Right About Now - Legendary Business Advice - Ryan sits down with Jared Emerson

Episode Date: December 9, 2019

In this episode of the Radical Company podcast, Ryan sits down with world-renowned speed painter Jared Emerson. Jared shares his journey and growth as an artist and the lessons and struggles he overcame to become one of the most sought after speed painters in the United States. Jared shares his experiences painting NFL legend Jerry Rice to his most recent work painting shoes for Carson Wentz and the My Cause My Cleats program from the NFL. Links from this Episode: Jared's Website - https://jaredemerson.com/ NFL My Cause My Cleats - https://www.nfl.com/mycausemycleats If you enjoy this episode please check out the rest of our episodes on our channel. Please share, review, and subscribe! Radical Podcast is always looking forward to meeting both aspiring, and grounded professionals across the country! Feel like you have something to say? Slide us a Dm on Instagram and let's make it happen! @radical_results @ryanalford www.radical.company If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE.  Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding.  Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel  www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What's up? Welcome to the latest edition of the Radical Company podcast. We're in the holiday season. It's December, and I'm late buying gifts, but nonetheless, we are here in the studio at Comaury, ready for another episode, which I am, have been wanting to do for a while. Jared doesn't know that, but world-renowned artist, speed painter, Jared Emerson's here with me today, and I've been wanting to do this for a while. I've known Jared for a couple years through lower.

different local things that we've been involved in, but this guy's so hard to pin down because he's taking off like a rocket. Jared, man, really excited to have you on the episode today. Thanks for having me, man. This is pretty cool. And I appreciate that intro. Very nice. I know.

Well, we've got both audio and video. We're looking at one of Jared's paintings here on the cruise. A little different haircut, but Jared was sharing some stuff pre-episode here, some of his stuff. I'm in envy. I mean, before we kind of get into the story and all that, I'm, you know, being an NFL junkie and all that. We've got to talk about, we're painting shoes for my man.

Carson Wentz? Yeah, right now, I've been, man, the last couple of days have been brutal. I mean, they've been great from a creative standpoint, but, yeah, I customized Carson's shoes for them. And to me, it's a great thing to do because I also believe in what he believes in. and his purpose and point with just telling people about Jesus and loving people. I mean, he's got a food truck in Philly, and he feeds people for free. Like how awesome is that?

And it's legit, really, you know, good food. So he has me do different cleats for him each year. And this year, this is the third pair for him. And then I'm doing about nine other players, so from Zach Ertz to different guys on the team. Sweet. I want to get into everyone. you've painted and been involved in a lot of the bigger names in sports. I know you're getting involved with.

Some of the just amazing people you've been able to either be in front of or paint. Definitely want to get into that. But, you know, I told you this, you know, we like to have rad people doing rad things. And on the who's list of my speed dial of who I go or walk by or see periodically, you're on that list, man. Man, I appreciate it. It's just something about the speed painting that blows my mind, your talent, your ability, how down to earth you are. There's just, you know, there's just some characteristics about you that I think are really unique in starting with your talent. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, I'd love to just start there maybe a little bit for people listening,

you know, given that, you know, kind of synopsis on you, you know, your background, what got you into art and the arts and kind of your, some of those philosophies that we've talked about, you know, in how you paint and what kind of keeps you moving. Wow, that's a lot. You know, what keeps me moving is I think every day just coming up with new concepts and ideas and I think you hit, especially where I am in my career now, it's like you, I don't want to say hit a wall, but you come to a point where you're like,

okay, what's the next best thing? What's the next thing I need to do? I mean, my story is kind of long, so, you know, if you got a lot of time, we'll get deep in. But I've been doing art professionally for about, I want to say, 17, 18 years. Yeah. And moved to West Palm Beach. I'm originally from Michigan,

a peri-mission small town between lansing and flint and uh ended up migrating down to west palm beach after college and then from there moved here to greenville so basketball was a big part of my life because i know you know you love sports um and you know i had that kid childhood dream of just becoming that athlete and you know michael jordan was the guy that i looked to you know growing up and uh you know i was just like man if i could be like mike like that would be like that would be ridiculous and but as I grew and got older I realized that basketball was for all the wrong reasons it was and I was pretty good back in the day now I think I'm an old man and can't quite keep up anymore but were you a shooting guard a point guard what was a point guard okay and shooting

guard you know I would I would play the point and then pass it to myself and then no I'm just you were that kid yeah no no um yeah I was I was pretty deep And then in college, I ended up blowing my knee, tore my ACL, and it kind of just took my dreams away. So when you think of ambitions and hopes, and I felt like everything just went away. So I spent a few years trying to figure out what I'm going to do in my life. And college wasn't really the thing I wanted to do because I didn't know what I was going to do. And so I became an artist. and it wasn't until

