Stop Being Forgettable: The Secret to Lasting Impact with Jefrë

0:01You're listening to Mick Unplugged, hosted by the one and only Mick Hunt.

0:06Mick:This is where purpose meets power and stories spark transformation. Mick takes you beyond the motivation and into meaning, helping you discover your because and becoming unstoppable. I'm Rudy Rush, and trust me, you're in the right place. Let's get unplugged. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged, and we are in for something monumental. A lot of times we talk about people being a unique one of one. Well, I am definitely talking to someone that is just that. We're talking about a journey, a story, the uniqueness that can only be told by my man, Jeffrey.

0:48Mick:Jeffrey, how are you doing today, brother? Thanks, Mick. Thanks for having me here today. I appreciate it. I am truly honored. You are decked out. You got the Gucci Adidas. we are doing major things right here today on mick unplug bro i'm honored you know i had to come and compress just to impress i'm here on mick unplugged hey hey hey and we appreciate it too man you know our we were introducing each other through our mutual homie damon john the shark the shark and we're gonna talk about shark art in a second too right we're gonna break some news on that but But talking to Damon and he's like, Mick, do you know Jeff Ray?

1:25Mick:And I'm like, no, who is Jeff Ray? He goes, dude. And he shows me this portfolio of amazing things. And I was like, you know this guy? And he's like, not only that, he's the number one draft pick for Shark Art. And I was like, let's go. And so then I got to follow you and I saw all the amazing things that you've been doing. And I have been blown away because, one, I'm not artistic, bro. I see one dimension. So I'm going to go ahead and ruin it for everybody. We're all creative, Nick, in our own ways. No, no. I see one dimension. But following you, I have learned to appreciate art. And when I call you a unique one of one, it's because you're building sculptures that are like 18 billion feet high.

2:19Mick:And those are things that we haven't seen in our lifetime. You're doing things that generations from now are going to say, whoa, how'd that get there? How's that make you feel, man? you know i think for me um as we get into it like my life story you know i think for me it's always about understanding uh you know legacy right and can i create as a creator can i create something here that will outlive me um and some things that i do are necessarily about or as an artist you know you try to do things that are about you and your story but i think for me it's really this opportunity to kind of create legacy through celebrating other people and other cities and other cultures, not about me.

3:05And I think that as an artist, sometimes we forget that, um, you know, the art should come from you, but if you're trying to share it with the world, you should bring parts of the world to you so that you can interpret on ways that they can experience it for them to create memories for lifetimes.

3:23Mick:Yeah. And that's what it's about, man. Like, you know, we were talking earlier and you're all about creating those memories, creating those moments that people appreciate that they're going to talk about, not even talking about, oh, Jeff Ray did that, because I know that this is your heart. You want them to understand how it made them feel in that moment and the memories collectively that it's there. Has that always been who you are? Has that always been like that inner thing for you? I think so. I think I'm always been, um, interested in using my talents and my gifts to help others. I'm more of a giver, whether it's through creation or organization or helping.

4:05I'm sort of the guy that always is like trying to get people together, whether it's through friends or family and organizing these experiences. And so instead of getting friends and families together, I'm getting cities and nations together to create icons or moments that they can identify with their own culture and their own sort of history to create their own memories as part of it you know and i think you know if you look at these last uh couple centuries we haven't built anything of significance in terms of something that has meaning and purpose that's not a building right um so when i say statue of liberty arc di triumph the being now um eiffel tower i don't have to tell you what city it is and so a lot of these things have been created have been gifts to cities you know like the eiffel tower was for the world's fair and you know obviously the um statue of liberty was a gift um from france but people these days are like well how can i build these things and get an roi from it you know and so that's sort of what i've been able to figure out is that is that if you build these things people will come not just to come to take a selfie but take a selfie have a drink buy some coffee have lunch, go shopping.

5:20It's the idea that these icons become centers for economic development.

5:25Mick:Yeah. And then what they're doing, especially now, they're then sharing those, right? And so now people are like, oh, Mick was over here. What's that? Right now they want to go take a trip to a Chicago or to a Milan or whatever to see some of the things you're doing, going down to the BVIs, right? To see some of the things that you have going on. Yeah, we're such a selfie culture right now. I mean, like in the last 20 years or even 10 years, you will Google like when you go visit, like where are the top things or destinations or icons to see? And I'm just helping contribute to that skyline. Right.

