. What if this was down? What if you decided to delete your Instagram for the

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week? Would you go out and create? Would you take pictures or do video or sing a song or sketch

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something or design something without having to ever show it to anyone? Would you do that?

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Would you really want to do that? And I think it comes down to seeing if you would.

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You know, there is countless pictures or, you know, countless sketches that I've done

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that will never probably make it to social media. And it wasn't because I.

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Did it because I wanted to post it. I did it because I really enjoy what I do.

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I really enjoy just the the space that it creates to be able to.

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You know, whether within photography, it's more of the connections that you make with people.

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You go out with a group of people, you take pictures and.

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It's just a fun time like you. You're all collectively getting excited over

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something that you visually see in your mind and putting it into reality.

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And when it comes to like an artist, like someone that sketches or someone that

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plays music, it's more about just sitting there and creating something that you love. So.

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I think it comes down to that, like how for those that grew up in that world of social media,

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would you. Cut social media from your life for a week for a couple of days, and would you go out

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and create anyways? Would you go out and explore and see the beauty that is already out there and

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make something out of it? You know, would you do that?

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And I think that that's the question that we have to ask ourselves. Would we get to that point?

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You bring up a lot of valid points, man. For me, just I'm just I'm talking for a lot of people who

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grew up in this generation about trying to talk about me as Nick, but like as I'm kind of a

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spokesman for people my age. And so for me, I started out photography in high school. I learned

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the skills like without social media, without posting about it. But then as I got on social media,

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I started to do photography. I started to do photography. I started to do photography.

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But then as I got on social media, I got better, got better, but I was getting better for the wrong

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reasons. And I feel like this last year, two years, I've really learned the art side of it.

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And it's crazy. I feel like I'm falling in love with the art for the first time. And you might

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have had that moment back when a couple of years ago, whenever, but I was like,

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what was I doing before? I wasn't even spreading a message. I wasn't even creating. I was just

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posting the post. I didn't even know the in-depth details that I can convey, the feelings and

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emotions. And this is like, it blew my mind. I'm like, I have a fire lit in me now. I'm excited.

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I'm like, whoa. And then being around you, the Art Factory team. I mean, dude, I can't tell you how

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inspiring that is and encouraging to be around all you guys, all the creatives. Because I'm like,

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I feel like I'm a baby. I'm a babe in art right now. I'm just learning. And I have all these

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technical skills. I have it all, but the storytelling, bro, it's a whole different thing,

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no matter whether it's photography, illustration, graphic design, video, whatever. You can get so

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deep with it. And that brings me up to you guys, the Art Factory team. You guys are all

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pretty similar minded. What has your experience been like with that? I mean, you live in Florida.

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You don't live in Texas with them. I mean, that's crazy, right? The thing about.

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Yeah. Yeah. Man, honestly, it's been an amazing experience. It's something that I never thought

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would occur, honestly, from a platform like this. But it did. It started with a simple conversation

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about something technical within the platform that I didn't really understand that evolved into a

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friendship, then evolved into like building a family. And then it evolved into everything

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that people see now, you know, and more people that are coming into the Art Factory family.

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And it's just it's cool to be able to be a part of a group that thinks similar in terms of the

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creative space, because we don't all believe the exact same thing within like personal things. But

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when it comes into the creative space, we we all kind of see everything very similar. We all want

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to create to. For the love of it, not for the gratification of it, we just love to create.

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You know, we all we just all get excited. I mean, whenever we're all together.

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It's funny because all of us have kind of similarities and like, for instance, like me and Juan,

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we like a lot of like rundown buildings and like these weird abstract things.

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And then art loves a lot of the low light and a lot of like the vibrancy of that.

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And then you even have like like Ria and like, you know, Andy and all of them have their own like

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little spice to it, which is cool because we all like kind of like balance off each other or

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feed off each other. And then we just get really excited and we all have like our own like

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dynamics to how we create and how we get together. But I think it's an amazing experience

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just for the fact of community. You know, being in a community of other creatives is

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a huge thing and it's an encouragement because a lot of us now, at least, we're a lot more solitary

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where people don't realize a creative mind connected with other creative minds just elevates

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your creativity to a whole other level because you're constantly feeding off of one another.

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And that makes you grow more as a creative than you think.

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Dude, I'll tell you a story. Right after you guys left, literally the next day, I went up to the

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hills and I created a video just because I was so pumped up and like creative mind juices were going.

