Daring Creativity, Episode Summary

Podcast: Daring Creativity
Host: Radim Malinic
Guest: Ryan Luce (motion designer, art director)
Episode Title: Dare to let your work be rough around the edges
Release Date: February 9, 2026

Main Theme & Purpose

In this episode, Radim Malinic sits down with Ryan Luce, a motion designer and art director from Marin County, California, whose journey has been shaped by 25 years of mountain biking and 15 years at the creative intersection of motion and graphic design. Their conversation is a candid exploration of how discomfort, change, and vulnerability fuel authentic creativity—and why seeking perfection can stifle both artistic expression and personal growth. Ryan shares his path from burnout and scarcity to a renewed creative vision, underlining the value of stillness, self-reflection, and making work that’s “rough around the edges.”

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Parallel Between Mountain Biking & Creativity

• Pushing Comfort Zones
  • Ryan draws a direct parallel between the fear and thrill of downhill mountain biking and the uncertainties of creative work.
  • "Someone early on told me you should be riding just past your comfort zone." – Ryan [05:44]
• Learning by Doing
  • Growth in both disciplines comes from moving through fear rather than avoiding it.
  • "You're literally hurling your body down trails." – Ryan [07:10]
• Translating to Creativity
  • Radim remarks on the parallel: Progress in creative work, like mountain biking, comes from exploring the uncomfortable rather than perfecting sameness.
  • “If you want to be more creative… it’s the library, it’s the conversation, it’s the empathy.” – Radim [08:06]

2. From Scarcity & Burnout to Reflection & Stillness

• Letting Go to Find Authenticity
  • After losing his job, Ryan decided not to rush into new work but to deliberately “dedicate to stillness” and process his path forward.
  • “I’m not going to work for a while. I’m just going to spend time with my partner and our dog and just kind of figure out what’s right for me and what’s authentic for me.” – Ryan [00:10, 18:41]
• Value of Stillness
  • Stillness at first felt uncomfortable, even chaotic (“monkey mind”). With persistence, it created space for clarity and intuition to emerge.
  • “Stillness is really uncomfortable if you’re used to a lot of stimulus.” – Ryan [21:56]

3. Tools for Inner Growth: Meditation & Therapy

• Meditation as Foundational
  • Meditation was fundamental to Ryan’s recovery and creative rebirth.
  • “Learning how to meditate—that was really foundational to the last couple years.” – Ryan [21:56]
  • Meditation is about observing, not suppressing, thoughts: “You find out that there’s layers and it goes deeper and deeper.” – Ryan [25:22]
• Unattainable Perfection in Meditation
  • Moments of “mindlessness” are rare and nonessential to the practice. “Sometimes I meditate, and it’s just like going to the gym…it’s not that great of a workout.” [25:22]
  • Revelatory insights come unexpectedly during calm moments.

4. Intuition, Emotional Intelligence, and Validation

• Lessons from Family
  • Inspired by his father, a photographer, who prioritized asking questions and nurturing intuition over providing answers.
  • “He knows the importance in, like, learning your own intuition. And he did a…beautiful job.” – Ryan [12:50]
• Logic vs. Intuition
  • Ryan explores the tension between rational intelligence/ego-validation and emotional intelligence/intuition.
  • “Logic kind of goes towards that need for validation…But intuition and instinct comes from a completely different place.” [15:21]
• Search for Recognition and Its Pitfalls
  • Radim references ‘The Courage to Be Disliked’: Seeking external validation stifles creativity. “It really, when you think about it, how much fun it takes out of the creativity…” – Radim [17:13]

5. Career Transition: Corporate Tech to Music Industry

• Finding New Creative Meaning
  • After therapy and stillness, Ryan moved from corporate tech work to creating motion visuals for music artists.
  • “Music industry work.…my motion design skills all of a sudden translated to creating concert visuals...That was a really great shift compared to the corporate tech work.” – Ryan [28:13]
• Relationships Over Cold Calls
  • New opportunities arose from existing networks—his first music job came via a connection in the cycling community.
  • “It actually wasn’t through design. It was through someone I met in cycling in Santa Cruz.” – Ryan [30:19]

6. Coaching and External Perspective

• Working with Ben Tallon
  • Ryan started 1:1 creative coaching—initially through a free “pit stop session” after hearing Ben on a podcast.
  • “He gave me an analysis back—it was like 12 pages. And reading that from his perspective…was like, I like that. Like, I’m down to own that.” – Ryan [33:29]
• Creative Coaching Sped Up Transformation
  • Regular bi-weekly sessions helped Ryan clarify his creative identity and embrace vulnerability.
  • “It’s been a huge, huge part of my own transformation…” – Ryan [33:29]
  • Ben’s mix of empathy, intelligence, and creative insight was “massive” for growth.

