All Schnaidt Long: with Mike Schnaidt

25:40Yeah. Say salad, chicken cutties. Yeah. Stuff like that. So. Yeah. No, I think that is what I think people love about her. She cooked you a meal. Yeah. She did not cook me a meal. I wish she did. But yeah, I think people like that side of her. That's like, yeah, she's she's not perfect. She's not a perfect chef. And she's not, you know, sort of she's not a perfect on air personality. And she's just being herself. Yeah. I think everyone can learn from that because people don't love perfection. People are emotionally connected with imperfection. Yes. Other people in the book, Sagi Aviv, sort of a designer partner, Sharmayoff, Kaismer Aviv, designer of the US Open branding and then the new Warner Brothers logo, not the new one.

26:21Remember Pentagram did that one. Then there was the new new one. That was the one they did. Any Sagi stories? because he's a legend in his own right. He is a legend. We talked about his branding for Conservation International. Okay. And he was talking about how they had to rebrand the logo, which was this really ornate logo with a tree and a monkey hanging out of the tree. And he said that the client was just obsessed over keeping this monkey in. And so they wanted to kind of just create this really modernist logo, the logo that it's turned out to be, which is just a blue circle and a green line.

26:57Or did I get that backwards? You got it. You nailed it. I nailed it. Okay, good. So they just wanted something super modernist, the complete opposite of that. And they spent about a half of a year trying to convince the client to buy this modernist logo. Sure. And the client just kept saying, I want the monkey. I want the monkey. I want the monkey. So then they came back to them and showed them this video clip of like a jungle scene and a monkey in it. And they placed their modernist logo on top of the video. and it kind of hit, it struck an emotional chord with the client where they said, you know, like, we'll take it.

27:30So it was kind of like the takeaway there was like you can present like a rational case for a design, but sometimes you just have to present an emotional case and just pull at some of these heartstrings and find what they're interested in or what, you know, what kind of gets their heartbeat in. Yeah, I mean, monkeys rule. I was going to say, you should have gone with the monkey. Yeah. Circle and line. I would have went with the monkey. Yeah, it sounds like they were right there. Any other interviews of note in the book? I mean, anyone else that Kevin and I would be excited to hear more about? I didn't realize you interviewed quite so many people.

28:05It's amazing. I interviewed a lot of people. Yeah. I'm trying to think who else you guys would be interested in. You guys don't like running, though. I hate it. I'm curious. You're curious about running? I'm curious about running. What do you like, Kevin? Running curious. I like skiing and biking. Okay. He's also a killer chef. Yeah, good chef. He's known for the kitchen. I interviewed an Olympic gold medalist in Nordic Combined Scheme. Oh, yeah, I saw that. Billy DeMond. Yeah, my research. In your research? Yeah. Kevin does a lot of research. Does he? He does. Yeah, cool. How do you think I know anything that I'm talking about here?

28:36Oh, that's perfect. Mike Schneid. So Billy told me this story about how doing running training to become an Olympic gold medalist, he would just put a post-it note on the wall in front of his treadmill with a dot on the post-it note. note and just run for three hours and stare at the note and completely just blank out in his mind. And I was like, holy shit, dude, that sounds incredibly boring. But then in that conversation, he made a distinction between like, he said, boring is good, but boring and meaningless is bad. But boring and meaningful is important. So like when we're sitting there and writing for hours on end, could be boring at times.

29:15But when I thought about, okay, well, what's the meaning behind this right and it kind of goes back to impact right what's what's the impact i'm gonna make then that puts boring in a whole new perspective so i think that that really kind of put the whole running thing or connected running and creativity for me nice yeah you know how i never get bored how uh my computer in my pocket that i carry around uh put it down i think yeah i want to talk about uh screen time because i do think that's one of the main things i think that is really, you know. Yeah, you're putting up numbers. I'm putting up numbers, screen time.

29:46I'm getting a little bit under control. I am addicted, but I'm down to 14 hours a day. Does that sound good? No, you need more. Oh, okay. 20 hours, yeah. Don't sleep less. Look at your phone more. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that's possibly the biggest challenge to burnout that I think a lot of us feel is that connection always, you know, even when we're off the clock, as Kevin says, you know, put down bad screen, pick up the good screen. What's the good screen? The phone. Like, this is the bad one, the work one. And then you pick up the bad one. The fun one. The fun one. Or Netflix. That's another fun screen.

30:20Any thoughts on screen time and burnout and how any of this is hurting our endurance? I mean, I think boredom is good, though. When you put down your phone and you force yourself not to look at it, you hit that point when you're like, you feel uncomfortable. But then when you get past that point, you go out for a walk and you get bored and you start dreaming and you start thinking about, okay, what can I actually do? Like, that's kind of how the book came about. It's just like, you know, a little bit of like boredom with like, okay, you know, I've been doing this job for, you know, working in publishing for X number of years and also just like, you know, what do I do next?

30:53And giving yourself the space to think about, like, what can I actually do with myself? That's cool. That's, yeah, that's, that's a fucking good idea. Wow. Being bored? Being bored. Did you see on TikTok actually someone, said, hey, I have a recommendation for you guys. I think you should go outside and walk around, but don't bring your phone and don't listen to it. Yeah, it's a good recommendation. I like it. Everyone was like, did Gen Z just invent walking? It's been around for a little while. But it's true, though. Podcasts and stimuli. Literally, sometimes when I don't even have my headphones, I'm walking home and I have an eight-minute walk.

