We did a thing.

TL:DR:

My studio (jointmedias.com) did the set design and motion graphics for Gabriel 'Fluffy' Iglesias’ current world tour. It was a big project, a lot at stake. The tour just came thru Sacramento and we missed an opportunity to promote ourselves. But I did overcome some fears.

Full story..

Last year, my good friend and long-time business collaborator, Victor Valena came to me with one of those “Did that really just happen!??” opportunities that I’ve only seen in the movies and my daydreams. Victor said, “Hey, think you can design the graphics for Gabe’s next tour?” which I casually replied, “fuck ya, let’s do it” (we’re friends like that). I wholeheartedly thought we were just BSing.. then he said, “No.. For real!” I could tell by the way he said that.. this was a BUSINESS CALL. At that point I'm sure he could feel my “fuck ya” confidence excuse itself from the conversation.

Victor has been part of Fluffy’s crew for years as his Front of House audio engineer. So we’ve talked before about scenarios where we could all work together, but it was always just in a, “Wouldn’t it be cool if… ” kind of way, never went much further than that.

He told me more about the project, how something changed last minute and they need to switch up the concept. He asked again, “Think you can do it?” I answered, “You know we’ve never done anything like this before, right?”, he took a second, then replied, “I know you can design anything.. I've watched you move graphics around a screen for the last 25 years and I know you won’t let me look bad.”

I was thinking to myself that there is no way I could do this, too outside any comfort-zone I know. I mean this is big time Hollywood celebrity stuff! I was scared of failing and I didn’t want to somehow mess up my friends career if the whole thing went to shit. We talked some more and Victor told me how his role was transitioning and he really wanted to impress Gabe and the team.

Then it hit me.. this is also my friends big opportunity. That shifted my fears.. now I was more afraid of letting him down by not helping than I was about putting myself out there by taking a swing at the BIG Leagues. So I said with as much confidence that I could, “OK I'm down!” Then, in true client fashion, he said, “Great, the tour starts in two months.” 😳🙄

Fast forward: the job wasn’t as scary as I imagined. it's not much different than doing corporate presentations, just everything is bigger and there are more lights, speakers, and fog machines.

Despite inheriting a tour wordmark and color scheme we didn’t love, everything came out great. Fluffy is happy (he told me it was the best set he’s ever had, and he’s a hugger), I helped my friend impress in his new role and my mentals are happy that I don’t have to live with the regret of NOT taking my swing.

To date, we have produced over 200 pieces of content for the tour, I got to meet some amazing people and It's been the most fun project we’ve worked on in 17 years.. and it’s still going.

However, this past weekend as the “Don’t Worry Be Fluffy” World Tour rolled into Sacramento, I struggled again with my fear of self-promotion and stayed silent. I know I missed a opportunity to showcase a really cool project leading up to the show. But here I am, a week after, finally posting something…

Don’t let fear stop you from seizing opportunities OR telling people about them!

Have you ever hesitated to promote your own work? How do you navigate the balance between sharing your success and feeling like you're bragging?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and strategies!

PS.. We will do a full case study once the tour ends.