I got into it I think it was figuring out okay now how do you make a living at it and man it's I think it's kind of crazy because you do I think I told you earlier

like you do portraits and stuff when you start out I mean they don't say starving artists for a reason because there's a lot of talented people in this world and with that talent also you have to figure that out

I mean from an ad agency standpoint you know the market the business side, you've got to kind of embrace that and learn that too, besides the creativity. But a lot of artists, I think, can't or don't because they're just so involved with their creativity process. And that's why you see a lot of artists. They need someone that guides them. Like, I have a manager. I have an assistant. I have people surrounding me to make me better and encourage me and uplift me and push me and drive me. So when I get to a point where I'm like,

they're like listen you got this or just get your mind right and we'll get back to it so and then taking care of you know people paperwork you know all that kind of stuff it's not something artists want to deal with no so um I think for for me getting into it at the time was just like man how do you how do you do it

so I was doing portraits for people for a hundred bucks you know take me three four weeks you know and little pencil sketches and I'm like, you can't make a living doing this, right? I mean, you can, but I'm going to be on the streets big time. So it wasn't until I actually got into the speed painting. I think things just kind of took off. But my pastor at my church, which is here locally in Simpsonville, Brookwood,

he was like, you know, Jared, your talents are what you do, you should paint on stage. And I was like, are you crazy? Did you know that was a thing? Yeah. I mean, I did. I did. there's a guy named Denny Dent in the 70s and 80s

that was a speed painter. You know, they got all these brushes in their hands and you're watching, you can go on YouTube and check different ones on. And now there's, I mean, there's a ton of guys. I shouldn't say a ton. There's a lot of guys and girls that do the speed painting. You know, I don't think anyone does it quite like me.

I'm probably a little biased, maybe. But... There's definitely a flair to you. I mean, I've seen enough of them now, you know, that there's a flare and a style and a energy with your shows. And I call them a show, I mean, but whether not you like that term, but I, a performance. Yeah, show a performance.

You know, one of my close friends, he always says it's the gift, right? Because I believe God gives us all gifts and it's what we do with them. And not what just we do with them, but how we impact people through them. And that's why I'm thankful that I'm in the genre that I'm in, you know, just be able to create and do it in front of people. Because before when I started, when I was doing these portraits, right? Like, I want to be in my own little world, secluded, creating. I don't want anyone to see what I'm doing.

Let me just do it. And then I got to this transition of when he asked me to paint on stage, I'm like, that's crazy. It's a complete 180, I think, knowing, coming up in graphic design and arts and all that, graphic designers or artists like, just like what you just said. They like to get in their corner

and do their masterpiece or their average piece or whatever it ends up being and then show everyone. This is like a 180. Yeah, like check out what I did. Yeah, what cool is this? And then when you're,

it's transparent and vulnerable of showing that art real time, that's a whole different thing. It is. And I think that's one thing that scared me to death, right? Okay, how do I let people watch me do what I do? Like, what if I screw up?

what if I mess up? But then you learn the process of studying, preparing yourself. And I think that's like anything. One of my close friends, George Hincappy, he's, I mean, cyclist, 17 tour de Francis, like we've become close over the years. And one thing that I think just by knowing him that he taught me was like, you don't just get on a bike. Like, it's a lot of work and it's a lot of suffering.

It's a lot of pain. But if you're going to do it, you have to train. Right. You have to train and you have to get better. better and you have to push yourself. It's the same with meeting a lot of like pro athletes from the NFL and NBA and MLB. You see in the backside of these guys and even some local guys is like you see the hard work that they put in to get there.