31:32I'm like, what do I do? and I just like watch TikTok with the volume as you're walking walking to the street yeah because I think like yeah I'm addicted I'm gonna admit it and this is part of what's leading to my burnout is if I'm not working I'm looking at my phone if I'm not looking at my phone I boot up Netflix if I'm not looking at Netflix then Hulu and if not Hulu Paramount Plus and if not Paramount Plus then YouTube TV and if not YouTube TV then TV and if not TV read a book read Creative Endurance wow what a plug what a plug put down the screen read the book stuck to landing wow wow i see what you're uh putting up um yeah no i mean honestly uh it is it's an important topic and i think we're just kind of hitting the surface of it of like in in terms of uh this this this modern age of working and another thing that i think about sometimes i would love to get your thoughts i'm just i'm a patient in your in your office yeah Dr.

32:26Mike. Yeah. Dr. Mike. Dr. Schneid, which sounds real. Just talking about my syndromes and the things that I think about that are preventing me from feeling joy. Do you not feel joy? I mean, sometimes. You seem like a joyful guy. No, I do feel joy, but I do feel tired. And I feel tired in my brain in a way that I don't think I felt before. Do you feel gratified, though? I'm 39, so I'm right at the cusp of hitting that 40 mark. Bleep that out, Kevin. Don't put that on the show. But I do think I'm feeling limitations in my brain in a way that I've never felt. I always typically run off of a fuel of general optimism and passion and joy for what I do.

33:11And I can get excited about most products. Kevin will tell you that. True. If a client comes to me, they want to launch anything, a restaurant, a fucking Tylenol. Who cares? You know, I'm here for it. I can get excited about it. But I think one of the challenges or I've felt this year is this new way of working. And I was actually talking about this to my family because the change in Zoom work culture versus the culture that you and I grew up in, which is physically in an office. And if we had a meeting, it was either in that office or we'd go somewhere else to present work. And, you know, these days, if you look at my schedule, Mike, Dr.

33:56Schneid. I would love to see it. It's fucked. It's fucked. It's fucking fucked. And it's like coming from, you know, because I'm trying to, you know, leave a little bit earlier. But from 10 to fucking 6, I am back to back to back to back. And sometimes it's presentation. Then boom, turn off the Zoom, leave Zoom, go to next Zoom, which is a new business meeting. Go to the next meeting. It's a creative review. Go to the next meeting. It's a brainstorm. Go to the next meeting. it's a planning meeting, it's like, it's nonstop. And I could be working, you know, much more efficiently and much more productively in the hours of the day.

34:29But it's not leading to endurance. I have a feeling that I might not be able to last that long. What do I do? I mean, I think it's also important to look at your career from a longer point of view and to realize that like, you know, life is going to be very busy at a certain point in your career, but things are going to slow down. Right. So like to appreciate the fact that like, you've got this much work now, but like, you know, I mean, I, I know that, you know, for me, I'm not going to have the same amount of work in 10 years or the same amount of like magazine work, same amount of design work.

35:02Um, so I think about it, like, you know, I will work intensely for this period of my life, but you know, knowing that like in, you know, probably in my fifties, things will slow down and, and I will appreciate that slow down, but you don't use, you know, you're saying you're tired, but you still seem very gratified. You seem, you seem energized. And I think that it's just a character. It's not. That's a real smile. I do love this. And, uh, just because I like hearing myself talk into a microphone. Um, that's the only reason why. That's another element for another show. Uh, yeah, um, that, that is a good way to think about it.

35:36And I do think, um, I haven't gotten that advice from people like, just put your head down and, you know, like kind of grind for a little bit and, you know, that's bad advice for you yeah i mean that person honestly people need to be telling you he wrote a book he's on the back cover of your book but i won't name who he is but um no it's like sometimes there are moments like obviously starting a company or writing a book they're like key moments in your life of like well listen this isn't going to be a time for it to be chill it's just not it's just you know i'm still in the startup phase of a company and you know whether if you're writing a book like you're not in working a full-time job at a magazine like it's not going to be time to put the feet up and And, you know, kick it on a lounger in Hawaii.

36:14You got to find your moments, though. You can't just be fucking grinding for five years. Not with that attitude, Kevin, man. I'm fucking, I'm out here. Grinding, hustling, working hard, dedication, perseverance, sweat, running the marathon of life. Yeah, it's about balance. But a balance. But with balance and going outside and running, the two things are right there. Can we talk about magazines? Sure. Because you seem to like magazines a lot. I mean, I've been there. What do you like about working for magazines, being sort of in publication and working in print? Well, first off, I don't just work in print.

36:43I work online, too, events, social media, so the whole thing. But what I like about magazines in general is it's fun. It's like making a piece of art every single issue. I loved comics as a kid, so I kind of feel like to some degree I'm still making comics. I always loved sequential storytelling. What I love about a magazine is it's like you're holding it and we've got your – hopefully have your attention on this magazine or this book for a certain period of time. I mean, I thumbed through it real quick because this is my first time laying eyes on it. We had a little mishap with the book arrival.