5:59And that's what Damon gave me as a nickname was Skyline Whisperer, you know, that I'm changing the skyline with art versus just buildings.

6:09Mick:Amazing. Amazing. Well, we're here in 2026 talking about all these amazing things. but it didn't happen just now. There's a journey that you've had, right? Being born, I call you Chicago's finest, right? Like the love that you have for your city and that the city has for you, that's where you were born, right? Yes. That's where you got to learn a little bit about yourself, but you also have, you know, being the son of parents from the Philippines, right? Like you still have that love for your homeland too. Talk to us about the birth of Jeff Frey, man. Let's talk about that journey of where you started to how you got here.

6:52So I'm a first generation Filipino. My parents came here looking for that American dream. You know, living in the Philippines was hard back then. It's even hard now. But, you know, Back then, our culture in the Philippines is about education. Especially if you were a doctor or someone in the medical field, you would actually get a plaque on the house outside of your house in the village. And so you would walk by and you would see all these plaques of people who had education. And it was sort of this idea that education helped you was sort of a test of success. And so for me coming to or being born and raised in the U.S., you know, that was part of the pediment or the pedigree that I was kind of, you know, under the pressure of that, you know, Asian kids wanted needed to be doctors, successful engineers, whatever.

7:44And I actually started off in looking at medicine and all of these things. But, you know, I started looking into this idea of urban design and planning because, you know, my parents are, you know, my mother is a nurse and my father is actually an accountant. But then their hobbies were this idea of having a green thumb. So my father actually started a landscape contracting business, had a garden nursery, and then almost helped my mother create a flower center, which then she was doing weddings and arranging. And I remember as a kid doing all these sort of things related to design. And so I thought I got a lot of my design acromet through my mother.

8:23You know, she's going to love that I said that.

8:25Mick:Of course. Of course. And then, you know, I started going to school. I went to Ohio State, studied urban design landscape architecture, went to the AA in London Architecture Association, and then worked for the biggest firm called SOM Chicago, which essentially designs sort of the mega structures of the world. I had an opportunity to come to Florida to work in the Bahamas. And then, you know, going through design, you know, I was always sort of working in a firm and still doing placemaking, which is like creating moments. and then um 15 years ago at 35 i had a heart attack and triple bypass surgery um i was down in miami at an event um had some kind of pain didn't know what it was um we didn't have ubers they told me to get in a taxi and make sure he gets to his room and on the way you know mount cy i saw mount cyanide hospital i was like i gotta go there and there's something wrong like i couldn't just sleep it off went in um they put the ekg and you're like you're having a heart attack?

9:24Are you on cocaine, heroin? Like being in Miami, like, no, I'm not on anything. Like, well, you're having a heart attack. They, um, I had, uh, two stents put in and had triple bypass. And that's what changed my life. I essentially recovered, uh, went into the partner's office or was working for, quit my job and decided to become an artist.

9:43Mick:Wow. So if we can, Can we go to that moment when you're in the hospital and they're telling you you're having a heart attack? What are you thinking at that moment? Well, a couple of things. One is like, you know, how, you know, my family, what am I going to do? Am I going to take care of them? Is there anything, you know, where are they going to think? Where are they? Are they? And, um, but then also like, as you sit there after recovery, you know, you go through this, um, moment about, you know, what have I actually left here in this world? You know, when we're as an urban designer planner, you're, you're there designing cities and communities that take 10 years or 20 years to evolve.

10:31And I was like, I can't do anything. That's just going to sit on a shelf. I need to do things that are going to create an impact now. And so I said, instead of locating the moments, I'm just going to do the moments. And I said, that's what I'm going to do. And I said, how am I going to do that? So I didn't want to go back to art school. I didn't want to do any of these, you know, the traditional thing that you do as an artist. And there is these percent for art program where cities were issuing call to artist. You have to come up with designs, not based on your portfolio, who you know, it's just based on ideas.

11:02And my first year, I was a finalist on 12. I won eight my first year and was the fastest artist to break the million dollar mark in commissions in my first year. And then since then, I'm like, OK, if I can do that, can I go taller? And that's when the journey of going taller started.