It's like when you watch LeBron on TV or you know back in the day Michael Jordan, they don't just show up on Sunday. Yeah, they don't just show up on Sunday. It's like Cristiano Ronaldo, right? You have in Messi. You have different guys that when you see they're the top of their game, they're usually the last guy in the gym, the first guy there, right? And so for me, I've taken all that energy because I can say I was a lazy artist.

I was a lazy artist and you can't get anywhere of being lazy. So I learned that you have to have a good work ethic. And I always say this, in the words of the great lyricist, Maclemore. Oh, boy. In one of his songs, he says, the greats were great because they paint a lot. Now, he didn't say they're great because they're talented. They're gifted and all this other stuff. You said they're great because they paint a lot.

And if you look at some of the grates, I mean, they have bodies of work. And a lot of them have works that a lot of people have never seen. It's because they work hard at what they're doing. So I realize from friends and these other athletes, what they put into it is like, hey, I wasn't, I was a lazy basketball player, too. Back in the day, I thought I was just more talented. So I wouldn't work as hard, but you have to work hard. And these guys that show up on Sunday, they work hard.

to get to that point. So I realized for me, I'm going to be the best artist I can be. And I want to be the best speed painter there is out there. I want people to say, this guy's ridiculous. But it doesn't mean that I have to be the best out there.

Does that make sense? I'm going to strive to be the best, but if I'm not, I'm still going to give it my own, I'm still going to keep going. And it's the same when I get up and perform. If I think I'm going to mess up or screw up, then I probably shouldn't be up there.

But if I know and I'm confident enough to get this done, I'm prepared in the process, then, hey, it is the most, how do I put this? When I get up there, I'm anxious, I'm nervous, I'm a wreck, usually. But once I get up there in a stand in front of that canvas, like nobody's there. It's like a, it's just like an experience. I'm in my own world. But that's a gift. And I just go. And I just go. Yeah, and I love it. Now, I don't think this, but like Picasso said this, I heard this from a great artist in town, Rick Standridge.

He always said, you know, Picasso, when he looked at a canvas, there was a war going on between him and the canvas. And usually the canvas always won, unless you were Picasso. Right. I think he won his fair share. Right. So to me, it always was, I've kept that in the forefront of my mind. So when I get up there, it's like, hey, here's this battle.

If I don't win, like, I've got to give it my own. but the challenge is I'm going to I'm going to try to win each time if that makes sense it makes total sense so it's yeah it's it's been awesome to do I think do what you love do what you're passionate about

but most importantly you know have a purpose in it too yeah so I know I want to talk about some of your experiences and some specific people because there's some big names that you've painted and you know have the you know

opportunity to be in front of it. They've had the opportunity to watch you. But talk about, you know, you talked about making a living. You talked about that mindset switch, you know, maybe for someone that might be listening, because we do have a lot of artists and different people that listen. You know, it's kind of the chicken in the egg. I mean, I mean, can't hire a manager till you make money, can't make money until you have a man. Like, how did, when did that switch kind of happen for you? Was it finding that niche of speed painting, which then opened a lot of doors because that's not, it may be more prevalent now,

but 10, 15 years ago when you first started, I don't think it was as mainstream if it's even mainstream now. But what, when was that switch for you? So I think that switch for me. So I'm a man that I believe in God, right? I believe that he died for my sins and yours and everyone else's. And for me, there was a struggle of God, what do you want me to do with my life, right?

And again, just like basketball, hopes and dreams, ambitions to be successful, famous, this, this, this, right? And I've realized that that's, you know, you can have it all and it can all be taken away, but you're still going to be you and you're still going to have to live and you're still going to have to go and survive. So I think I try to figure out, okay, if I'm going to do this, I've got to be the best at it, and I'm going to keep working hard.

So first was what I just told you all about working hard and putting that work ethic in. And the second part is, okay, how do you sell a painting? Like, you do a painting, how do you sell it? Well, you do have to market it. You have to push it out. Thankfully, I haven't had to as much. But before speed painting and people don't watch you do the process, you've got to bring the process to them, right?

