In a world where we could have just about everything we want at a moment’s notice, we have to pick and choose where we allocate our energy and always remember that while good things are fleeting,

“Do you have money?”

“No. Do YOU have money?”

“No.”

But they had an idea. Sometimes you don’t need stuff, just an idea. The rest will come with time. Today’s newsletter dives into all the lessons I was able to weave (see what I did there?) into my time at Creative Minds BK.

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The idea of Creative Minds BK came from a chance interaction between Aldo Benavides and Mahmoud Abdul Khsyaem. The way Aldo describes it, after one conversation, an idea had been sparked, and they had decided that they were going into business together.

Next came 6 months of traveling around the country to trade shows, selling their handmade goods, but also looking for artisans whose goods they could sell in their own future storefront. Eventually, they landed in Brooklyn and found a viable storefront for their store/studio. They weren’t going to be just selling artisanal goods; they were going to help people create their own works of art.

In 17 days, and with Mahmoud’s tools (the duo didn’t have money for contractors), they put together what is now Creative Minds BK, home of a weaving studio and what is quite possibly the largest loom in NYC. 

I got to sit down with Aldo to hear more about this business and try my hand at weaving. Am I a creative person? I guess we’re about to find out… You can also check out the full-length episode on YouTube to get the full experience.

Creative Minds BK is built on value: the value of a safe space to explore one’s creativity, the value of manmade imperfect products with soul over automated identical ones, and the value of reminding someone of, well, their value.

NYC was an intentional choice for Creative Minds, designed to extend the impact of a studio visit beyond the moment itself and into the experience that follows. It’s actually a bit genius the way Aldo tells it.

In most areas of the country, when you go to do something, you arrive, experience whatever you’re doing, and then you get in your car and leave. The experience ends there. 

But in NYC, you might take a weaving class at Creative Minds, go grab a bite to eat, carry your tapestry around and get into conversation about it, or intertwine (pun intended) a variety of other encounters in with your memory of the day. When you look back on your time, you might not just think of your class at Creative Minds, you also remember the smell of the Spring air, the compliments you got about your work on the train that made you glow with pride, or the warmth of having a delicious meal in a crowded local restaurant buzzing with energy. (If you’ve ever been out to dinner in NYC, you know exactly the electric feeling I’m describing)

This perspective made me think of all the little moments that you can’t plan for. You can schedule a lot and get really down to the nitty-gritty if you need (6:30 am: wake up, 6:32 am bathroom & brush teeth, 6:35 am put on left sock, 6:35 am and 30 seconds: put on right sock. You get the idea) but you can’t plan for the interaction you’ll have with someone waiting in line for coffee. Or the strangers sitting next to you at dinner. Even the person waiting in the lobby before your workout class. 

All those instances can be unplanned, but if you search out opportunities to have more than just a quick passing comment, you could walk away with a new person of importance in your life… or a weaving business in Brooklyn. But what if you get shut down and rejected? That’s going to suck

I’m not going to sugarcoat this with toxic positivity; getting nos and being bad at something sucks. It’s so easy to take it personally, but if you can find a way to detach the no from who you are as a person, you’ll be able to make every rejection work for you. 

It’s clear that Creative Minds had to overcome a lot of nos. To begin with, there was the issue of not having the funds to get started. It’s not an outright no, but if you aren’t willing to find an alternative path, it may as well be. If you want it, you have to make it work.

Aldo had a little game he played with himself to help fine-tune his sales pitches. When trying to sell a good or an idea, he’d see how many nos it would take before he would get a yes. As the frequency of Nos dropped, he’d realize that that was his sales pitch. His advice to those starting their own venture is that you have to have a pain tolerance and be prepared for what’s going to come. But your toughness will grow, and soon, you’ll be meeting it as a beautiful problem to have. How lucky are you to have this problem you dreamed of? How lucky that you have the ability to try something out even if you fail?

Being bad at something (like hearing the word no) isn’t a new topic; we’ve talked about rejection and being bad at things multiple times here. It’s a frequent occurrence in life and one I will keep bringing up, because everyone who reads this newsletter (or writes it) is going to fail a lot. In the moment you fail, it feels like you’re incapable and the only person who hasn’t succeeded, but you’re not alone.

Feeling supported in trying something new is important for Creative Minds, and precisely why they came up with the name. With Aldo being Mexican and Mahmoud, Syrian, they didn’t want anyone to feel like they weren’t welcome in their space. Everyone can be creative!