11:20Mick:Talk to that part, man, because, again, I see one dimension, right? Like, I'm sure if I were to say, you know, what do you see here? It's a mic stand. All right. That's what I see, a mic stand, a microphone. You probably see curvature. You see lines. You see a whole bunch of things, right? What made you say, I'm going taller? And what vision did you see of yourself for the moments that you were creating when it's like, taller is where it's at, skylines are where it's at? You know, what it was is that, you know, as I started traveling the world and designing cities, we started studying. and I started looking at these icons and I was able to witness two times where people were doing celebrations or actually someone proposed in front of these giant icons like the Eiffel Tower or the St.

12:10Louis Arch. And you saw the joy of everyone being in the selfie phase, right? Everyone's like, okay, taking a selfie. And it's a selfie of them with a moment that they're capturing for them that's sort of a moment in time and space or where they are at that moment. outside of work, outside of family, just to be there to capture that piece in the back. I was like, I want to do those pieces. And so I was like, how do I do something that is iconic enough that people will come and take a selfie with? I mean, there's amazing artists all over the world. And so my test is just, would you go there? Would you fly there just to take a selfie with it?

12:51Would it be on the sort of visitors' bureaus, magazine or when you take the airline magazine and see like here's the places to visit is it that strong you know and so not that you know big is bigger is better i mean the bean is smaller compared to the eiffel tower but it has to be something that resonates with the community yeah and has a storyline storyline is much more important than scale although scale will get you there um scale will get you there but story will keep you there there it is there it is so

13:23Mick:So for those that are watching this and those that are listening, take us through that process. So take us through the process of one sculpture, one piece of art. Like, what is that like? Because, again, I see one dimension. I don't have that creative gene that you have, not even close to it. How do you say, all right, this is a vision? And then what are the steps to put it in place? It's really about talking to the community, asking what they want. So I think for me, the biggest thing is I've been able to listen and then interpret that listening into form. Whether it's a figurative form or contemporary or sculptural interpretive form, it's really at the end of the day about them.

14:08So they are the ones that's giving me the data to figure out what they should be. I go through a series of, in some ways, I think my gift is usually some people come in and say, I'll give you 20 different ideas. For me, what hits is I really already kind of know what it should be after speaking to the community group. And then I just have a one and a one A or one B. It's sort of variations on that interpretation because it's still about the story. And so from there, just the technical parts of it, you know, you go in there, do sketches. we'll do a 3D model where now we're getting into physical models that then we'll 3D scan and then we'll blow it up to figure out one-to-one scale and do sort of a test of a certain part of it.

14:58But the key is, is really engineering. That's where it is. Like you can't just go help and put up a, you know, a 10, 28 story piece without understanding wind loads or earthquakes or anything related to that. So, you know, I had to get a team together that understands literally it's almost like building a building, but in a form of. Correct. A figure or another form that's not occupied. And now we're looking at things that are being occupied, but. It's really working with a good team that understands two things, one of how to make sure it doesn't fall. Make sure how it doesn't how to make it and then how to assemble it and put it together.

15:39Mick:Yeah. So the secret is it's funny because I sort of live in this 8x8x40-foot box, which is the size of a shipping container. So a lot of the parts and pieces have to figure out where those go because some ways you kind of control where the seam lines are if you don't sort of polish and weld them out. But, you know, the assembly of, obviously you can't just take a 28 foot sculpture and just like Gulliver's Travelers and have it come down the highway, right? So it's building it in pieces and parts and assembling it together. And at the end of the day, it's just trusting that team and working with that team that understands construction as well to make something that will be there for centuries to come.

16:24Mick:Amazing. Amazing. You know, earlier you showed me this, I'm going to say the most amazing thing that I've seen. And it was something that you built for the Philippines, right? There's this piece, and if you're watching, we're going to roll some footage of that right now, of, I'm just going to call it beauty. It's called the victor. The victor. I'm just going to call it beauty, though. It's so amazing. First, I want you to describe it for everybody that's listening. But then my real question for you is, what impact did that have for you personally as your give back to the Philippines? Well, it's interesting.

17:08I kind of rewind. It's almost as if there's a Filipino story before I got to create the largest icon in our country. You know, growing up in the U.S., I actually hated being Filipino. I hated being Asian. I was assimilating in a culture where I felt like I needed to fit in. Like me, my brother and her sister were not only the only Asians, but we're essentially the only minorities in our school or our neighborhood. You know, we were very much raised in a community where, you know, as immigrants, you have to kind of assimilate somehow. Right. And and be who you're not. Right. In some ways. And I was sort of very anti going to, you know, you know, Filipino festivals or all these kind of things related to my own culture.