You've got to bring the artwork to them and show. So I think it was that transition of, okay, if I'm going to get into the speed painting thing, like I saw that video of Denny Dent and they have a guy that comes. here at Greenville. He's come for a long time. So I was like, okay, I could do this, but let me be the best at it. And then the first time I did it, I had a few brushes. I actually tore my MCL the week before I did my first speed painting, right, which was at church. And I was a mess. I went up there. I was hobbling, right? I think there's a YouTube video you can watch. If you just search my name.

hobbling, Darren Anderson. Not something I'm very proud of, but through that process, like I said, being scared to death, it took me to a transition of, hey, this is what I have for you. So I believe it was God telling me, okay, listen, you've been searching for all these things your entire life. If you just listen to me and go down the path I have for you, it'll blow your mind.

And I can literally say that it has blown my mind. I have done more than I have ever. dreamed or envisioned. Like I've always wanted to play basketball at the Palace of Auburn Hills with the Pistons, you know? But that dream never happened. But guess what?

I was able to perform with B-O-B at a halftime show at the Palace of Auburn Hill. So instead of shooting hoops, I was throwing paint. Like how cool, you know what I mean? That transition, how cool is that? So in that moment when I realized

God showed up for me and said, listen, here's a path I have laid out for you. I'm looking at it. I don't know what this looks like. I don't know if I can continue to do this, but this is where I'm going to go. And once I made that commitment, I feel like God's always protected me, right?

He's always provided for me. He's always taken me there. So to answer your question, you have to work hard. You get going, right? Then you start selling stuff. People see what you're doing, and they get interested in what you're doing. And I think more than just the art, I think people are, like even yourself, you've said, just the process and the performance, you see that.

It's intriguing to people. Yeah. I mean, the radical podcast, you know what I mean? When I think about it, even though it's me and I do it from people's perspective, it's pretty radical, right? It's a pretty cool thing to be able to do. And I've done it from the biggest arenas in the world, you know, some of the biggest arenas in the world to, you know, a small little party with five people. people. Yeah.

Those are more nerve-wracking, though. The five people versus... Do you feel like every stroke is under... Like, one person's looking at each stroke? Yeah, every little thing. So, you know, and then once you keep going, it just happens. But to give you a little example of that, like I did a... I did a painting on a yacht.

It was Rick Hendry's yachts, like a $100 million yacht, right? So this guy named Clint Boyer, NASCAR driver, called me up one day and he said, man, I want to do something nice for this buddy of theirs, which he does very well. I won't say his name, but I guess a billionaire, and what do you get a billionaire, right? So he's like, I figured I'd call you.

I'm going to get him Jared Emerson. I'm like, that's a good tagline. What do you get a guy that already has everything? Get a me, we'll do a painting and just have fun, right? There's some truth to that. Yeah, so he was like, man, we're going on the shot, you know, so-and-so's coming, so-and-so's coming. So I would end up being on the yacht. I'm there, and Guy Fierre was there, Emerald Lagassee was there, Clint and Jimmy John.

So I'm like, these guys have done some big stuff, but they're all food guys, right? Right. They were cooking catfish on the side. They were like, Jared, can we help you with your canvas and stuff? And I'm like, no, but I'll take some of that catfish. Which was an amazing experience. But in doing that, I was a nervous wreck. I'm on this yacht.

The crew was freaking out. But I'm trying to prepare. So I had to paint a logo, and then I had to paint, I think I painted Jimmy John's kids. So the kids are there. Three kids. I got to paint them with my fingers. It's kind of dark out. We're on a yacht.

And I'm like nervous wreck. But I just get into it, right? And literally two, three feet away, or probably five feet away to the side. Emerald's just sitting there, you know, and didn't move, didn't move at all. He was just so intrigued by seeing that paint being moved with the finger. Like, it was just crazy. And every once in a while I'd be like, bam, just playing. But talk about nerve-wracking experiences.

How did it turn out? But also it was great. I think it turned out great. You know, I'm always a skeptic on myself. I wanted to be a little better of this, but they loved it. It turned out great. Clint was happy. and it was just a pretty neat experience of how you can go from some of these big things.

It was a big thing, but it was a small group of people. Right. And a little more intimate. So you get to meet people in those settings as well, which is pretty cool. I know you've painted, you know, we talked about Carson Wentz and doing the shoes now, but Jerry Rice, you want to talk about, let's talk about some of the other athletes you've been around. So, yeah, Jerry Rice, actually, the BMW program. O'am, I don't know, this was, I don't know, nine years ago, 10 years ago, maybe 11.