37:17Yes. It's very editorial and it always blows my mind just how much stuff is going on. In this book in particular? Well, like editorial layout. There's just so much to look at and guide you around. Yes. It's almost like another form of storytelling. I mean, I thought, you don't usually use the term user experience when you're talking about print, but I thought a lot about the user experience with this book. and it was actually more like I designed it. I designed a format for the book and wrote into that format because I would write to the point where, okay, a reader is going to be bored here. If I'm bored here, then that's where I need to cut it off.

37:50So it was like the stories are all super condensed because I wanted people to read it the same way that Alex is. Yeah, I mean, he's just flipping through. I mean, you have activities in there. There's activities. There's stuff to do. There's stuff to do. Yeah, I mean, you keep it pushing in that book. It's great. Feedback from the client. Fill out the client. Push it. you know sort of yeah yeah it's like salt and pepper yeah i love it it's so good um uh yeah sold uh sent to print look how engaged Alex yeah that's what the client that's what the clients always say to us um no it's it is true like um there's an art to uh sort of storytelling especially in print and it's very clear in from your book like you look at it looks uh you know you see the Fast Company in it.

38:33If you're a reader of Fast Company or you're sort of familiar with it, you talked about sort of social sort of engagement. How involved are you in the sort of, yeah, the day-to-day of the grind of posting on all the different platforms? Because I imagine that's got to be quite a, you know, quite a challenge, right? Fast Company, I would imagine is quite active on all platforms. Yes. And has got a post probably seems like every day or at least, you know, quite often. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's that like managing that? I manage a lot. I do a lot with Instagram because, you know, I think for me, Instagram is, you know, it's so connected to the visual community.

39:12So we plan out all of our Instagram posts a week in advance. And, you know, my team will put together a whiteboard of, okay, here are the posts, here's the order we're going to do the posts in, which kind of feeds into the editorial principle of pacing, right? So we don't want to have a bunch of portrait photos in a row, a bunch of illustrations in a row. But also like, you know, on a longer timeline, thinking about endurance with, you know, what that relates to is like Instagram is important to me. So that's where I put my energy. Sure. There are other platforms like, you know, things that we put on Twitter or TikTok are a little less important to me because it's such a fast moving train that like if I try to manage it all, my head's going to blow up.

39:49But you guys are the fast company. We are the fastest company. You've got to move fast. I'm picking what's important to me. And I think that that's important too, is to put a lot of your energy into something that's important to you, whether it's Instagram, a book, a particular client, and then some other clients maybe. That's good advice, I think. Get all of Alex. The fastest way to burn out or to go from a creative profession and a job that you love to a job job, that's the way I describe it, is if you're truly working on something that doesn't excite you in a way. And I think that there's privilege in that or there's, you know, not everyone can be like, I don't want to work on this because I like this.

40:24But I do think there's like, to your point, like you, you have, there's something inside of you that enjoys Instagram or posting. I feel the same way where I'm like, oh, I want to post this on Instagram. And then, uh, the, the young people tell me, Alex, uh, you know, we're, we're slacking on TikTok. We got to, you know, it's gotta be on this other platform. And I'm like, I don't know how to use it. So, um, so I don't care about it. So therefore I don't care, but now I do care because I'm slowly figuring it out and also realizing how important it is. But I do think that is part of it like if you're working at a job and i think it's very easy to say but very hard to do but it's like if you are truly not even in design doing design at a company or something that or with people that you feel um is isn't uh lighting you up in that way yeah it is probably the quickest way to uh feel bad about what you're doing and it will turn into a grind a grind and i I think that's really important.

41:18Again, not easy just to, you know, work on awesome, fun projects all the time and do things that you love. But I do think it's important to be aware. I always tell this to young students. I don't teach, but I mentor, like, write the list of, like, what the dream jobs are or the place, things you love outside of work, right, or outside of design. Because, like, you know, Kevin loves skiing and he loves cooking and he loves football and stuff like that. I would say, well, then maybe try to get a job in copywriting in sports or try to get one in Bon Appetit or things like that that are things that you are actually into as a person and then sort of find that way.

41:59Fast Company, obviously, probably the most established, I would say, voice in business and design and everything in between. Thank you. Congratulations. You did it. Yeah, you did it. Yeah, you did it. I'm the fastest. so you're the fastest do you guys have like end of the year superlatives who's the fastest no we don't do that maybe you should how do two podcasters apply to get on the cover just just asking for friends or people out there that may host a podcast a creative one about you know the design world and you know just like how do we how do we get how do we get more our faces how do we get some more face time in this fast companies can you plug my book again oh it's creative endurance the 56 56 rolls.

42:44I didn't land on 56. Yeah, I saw you had 48 on one of your drones. It was an old version. An old version. Where did the 8 more come from? He didn't think he could go that long and then he was like, I got 8 more, right? I got 8 more. Yeah, it's just so much endurance. Yeah, they thought you couldn't be done. They thought I only had 48. Yeah, they thought he was done. He was like, I got a few more. Do you want a real answer? Yeah. That is a real question. I like the way 56 looked on the cover too. Five and six is a cool number. Yeah. I mean, you could have won for 60, but you know, listen, I'm not here to critique.