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And I was like, here we go. I brought I even brought a light just in case I was gonna do some

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low light on my own just out there just because you guys got me all excited about it. So that's

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that's living proof of exactly what you're saying, man. So you couldn't have said all that better and

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responding to focusing on community and the family and all of that. I mean, by nature, we all want to

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be included in things, whether it's the running club, the music club, ours just happens to be the

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creative club, I'm just saying the creative club, but the creative the arts. So I was like, I'm

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not talking about called pawns or drawn shaped or something like that. It's cool to work with

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I'm just saying the creative club, but the creative, the arts, right?

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other Incubities and hearing calls from other

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And so finding community is huge anywhere and you guys all do a very great job of that.

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ular communities in our community. And so the whole sort of club, ours just happens too be truck

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And anyone listening, again, make sure you guys go check out all their pages and what

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It doesn't block our vision..,and so really finding community is sonra locals for Welcome

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they're doing.

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They're doing amazing work over there.

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Couldn't recommend them more.

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And transitioning, you're a graphic designer, you're someone who is in that space.

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And that's not my strongest out of my three skills, but I do know one thing that runs

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in the mind of graphic designers is good enough, good enough.

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I know you can see the tiny uneven edges that you could have improved on.

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I know the shape builder tool that you didn't clean it up just enough right there is good

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enough, good enough.

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Is being good enough okay when you're creating a graphic art poster or whatever it is, a

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logo, a sketch, a brand design.

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I want you to share some experience and insight on that aspect of it.

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Man, that's always a struggle for me because I am like a perfectionist and I like everything

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to be like top notch all the time.

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But then you have the triangle, good, cheap and fast, right?

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And within that triangle, you can't get all three.

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It's very rare that you can get all three.

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And at least when you're depending on where you're at or you're, I want to say graphically,

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like where you do this graphically.

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If you're in a print house, you're just pouring out design.

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You're not thinking of the perfection of it.

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You're like a machine in a factory.

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You're just spitting out design.

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But when it comes to your own personal thing, sometimes it's better to take a little bit

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longer to just fine tune that to what you really feel good about than to just throw

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it out there because you're like, it's good enough.

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I just need to get it out there.

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But then you just kind of like left it halfway.

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You didn't give it 100%.

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You kind of just said, I want to do 80 and I want to get it out.

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So it's kind of like a balance.

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Because a lot of times when even within like the church, like I do a lot of their designs

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still.

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And we have to move like production has to go fast in our church because it's quick turnaround

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times.

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And sometimes you have to produce it quick enough so that it gets out there.

383
00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:41,980
But even then I still try to take enough time to get it as close to perfect as possible

384
00:40:41,980 --> 00:40:47,620
or as close to that good enough that you're like, all right, I'm fine with it.

385
00:40:47,620 --> 00:40:49,240
I can make it.

386
00:40:49,240 --> 00:40:54,060
So it's just really what you feel comfortable with.

387
00:40:54,060 --> 00:40:56,180
What you really say like, I really like this.

388
00:40:56,180 --> 00:40:57,900
I think it looks good to me.

389
00:40:57,900 --> 00:40:58,900
It looks good.

390
00:40:58,900 --> 00:40:59,900
Yes.

391
00:40:59,900 --> 00:41:03,060
Can I use something better or can it be perfected in a certain way?

392
00:41:03,060 --> 00:41:05,420
Of course, everything can.

393
00:41:05,420 --> 00:41:11,020
But eventually you develop a system where you say, OK, next time I might add this or

394
00:41:11,020 --> 00:41:17,780
next time I might do this different or next time I might be able to learn a skill to be

395
00:41:17,780 --> 00:41:22,500
quicker so that I can take more time for a different section of this design.

396
00:41:22,500 --> 00:41:24,180
So it already depends, you know.

397
00:41:24,180 --> 00:41:29,780
So I guess it can't be good enough, right?

398
00:41:29,780 --> 00:41:30,780
Yeah.

399
00:41:30,780 --> 00:41:31,780
Yeah.

400
00:41:31,780 --> 00:41:37,460
What's been your learning curve with taking criticism on your graphic design work?

401
00:41:37,460 --> 00:41:43,700
Because especially craft design work, you're expected to pump it out and be like a machine,

402
00:41:43,700 --> 00:41:51,100
like you said, and people can be very specific and nuanced what they want in it.