Right. I don't know, it's been a minute, but I think my first athlete I painted, performed that was there watching was Jerry Rice. And it was pretty cool because just this past year we did a cruise ship with the 49ers. So I do a lot of different cruise performances from K-Love, 49ers, Steelers, Green Bay Packers. We're trying to get more teams to do some different things. but it's been pretty neat just to meet a lot of these guys. But Jared was just on the 49ers crew,

so I did another painting with him. And, you know, when you think of the greatest of all time in a sport, he's the name you think of when he comes to football and wide receivers, right? Yeah. When you think of quarterbacks, you think of what, Joe Ameth, you think of Brady, you know, Tom Brady. Yeah. You probably think of a bunch of others.

I don't want to upset anybody out there. Yeah. You got a lot of guys. that are amazing. So just having conversation with these guys, I think as an artist in my creative process, like I think of what they do. And I actually watched a movie.

I think it was Jerry's in it, Wayne Gretzky and someone else. But they're talking to them about the aspects of sports and what makes you great at what you did. And I think each of those guys would probably tell you, I don't think I was great, right? Like I wasn't the fastest, I wasn't the strongest, I wasn't this. But what I was is I worked at my craft, right?

Like Jerry told me his dad used to throw him bricks and he'd catch bricks. And then he told me that he would, at night in the dark, he would just toss the football up and catch it, toss it up and catch it. So he understood the feel of the ball. Wayne Grisky, if you watch this portion, he talks about as a kid, he would watch the hockey game on TV, right? And he would just follow, he would get a pad of paper and a pen, and he would just follow the puck, and just follow the puck

where it went through the whole game. And then at the end, he would look at the scribbles, and where he had the most scribbles, that's where the puck is the majority of the time, right? I'm listening to this going, that's pretty cool. Like when you think of the creative aspect to that, so he figured out, okay, this is where the puck goes. And he'll tell you I wasn't the fastest.

I wasn't strong, but based on angles and everything else, I know where the puck's going to be, and even though I'm probably not the fastest, based on the angles, I'm going to get to the puck faster. I'm going to know how to get to the puck. And he said, probably my greatest strength was my creativity. And so as an artist, I truly wholeheartedly believe that your creativity

will get you very far. Albert Einstein, right? One of the greatest quotes to me, he said is creativity is far better than knowledge. I'm sorry, not creativity. He said imagination is far better than knowledge. Right. Which imagination, when you take,

not saying knowledge isn't good, because knowledge is everything, right? But when you take the imagination and expand that knowledge, what can it do? Yeah, knowledge can be learned. Creativity and imagination is unique to an individual. Right, right. So, you know, as an artist,

It's that imagination, creativity that you continue to build inside of you and then let it out is what really, I think, impacts people, impacts yourself too in the process. Because you might, like, I might be in a studio one day and just be like scribbling or thinking of something or trying to figure something out. And then it's like, it clicks. And I'm like, whoa, like this is good. And then there's other times where I'm like, man, I'm so frustrated. I can't think of anything.

So I find things that inspire me And a lot of things that inspire me Are First of all, God inspires me to just keep Working hard But also Music, I listen to all kinds of music So it just depends sometimes in my mood

You like Kanye's new album? I do, actually, I do Yeah, I... Talking about God, I mean, what a switch he's made Yeah, it's a big switch And you know I think first of all As a Christian you want to

you want to believe that he's real with it and everything else, and I think it's huge. And I think he is. I truly think he is. And, you know, we all have our own, I think, ways of living life and how we do things. But, yeah, I think it's pretty cool. But, yeah, the albums, I bump it a little bit in the studio.

Yeah. Here and there. I'm enjoying it. We play it here a lot at the offices. So lots of inspiration. You've had so many. opportunities and you know now the doors that have been open talk what's been your there's a favorite if there's a or like you know some of the opportunity you know the people

you've met the things you've done are on like lots of people's bucket list but like but for you personally what's been like I don't know if I'd say there's a favorite and and or maybe one that sticks out more than others like I was telling you when I go through my phone or I'm looking at different pictures like then I just keep scrolling and scrolling I'm like well I forgot I did that or I forgot. I did this. There's not a specific moment. I was on this tour called Winter Jam in 2014,

and that was pretty epic because you're pretty much in front of crowds over, I think, over the period of time. It was a three-month tour, four or five nights a week. You know, arena sold out all over. We did the Georgia Dome. Rest in peace to the Georgia Dome, since it's not there anymore.

