Sheer Creativity
Step into the chill vibes of Sheer Creativity, your go-to laid-back podcast about creatives for creatives! Immerse yourself in dynamic conversations, insightful interviews, and performances, all centered around the creative experience. With me, Laraya, as your guide, we'll blend special guests, personal development nuggets, and engaging creative content to inspire and motivate you on your artistic journey.
Sheer Creativity
Creating a Coming of Age Podcast with Host Justin Alexander
In today's episode, I talk with new podcaster Justin Alexander about the One Way Vision podcast, what excites him about creativity, and more.
One Way Vision Linktree: https://linktr.ee/onewayvisionpodcast
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Welcome everybody to the Sheer Creativity Podcast. The podcast about creatives for creatives. And today I have the creator and host of the One Way Vision podcast, Justin Alexander. Well, usually I like to talk about creativity on this podcast. So my first question for you is, tell me more about you and do you view yourself as a creative person?
Justin:Okay, so, well, first things first. My name is Justin. You know, I'm 20. I turned 21 next Sunday. I was born, and you know, I was born in, um, Baltimore, Maryland, but I grew up in Durham, North Carolina. You know, I played sports. I was, I'm in a fraternity called Phi Beta Sigma, Go Mob. I'll start my senior year of college next month.
Raya:So what college do you go to?
Justin:I go to this college called UNC Pembroke.
Raya:Yeah. I have family down there. Well, I have family in like the Greensboro area. Is it, is it near that or, I don't know. Nah, it's in the state,
Justin:north. It's near the North Carolina and South Carolina border.
Raya:Okay, so Charlotte?
Justin:No, no, no. Okay. Another side. Another side. Okay. I've been, I've been Charlotte though.
Raya:Okay. That sounds like a good time.
Justin:All right, but I'm gonna answer your question about, um, do I view myself as creative? My, my bad for getting you distracted.
Raya:No, you're fine.
Justin:How I view myself as a creative is I'm able to like thrive off chaos and make adjustments. Like, I didn't really like learn how to do this until like I started working like my first ever job. Cause my first ever job was a fast food job and I had to like learn to like work with, you know, basically different people. Cause I was doing this a lot in school, but most of the times I'd rather just stay by myself. Cause you know, some people are, aren't really like trustworthy like that. So I usually just like work by myself. But then, you know, since I started working all these jobs, I've learned to like work with different people, make adjustments when necessary and stuff like that. Recently I learned how to like, plan stuff, plan. Like my creativity would be like, okay, I want to do this and do that and learn how to adjust on the fly. So yeah, that's pretty much how I view myself as the creator.
Raya:Okay, I see that. So what inspired you to start the One Way Vision podcast about your life's adventures? It seems like it's like a coming of age podcast where you're talking about different experiences you've had or different events that you've gone to and lessons that you've learned. So what was the purpose in starting that?
Justin:You know, oddly enough, originally I did not even want to do a podcast. I'm gonna be honest with you. I wanted to like do a YouTube cause around this time last year, my friends were doing YouTube and I kind of wanted to do what they're doing, but, um, I didn't have like the, I didn't have like the funds to do it and you know, I kind of just held off on that plan cause I was going through some other, other battles. So I just kind of held off on that plan and then, you know, I was on Discord. And then I had this friend who, uh, um, did a podcast on, on Spotify. I was like, alright, this sounds like something I'm gonna do. I just didn't have the time to do it. Like February, I was like, all right, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna actually start doing this. Like I've been talking about it for so long. And I was like, Hey, I just kept going with it. I was getting, uh, hate for it cuz I had this one guy that um, had it out for me and he had sent my podcast in and a bunch of like, men were trying to like come at me and stuff like that but you know, I didn't let it get to me. Obviously 24 episodes in, I'm still going. So, you know.
Raya:Yeah. So what is Discord?