403
00:41:51,100 --> 00:41:59,020
And for me, I mean, for you, I want to know where your learning curve was and taking criticism.

404
00:41:59,020 --> 00:42:02,340
At first, when I first started, I sucked at it.

405
00:42:02,340 --> 00:42:03,340
I really did.

406
00:42:03,340 --> 00:42:04,340
It was horrible.

407
00:42:04,340 --> 00:42:05,340
I didn't like it.

408
00:42:05,340 --> 00:42:09,180
Whenever someone told me something, I was like, no, you're wrong.

409
00:42:09,180 --> 00:42:10,180
You don't know what you're talking about.

410
00:42:10,180 --> 00:42:11,940
I know what I'm doing here.

411
00:42:11,940 --> 00:42:15,540
And I was kind of like I was like a like an arcs of blinders.

412
00:42:15,540 --> 00:42:20,500
I was just like moving straightforward, no thought process, just kind of running over

413
00:42:20,500 --> 00:42:21,580
things.

414
00:42:21,580 --> 00:42:28,460
And then as I got older and over time and over conversations and, you know, really taking

415
00:42:28,460 --> 00:42:33,300
a step back and listening, I learned that the criticism is actually an avenue to be

416
00:42:33,300 --> 00:42:35,740
able to get better.

417
00:42:35,740 --> 00:42:40,800
And now I welcome it because it's not criticism.

418
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:43,680
It's really more of like how I can improve.

419
00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:47,060
You know, if you see it as criticism and you're always going to be offended, you're always

420
00:42:47,060 --> 00:42:49,980
going to be angry, you're always going to be like stand office about it.

421
00:42:49,980 --> 00:42:56,340
But if you see it as an avenue to get better at it, then why not?

422
00:42:56,340 --> 00:43:01,020
Why not take it and say, I pull so if I do that different and I'll get better over here

423
00:43:01,020 --> 00:43:02,780
or look better this way.

424
00:43:02,780 --> 00:43:09,180
So over time, honestly, now it's kind of just like rubs off my shoulders and I'm like, oh,

425
00:43:09,180 --> 00:43:10,180
that's what you wanted.

426
00:43:10,180 --> 00:43:11,180
Let me perfect that.

427
00:43:11,180 --> 00:43:14,500
Let me make it better and let's move on.

428
00:43:14,500 --> 00:43:22,340
And that's a big part of the creative industry being on take criticism.

429
00:43:22,340 --> 00:43:31,260
And with that being said, that is incredibly important because you talked about earlier

430
00:43:31,260 --> 00:43:37,260
in the conversation how being around the creatives is where we grow.

431
00:43:37,260 --> 00:43:41,580
But then you're also talking about a growth mindset here where people are offering us

432
00:43:41,580 --> 00:43:50,820
criticism, advice, feedback, whether it's positive, negative, it gives us an opportunity

433
00:43:50,820 --> 00:43:53,300
to assess ourselves.

434
00:43:53,300 --> 00:44:00,180
And I love how this aligns with the Bible because we're called to self reflect on our

435
00:44:00,180 --> 00:44:05,740
actions and what we're doing, our behaving, the way we view things at all times, we should

436
00:44:05,740 --> 00:44:07,020
be self reflecting on that.

437
00:44:07,020 --> 00:44:14,460
And so it's just insane to me and just fathoming how that can translate to this, to taking

438
00:44:14,460 --> 00:44:21,420
criticism here, being okay, because you've heard the term iron sharpens iron.

439
00:44:21,420 --> 00:44:26,420
And for you, what would you say to someone young?

440
00:44:26,420 --> 00:44:35,940
Same as you're talking to me, 24 years old, green, and how would you explain iron sharpening

441
00:44:35,940 --> 00:44:46,220
iron to me when someone else, the client is trying to tell me something?

442
00:44:46,220 --> 00:44:51,900
I think I would approach it in the fact that in the literal term of iron sharpening iron,

443
00:44:51,900 --> 00:45:00,300
in the beginning, that iron is rough, it's brittle, it's difficult to shape in.

444
00:45:00,300 --> 00:45:09,140
But then after time, it becomes smooth and it's able to be more functional.

445
00:45:09,140 --> 00:45:13,380
Because if it wasn't smooth, it would be a lot more difficult to use.