But, you know, just doing that, it was very impactful. and I think it was just an experience for me that I'll never forget. I'd love to do it again sometime if they want to have me back, but we'll see. But just even that aspect of maybe even taking on where we do a segment where it's like I do a couple paintings and just entertain people for a few moments with different genres of music and then go into the concerts, you know, with the musicians. Because everyone loves to go to a concert and feel that.

inspiration to me as well when you think of Kanye his new album, his old albums, when you think of his creative process, like back in the day I used to think, man, what's up with this guy? But as I've seen him go, whether it's been up or down or whatever, you know, I think he is a genius

when it comes to being an artist. Oh, yes. Right? The creative aspect. I also think of Virgil with Louis Vuitton. I mean, he started off white. Just kind of, I guess, in some aspects, the basic concepts, he kind of made new again, right?

Yeah. And I love that. I love seeing that. I know you're getting into more, like, merchandise and doing, you know, the speed painting, I think, was like... I mean, a little bit. I want to get into more, but it's just finding the right... right feel and right

collaboration with whoever like I don't make clothes or I don't make you know things but I paint like you can go to any clothing store and find paint on jeans but I mean I've been doing it for 13 years you didn't used to see that too much

unless you're painting a house right that's right yeah excellent splatter but I've always wore splatter on my pants and and we've talked to a few people about doing some stuff just never has come to fruition because I I think it's just my time. I've been traveling, I've been doing this.

I'd love to do that maybe more, collaborate with someone. But when I go on these cruises and travel to different, when we did the tours, we sell small prints of stuff and t-shirts. So right now I want to do a couple of hoodies. I got some ideas. How about a radical hood?

Come in 2020. You need some of them. Like a radical commission or something. Yeah, I can do that, no problem. I've been doing some jean jackets over the last few years. So I've gone to cruises, like I'll do, like I did the Steelers, one where I painted the gloves on the back. Like Juju, I did a few paintings like Juju and James Connor

and some mean Joe Green with the Steelers. So I painted in that jacket, and I think I had JuJu sign it. So it's in my studio. So I have different things that people come by and look at, you know, maybe buy, but some of those things I don't like to sell. I just like to show. That's got to be hard for you, I would think. With all the experience, all the people you're meeting,

you've got to be racking up some memorabilia. A little bit. I didn't used to. Like when I started, I didn't. Because I was very like, I can't want to ask someone for an autograph or a picture or whatever. And I've learned it's fine. We're all living the moment. We're in this new age of technology and everything.

right now, right here. And I think that transitions for me even with my speed painting. Like, you know, we talked about not letting people see your process, right? Versus seeing your process. Well, people, you know,

you got to paint fast if it's in front of people and say, get bored. You know, you got to do it fast. And it's the same with, same with, you know, technology. it's everyone's just hands-on and just going going going I forget where we were going with that but no I was about memorabilia and different things yeah in how many how large your attic's going to have to be eventually you're yeah so I didn't used to do it but now I have like

Carson sent me in Jersey sign it just very nice just signed it and said some nice things to me on there so different ones Jerry Rice so I have a painting I did a I did a I did a of him for myself. So he signed that of a few others. Me and Joe signed a Coke bottle for me. Nice. And he signed my jersey. I painted in and stuff.

So I could Steelers fans that come in a studio and they're like, what? But see, I grew up in Michigan. I'm a Detroit Lions fan, you know? Painful. And I never liked the Steelers, and the main reason was because they won all the time, right? So actually, this first cruise I did with the Steelers,

this is kind of funny story, but they're like, Joe, want to do a Q&A with you, you know, with all the fan base and we'll have some players there. And I'm like, they're not going to want to do a Q&A with me. They're like, they're here to see these athletes. They're like, you'll paint a few times first, so they'll see you. Yeah, some people will show up. So I was like, all right.