43:22Creative Endurance available now or not available January 16th, but who knows when this interview will come out. Last question. I, you know, I want to talk about men's health. Okay. What was it like working with so many buff designers? Is that everyone there incredibly ripped? Everyone thought that it was like men's health to be with a bunch of like shirtless dudes walking around the office. That's what I picture. Yeah, no, it wasn't. I think it was just a bunch of average people there. I can't give you a really satisfying answer. I will say that I was on set with Mark Wahlberg. Oh, yeah. I was a stand-in for Mark Wahlberg before he went to the cover shoot.

43:54Oh, Flex Award. That should be in your bio. No big deal. Can you revise my bio, please? Do you know about Mark Wahlberg's schedule, talking about endurance? No. Well, he gets up at like 3.30. Yes. His fake schedule. His fake schedule. Gets up at 3.30, plays golf, goes to bed at 6 a.m. I mean, yeah. That is insane. Yeah. 2.30 a.m. Wake up. That is a ridiculous time to wake up. You got to stay prayed up, though. Yeah. He's big on being prayed up. He's huge on being prayed up. He prays up at 2.45. But what time does he go to bed? He goes to bed at 7.30. That's crazy. Does he really? Yeah. 3.15 breakfast.

44:29Just stay right. 3.40 to 5.15 a.m. Workout. You're waking with the sun. Then 5.30 a.m. Post-workout meal. 6.00 a.m. Shower. 7.30 golf. 8 a.m. snack. I'm calling bullshit right there. He doesn't eat snacks? Yeah. Also, golf is 30 minutes? Cryer Chamber Recovery. I guess maybe he eats a snack while he golfs. Then he does another snack at 10.30. I just love, by the time I've just really genuinely opened my eyes, he has had a full day. A full day of workout, recovery, multiple meals. Then he's got Family Time at 11. Who schedules family time? I don't know. Mark Wahlberg. Do you got kids? No. Okay.

45:12Ouch. He's like, do you have any family time? No, I don't have any kids either. That's how I I'm dedicated to work. Alex, I don't want to put you on blast, but I've seen you schedule family time. I mean, I've been trying to, you know, find my way out of this hole that I'm in, which is, you know, I do believe as a designer who has experienced burnout for a little bit and he's trying to figure it out it's like you gotta see people you gotta see the people that you love you gotta see people i mean you gotta see people not just on their phone but like in the flesh and then um yeah and and touch them i mean not too much not too much so but like as much as they would like as much as this is getting weird you know yes and then um friends also.

45:59You should reach out to them and see them sometimes. These are new concepts I'm working on. Yeah, I mean, listen, I cut all my friends loose because you don't have time for them. You got to work all the time. Do you see my fucking trophies? Yeah. I don't get trophies. Friends don't get you those trophies. No, not one of my friends has helped me get any of these trophies. You got all those friends sitting behind you, Alex. I know. That's what I'm saying. That's why I sit here at night and I'm like, good night, guys. I'll see you tomorrow. He kisses them all the way out. Yeah. Mark Wahlberg eats his second snack at 3.30 and then he works out again at 4 p.m.

46:28That's how I know this list is bullshit. Two workouts in a day? No one does that. I should have interviewed him. 5 p.m. shower, 5.30 dinner with the family time, and then 7.30 bed time. I am trying to go to sleep a little bit earlier. What time do you go to sleep? 10.30. That's good. How much water do you drink? Not enough. Not enough. Yeah. A lot of coffee. How many of those? How many of these? Yeah. Four of these. That's pretty good. Is that enough? Probably. I don't know. I noticed you have a Grubhub sticker on your, is that a Grubhub sticker? That is a Grubhub sticker. Yeah. Are you a fan of delivery?

47:00My wife works at Grubhub. Okay. So yes, we are big fans of Grubhub delivery. I am a big fan. Are you? She's going to love to hear this. Seamless is, you know, Grubhub, right? Yes. I'm putting up numbers on Seamless. I always say there should be a Seamless wrapped like Spotify. Like you ate Mexican food for 400 times, you know, like. Is that your go-to? To make it happen. No, I actually don't eat Mexican, but that's for other people. Those are other people. Mine is sushi. You eat pizza every Friday. You did six weeks in a row pizza on a Friday night. Talking to the right guy, pass along, please.

47:35What? Oh, it's a Grubhub. Yeah, Grubhub wrapped. I got more Grubhub ideas. Yeah, yeah. Grubhub wrapped. Yeah, I think. Was that a pitch right there? That's a pitch. Yeah. That was good. That's my biggest idea. That's why you have these awards. I mean, listen. Yeah. Why should Spotify get all the love with the wrapped? There's data. Yeah. Data to be used. what's another thing that Grubhub did? Oh, loyalty program points. I feel like for someone who orders so much Seamless, I feel like I'm not... You're like the gold member, right? I have a membership. I pay Grubhub Plus. Kevin, are you aware of this?

48:07Seamless Plus. You get free delivery on every order. Get 15 % off your code front and center now. Grubhub Premium? I'm on Grubhub Premium, yeah. I got Apple TV Plus, Paramount Plus, Seamless Plus. Are you getting cuts for all these name drops? No, we actually do them for the love. Oh, yeah. Sponsor the pod. Smash the like button. But yeah, no. How often do you get delivery? Once a week. Yeah. Once a week? Once a week. That's pretty good. Yeah, it's pretty good. Is that like a – do you cook meals? Is that what you do? Yeah. The other nights of the week we cook, but we get a little stipend from Grubhub to order.