446
00:45:13,380 --> 00:45:21,000
So I feel like when you're younger and you start off in this industry and those criticisms

447
00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:28,820
come in, if you see them as an ability to be quicker, smoother, and more creative, then

448
00:45:28,820 --> 00:45:34,260
you would be able to advance quicker in your skill set.

449
00:45:34,260 --> 00:45:40,500
Rather than allowing it to continue to be brittle and tough, you would just prolong

450
00:45:40,500 --> 00:45:46,100
the inevitable, which is you were already designed to be effective, a masterpiece and

451
00:45:46,100 --> 00:45:48,700
divinity within that space.

452
00:45:48,700 --> 00:45:51,260
That steps were already a line for you.

453
00:45:51,260 --> 00:45:55,540
It's up to you to say, am I going to get to those steps quicker or am I going to take

454
00:45:55,540 --> 00:46:00,300
longer because I'm stubborn and I just want to do it my way?

455
00:46:00,300 --> 00:46:06,220
And that's where the fine line comes with that, where you say, I'm going to eliminate

456
00:46:06,220 --> 00:46:13,060
my own pride, my own stubbornness, and I'm going to allow people to learn from the people,

457
00:46:13,060 --> 00:46:16,980
whether younger or older, because a lot of times we think that just because they're older,

458
00:46:16,980 --> 00:46:17,980
they know more.

459
00:46:17,980 --> 00:46:18,980
That's not necessary too.

460
00:46:18,980 --> 00:46:20,940
There's some that are younger that might know more.

461
00:46:20,940 --> 00:46:26,700
But when it comes into that space, that more of that criticism that comes in and you take

462
00:46:26,700 --> 00:46:35,020
it as, okay, they told me to make the lines more curved or use a different color as a

463
00:46:35,020 --> 00:46:38,540
background for a foreground.

464
00:46:38,540 --> 00:46:43,020
Those are like common sense things sometimes where you have to look at it outside of your

465
00:46:43,020 --> 00:46:45,720
own thought process.

466
00:46:45,720 --> 00:46:49,260
Sometimes we get in our own ways and we kind of got to eliminate that and say, I'm going

467
00:46:49,260 --> 00:46:53,940
to look at this from a third party's perspective and how would it make sense and would it look

468
00:46:53,940 --> 00:46:54,940
good?

469
00:46:54,940 --> 00:46:59,780
If I was sitting here, not as a designer, but as a third party, would I really like

470
00:46:59,780 --> 00:47:00,900
this?

471
00:47:00,900 --> 00:47:03,420
And then it's more of a learning thing.

472
00:47:03,420 --> 00:47:11,780
It's more of useful information because criticism is everywhere.

473
00:47:11,780 --> 00:47:18,860
Take away the creative part, what we're talking about, what you wear, if you cook, how you

474
00:47:18,860 --> 00:47:19,860
cook.

475
00:47:19,860 --> 00:47:23,420
There's so many things that are always criticized.

476
00:47:23,420 --> 00:47:30,140
And if you take it offensive, then you're going to stay stuck in that hole or you're

477
00:47:30,140 --> 00:47:34,500
going to stay stuck in that position and you're never going to move because that's it.

478
00:47:34,500 --> 00:47:35,900
Nobody else knows what they're talking about.

479
00:47:35,900 --> 00:47:38,100
It's only me.

480
00:47:38,100 --> 00:47:41,940
So then eventually there's not going to be no one to look at yourself because you've

481
00:47:41,940 --> 00:47:45,700
pushed everyone away.

482
00:47:45,700 --> 00:47:48,500
And that way.

483
00:47:48,500 --> 00:47:55,420
You make such strong points, Gabe, strong, strong points in elaborating on that actually

484
00:47:55,420 --> 00:48:01,020
being literal, how iron sharpening iron works.

485
00:48:01,020 --> 00:48:03,700
Sometimes we do need a literal example.

486
00:48:03,700 --> 00:48:06,300
Sometimes we really do.

487
00:48:06,300 --> 00:48:09,940
We are creatures of different learning styles, visual, hearing.

488
00:48:09,940 --> 00:48:14,300
We actually need to understand how the heck is this you saying?

489
00:48:14,300 --> 00:48:16,540
What are you saying?

490
00:48:16,540 --> 00:48:23,700
And closing out this conversation, which has been very fruitful for me, people in 2024,

491
00:48:23,700 --> 00:48:29,920
different times now, and younger people who are Christians and who are also in the creative

492
00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:32,700
industry now, they're rejoining, thinking about it.