Justin:It's basically like an app where you can just like talk to people from fun. Like you can join Uber servers, you can also leave Uber servers. So that's basically what it is.
Raya:Okay, that makes sense. But they didn't, why didn't they like your podcast?
Justin:I don't remember entirely what they said. It was a long time ago and I've left, I left ESSA for three months ago. Cause you know, it was just, it was just, it just became too much for me. Not cause they was hitting on my podcast, but because the guy that I told you about. And I can't really promote myself well. Cause it's like the moment I knew I was like taking it seriously. I needed it to like be in places where I could like better promote my podcast.
Raya:Yeah. And with people that actually deserve to hear about it and are interested and all those good things. What was the process like in starting one way vision? Like was it a, a simple process for you or a complex process for you?
Justin:I would say it was basically like, kind of both. I just downloaded Spotify for, for podcasters cause as I mentioned before, my friend from Discord, he put me onto the app and, but then it was like complex cause I didn't know like what direction I wanted to go with it. Cause I'm, I'm gonna tell a fun fact right now cause me and my friend, 2 years ago. Wanted to start one off sports, but he and I never had the time to do it and I kind of wanted to do my own. Cause you know, I, I like sports and I'm like, alright, do I wanna talk about this? Do I wanna talk about that? I didn't know like what direction I wanted to go in. And then, you know, just one day as I was recording I'm like alright, I'm gonna just basically start with the introduction. And then see where this has to. That's basically how it was.
Raya:Okay. And sometimes that's a great route to take because I know for me, I started out wanting to do one thing with sheer creativity, and then I realized like I'm more than just one niche. Because people are multidimensional and you wanna talk about multiple things. So it's okay to have different things that you wanna talk about within your podcast and just have it be you, you know, all sides of you that you wanna talk about. Do you think that we ever really feel grown up in the world, or will we always be growing to some degree, which is why you have different conversations on your podcast that you've gone through that you like to talk about?
Justin:Um, I feel like we're still growing to, to this world cause um, this world is evolving almost every day. There's still lessons that we still have to learn. Like, I'm gonna give you a personal example. Like I do feel grown up in some circumstances, but there's still things that I, you know, I still have to go to my parents for. There's still things that I have to go to my grandparents for, so it's like I'm still grown, but I'm still like learning along the way and I feel like everybody's still learning. We're still making adjustments as we go on with our own lives. And I feel like, well, we're never gonna like truly be grown in a way. Like we're gonna be grown in age, but we're not gonna be like grown until like we have it figured out. And I don't know when that is. I don't know when that is, to be honest with you.
Raya:Yeah, I mean, I could say for myself, I definitely don't know what I'm doing and I think that's even true for people who have children and have to become parents and they're learning at the same time that their kids are learning. Yeah, I think will also be growing to a certain degree. I like the episodes you do where you take us around North Carolina and different milestones like going on your first date. Why do you love sharing these stories and how do you hope that your audience will resonate with them?
Justin:I'm an introvert, I never was able to like, tell stories. Like, cuz this kind of goes back into like what I wanted to do, like YouTube. like I never had somebody just like randomly tell stories to. Like, When I was younger, I used to have like a journal I used to write it in, but I hated writing. I hated writing and you know, I never kept up with writing, especially since, you know, I have a laptop and we have technology. That's why I'm like, alright, I'm gonna just put this in a podcast and just tell people random stories. What was the second part of the question that, that you had asked earlier? I wanted to answer that too.
Raya:Oh yeah. How do you hope your audience will resonate with them, with your stories?
Justin:I hope that somebody is relating to the story, gets inspired by the story. Be like, okay, this, this guy's got, this guy's kinda cool. Like, okay, there's more to him that we didn't know that now we know. Cause you know, I'm like, I'm not really a person unless I get comfortable with you.
Raya:Okay. Are you an only child or do you have siblings?
Justin:I have two actually.