17:49um and and in some ways i obviously i regret it because i wasn't never i never um talked down about it or did any i just didn't participate you know yeah but coming full circle when i started getting invited back to my homeland because of the work i was doing here um it sort of brought me to full circle the idea that i'm taking my education and bringing it back to my homeland And that's what this sculpture is about. It's called Victor, which they named it. But it's called, it sort of honors the global Filipino. The idea when a Filipino migrates to the U.S. or Europe, they're looking for that American dream, European dream, looking for a better life.

18:32When you do that, don't forget where you're from and that there will always be a beacon for you to come home. And so this sculpture is a 28-story sculpture. the reason for that height is because it's the same height i made a little taller than the statue of liberty yeah the same sort of idea of this idea of the american dream and freedom and then it's has this hand in the air because like a beacon to remind you to come back home but it's made a perforated mellow on the top and then goes solid to the bottom to a mirror finish at the feet so when you first enter it you actually see your reflection in the sculpture of who you can be right now.

19:09It doesn't have to be abroad or go anywhere. You can do this right now. And then as you go up, you actually see the structure kind of sort of become invisible, like becomes perforated. So you can actually see the structure inside that then represents the strength of the Filipino.

19:26Mick:And, you know, seeing the sun pass through at different times and that really touched me, man. And I know you didn't know as we were, as you were showing me, but it touched me because it reminded me of why I moved back home to South Carolina a couple of years ago. Like the connection that you have with people, and I'm talking about you, Jeff, right now. It's so empowering, man. Like you touch people and I want you to know that because it's something I feel from you. It's something obviously I've known through Ted and Damon and the group over great shark group, but it's phenomenal, brother. Thanks.

20:05Mick:Like what you do for people is phenomenal. I mean, my piece is that, you know, we all have our own studio work, right? My studio work has these fractal, low poly kind of positions with the box heads that for me, the box heads represent this idea of a city with emotions, but the fractal pattern are really points that are connected. And so they're called points of connection. And the fact that you said that I like connecting people is really what resonates in my own personal work, that I'm still doing these pieces that are about connection. And so when I had my first museum exhibit in the U.S. was called Points of Connection.

20:42My first museum exhibit in my homeland of Philippines was called Points of Origin. The idea of thinking of my origin story, which is based on my new book that's coming out in July. We're going to get there in a second.

20:55Mick:Before we get there, though, I want to talk about something that I know is important to you because I've never not seen you on brand and brand. And this is a this is a business lesson. This is an entrepreneurship lesson. Talk to the audience about the importance of brand and what that does for your business and even for you as a person. I don't mean you, but what it can do for those that are listening to Jeff Wright. I mean, you talk about like my whole style. You know, I'm not sure. Like, I didn't do this on purpose. You know, I think I sort of fell into it. You know, I love style and fashion.

21:43And I think, you know, I've been, you know, if I wasn't into art, I might have been a fashion designer. Right. And so I think I've always wanted to do brand collabs. Right. And so for me, it was watching, you know, people on the runway coming down in sort of these expressions of almost kind of like moving art. Right. Made me think that, you know, you know, that if you want to, you know, you're you you are your work as well. Right. Right. And so the thing is about artists is that, you know, it's OK, like it's OK to kind of be very introverted. Like I think, you know, and have your work show, but, but the success of certain artists in my mind, not to say that I'm successful, but one of the things that advice I give to artists is that you have to understand three things.

22:35One is how to share your story, your personal story, how to share your work, and then also be able to execute. Yeah. And the sharing and telling your work is your work is an expression of yourself. And you're part of that same brand. Right? Believe it or not, artists are part of the same brand. I mean, it's not only in the visual arts, but if you look at music.

23:01Mick:Yeah. music and fashion, we're all extensions of our expressions, right? Yeah. Not to say you have to walk in, you're like, oh, you look like an artist, right? But in some ways it does help. I think it helps this sort of expression of me, of my art on my body, is the same thing that I'm doing with my monumental work, right? And so I'm sort of practicing what I'm preaching, you know? And so everything is curated, right? So this whole thing is curated, just like my artworks are all purely created. Just like when you go to my museum exhibits are curated. If you go to festivals, everything's curated.

23:38It's all part of the same brand.