0:29

For this podcast episode, we're bringing you our conversation with a client. Who's also a fellow filmmaker and friend. Sam is a really fun, cool guy. He came into the program, wanting to work on time management. I think you'll really enjoy hearing his story. He was planning to quit his job so that he could spend all his time making a feature film. And in the end. Things turned out even better than he thought they would. So for any of you who feel like you don't have time to make a feature film? You're going to love this episode. We really had fun recording this and we hope you have just as much fun listening. So without further ado here is our conversation with sam featherstone

Kent Thalman: 1:18

do you want to introduce yourself? Yeah. Talk to me about introduce yourself and talk to me about your family.

Sam Featherstone: 1:25

Yeah. So I'm Sam Featherstone and, I worked full time as a visual content manager at Kodiak cakes. And I, my wife, I wish she was in here cause I'd introduced her, but, um, is Emma and I have two kids, Eli who is our most recent little guy. He was born last almost a year ago in January and Livie. Who's our two and a half year old. And she's our bundle of joy. She's in full on princess stage right now. So yeah

1:56

awesome.

Anna Thalman: 1:57

So I want to hear the whole story. Cause you told me things turned out a little differently. You're still working at Kodiak cakes. Yeah.

Sam Featherstone: 2:03

It's it was, it took a turn. So yeah, it did not pan out quite how I anticipated, but better than I expected far better than I expected because originally, um, you know, when we first well coming into the program, you know, I had, I think I mentioned this to you at the very start Anna was, was I had kind of been like observing it from a, from a distance for about what like four or five months, maybe even like six months, um, debating whether or not I was like,, oh, you know,, should I do this? Should I not? And then it just sort of like one day I just felt very strongly like,, okay, this is something you need to do. You need to get on top of it. And I can get a handle mostly on my time management. That was like kind of the kicker. Cause I felt like I just couldn't get out of my own way. Right. And so, and So it was mostly time management and. The goal was to be able to leave Kodiak cakes by the end of it, to feel like,, okay, I can start doing my own production company. And, and, and once I can feel confident about my time management, I can move into that and feel confidently that I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot just by wasting time. And so, and so throughout the process, I think just changing my mentality too, nobody's forcing me to work there and, and it's my decision to be at Kodiak cakes and, and choosing not only that, but to enjoy it, choosing that every day I get to go and do what I love for a company that I really and I'm proud of working for. And so just that shift in mentality was it's something that just sort of came as a by-product of, of the program. And then when it got to kind of September 15th was the deadline that I set for myself to leave Kodiak. I think it was at the end of August. I reached out, well, the, it was interesting because the company had just been bought in June by a private equity firm. And we got moved back under the creative department. And I saw the opportunity, for some changes that I was kind of hoping for as far as, moving into a different position and, and more of a management role and being able to step back and direct more than actually shooting directly, basically hiring more people to be able to do the roles that I just felt like I was doing everything right. And so, and so finally, I, I reached out to our creative director and said, Hey, my plan is to leave on the 15th. I am, I am out the door on the 15th, unless. something can change, cause this is ultimately like,, I do love the company. I'd love to continue working for the company, but, but here were a few hold ups that, that made me want to leave. And he said, okay, let me, let me think on that for a little bit and get back to you. And it was great. Cause that same day I sent him the email. I left on a, on a freelance trip to Alaska for like 10 days. And it was basically balls in your court. I'm going off the grid for about 10 days. And so I came back and the end, he said, okay, we're going to give you a, we want to move you into a management role. That's managing the photographer. We're gonna hire a videographer. And, and you're going to be managing that team and to be able to step into more of a full-time director capacity, set. You don't have to worry so much about the shooting and an editing and all that sort of stuff, but you can, you can sort of, do what you've been wanting to and with a pay increase in everything. And I was like, you know what, like, this is, this is ultimately what I wanted to be doing, freelance, but I get to, do it you know, continue to do it for a company, that I really like.. And, and the nice thing is being able to, to really focus and like on that one company and help build that brand. And also work with people that I get along with really well in the first place. And so it kind of shook out how I, I was not expecting, but the nice thing is that now, with the new, with the new position, and, and with better, way better time managing time management skills, I have way more time on my hands than then. I felt like I had before. I probably had the same amount, but now I I'm just so much better at managing it. And I do have a lot of freed up time where I'm not the one that's sitting down in front of the computer to edit for, X amount of time. So that time is spent doing other things for the company. But also it's totally opened up the time to, to focus more on the projects that I want to be doing such as a feature and, and other like smaller. projects that, that have sort of piqued my interest, but yeah, so it's kind of awesome, I've, I feel like I'm, I'm in a pretty, pretty awesome position and I'm extremely grateful for it to you guys just coach me along the way. Honestly. That's really cool.