493
00:48:32,700 --> 00:48:37,300
We have a younger, a younger crowd, 18 year olds, 25 year olds, even 50 year olds.

494
00:48:37,300 --> 00:48:38,300
I mean, who knows?

495
00:48:38,300 --> 00:48:39,300
Who cares?

496
00:48:39,300 --> 00:48:47,300
And what advice would you give to them walking with Christ and being in the creative industry?

497
00:48:47,300 --> 00:48:52,380
Oh, man, that's a.

498
00:48:52,380 --> 00:49:00,860
There's so much that I can give, but I feel like if there's one thing that I can tell

499
00:49:00,860 --> 00:49:03,660
them.

500
00:49:03,660 --> 00:49:08,060
Is I'm trying to remember the exact verse right now.

501
00:49:08,060 --> 00:49:09,060
I had it.

502
00:49:09,060 --> 00:49:13,300
I had it in like the tip of my tongue, but.

503
00:49:13,300 --> 00:49:15,460
It basically talks about how.

504
00:49:15,460 --> 00:49:19,980
You know, God already aligned your steps.

505
00:49:19,980 --> 00:49:26,660
He created you as a masterpiece and you are divine in every way.

506
00:49:26,660 --> 00:49:34,820
And if those steps are already ordained for you, they're already prepared for you, then.

507
00:49:34,820 --> 00:49:37,900
Just take the moment to.

508
00:49:37,900 --> 00:49:43,580
Walk upon those steps to take those steps to trust that.

509
00:49:43,580 --> 00:49:50,820
It's already been a plan laid out for your life, a plan that is perfect in every way.

510
00:49:50,820 --> 00:49:53,660
So try not to get in your own way with that.

511
00:49:53,660 --> 00:49:56,860
Try not to.

512
00:49:56,860 --> 00:50:02,060
Compete with others or try to.

513
00:50:02,060 --> 00:50:04,900
Mimic others or.

514
00:50:04,900 --> 00:50:08,060
You know.

515
00:50:08,060 --> 00:50:12,280
Kind of allow yourself to see that you are an individual.

516
00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:18,700
Every strand in your hair, you know, your your prints, your your whole look, your feel,

517
00:50:18,700 --> 00:50:20,180
your internal everything.

518
00:50:20,180 --> 00:50:21,600
You are an individual.

519
00:50:21,600 --> 00:50:25,300
You are uniquely and.

520
00:50:25,300 --> 00:50:30,700
Uniquely designed and created specifically for something.

521
00:50:30,700 --> 00:50:32,820
So allow that to be your guiding force.

522
00:50:32,820 --> 00:50:40,380
Allow that to be the thing that drives you, you know, trusting that.

523
00:50:40,380 --> 00:50:45,260
God has a plan for your life, has a purpose for your life, has something magical, something

524
00:50:45,260 --> 00:50:51,500
wonderful for your life to be able to achieve anything that you want.

525
00:50:51,500 --> 00:50:53,820
And don't allow yourself to be getting your own way.

526
00:50:53,820 --> 00:50:57,940
There's going to be moments where you have self doubt, self reflection, but allow those

527
00:50:57,940 --> 00:51:06,020
things to be stones to continue to pave the way for what God already aligned for you.

528
00:51:06,020 --> 00:51:09,780
And if you don't believe.

529
00:51:09,780 --> 00:51:14,220
In God, then I would say first.

530
00:51:14,220 --> 00:51:15,380
He is real.

531
00:51:15,380 --> 00:51:17,380
He is there for you.

532
00:51:17,380 --> 00:51:19,660
And he's waiting for you.

533
00:51:19,660 --> 00:51:27,060
And he has a place in his heart, his world, his kingdom for you because he created you.

534
00:51:27,060 --> 00:51:32,660
So that's my advice for like twenty twenty four.

535
00:51:32,660 --> 00:51:39,300
I know that great things are coming for a lot of us, and I believe that we will all

536
00:51:39,300 --> 00:51:43,480
eventually see what a lot of us already see.

537
00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:45,500
Everything you said, man.

538
00:51:45,500 --> 00:51:47,900
Absolutely fantastic.

539
00:51:47,900 --> 00:51:51,940
And with that being said, twenty twenty four year, the future looks bright.