Do you want to know what one of the most convincing and animated arguments is? Someone trying to convince you that they aren’t creative. People latch onto an idea like that and hold tight. It becomes their identity. It blocks them off from countless experiences because they would never be able to do it… they aren’t creative. But that’s where Creative Minds looks to show them that they’re wrong.

In 2.5 - 3 hours, a person will have walked away with their own tapestry created however they want. During the weaving classes, you’ll be shown skills and techniques, but your design is what you make of it. One look at their social media or website, and you can see how different each visitor’s tapestry is.

This is the beauty of trying something new when you’re worried you might fail. A situation like Creative Minds might feel pretty low risk, but still embarrassing if you walked away with nothing but knotted yarn (not likely at all), but what if you succeeded? Take that to every part of your life, and you start to see that there are so many benefits that might outweigh the bad. 

I wasn’t sure if people would like working out with me in a virtual setting, or read a newsletter, or watch me try new foods and experiences. But I’d rather deal with the rejection and know that I tried, than always wonder “what if”. 

Imagine if Aldo and Mahmoud were 5 years down the line, asking themselves, “What if we had had the finances to open the store of our dreams?” It’s better to feel the brief sting of getting something wrong than wonder about all you could have achieved. It’s okay to be a beginner and learn, it’s okay to fail. There just might be times that you need a little extra help.

Aldo describes weaving as a dying art, and watching people sacrifice their bodies for their art and way of life has stuck with him. Especially when he saw a recurring theme of people who created these beautiful products, but weren’t able to make a living off of them anymore, mostly because of exposure. He saw that people would pivot because they couldn’t sell their goods, which in turn meant the longstanding family tradition (one that had sustained their family for decades) disappeared. 

For example, Mahmoud’s family has been weaving for over 300 years, but a legacy he has still been able to continue.

It’s a sobering thought to think of something that is so intertwined in your family’s culture just disappearing, but sadly, it can be a common theme across most industries as things get automated. The automation is created to make things more accessible and efficient, but eventually leads to cutting out the humans in the creation process.

The shop side of Creative Minds helps take those products created by those families and put them in front of potential buyers. Each one comes from an artisan who has passion and sufficient product to meet demands. For Aldo, helping keep the art alive is one of the most important parts of what he does; it’s a way to help in a meaningful way, not just a one-sided transaction. The consumer gets a product with a story, and the artisan gets to support themselves through their craft. Their art stays alive, and beauty is injected into the world, each piece being a meaningful and deliberate item.

Think of the amount of stuff that you have. All the little trinkets, cords, knick-knacks, devices, clothes, even. Is every single item you own special to you? Sure, some of those are necessities. I’m not saying you should throw out your computer charger to pare down on items, but it is important to take stock of what you have and what value you put on it. 

Hey, I’m one to talk. There are days my whole personality is about my car, a material object. But what would it look like to cut down on some of the extra stuff you have? Or better yet, keep from getting that extra stuff in the first place. We often get things to fill a need or a void, but we don’t always buy the best quality. Sometimes you don’t need stuff, just an idea.

Being in that shop was a reminder of how many products out there can directly impact someone’s life, simply through the choice to purchase them or not. You can support someone’s livelihood, or you can support automation that cuts out the human. This doesn’t mean a big gesture where you toss everything you own and buy from an ethical and man-made source, you know we aren’t about massive, unrealistic actions over in this corner of the internet.

But small, tangible changes like buying a piece of art from a local artist instead of three from a big box store, or getting one item of well-made clothing instead of three pieces of cheap items you might only wear once, can create a difference. Orrrrrr maybe instead of a material item for a gift, you get an experience… like say, a weaving class…?

To get a glimpse of my time with Aldo at Creative Minds and learn more from him, check out the video below and subscribe to the YouTube channel to stay up to date with all future Great Things episodes.

Tune in every few weeks for more episodes of Great Things on IG, Tiktok and full episodes on YouTube.

Know of a Great Thing that we should spotlight?

If you only pause to reflect on your life for one moment today, do it now.

Are you a stuff person? Do you collect things for every area of your life? Or are you intentional with what you purchase? What we buy, when we buy it, and why can give us a huge glimpse into areas of our lives we need to work on. Spoiler: the answer usually isn’t that we need more of a material thing, but we definitely need more of something!

Your turn! Journal your answer, or if you find yourself sharing the progress of your Great Things on social, tag me at @greatthingswith_adrian so I can join in on cheering you along!