The Futur with Chris Do

When you run a business, you earn the right to make any decision you want with it. You also accept the responsibility and outcome—good, bad, or otherwise. The choice is truly yours. But how do you know if you are making the right decision? Welcome to part one of our conversation about decision making in business. In this two part series, Chris Do talks with Mo Ismail and Nidhi Tewari about how to...

Dakota Robertson is a professional ghostwriter. Businesses and influencers hire him to write tweets that go viral and amass an audience. And he is damn good at it. In this podcast episode, Dakota shares how he went from working as an electrician to becoming this invisible, content-writing hero for his clients. His ghostwriting business is so successful that he is turning down all new and potential...

What is the difference between self-esteem and self-confidence? And how do they affect who we are and what we believe we are capable of? In this candid conversation, Chris Do answers question from members of The Futur Pro Group. They tackle topics like supply and demand in the service industry, intrinsic beliefs versus extrinsic beliefs, and how to manage your self-talk. If you struggle with confi...

In this special episode, Chris Do fields business questions and offers answers live and in real-time. Questions like: how do I raise my rates without losing clients, how do you measure creative impact, and what is the best way to price your service work? Chris is joined by several Futur Pro Group members including Drigo Tasca, Nidhi Tewari, and Anneli Hansson who also weigh in. If you run a creati...

Adapt or die is the classic business mantra. To survive and thrive you must remain nimble and ready to pivot. To jump the curve, so to speak. If you could start your business all over again, what would you do differently? In this episode, The Futur CEO Chris Do and brand strategist Anneli Hansson discuss what the future holds for creative service businesses. How will technology like Ai and blockch...

Sarabeth Berk is a TEDx speaker and professional identity researcher. She is reshaping how we think about the workforce by shifting and expanding our definition of professional identity. What does that mean exactly? It means that you should not be limited to either/or titles (e.g. specialists vs. generalist). And that there is a third option: hybrid. But does that help or hurt your marketing effor...

Do you have to suffer to build character? We get philosophical in part two of our conversation with Baronfig founder and author Joey Cofone. He and Chris continue their discussion about The Laws of Creativity and delve into the role failure—and sometimes delusion—plays in the story of success. We like how Joey explains the concept of creativity: like a musical instrument, creativity is a practical...

Joey Cofone is the Founder and CEO of Baronfig, an award-winning designer and entrepreneur, and the newly minted author of The Laws of Creativity. If you have listened to our podcast long enough then you may have heard Joey’s voice before. Way back in episode 57. We are pleased to welcome him back to the show to share what he’s been working on for a long time: defining the laws of creativity. In p...

Criticism is easily given, but rarely appreciated. At some point we have all had to critique someone else’s work or be critiqued by a client, manager, or teacher. The experience can be emotionally rattling. In part four of our design thinking talk, Eric Moore and Chris Do discuss ways to improve how you give and receive critique. A key component of constructive criticism is having a shared criteri...

Now that we understand what design thinking is, it is time we learn how to use it. In part two of our design thinking discussion, app designer Deanna joins Eric and Chris to walk us through her practical application of the framework. We start by explaining the four phases of the design thinking process and follow Deanna’s story and design process for context. We also discuss how making empathy map...

Eric Moore is a communication strategist and champion of design thinking. In this episode, he and Chris debate an eyebrow-raising talk from Natasha Jen called Design Thinking Is Bullsh*t. For context, Natasha Jen is an acclaimed designer and partner at the renowned design studio, Pentagram. In her talk, Natasha criticizes the concept of design thinking, ultimately calling it B.S. But is that true?...

The word authentic gets thrown around a lot, especially when describing brands. But what is an “authentic” brand? And why do some brands garner loyal customers while others do not? In this episode, Anneli and Chris discuss the traits of what they refer to as magnetic brands. That is, brands that customers prefer over others and that have true fans. If you are interested in branding, brand strategy...

In part two of our discussion about detachment, Chris and Anneli dive deeper—and more personally—into how practicing detachment benefits your life. It's easy to attach your value and identity to your work. But that attachment then often becomes the root of your unhappiness. If your work is undervalued or criticized, then you feel personally undervalued or criticized. In this conversation, Chris sh...