48:44Oh, sick. Now we're talking. Yeah. Yeah, I'm doing like seven grow hubs a week. Are you? Yeah. Do you cook? Not enough. I also have a meal plan. That's another thing I do to make sure I'm always working. That's very Mark Wahlberg. It is very Wahlberg. I'm on Territory. First box of Territory meal plan. 10 % off. 15 % off used for promo code front and center. Territory is actually solid because you just, yeah, it's cooked and you just throw it in the microwave or reheat it on the oven. And you don't have to cook. and you can work more and screen more. That's all, you know. Yeah, that's all you want to do is you want to cook less, work more.

49:24That's right. That's your key to endurance. Seamless. Yeah. Territories. You should write a book. Yeah. It's going to be really short. Burnout, how to get there faster. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How to burn yourself, throw yourself right into the ground and win a lot of awards on the way. It'll be the most vigorous 10 pages you've ever had in your life. yeah yeah don't work out uh don't drink water uh never go outside all night yeah look at your phone yeah bite off more than you can chew uh yeah just yeah higher uh you know make sure your payroll is very high so that you have to work work work uh all the time what else do you need to do um yeah cut off your friends and family right um what else have we learned here kevin uh yes it sounds like i have like 56 more rules i can put in the next bit creative endurance 2 yeah the sequel The sequel coming out.

50:17Creative Endurance. Mike, this feels like a good time to say thank you so much for coming on the show. Is there anything you want to plug outside of your book, Creative Endurance, 56 Rules and Guidelines and Tips and Things for Achieving Your Goals and Not Doing Any Things that I recommend? Not doing anything. Don't listen to Alex. Don't listen to me unless you want to win awards, unless you want to be on stages. I mean, you can do both. Come on. Yeah. You can do both. You can fight. Balance, balance, balance, balance, balance. Balance. Okay. balance um i'm i'm searching for my center that's what i say but i know i know it's i always say uh it's like a guy named like uh peace who likes to fight people you know like uh it's an ironic last name for someone that uh struggles to fight so your your inner person is alex peace no it's alex work really hard alex burnout yeah so i'm trying to find uh uh alex uh hustle oh i like that Grit, Alex.

51:13We talk about grit in the book. Really? What do you think about grit? I love grit. I love grit. Kevin. Kevin, you like grit? He's a gritty guy. Time and a place. He's a time and a place. When? I mean, I'm a pretty gritty guy, honestly. When he hits the holes in the book. When I feel like it. Yeah. All right. Anything else to promote? Instagram, TikToks, Facebook, Twitter. Where can the people find me? People can find me on Instagram. Okay. At Schneidt, S-C-H-N-E-N-E-N-E. Wow, you got Schneidt. Good name. Nice. At Schneid. At Schneid. Yeah. And how did you get that? You just typed in my... You beat up...

51:49Yeah, beat up the other Schneids in the world. And, you know, I got Schneid. You should lock down all Schneid long. Ooh. We got an episode title right there. Creative Endurance all Schneid long. All Schneid long. Thank you guys for having me. I appreciate this. Of course. Buy the book January 16th, Creative Endurance. Yeah. And thank you for writing it. I got one last question. in your interviewing of all these legendary people, I guess what percolated to the top for you? What could you like distill from one or if not all of them? Wow. The real question I thought that was going to be. Yeah, that is a good question.

52:29Molly Baz, when we talked, she had a good piece of advice where she was talking, we were talking about like creating recipes and she said that like she can't think about the end result. Oftentimes it kind of blocks her creativity. So it's just kind of getting lost in the moment and just creating recipes based on what she's hungry for versus thinking about coming up with this perfect latke recipe or whatever. So I think the idea of not worrying so much about the end result is applicable to anything that you do, whether it's writing, designing, photography, or just being Kevin. Oh, thank you. Wow, that's beautiful.

53:01You got any other ones? He's like, that one wasn't good enough. That one was so good that I won another time. Yeah, tonight. You got to buy the book. All I heard were latkes. You got to buy the book. Latkes, latkes, latkes. and now he's on seamless ordering latkes. I had some last night. I don't want to brag. Oh, really? But yeah, it's Hanukkah. Is that a brag saying you had latkes? It's a flex in my mind. Sounds good to me. Yeah. Yeah. Give Kevin a second one before we get out of here. Give Kevin. Do you have any like. Yeah, we're trying to keep going. Any like surprises. Yeah, we got to keep going.

53:33Endurance. Endurance. Endurance, baby. You want to just keep going for hours and hours? Yeah. We got. Yeah, we got. I got 10, 100 more questions. Oh, do you? So just keep asking. What was the most surprising thing that came up in your interviews? The most surprising thing that came up? You know, at the very end of the interview process, I felt like I didn't have an end to the book. Much like this podcast. Much like this podcast. So this is going to be a perfect segue to the book. To the end of the show. Yeah, to the end of the show. And the book's already over. So I went to a coffee shop. And it's very cliche for a writer to go to a coffee shop and work.

54:10And I was kind of fighting against that because I didn't want to do that. But when I was sitting in this coffee shop, I was listening to this older gentleman kind of giving some writing advice to a younger barista. And long story short, I thought he was just like such a cool old dude because he kind of like was acting like he owned the coffee shop. And I introduced myself to him. And I was like, I really always had this goal of interviewing a stranger for my book. So he ended up being the last person I interviewed in the book. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. So his name is Russell Francis. And he, I was like, I want to interview you.

