Invest In Your Life 134 // Failure Is Always an Option with JONBOB
Sep 7, 2021
John Willis (JONBOB), a commercial photographer and artist who builds community-driven projects, talks about taking creative risks and living scrappy. He recounts experiments like a one-night restaurant pop-up and launching family play spaces. He explains the origins of The Simple Portrait Project and how failure’s quick sting fuels adventurous work and family-focused experiences.
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Pressure Creates Traction Not Paralysis
- Willis compares early pressure to weight in a pickup truck that creates traction on an icy road and forces forward progress.
- The practical pressure of a crying baby pushed him to make business calls and hustle for income instead of waiting for perfect conditions.
Living Scrappy To Keep Options Open
- Early on Willis and his wife lived extremely scrappy: driving junk cars and staying lean to avoid debt and enable risk-taking.
- That lifestyle choice let him say yes to creative opportunities without being beholden to loans or corporate paychecks.
One Night Pop-Up Restaurant As A Zero Profit Experiment
- Willis ran a one-night pop-up restaurant called The Snake Bite using a borrowed space and a retired executive chef who volunteered.
- He designed it as a zero-profit experiment and distributed any surplus to supporters, separating money from the creative goal.