7. Scarcity, Curiosity, and Taking Leaps of Faith

• Scarcity as a Teacher
  • Being in a period of scarcity (financial/career) forced alertness and drove authentic change.
  • “That initial leap of faith moment is…a big trusting point in yourself that you can figure it out.” – Ryan [41:38]
  • Scarcity becomes “hunger” for something more fulfilling.
• Following Curiosity
  • “I think you learn more about yourself and what’s authentic to you every time you do that right. You’re gonna do it wrong sometimes, and that’s part of the process.” – Ryan [44:00]
  • The pursuit of truth and authenticity is a continual, imperfect process: “You learn just as much from, if not more from these little failures, mistakes and fumbles as you do with the successes.” [44:00]

8. Personal Branding and Rough Edges

• Leaning into Authenticity
  • Ryan is building a personal brand that foregrounds imperfection; using “messy yet refined” hand lettering as his visual language.
  • “I want that feeling and tone to come across. So the end goal is my website will be mostly comprised of this sort of hand-done lettering…letting it be rough around the edges.” – Ryan [46:40]
• Rejecting Homogeneity
  • Radim: “It’s so easy to be boring. It’s so easy to be easy. It’s so easy to be sans serif…” – Radim [49:08]
• Purpose of the Portfolio
  • Beyond business, Ryan’s website is a creative home for self-discovery and authenticity, using it as a process to unearth and express his true self. [51:40]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If you are always in your comfort zone on a bike, you’re not going to learn much and you're not going to progress much.” – Ryan [05:44]
• “It should be challenging. And now I’m 37...I’m kind of just excited to see what unfolds.” – Ryan [09:12]
• “For me... initially with that stillness, that was the bigger leap of faith moment because I was saying no to security in a time where I needed it.” – Ryan [40:46]
• “Sometimes I meditate and it’s just like going to the gym. It’s not that great of a workout...but other times I do, and it’s surprisingly good.” – Ryan [25:22]
• “The core of why I do this stuff is to contribute to culture.” – Ryan [54:51]
• “The biggest challenge, the website isn’t really picking the work to show...It’s all the writing that goes with it. Because I’m not much of a writer…It’s really challenging to sum yourself up.” – Ryan [51:40]
• “More of us need to be open about talking about this on a public stage—and it only helps.” – Ryan [54:51]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:10] – Ryan on leaving his job, prioritizing stillness and authenticity
• [04:16–07:10] – Using mountain biking as a metaphor for creative risk-taking
• [12:50–15:21] – Family influence and nurturing creativity through intuition
• [18:41–21:56] – Losing a job, seeking therapy, and dedicating time to inner work
• [21:56–25:22] – Meditation as a tool for confronting inner chaos and gaining clarity
• [28:13–30:53] – Transition to music industry work through personal networks
• [33:29–38:54] – Creative coaching with Ben Tallon as a catalyst for transformation
• [41:38–44:00] – Scarcity, leaps of faith, and the hunger for growth
• [46:40–49:08] – Embracing imperfection and building a personal brand
• [54:51] – The drive to contribute to culture and the importance of vulnerability

Summary Flow & Tone

• The conversation is candid, vulnerable, and empathetic—demystifying creative struggles and the myth of perfection.
• Both Radim and Ryan champion “showing up” authentically, advocating for risk, failure, and reflection as the real engines of progress.
• Moments of hardship—especially career scarcity and mental health struggles—are reframed as catalysts for personal and creative evolution.
• The value of outside perspectives (coaching, friendships, connections) is underscored as a way to accelerate self-discovery and growth.
• The episode closes on a note of communal encouragement for creative listeners: seeking help, embracing roughness, and contributing your authentic voice are brave and impactful acts.

Key Takeaway

Authentic creativity emerges not from polished perfection, but from daring to lean into discomfort, embracing vulnerability, and letting your work—and yourself—be a little rough around the edges.