54:46This is going to sound really weird, but like, you know, we're going to have to do it tomorrow because my book is due in like three days. So he sat there, he stared at me and he said, no problem. Just don't make me look like an asshole when you interview me. And he had the most complete story of his life. He was a Vietnam vet and he was aboard a ship that was attacked. and because of that, he was an engineer. He came home. He had PTSD. He could no longer work as an engineer, so he kind of unlocked his creativity because he was like, I don't know what the hell else to do with my life, so he started painting, and he started writing, and he basically told me this whole story about how creativity is a gift, and he was the one who had – he told me at the end of that interview, after he actually wrapped his head around what the hell I was doing, he's like you know this is a really cool idea this is you know i wish i had this book when i was a kid and when i was younger i mean you know when you're 76 years old like every decade is being a kid before that so um it was kind of this validating moment for me where i felt like okay i like i made some kind of impact like i impacted this like older dude and um i also kind of like just talked to a stranger i interviewed a total stranger so it's kind of like validating in this second act as a writer.

56:05Like I can just kind of muster up the courage to just go to this, this stranger and say, Hey dude, like, can I interview you? So, you know, that in itself was kind of like, for me, that became the ending of the book and became the last rule in the book was, it's just important to make an impact in your career. Um, and that's, that was the moment where I felt like, okay, I'm, I'm making an impact as a writer, even if it's just to this, this one dude, but if I can, you know, cut through the noise to him, then that means that there are some other people out there nice it's beautiful yeah i mean i think this book can help a lot of people and i think i'm excited yeah i think it could you know sort of like you said on like a sort of second chapter for your life in terms of like i i genuinely feel like this is um one of the biggest uh issues and topics that i think people are struggling with at the moment is you know kind of that there's only so many hours in a day yes and there's just uh it seems like a never-ending amount of things to be able to do in a day.

56:58And I don't think people are able to maintain the pace that we are all working at at the moment. And I feel like it's not sustainable. And speaking personally, you've got to turn some things around. You've got to look in the mirror and say, okay, well, I'm doing this, this, and this, and this. And sometimes you know that it's not. You know it's not good for you. You know, it's not awesome that 14 hours a day on your phone is maybe a bit too many. Like, you know, you know that those things have changed, but it's like forcing yourself to make some of those changes and actually working on it. It is actually a skill to learn.

57:37And I think we need more people to teach and lead the way. So thank you for doing that. And I think that's an important part. And I do think you can have a lot of impact on a lot of people, you know, speaking for myself and everyone else out there, which is like, I do think we're all feeling this way. Yeah. And I don't think it's getting better anytime soon. So I think - Until everyone reads the book. Until everyone reads the book. The world changes. Yeah. Put down the creative act by Rick Rubin. Yeah. Don't read that. Stop trying to channel things through the universe. And - This book's way shorter.

58:12This book is way shorter and it's got way more pictures and - We love pictures. And - Activities too. And activities to do. And Rick Rubin's book doesn't even talk about, you know, the Beastie Boys or Jay-Z at all. It's just about – Or wrestling. Yeah. Like, the things you want are Rick Rubin's book to be about. Yeah, not enough people are talking about how that book sucks. I'm kidding. Woo! No, the book – Sorry. Rick Rubin, Long Island legend. I know. Long Island. Yeah, what are you throwing dart on his name, Alex? Here's my problem with Rick Rubin, and this is like – this is sad. Like, not sad.

58:42Rick Rubin was a hero of mine for a really long time. Like I'm a hip hop fan and I just always admired his philosophies on creativity and his like, yeah, just his outputs. Like the man has been behind the scenes of so much of so much work that has had such a big impact on my life. And being from Long Island, there aren't that many creative heroes there. And so I've always used him as sort of a North Star for me, really genuinely for a long time. and now he's every creative person's North Star in Brooklyn. To be seen walking around with this book is so cliche at this moment that it's like, oh yeah, you do graphic design and you like Rick Rubin and it's kind of like your favorite band getting blown up and too cool and that's how I feel about Rick Rubin.

59:31He might come back around. Which is unfortunate. Well, Alex, I know a not so – Yeah, Mike Schneid's a not so known author. What a segue. kind of a cool indie book to carry around Brooklyn yeah carry that around nice yellow cover yeah Rick Rubin who Rick Rubin who no seriously but that that doesn't take away from Rick Rubin and his his philosophies and his you know his his body of work is outstanding and from Long Island so we gotta we shouldn't hate on our own because we only have so many top 10 list you know again we don't need to go back but Bustle Rhymes I'm number 11 yeah it was top 11 top 11 It's been modified.

1:00:10Lindsay Lohan, Buster Rhymes. I feel like this list changed from the beginning. No, no, no. Different order. Different order. Judd Apatow is another one until he writes a book. He's written a book, actually. He wrote a book. I read his book. I read, you know, Long Island. You got to walk around the train with his book. Long Island in the house. Thank you, Mike Schneid. What's your stance on vacation? Well, Kevin, I'm trying to end the show. I want to go longer. Keep going longer. I'm trying to show my endurance. Kevin just woke up now. I know, I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. for the first 45 minutes of the show.