Well, they showed up. There's a packed room. There's about five or six players that came out. And so they're like, all right, let's get this going. So I got up there, introduced myself. Jared Emerson from Perry, Michigan. I'm a hardcore Detroit Lions fan. And everyone's looking at me like, what the heck did he just say?

And a couple people were like, boo. And I said, listen, I just wanted to, before I get into Q&A, like I just have a question for everyone here. And again, full house Pittsburgh Steelers fans. I said, I've always wondered from the bottom of my heart, like, what is it like to actually win? And right then they were like just blew up, you know? And then you had stroked their ego,

hey, what's it like to be the winning this team in history? Crushed the ice. Yeah. Melted it. Right. So, you know, I think that's part of being a fan of a team that's never really want anything, right? You have to suck it up and still support them and what they do, but still be happy for

these other teams. So I grew up hating the Steelers, but now having a, you can say, maybe an affection for them because I've got to meet a lot of their players and current and former. even Mike Tomlin, I did a painting in Pittsburgh with him that I did and just meeting these guys and just, and that's the thing. When people say, what's your team? I mean, Lions are my team. But like I root for Carson to be the best quarterback he can be.

I root for his team to try to win another Super Bowl. You know, Dwayne Allen, he played. He just won a Super Bowl with the Patriots last year, I think he was with Miami. I'm from Clemson. Yeah. great guy, love him to death, and, you know, you want to see these guys do well what they do. And if they don't do well, you just want to be there for them and let them know that you love and care of them no matter what.

And then when they're on their highs, you want to let them know that, hey, I don't need to be there with you, but, you know, I'm proud of you and, you know, keep it up, keep doing what you're doing. So I'm probably more of a player fan now versus a team fan because, you know, you get to know some of these guys and just want to see them do well. Like I love James, James Connor, like a great guy. I mean, he's overcome some with cancer and everything and doing what he's doing. I got a lot of admiration for him, and he's a young guy, and, you know, it was an honor

to do a painting of him, and I got to let him know of that. Like, it was more an honor for me to paint him with his fans than anything, so that's pretty neat. What's the future hold? I mean, where are we headed? I know that's a loaded question, but... It's very loaded. But, I mean, if you're guiding the ship,

where are you taking it, you know? You know, riding the wave? I mean... You know, I think you continue riding the waves, but you're also looking for the bigger waves, right? Yeah. You're also looking for the biggest thing. To me, the ultimate thing for me is like...

And take this the way I'm saying it is, the goal is the Super Bowl, right? Yeah. That's the biggest event in the world. Well, I guess they say Maybe to us Americans I think it's in the top five In the world

And in the U.S. It's one A, B, and C Yeah, so you have You have that as Hey, so that's the ultimate Yeah, I'd love to paint there If someone else does it or some other artists You know, that's fine

But that's the goal It doesn't mean I actually have to do it But if I did it, it would be the biggest thing and you on stage at the Super Bowl. Like, I mean, I see it. Jesus is king, busting out Jesus. How wonderful would that be? Kanye, if you're listening or your handler.

Let's do it. That would be epic. It would be. And that could be done in a way where it's just, you know, a beautiful setting. So that's there, right? You put that up in the air. You put that out to the, you know, prayers to God. And if it happens, it happens.

If it doesn't, it's no big deal. But back to when I told you, like, you have hopes and dreams as a kid, right? But then I believe God's transitioned those to something different. So I've been able to live out those dreams that I wasn't able to. So once you live out those dreams, then you set new goals, new dreams. Right? So I think that's the wave I'm on right now is I'm looking for those are bigger waves of, okay, what do I do and how do you impact people. And part of it is coming up with new ideas and concepts.

Like you can, I mean, I get artists and athletes that send me videos of different people they saw online or whatever. And, you know, for me as an artist, I usually pick apart, right, the videos. Right. It's the time lapse, okay? How long was that time lapse? Do you see it move and change, you know? So to me, I'm like, hey, I just did this painting in three minutes or five minutes or eight minutes. But you time lapse that, you can time lapse that in 10 seconds, right?

Yeah. the beauty of these things, right? So for me, I'm always a skeptic on something, but I think a lot of videos are cool. So I kind of think the same way with me, like when people see a video of me, and they're like, is that real? Like, does that really happen?

