Mondays have no aura

Hey honeys and hustlers,

I'll take two scoops of Sunday with sprinkles on top. Monday Eve is always so peaceful. It’s my quiet time to spend with loved ones and get mentally organized for the week. Many times, this means planning my week, but it can also mean planning my creative energy. One thing that helps me is looking over things I’ve recently added to my inspiration board or swipe file in Notion. I’m still recovering from the travel I did this past weekend and month, so I thought I’d share a few things on my mood board today. These are things that are inspiring me as I head into post-production on a short documentary film, wrap up my month-long daily podcast challenge, and prepare for March Madness next month on my women’s sports newsletter.

I also haven’t shared any creator economy news in a while so stay until the end for that!

// The Charlotte Hornets created limited edition jerseys for Black History Month.

// Austin Kleon’s Read Like an Artist. As someone who just made a pamphlet/zine, more on that later, it’s really cool to see him still going hard for print media.

// The Dirt is releasing a book dedicated to Apple Notes. I viscerally want to create a book dedicated to Obsidian. As much writing as I do here, there’s probably about 10x that no one besides me has ever read.

// The Boston Celtics creative team has a wonderful approach to creating short-form videos. Innovate or get left behind.

// The skits from Brooklyn Coffee Shop get me every time. First time I’ve seen narrative + short form comedy used to grow a commercial brand organically on social.

// Garrett Long, the founder of Stache Haus, is directing a new golf docuseries with Mizuno Golf.

// Jonnyroams posts some of the most incredible photography on Threads and YouTube with the Leica Q2. I’m not the hugest fan of the 28mm focal length, but I love what he’s able to create with this camera. The camera that isn’t right for you is perfect for someone else.

// Track and Feels Club is an infectious mix of sports, design, and video. I haven’t thought too deeply about monetizing Melanin MVP outside of brand partnerships, but they definitely have my mind tingling about merch possibilities.

// Marcus Milione is posting his YouTube videos to Twitter for one year. He’s building Minted New York and I originally found him on YouTube. Excited to see how this experiment goes for him.

// Founders Inc. is preparing for a new round of startup founders to join them in San Francisco. Love how they’re using short-form video to build an indie tech community accelerator.

// Leon Thomas’s Tiny Desk. His Spotify performance is beautiful too. He’s definitely in my top 5 music artists of 2024 and his reign on my playlist continues.

// Just Doechii, generally speaking. But also this music video goes hard.

P.S. In Thursday’s article, I’ll be sharing how I use these pieces of inspiration to create projects without plagiarism.

In Readworthy News

// Kareem Rahma of Subway Takes dropped some podcast news at On Air Fest Brooklyn. I went to On Air Fest Brooklyn last year but I wasn’t able to make it this year. I really wanted to go when I saw he would be speaking. Very excited for this next step in his podcast journey!

// Netflix is eyeing video podcasts. After losing the bid for Call Her Daddy, the streaming giant isn’t ready to throw in the towel. I made a podcast episode sharing my thoughts on this and compared this potential move to YouTube podcasts and Spotify podcasts.

// ASAP Rocky has been named the first-ever Creative Director at Ray-Ban. Fresh off a court case and back to work. This man wastes no time.

// Arlan Hamilton co-founded a new basketball league. I made a podcast episode about the Durham native earlier this month, and I’m excited about her venture into women’s sports.

// The Atlanta Hawks hosted HBCU night that featured Big Boi of Outkast. HBCUs have so much influence in higher education, yes, but also our culture, creative influences, and entrepreneurship. I made a podcast episode about the relationship between HBCUs and Black entrepreneurship that I would love to hear your thoughts on.

// KeKe Palmer wins Entertainer of the Year at the NAACP Image Awards. Between her podcast, major film roles, and press runs, she is well deserving. I made a podcast episode about the incomparable woman that she is, which you can check out here.

// AIR Media just dropped the 2025 rate guide for audio professionals. Be sure to check it out and see what standard industry rates are for audio roles. This isn’t saying that you absolutely have to charge these rates, or that you can’t charge more, but they’re a good baseline to make sure you’re not undercharging for your work and services.

// Captain America: Brave New World does $100M+ in first weekend at the box office. This is a new role for Anthony Mackie, so I was happy to see the movie do so well on opening weekend. I need to go check it out soon (so no spoilers pls).

// Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman are starting a new podcast. These two former Congressional representatives were not re-elected in 2024 and will be sharing their perspectives on their time in Congress in a new monthly show that will be published on YouTube. I predicted we might see more of this when Stacey Abrams started her show. I’m not a psychic but…