540
00:51:51,940 --> 00:51:55,140
You said everything that we know and we see.

541
00:51:55,140 --> 00:51:56,140
It's coming.

542
00:51:56,140 --> 00:51:57,620
It's the future looks bright.

543
00:51:57,620 --> 00:52:00,980
And I don't know what it is about this year, Gabe.

544
00:52:00,980 --> 00:52:03,940
Something just seems a little bit different.

545
00:52:03,940 --> 00:52:04,940
And I know you see it too.

546
00:52:04,940 --> 00:52:05,940
I see a smile on your face.

547
00:52:05,940 --> 00:52:06,940
Look at that.

548
00:52:06,940 --> 00:52:08,260
I know you see it, brother.

549
00:52:08,260 --> 00:52:11,500
And topic of twenty twenty four.

550
00:52:11,500 --> 00:52:15,220
What are you, Mr. Gabe Foustay?

551
00:52:15,220 --> 00:52:18,860
What are you looking forward to this year?

552
00:52:18,860 --> 00:52:22,460
Tell the audience what we're looking forward to.

553
00:52:22,460 --> 00:52:28,220
Honestly, this year, you know, I.

554
00:52:28,220 --> 00:52:31,380
I wanted to refocus on what.

555
00:52:31,380 --> 00:52:37,940
I was on here for what my purpose was for, and I want to just continue to inspire people.

556
00:52:37,940 --> 00:52:46,220
I want to. Continue to bring new light to like the good news, and I want to use the

557
00:52:46,220 --> 00:52:53,540
platforms that I that we have within the social spectrum to be able to shed that light.

558
00:52:53,540 --> 00:53:01,300
I'm working on new projects, working on talking a little bit more of my culture, my heritage,

559
00:53:01,300 --> 00:53:03,880
because I am Cuban.

560
00:53:03,880 --> 00:53:10,420
And as well as sharing more information on the things that I've learned over the years,

561
00:53:10,420 --> 00:53:17,580
whether it's branding or marketing or videography or photography or graphic design.

562
00:53:17,580 --> 00:53:22,580
It's just really sharing more information for people to use.

563
00:53:22,580 --> 00:53:27,660
A lot of times we want to charge and we want to try to get some gain out of it.

564
00:53:27,660 --> 00:53:28,660
I don't want any gain.

565
00:53:28,660 --> 00:53:30,260
All I want is for people to learn.

566
00:53:30,260 --> 00:53:35,020
I want people to know what I know.

567
00:53:35,020 --> 00:53:40,660
And to be able to apply it to their day lives and tying it into a biblical principle, because

568
00:53:40,660 --> 00:53:44,780
it's something I strongly believe in.

569
00:53:44,780 --> 00:53:49,660
And I believe that it is something that can help you in your life because it helped me

570
00:53:49,660 --> 00:53:51,940
14 years ago.

571
00:53:51,940 --> 00:53:54,640
It transformed my life completely.

572
00:53:54,640 --> 00:54:00,420
You know, it it allowed me to see things clearly.

573
00:54:00,420 --> 00:54:05,180
You know, a lot of times what we don't realize is we're walking through this world blind.

574
00:54:05,180 --> 00:54:07,340
But that allows you to see.

575
00:54:07,340 --> 00:54:10,820
And that's what I feel like 2024 is for me.

576
00:54:10,820 --> 00:54:18,780
New projects, newfound closeness to God and just being able to share what I know to the

577
00:54:18,780 --> 00:54:22,940
masses as much as I can and as frequent as I can.

578
00:54:22,940 --> 00:54:29,020
I know that lately I haven't been on social media as much and I've been busy, but I am

579
00:54:29,020 --> 00:54:31,660
working on these things for everyone to see.

580
00:54:31,660 --> 00:54:37,300
So that's that's what I see for 2024 and possibly maybe another kid.

581
00:54:37,300 --> 00:54:40,300
We don't know yet.

582
00:54:40,300 --> 00:54:44,900
Gabe, that's a good deal, man.

583
00:54:44,900 --> 00:54:46,300
I'm excited for you this year, man.

584
00:54:46,300 --> 00:54:50,860
I can't wait to see all the fruits that you are bearing out and the fruits that you're

585
00:54:50,860 --> 00:54:51,860
receiving.

