The Thomas Sawyer Podcast

I've wanted to have Amber on the podcast for so very long and things finally lined up where we were able to make it happen. Mainly I finally reached out because even I still get insecure about asking people. We hopped on the mics and talked about her finding photography in high school, creating work to be viewed in person vs online, being the only young black woman in the room, and being a creative who works a 9-5. Great talk!

One of my friends gives me solid constructive feedback that I try to implement as quickly as possible. The thing she said to me most recently is, “I’d like a better picture of your work – not so much the finished product, but what do the clients of a Cleveland videographer actually look like.” So I immediately shot a text to a client of mine who’s down for anything and here we are. Today’s guest is Ryan Young, the CEO and vision of the Young Team. We get into the nitty gritty of bridging the...

Living in Cleveland means that Lauren and I both spend quite a bit of time in the car and we typically use these windows of time to talk throughout the day. On this day, we got into a pretty heavy talk about perfectionism, how it manifests in our generation, and our perception of it’s manifestation in older generations. 20 minutes into our car-ride phone call I had to stop Lauren and said, “Wait, this is a podcast.”

There are two types of people you can interview; ones who come strictly to answer the questions asked of them and ones who want to have a dialogue. Ylonda was very much the latter. She came ready and open to talk about her experiences of her childhood, her marriage, her career, and her health – and she didn’t shy away from engaging me on any topics either. Absolutely loved this talk!

I’ve met and/or talked to quite a few people in my lifetime and I have yet to find someone with a more coveted job than Greg. He spends his days getting kisses and giving belly rubs to puppers of Cleveland, Ohio and occasionally beyond. I want to sit down to see what that life was like and also hear more about all that he’s doing to help destigmatize negative stereotypes for Pitbulls. Great talk!

I haven't seen my friend, Madeline, in quite some time because she's been traveling the country playing music so it was nice to sit down with her for an hour or so and chat. We talk about essential self and social self, fear, and insecurity. Great talk!

I love talking with charismatic people. We always end up steering away from main topics on tangents that leave me laughing. Those are my favorite people to interview. Kayla is definitely a charismatic person and, honestly, you need to be if you're going to be a wedding photographer. I loved chatting with her about her work, traveling all over the country in a camper for her project 50 Shoots in 50 States, and the crazy way she met my best friend. Great talk!

We all need someone to push us to be the best version of ourselves that we can be, but how hard do we need them to push? For me, it’s as hard as humanly possible. I don’t want someone to care about my feelings – I want them to care about my future. Lauren is my someone and, man, does she push me. This week I was reflecting on that and realized just how vital that is in my life so I asked her to sit down so we could talk about it.

Always interesting interviewing someone whose use to being the one who asks the questions. I asked JD to be one of the first guests on my podcast in season one, but due to my inexperience I completely screwed up the audio and the talk was lost. In addition to discussing the harsh realities of starting a podcast, we talked about being vulnerable and allowing yourself to take a step back from things without the fear of losing momentum. Great talk!

I went into this conversation with one goal – apologize. Mariangela and I met through Instagram years ago and at the time I wasn’t in the best of mental states. Long story short, I snapped at her and I wanted to say sorry and what better way then to do it publicly. We also got into her story – growing up in Venezuela, moving to the states, finding her passion for photography, and dealing with abuse. A very deep and honest conversation!

Spent the morning catching up with Alex Mazzurco. We got to chat about buying a house, being in a relationship, planning for the future, and dealing with “speeding tickets” for your business. Great talk!

I stumbled across Elena’s Instagram at the very end of last year and she caught my attention immediately – she was asking her followers to share their New Year’s Resolutions and posting them on her story with encouraging words. We sat down to talk about using her platform to empower others, moving to the United States with only $500 and a carry-on, and learning english by watching Friends Reruns. Great talk!

I've been thinking about the idea of imposter syndrome a lot lately. Mostly in a conceptual way, but also a little bit self reflective. Aubrey and I have talked about this topic a few times and I thought she would be the perfect person to have over to hash this topic out. We got off track a few times, but overall, it was a great talk!

This is a conversation that I’ve been wanting to have for a very long time. First and foremost because I think that Reed has a strong and unique voice and that there’s something to be learned from her perspective, but also because the topic of proper conduct when working with models and the topic of consent are something that need to be discuss in an open forum. Not an episode that I would recommend listening to out loud at work or around young children, but it’s definitely a conversation...

I invited Lauren Skunta over for what was supposed to be a 25 minute podcast about knowing your worth that quickly turned into an hour long episode everything that goes into being a freelance creative. I'm not complaining at all – great talk!

Jacqui's transitions through life have really fascinated me. I love when people follow their dreams, but I very rarely see someone change directions completely. Most people who follow Jacqui's story now don't know where it began so I asked her if she'd share and she did. Great talk!

Lauren and I have been having this “discussion” for the last few weeks. I can’t really write about it in an unbiased way so for the sake of keeping you with an open mind.. just take a listen.

From the moment Lauren showed me Hanna's work on Instagram, I have been enamored with the way she creates and the vulnerability with which she shares online. I reached out on a whim when I was in Chicago and she was kind enough to sit down with me for an hour to chat. We talked about everything from her dance career to being a role model to other things I'm currently blanking on at this moment. Great talk!

Fear can be a controlling factor in our lives. It can mold us into people that we don’t want to be. In the past, I’ve found that fear transformed me into an incredibly jealous person. Thankfully, I identified that problem early enough and was able to walk myself back to someone who sees everyone’s success as success, not as my own personal failure. But recently, I’ve noticed fear creep back into my life and manifest in a different way. The Fear of Interpretation.

Welcome back! Busting out of the gate with a solid episode. If you’ve followed my Artisan series then you probably already know this week’s guest, Adam Vicarel. He is a Cleveland raised Denver dwelling designer and a man I’m glad to call a friend. Whenever I’m on a project with him, we always get into the best discussions and I was finally able to wrangle him onto the podcast. Great talk!