Growth Mixtape Podcast with Bob Mathers
Listen to my conversations with the most interesting people you may not have come across yet. These conversations might not seem to have a lot in common at first. But just like songs on a mixtape, they create something memorable and emotional. So, let's press play and see what we learn about ourselves.
I'm Bob Mathers, host of the Growth Mixtape podcast. I love chasing my curiosity; the further from my comfort zone, the better. I find the most powerful ideas, the ones that compel us to do bold things, happen by accident.
It is these unexpected collisions that I’m excited to explore in this new podcast. These conversations always give me new insights I never would have gotten from other experts in my field.
Please join me for stories from leaders in business, the sciences, academia and the arts. My goal in every episode is to provide you with a surprising insight that you can apply right now to get unstuck and start building the business and the life you've always wanted.
Growth Mixtape Podcast with Bob Mathers
Just Say ‘Yes’ and See What Happens with Todd McTavish
Todd McTavish is a songwriter and it’s all he’s ever wanted to do. At 23, he left his small town home in Ontario and moved to LA. And at 53, he just signed his first record deal.
Todd’s an old school, rock and roll troubadour. The stories come fast and hard. He recorded a Christmas song with Billy Bob Thornton, had one of his songs played at the Superbowl and he owned a half bear, half wolf named Jazz who was an excellent judge of character.
But this isn’t about sex, drugs and rock and roll. It’s about having the courage to say yes. The music industry is a parable for life. It’s cruel and unfair, and it gave Todd a thousand really good reasons to quit. So how has he survived when so few others have? When an opportunity came up, no matter how crazy, he said yes.
As someone that tends to overthink things until I talk myself out of them, Todd’s journey inspired me. I could look back at the last 20 years of my life and wonder what could have been if I had said yes more often, but I don’t have time for that. What I refuse to do, is look back 10 years from now and wonder the same thing. What would Todd do? He’d say yes.
Please enjoy Todd McTavish.
Takeaways
- Stay open to opportunities, and say yes. You never know.
- Songwriting is like any creative endeavor. Your best ideas never come when you’re trying too hard.
- The music industry is a parable for life. It’s not fair. Sometimes the difference between fame and toiling is just shit luck.
- The truest art is creating for you, not your audience. Because it needs to come out.
- Our job as creators is to create the environment for our best ideas to surface.
- The biggest set-backs can present opportunities that change our lives.
- When you pour your heart out and you get rejected, it’s hard to not take it personally. But that’s what you have to do.
- Don't get too high or too low. Do it for you. Searching for that dopamine hit of other people’s approval is a powerful drug.
Connect with Todd
Judge Jackson (https://open.spotify.com/artist/2WkImSovdJRdvZ8lxn3JtH)
Todd McTavish (https://open.spotify.com/artist/0tjdZLND9lbsHcqWWXSPxo)
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