1:00:40He was just staring at me longingly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's waiting, you know. You got to ask these questions. You write about vacation in your book? No, I didn't write about vacation. No. Do you think people should take them or no? I love vacation. I'm firmly against them. Are you? No, I'm kidding. You won't let Kevin take vacation. We have a very clear no vacation policy here. You what? I don't ask. You just take it. Yeah. I mean, look at his shirt. Carpe Diem. Come on. Oh, don't ball. Boom. He loves to go outside. It's like a Bass Pro Shops thing, right? Kevin. Every day wears a new shirt that I'm just like, who makes this?

1:01:11This is a dark glue, John. Oh, is it? I got it at the party. How's that fabric, though? It looks a little rough. It's cotton. Well, there's cotton. There's good cotton. Like, would Mark Wahlberg wear it? No, I mean, Mark Wahlberg only wears the - Municipal. Yeah, only wears the top tier of cotton. His own product. Municipal. What a terrible name for a brand name. I don't know. I think it kind of bangs. It's name Mark Lowe's after a sewer. Municipal? I think it bangs. You like it? I mean - Municipal? Not genuinely, but like. What does that mean? I don't know. I like the idea of it. Okay. He likes it ironically.

1:01:44I like it ironically, yeah. I speak Kevin. Fluent Kevin. I love when he's doing his videos and he's like, stay prayed up, municipal. Yeah, exactly. Stay prayed up, tequila. I will say, I got to give Mark Welbeck a lot of credit. He has had a lot of entertainment endurance, famous endurance in an industry where I see his movies sometimes, I'm like, how did we let this guy make so many fucking shady 80 movies, all these terrible bro comedies that no one wanted and no one saw. This man has made - I wish he made more music. A hundred movies that no one - Yeah, his music is great. Mark Wahlberg, he shot two for a hundred in his movie career.

1:02:24And Darren's, though, he didn't quit. Which two? Boogie Nights and - I mean, Boogie Nights. Yeah, yeah. And Ted. What about Shooter? I didn't see that one. You didn't see Shooter? No. Did you not have FX in 2010? I have a blind spot for movies he plays a sniper that's all you need to know he plays a sniper yeah he's like in a cabin and like he gets attacked and like he just like sets up bombs okay it's more about like the plot which is kind of a thin plot I will say then when we figured out Mark Wahlberg he's good when he's in like somewhat serious action role type of drama when he doesn't talk when he doesn't talk and just runs around but like he's done so many movies with like Kevin Hart and The Rock and then he's just like how do we let this man make money But did he write a book?

1:03:08Did he write a book? Yeah, probably. He should write a book. The creative act. I'm going to say, without looking at my computer right now, he's written at least one, maybe two books. I mean, Mark Wahlberg. We're talking about Mark Wahlberg. He's got a clothing brand. He wrote the Bible. The Bible part two. I mean, he's got an enviable lifestyle. You don't think he's teaching other people how to live the Mark Wahlberg way? That's true. Mark Wahlberg book. Oh. This is where the show is. This is where we go downhill. Yeah. This is where we lose listeners. Yeah. Also, the ratio of talking about me and Mark Wahlberg is slowly creeping.

1:03:43You brought him up. I brought him up earlier. Mark Wahlberg. I don't know. Rat Bastards, the South Boston Irish mobster who took the rap when everyone else ran. That's his book? That can't be his book. That's the other Mark Wahlberg. That's a different Mark Wahlberg? Yeah. Don't Call Me Marky Mark, the unauthorized book? No, that's unauthorized. okay maybe he hasn't written a book shout out to Mark Wahlberg reach out to Rockport Publishing oh we're turning it around now yeah well we're just going long for the sake of going long endurance baby give me another coffee yeah you're right that book was not the Mark Wahlberg book coffee is a word where my long island comes out Coffee.

1:04:34Coffee. Chocolate. Chocolate. Yeah, that's all I got. Go to the mall. Mall. Mall. But I don't go to the mall anymore. I hate going to the mall. Roosevelt Field? Yes, of course. I hated Roosevelt. The interviews in this book, how did you sort of secure these interviews? Were you cold emailing people? Or like, how did you? That's a lot of people to get into contact with. I imagine you didn't know Molly Baas or maybe knew her from publications and other stuff. Like, how did you reach out to astronauts and scientists? Molly Baz, I literally just cold emailed. Cool. Wow. Shout out to Molly. Yeah, she worked at Bon Appetit, which is another magazine.

1:05:08So I just said, hey, I'm writing a book. Can I interview you? Cool. And she responded to me, which was cool. There were people that I wrote to that didn't respond to me. Call them out. Yeah. No, I'm not. Put them on blast. You know, with NASA, working in men's health, I had an editor who had a contact at NASA. Damn. Nice. But it was a PR person who then put me in touch with Jeanette. Dean Karnasas, who's a big, he's big in the running community. He's the ultra marathoner. Literally just cold emailed him. So I think a majority of the people I just sent an email to and thought, like, you know, let me take a shot and see what they say.

1:05:43And, you know, for the most part, like if you say to somebody, hey, I'm writing a book and I'm not looking to make you look like an asshole, they'll be in the book. That probably comes with a little bit of clout, right? You're like, I'm writing a book. I mean, you know. Do you want to be in a book? You want to be in a book. I'm writing a book. Sounds good. But then they're like, who the hell are you? Mike Schneid, baby. Mike Schneid. Go all Schneid long. I got endurance. All Schneid long. Has anyone ever said that to you before? This might be a first. Wow, Kevin. Kevin can own it. His copywriter is showing all Schneid long.

