If you have dreams of making your art, sharing it with the world, and making money with your creations... then this newsletter can help you unlock your...

Creative Genius

This is the monthly newsletter that contains the proven tools, tactics, and strategies to:

- connect to your inner creative genius
- make the best art or creations you can be making
- overcome blocks to sharing your creations with the world
- practical and proven marketing insights for personal brands and products
- all things selling and how to make money from your creations
- work through the internal dialogues that are holding you back
- express your soul's gifts
- and much... much... more

Hi friend,

Imagine a weekday where you sip your morning coffee without anxiety or dread.

You’re not counting the days until Friday.

You feel peace, joy, and excitement for the day ahead of you.

Here's the deal, the quickest way to live like this is to simply connect to your own creative energy and  express yourself. Yes… you actually have to do different things.

Watching motivational videos on Instagram won’t cut it.

Taking another webinar or reading another book won’t do anything.

‍Loving your life comes from discovering what lights you up and actually doing it.

Creative Genius is the monthly publication to help you do exactly that.

‍Each physical (aka: paper + ink) issue contains:
- Inspiring stories, articles, and tools to get your gears turning
- Suggested actions and homework for you to uncover your true desires and take direct actions to alter your life
- Mini creative exercises to help you connect more deeply to your creative energy

These are my goals for you, and as a result, the world.

‍This is the publication that will change your life, if you let it.

‍There is a catch, your results will only come from taking the actions towards the life you actually want to be living. You are responsible to do the exercises, to look within, and allow yourself to do the things you want to do.

Better yet, the work in this publication is actually fun and exciting! Unlike therapy, shadow work, or ayahuasca.

Hope you join us.

Who am I and why should you care?

Hello again, it's me, Julian Castro. I am an artist living and working in South Florida.

I wasn't always a professional artist... there was a day in 2014 when I was crying in a bathroom stall at my corporate engineering job at BP's North American headquarters in Houston, Texas.
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I was 23 at the time, and my creativity was totally numb, offline, and unexpressed. Of course, I didn't know this at the time. I just thought I had made some wrong choices and realized I wasn't happy with my life, and wasn't living the life I truly wanted to be living.

Getting drunk on the weekends and dreading Mondays was no way to live for me, and I felt zero excitement for the work I was doing, which was occupying 5 days of my week. I couldn't keep going.

After 2 years at BP, I left and took an extended backpacking trip for a year in South America with a camera in hand... which started to reignite my creative spirit.

In 2017 I ended up in Miami, tried my hand at freelance photography, and people actually started paying me for it... which was such a wild concept to me at the time. Fast forward a bit... over the last 8 years I've worked as a freelance creative doing photography, videography, branding, marketing, and more creative services.

In 2019, I started painting again... "again" because my entire childhood I loved making art... but they said you can't have a successful career as an artist so I shut that down real fast when I got to college, where I studied Mechanical Engineering and Business... hence working at BP.

Enter COVID... my freelance clients got scared and my business evaporated overnight, so I figured I'd be my own client and try marketing and selling my new paintings online. It worked.

Since 2020, I've been selling my art.

Over all these years, I've had numerous people ask me for help, saying things like:

"Julian, I just don't know what to do with my life... I know I don't like my job, but I don't know what else I would do"

"I'm craving a creative outlet... to make something again... but I don't know where to start"

"How did you start making money with your art? I have stuff I've been making but am scared to charge money for it... I don't know if it's good enough or if anyone will want it"

‍So over the years I've also had coaching clients, I've led workshops, and written extensive articles about all these topics... realizing that not only am I good at helping people with these topics, but also that the things I've done to get my own results and help others get results... they work.

My craft is not actually painting, or photography, or any other actual art form.

My true craft is the creative process... my true craft is being an actual human being with a range of emotions and thoughts and learning how to best channel my ideas into existence and share them with others.

I've been obsessing over these topics for the last 8 years... so I basically have two college degrees in it.

I am a perpetual student experimenting with various methods, trying them, publishing, etc... as seen in my various experiments and projects I've dabbled in over the years. These have included:

- *building, customizing, and selling fixed-gear bicycles
- brewing beer
- *creating, designing, and publishing a physical print magazine
- *oil painting
- *photography
- *filmmaking
- *jewelry making
- *building furniture
- *creating / running various physical studios
- *AI art
- *metalworking
- *pottery
- *running an entrepreneur community in Miami
- designing and making clothing
- coffee roasting
- starting a tech company
- consulting business
- *branding
- astrology
- *drumming
and more...

*I also made money with these.

In all of these, I continue to obsess with questions like "why did this work? why did this not work? what can I do differently to make this project work better than the last?"

Here's the good news: I have obsessed over these questions so you don't have to.
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How do I know this is for me?
If you are feeling unfulfilled with your life or career, this is for you.
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If you are not excited by your free time (when was the last time you felt truly excited anyways?), this is for you.
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If you know deep down there has to be something more for you, this is for you.

If you are craving a creative outlet, this is for you.
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If you don't consider yourself an "artist" but perhaps you are an "aspiring" artist or have been interested in that pottery class for months or years, yet mysteriously keep putting it off, this is for you.

If you are creating your art and sharing it, but want to start making more money with it, this is for you.
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If you are a professional artist and want to deepen your connection to yourself and your creativity, this is for you.

‍About each monthly issue:

Each monthly issue will have its own theme, and be loosely themed on the season of the year that month is in. There are also a handful of fun mini-creative prompts sprinkled throughout the issue.

In addition to the exercises and writing, there are topics in response to questions from you, the readers... this is an interactive experience, so my email is open to subscribers for dialogue and questions.

FAQ:

Can I get this digitally?
No. Creative Genius is only available as a physical copy. As a physical product, it will not get lost in your email or downloads folder. As a physical copy, you can carry it with your throughout the month, and keep it on your desk so it is top of mind and you actually get the benefits of reading it. Also, each issue will have exercises within it for you to write, draw, and more within your copy.

‍When is a new issue published?
Each issue is published on the first of the month.

‍Which issue do I get first?
Once you subscribe, you will receive the next upcoming issue after the day you sign up. For example, if you subscribe on February 20th, you will receive the upcoming March issue printed and shipped out at the beginning of March. You will then be billed each month on the 20th, and continue to receive your monthly issue at the beginning of each month.