So part of me is, like, coming up with a concept for a cool video, right, to do. One thing I started doing... I know a company that does... Yeah, some good stuff. I need to check a lot. Shameless plug. but it's coming up with the concept and ideas to do the video right right yeah and the biggest

thing for me is usually time because I'm always going I'm always doing things and and I'm a big believer and you know people want to hire you for something you do it and you stick with it if something bigger comes along finish I'm booked yeah I'm booked I can't right um something like the Super Bowl came up we maybe might be able to work something out I don't know but but it's it's it's just you know continually moving forward is what I'm I think I'm trying to do thinking of new things and like I said videos and ideas of what to paint I was going to say this so two years ago I started painting on glass right it's like an acrylic so I'm actually facing the crowd they're watching me and I

paint something almost that's interesting I haven't seen that so I have an art show every year it's in September this year it's September 24th coming up to 2021, I mean 20, sorry. I'm getting a year ahead. 2020, so September 24th, I believe. So I do art show here locally at Zen. Yeah, I was there for this. Right, what did you think?

It was all right. I didn't watch my painting, though. Oh, you know. Listen, I, you use it as, here's the thing. If I'm on a jack-up of a painting, it's going to be my own show because I have control, I can do whatever I want, right? Yeah. But if someone's paying me to do something, I'm going to make sure I do it right and get it right.

But it was fun. It was fun. I thought it was good. We moved right to the next painting, right? So just throwing that out there. If everyone thinks that I'm just perfect every time, I'm not. Yeah. But I want to see that.

You're going to do acrylic next year maybe? Yeah, well, the year before, which you probably missed. I missed. I did Aretha Franklin on glass. Okay. And the year before that, I did a Frank Sinatra. Okay. So it's pretty neat to see because it's almost like it's transformed yourself in the air,

and I'm in between. It's very tough to do because, you know, if you focus on the crowd, then your space gets blurry. If you focus on what you're doing, the crowd gets blurry. So you can still see everyone and what's going on.

But it can also be fun too because you can play with it a little bit. Right. But I'd like to do something with that, maybe multiples and, you know, some of the things I do, it just takes production. So it's figuring that out as well.

Where can people find you? So if someone's listening, they want to hire you, someone wants to go learn more. You've got the website. Where can they find out of the wall. Right now I'm sitting here in Radical, Radical Studio here in Greenville. Where can they digitally find you?

So digitally, Instagram is The Jared Collection. I need some more followers. So I usually post, I probably don't post as much as I should, but I usually put a lot of stories on here and there. But Instagram is one where you can see different things and multiple stuff that I do. So I go from, you know, maybe a video here and there to showing a painting or just something I'm doing for an event that I'm at.

But Instagram is my main, probably my main thing I'm kind of using now. But my website's the Jared, not the Jared, it's Jaredemerson.com. Facebook's just Jared Emerson. Art reaches everyone. It's my business slogan, because I believe art does reach everyone. Because art isn't everything from this table to our clothes to this microphone, It's building... This conversation.

Yeah, it's an art form. Yeah. And I think art reaches and touches people in so many different ways. So, yeah, that's where you can find me. And I live in Greenville, South Carolina. My studios right here, right downtown, down the street. Available worldwide? Available worldwide, yep.

So I've actually been to India, China, almost every state in the U.S., except for Hawaii. have not painted in Hawaii, which we're working on. Yeah. So if you got any ideas? I got some ideas there. I have a couple friends that are there, actually. Nice.

So we can work on that. All right. But man, I really appreciate you coming on. Oh, man. I appreciate you having me. You know, I know knowing you for a couple of years, consider you a friend and respect to admire, you know, your passion for art and Christ and, you know,

everything that you're doing both in the world and locally. Appreciate it. Yeah, man, I think people are going to love this episode. I hope so. Listen, if you get some time, go home, throw some paint. You never know what might happen. But yeah, just, you know, if I encourage your listeners, just keep dabbling, keep pushing, keep creating, keep being creative, take that imagination to the next level,

because this day and age we need more of that versus just looking at our phones. You know, we need some boom, boom, boom. Yeah, can't agree more. Well, we really appreciate Jared Emerson coming on today. Go check out him at all of the places that he said. That's it for today on the Radical Company podcast. See you. Peace.