586
00:54:51,860 --> 00:54:56,580
I'm truly excited to see what you put out there, what life's going to bring you this

587
00:54:56,580 --> 00:54:57,580
year.

588
00:54:57,580 --> 00:55:00,500
I really do appreciate you coming on here and chatting with me.

589
00:55:00,500 --> 00:55:02,820
I really enjoyed this conversation.

590
00:55:02,820 --> 00:55:07,900
And for people who want to see all this great things that you're going to be putting out,

591
00:55:07,900 --> 00:55:10,060
where can they go to find you?

592
00:55:10,060 --> 00:55:17,740
You can find me at Made by Fuste and all of my all platforms, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook,

593
00:55:17,740 --> 00:55:21,340
Twitter, even though I really don't write on Twitter.

594
00:55:21,340 --> 00:55:23,500
But mainly YouTube and Instagram.

595
00:55:23,500 --> 00:55:28,820
You can find me there and I have some on TikTok, but it's all made by Fuste.

596
00:55:28,820 --> 00:55:32,620
I'm sure that Nick is going to put the link there because my last name is kind of hard

597
00:55:32,620 --> 00:55:34,980
to figure out.

598
00:55:34,980 --> 00:55:37,820
But yeah, that's where you can find me.

599
00:55:37,820 --> 00:55:43,620
And I hope to connect with some of you and share some of my wisdom as we've been sharing

600
00:55:43,620 --> 00:55:45,740
here with Nick.

601
00:55:45,740 --> 00:55:47,060
Thank you, Nick, though.

602
00:55:47,060 --> 00:55:50,380
You you're a good man.

603
00:55:50,380 --> 00:55:51,380
Really appreciate that, man.

604
00:55:51,380 --> 00:55:55,140
I really appreciate you coming on here and chatting with me, giving me wisdom.

605
00:55:55,140 --> 00:55:56,140
I'm a student as well.

606
00:55:56,140 --> 00:55:57,140
I don't know everything.

607
00:55:57,140 --> 00:56:00,220
And like the people listening, they want to learn too.

608
00:56:00,220 --> 00:56:04,260
So just like my people listening, I'm going to try to just be as humble as I can with

609
00:56:04,260 --> 00:56:09,420
this podcast and just be a student of everyone else who I have on here because everyone knows

610
00:56:09,420 --> 00:56:12,020
something that I don't.

611
00:56:12,020 --> 00:56:14,460
So again, brother, I appreciate you having you on here.

612
00:56:14,460 --> 00:56:15,460
Thank you very much.

613
00:56:15,460 --> 00:56:17,860
Oh, thank you so much for having me.

614
00:56:17,860 --> 00:56:21,980
And I'm excited for you because a lot of great things are coming and I will be praying for

615
00:56:21,980 --> 00:56:24,260
you and every all your endeavors.

616
00:56:24,260 --> 00:56:25,260
Likewise, brother.

617
00:56:25,260 --> 00:56:27,700
Mr. Gabe Foustay has left the building.

618
00:56:27,700 --> 00:56:29,700
Man, that was a good conversation.

619
00:56:29,700 --> 00:56:32,940
I really do appreciate you staying till the end.

620
00:56:32,940 --> 00:56:36,780
And if you're still here, I really appreciate it if you would hit that subscribe button,

621
00:56:36,780 --> 00:56:40,260
leave a comment, share it if you found it helpful, share it with someone who you may

622
00:56:40,260 --> 00:56:42,540
think benefit from this.

623
00:56:42,540 --> 00:56:47,780
This helps us get the podcast out to more people, impact more people, include more people,

624
00:56:47,780 --> 00:56:50,740
include more people in the conversation because that's what we're trying to do here.

625
00:56:50,740 --> 00:56:55,140
Have conversations, give back, give insightful information.

626
00:56:55,140 --> 00:56:59,820
And if you're listening on the Spotify, Apple Music, go ahead and leave us up to a five

627
00:56:59,820 --> 00:57:02,540
star review, share it with a friend.

628
00:57:02,540 --> 00:57:04,500
Really appreciate you tuning in at all.

629
00:57:04,500 --> 00:57:05,580
It means the world to us.

630
00:57:05,580 --> 00:57:08,700
I wouldn't be able to do this without you.

631
00:57:08,700 --> 00:57:14,300
And with that being said, I will let you go and I'll catch you in the next episode.

632
00:57:14,300 --> 00:57:21,300
Thank you guys.