If you’ve listened to the podcast long enough (or watched enough videos), you will have heard the joke about Chris being a robot. That is to say; he always keeps his cool. But how does he do it? How does Chris regulate his emotions so well? Especially in the face of aggressive internet criticism. In part one of this two-part episode, Chris and Anneli discuss the art of detachment. By definition, d...

Sean Cannell is a YouTuber, international speaker, and the founder of ThinkMedia. His mission: help entrepreneurs build their influence and go full-time doing what they love through the power of online video. In 2022, Sean took a huge risk by throwing a live personal branding event in Las Vegas, NV. He booked guest speakers like Gary Vaynerchuk, Alex Hormozi, and Vanessa Lau, which put tremendous...

Kate Pincott is a product designer, design coach, and CEO/founder of Remote Design Coaching. Her mission: reconnect designers to their intuition and creativity. At the peak of her tech-design career, Kate burned out. She had been running at full speed in shoes that did not fit. But instead of taking a sabbatical or falling into distraction, she made an interesting choice. Kate took what worked (an...

Joana Galvao is the founder of award-winning branding and web design agency GiF Design Studios. She is also on a personal mission to help fellow creative service providers stay booked solid. In this special episode, Joana takes us through her entire marketing funnel. You will hear how it developed and how she automates nearly everything to maximize efficiency. Joana’s marketing process worked so w...

Neil Hoyne is an author, researcher, and marketing executive working at Google as Chief Measurement Strategist. He is also a senior fellow at The Wharton School and an advisor for Capital G. Neil specializes in building strong customer relationships by analyzing data like customer lifetime value (CLV) and consumer psychology. In this informative conversation, Neil and Chris discuss the power and p...

Susana Chen is the founder of the Asian Creative Foundation (ACF). ACF is a community organization that helps entry-level creatives find opportunities, navigate their career paths, and help make the creative industry a more inclusive place. Roles get flipped in this episode. In this conversation, Susana interviews Chris for an ACF-hosted virtual event called Asian Creative Festival. And they cover...

Daniel Priestley is an entrepreneur (several times over), but you may know him best from his book Key Person of Influence. Over the last decade, Daniel noticed a trend in successful businesses: visible (and often outspoken) leadership. Steve Jobs. Richard Branson. Elon Musk. These CEOs leveraged technology to wield influence and change how we think about the world and their products. In short, we...

In the final episode of our series on self-sabotage, we pick up where the conversation between Nidhi and Chris left off. If you missed the first two episodes, we suggest you go back and listen to those first. At this point in the story, Chris is betting his future (and the future of his staff) on pivoting into a new teaching venture then called The Skool. But to do that, he must abandon his design...

In part two of our three-part series on self-sabotage, Nidhi speaks with Chris about his decision to abandon Blind and start The Futur. Blind was Chris’s branding and design agency. He started it in 1995 primarily as a motion design studio. The company focused on creating design-focused video work like commercials and branded content. But after two decades of growth, Chris noticed a decline in wor...

Have you ever worked so hard on something only to find yourself stuck and caught in what feels like a complete slog? At that moment, you may think: This isn’t working. It’s time to pivot. But what if, on the other side of that discomfort, awaits everything you want? More importantly: how do you know if it’s time to pivot or push through the discomfort? Welcome to part one of our three-part series...

Neville Medhora is best known as a copywriter. But that doesn’t mean he just writes copy. According to Neville, effective copywriting means communicating a message from your brain to millions of other brains using the best technology available. Hundreds of years ago, a carrier pigeon was the best option. Today, it’s probably a brief email that includes curated animated GIFs. In this episode, we ta...

Kyle T Webster is an award-winning international illustrator. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, TIME, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Nike, IDEO, and several other distinguished clients. Acclaimed industry publications like the Society of Illustrators, Communications Arts, and American Illustration have recognized his illustration work. Kyle also teaches at UNC School of the Arts and wor...