3.23.2017
I’m broke as shit.
The nature of my job is inconsistent at best. I freelance, so sometimes it’s good, and sometimes it’s bad.
I haven’t made a dime in nearly two months.
It can be a real struggle in times like these. I’ve been out of town dealing with family issues when my phone has rung for any job I obviously couldn’t take. Call it bad timing, bad luck... or whatever, the point is I haven’t made a dime in months.
And I’m starting a company.
I’ve mentioned it here before, but mostly what I do for a living is dealing with the marketing departments of companies to come up with content for advertising. Of products I may or may not like. Hell, for companies I may or may not like. Regardless, it’s not at all what I want to do.
Last year some close friends and I even had an idea to start a little creative firm. We “tried”, but it obviously didn’t work out. I wanted to do it, we just had creative differences that made it seem hopeless and depressing while we were trying to make things, and then even more so once we stopped. That kind of fucked me up.
No, it did.
I was in a huge rut after that.
Ever since then I’ve had ideas, concepts, goals, and aspirations that I haven’t accomplished or even worked towards. Sometimes I would talk about certain ideas or potential projects, maybe even make half assed plans at the bar with a friend, but I never got around to actually making or working towards anything. I would just float by thinking, “Maybe next month?”.
Well, I decided to bin all that non-sense and start my own company to use as a platform for every idea I’ve ever had. I’m here, now, I don’t see the point in wasting any more time. Broke or not, I have a sense of urgency and drive that I’ve never experienced before in my entire life.
And I’m not doing it alone. In fact, I realized there are loads of talented creators with unlimited imagination and no platform to create. It’s a god damn tragedy if you ask me.
The Yin to my Yang, Kirsti Schroder, who I love to death, is my partner in this. She’s a positive-creative force to be reckoned with, who has a unique ability to control the chaotic nature of my ideas and aspirations. We have been friends for years, and I value her, her friendship and her ideas above most people on this planet. I would not have even made the first step in starting this new venture without her. We are going to do great things together.
The third piece to the initial team is Jordan Francis Perry. Jordan and I went to college together where we did not know each other. This is probably a common thing, as most students at universities don’t know every other student, but we went to a tiny fucking school in an even smaller town. I met Jordan at a Seahawks bar in Hollywood. I recognized his roommate, James. “Oh, I think we had some class or something together”. All that shit. We all exchanged numbers and said we’d hang out, but never really did outside of the bar. But guess what? Jordan and I are both of fans of alcohol and the Seahawks. It was inevitable we would become such close friends. Also, Jordan and James were making ridiculously funny shorts on Instagram, which is how I was introduced to Jordan’s talents. Fun-fact about Jordan: He may be one of the most self- deprecating people I’ve ever known, but his insight into the world around him and at large is unique, refreshing, honest, and beautiful. We are going to do great things together.
So what’s the plan? What is this company? What are my ideas? I’ve noticed some people have a difficult time explaining it.
In short:
It’s a creative-firm and boutique media company.
Yeah, it sounds sort of douchey to me too unless I explain it further.
The first step has been recruiting anyone like us. Anyone who feels like their soul is being sucked away by doing dog shit for a living while a fire in their gut is telling them to create something of substance.
What ideas do they have? How can we help make that happen? What can they do?
We’re using every resource and talent we have to accomplish other people’s goals in order to develop a solid collective. Someone wants to make a fashion film that fits within our world? Let’s make it. Someone needs to a platform to launch their passion project? We’ll give them that.
The idea is to make things. Original things. New things. Things that deserve to be made.
We’re working with clients, bands, small businesses, clothing companies and whoever else to make quality content that fits within our “world”. We make dope shit for people who like the things we create. The ability to say “No” to someone or something I don’t think fits within the creative dimension, direction or aesthetic is key. My soul will be in tact by the work I create. There’s no #blessed around these parts.
As of right now, we’re making a billion different things. I’ve never been busier in my life, and I’m currently not making a dime. The initial costs of birthing multiple new ventures under the umbrella of this one company have been and will be great. Which is exactly how the name was developed; Broke Kids.
Ideally the name will eventually become an ironic reminder of the present.
Or an unfortunate, but accurate reason for why I become homeless.
Either way, I’m going to make dope shit.
-Matthew Bleeds