1:06:17I'm going to change my Instagram handle. Creative endurance. No, just secure it. Just keep Schneid. Oh, do a little. Is it my Finsta or is it the real one? I don't know. You decide. All Schneid long. Yeah. That seems like a strange Instagram account. You don't want to go there. It could be your Mark Wahlberg and Boogie Nights. Dude, we talked about Mark Wahlberg. We're not bringing his name up anymore. We were just moving the ratio back. Confirmed he has not written a book, so I'm wrong there. Page 66. I'll just read the book together. The client isn't always wrong. We're really extending this.

1:06:49Page 67. The client isn't always right. Look at that. I see what you did there. Yeah, yeah. Sort of both sides of the coin.

1:06:58yeah clients are always right should we talking about finding a good ending should we just hit a nice abrupt ending here oh yeah just say podcasting is not like writing a book we can end it whenever I can just cut it right here culture is your superpower I agree with that feed your values Alex is just going to read this book on air he's going to read it for the first time on air let's see how fast we can read it do you have an audio book where you there is an audio book are you reading it I am not reading it who's reading it Mark Wahlberg oh my god Alex not Mark Wahlberg I did get to pick out the voice actor oh that's cool he sounded pretty good nice oh you picked him out well they gave me four options and I picked one person did you not want to read it yourself or you read I did not want to read it myself really yeah I'd like to have half the fun of it we could we're rolling right now we could release part two yeah if you really want to prove your you can prove my endurance Just read the whole book on air.

1:07:56Being an astronaut is in one of the coolest jobs on another planet. A dream shared by many, but perceived by few. Ooh. I should have gotten you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have a good reading voice. I'm available. No problem. I love jobs. We have AI now, so we could have AI read it. Oh, yeah. I could just say a couple words and then we'll just put the rest together and we can get some. Well, Alex, we've got an extensive library. Oh, you're right. I don't think it'd be too hard to just feed it to the robots. That'd be funny. I should get us on AI. but I should get us on AI. Yeah, we could finally stop doing this podcast and just have someone else do it.

1:08:30Endurentac. AI. Yeah. Have AI write the next book. Soggy Khabib, you need to figure out what you're really passionate about and do it. Boom. Boom. Boom. That's true. Yeah, yeah. That's the end. Okay. Now I'm the one doing the going long. Sometimes the hill is easy. Sometimes it's steep. But when you reach the top, all is forgiven. Myuku Shimizu. That's a good closer. Facts. That is a good closer. Facts. Well, I will actually end the podcast by saying thank you, Michael, for coming. Michael. Michael. We got really formal. All right. Is your last name or your full name, Michael? Yeah. Okay. I thought after all this time and all this show, I just got your name wrong.

1:09:17I mean, you kind of did. Yeah. You kind of did. It's Mike on the cover for a reason. Yeah. Mike Schneid. It's good. Do most people call you Mike Schneid? I feel like they go together, right? They call me Mike Schneid, or a lot of people just call me Schneid, which is a good name. It's a very Long Island thing, but also my wife calls me Schneid. Whoa. Whoa. Okay. Did you play sports as a kid? No. No sports? I ran track for like half a season, but I didn't like it. I worked a lot, though. I worked a lot. Yeah. You worked at the Brick Cafe. The Brick Cafe. The Brick Cafe. And the Pet Store. I worked at a Pet Store.

1:09:51Oh, really? What was that like? it smelled really good. Was it shitty? It was shitty. Yeah. I'm not a big animal person. Cut this from the podcast. Yeah. Okay. We don't need to prove our endurance. We've proved it to Kevin. Kevin believes us we have endurance. We've all lasted really, really long here today. And I will say that's a first for Kevin and I. Thank you so much, Mike. Creative Endurance available now. Go pick it up. Actually, in stores? Will this be available? This will be in stores? Yeah, yeah. stores at your local bookstore. Hopefully at your local bookstore. Some bookstore in Canada already has it.

1:10:26Well, go outside and go to the bookstore. Already? Yeah. Go to Toronto. They're in the future. And say, I have a problem. I need to last longer. Yeah. Do you have any books? Or pills? Do you have any recommendations? Yeah, we left a lot of those ones on the cutting floor. Yeah, Evan, do you want to ask the lasting long questions that you have? No. No. Okay, fine. We're out. Thank you, Mike. Thank you. I mean, I do, but I won't. Thank you.

1:11:21The world to be done. Let the music play on. Everybody sing. Everybody dance. Lose yourself in wild romance. We're going to party. Carambo. Fiesta. Forever. Come on and sing along. We're going to party. Carambo. Fiesta. Forever. Come on and sing along All night long All night All night long All night All night long All night All night long All night People dancing all in the street See the rhythm all in their feet Life is good, wild and sweet Let the music play on Feel it in your heart and feel it in your soul Let the music take control We're going to spot it, fly it, fiesta, forever Come on and sing my song All night long All night long All night long All night long Once you get started You can't sit down You can't join the fun It ain't miracle

1:13:23Everyone's dancing their troubles away

1:13:30Come join our party and see how we play