Raya:Okay. And it's great that you have like one week vision to like put those stories and those thoughts and those feelings into something that you can share with other people. So how have you maintained being consistent and motivated throughout the first season of your podcast?
Justin:I just basically have to keep adapting, like adapting, keep motivating myself. Like, okay, if I keep doing this, I'm going to get going to get to a certain point. Sometimes I like check my stats and be like, okay, I want to hit a certain level. Like I feel like we can top this, but I don't go in thinking, okay, I'm gonna top this. Cuz if you go in with that mindset, you're not gonna get, you're not gonna get there far. You're just, it's just gonna end up being a whole disappointment. Cuz sometimes, cuz I'm gonna be honest, I have episodes that only hit two plays, three plays and I, you know, sometimes, and I don't even let that get to me cause I'm like, alright, I'm just gonna record. And whoever likes it, likes it and you know, just keep doing that. That's basically how I stay motivated.
Raya:Yeah, and your audience will definitely find you. I have a few like loyal people that listen and over time that grows. So I also can't get caught up in like the, the two plays, three plays. Like you definitely gotta see it through. Yeah, I love that. So what are your future goals for one way, vision and beyond in your life?
Justin:I hope to, um, I hope to eventually buy a mic cause you know, I've been needing a mic. I hope to actually record, I actually hope to actually do what kind of what you're doing right now, and record on Zoom as soon as I get my camera fixed on my on MacBook. And I hope to get my own little room and turn into like a studio, record there until like, hey actually get big enough to a point where I have my own studio. So that's kind of what I plan on doing. Um, my future plans for more vision, like get more guests and get better promo for myself. Cause I feel like not a lot of people know what I have going on, but that's kind of my fault too. I try to promote it as best as I can, so it's like that's what I plan on doing, finding out how to better promote myself as, for me personally, what I plan on doing. Uh, You know, I plan on finishing up school cause you know, gotta be the first in my family even though I'm not the first. My friends do YouTube too. I plan on joining them and doing some videos too, which my friend is almost there, um, 500. So, you know, he's so close to getting paid and I plan on joining them in the future. But yeah, that's pretty much kind of what I got, what I got planned. I don't plan on staying in Durham though. I can't stay in Durham forever. Cause I feel like I'm not gonna grow. Um, what I plan on doing like at, especially after I graduated, is either moving like down to Charlotte or like a big, or like a big city somewhere in the southeast region.
Raya:Yeah. But I'm excited for you. Those are all great goals. Out of the 24 episodes that you have, what are the most important lessons that you think you've learned in your life thus far?
Justin:Um, The most important lesson of life that I've learned is learned is kind of like staying patient. Um, instead of just trying to force everything, just let stuff come to me. You know, be aware. Be aware of everything. Be aware of your surroundings. Be aware of the people you're with. Um, I would also stay, stay consistent in what you're doing and don't, um, lose focus.
Raya:Okay. I like that. And my last question for you, what excites you about one way vision and being creative on your podcast? What excites you about that?
Justin:I can't wait to just do it. Honestly I have no script when I do this. I just like free, I just like freestyle off the top of my head and, you know, it just excites me. Cause like, okay, I'm just talking about this straight off the head. Even if I mess up a couple times, I'm still just doing it. Not trying to stop myself, not trying to like be hard on myself.
Raya:Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for telling us about One Way Vision and for coming on the podcast, so let everybody know where they can follow, listen, and all that good stuff.
Justin:I'm basically doing my outro on somebody else's podcast.
Raya:Yeah.
Justin:So make sure, make, make sure you follow the page. My Instagram page at One Way Vision podcast. I'm so close to 50. I'm one away, so, you know, make sure I make sure you follow. I'm also on TikTok at One Way Vision Podcast. I'm also on YouTube at One Way Vision. My Twitter is coming soon.
Raya:All right, I'll put all these links in my description so people can find you that way. Thank you for coming on.
Justin:Of course, anytime. Thank you for having me.