Anna Thalman: 6:34

Yeah. That's awesome that you were ready to leave and then they're like,, wait,

Sam Featherstone: 6:38

hold up.

Kent Thalman: 6:40

and sometimes when you actually take, I feel like when you become like a free agent and that's a mental thing, right? When you decide you're going to step into this agency that you actually have, and it's then everyone starts to like,, want you, the ball shifts. And so it stops the relationship changes. It's no longer oh, I need you to do all this stuff, do it for me. And it's oh, Okay. Now it's us needing you. I don't know, like it turned around, the

Sam Featherstone: 7:06

dynamic kind of changes because

Kent Thalman: 7:09

you, it's not you're trying to play hard to get or play hard ball, or you're not, it's not a strategy or tactic. It's just you recognizing that your own agency. And I think that when everyone does that, all the relationships are, are usually more respectful. hopefully, I mean, even if they're not, then usually you just use your agency to walk away from it and, and, and, and it's usually more of a win-win for everyone involved. I feel So it seems

Anna Thalman: 7:33

yeah, I feel like it's just that you decide what you want to do once you've decided, like,, this is what I want to do, and I'm going to do it. People will either come along with you or not. And, and you find a way to do

Kent Thalman: 7:45

that.

Sam Featherstone: 7:47

Yeah. So what's actually

Kent Thalman: 7:48

in Kodiak cakes.

Sam Featherstone: 7:51

What's

Kent Thalman: 7:56

it's funny. I can't. So basically all that I knew about you because Anna doesn't really talk too much about the details of her clients is that you worked for Kodiak cakes and that you're planning to maybe make a transition by the end. But, but that was the only thing. And so, however, I can't, I can't see or eat Kodiak cakes anymore without being like.. Yeah, Sam feathers, you've become synonymous with Kodiak cakes and we're actually pretty healthy eaters. And so it's the only mix that I feel like we eat

Sam Featherstone: 8:29

well, you guys should send me your address and I will send you, we call it a, a care package, Kodiak, Kara Kodiak care. Exactly. Get you guys some new mixes. And I know they got the cups, which are super easy. Our daughter eats the oatmeal just about every morning. So you want this morning Livy it's oatmeal and yogurt. That's that's the go-to so, yeah,

Anna Thalman: 8:52

pancakes now. Cause I remember you said that you didn't before.

Sam Featherstone: 8:56

Right? I lied. I did before. It was when I was younger, I hated pancakes. I would wake up and I would throw a fit if my mom had made, like when she would make the homemade pancakes too, which is basically what Kodiak cakes are. And I was Yeah, I just be so upset, but then it, it changed over time when I learned, the power of, of butter, making pancakes and then, and then there's actually enough flavors that at Kodiak cakes where I'm like,, yeah, actually they're, they're pretty good. But the, the thing, this is funny, I think the mix that I eat the very most is not a pancake mix, but I'll make the cornbread mix and waffles and I, and I love that because it's not, so it's not so sweet. It's a lot of the other ones and it's, I dunno, I just love corn bread too. So it's I don't know. Win-win for me,

Kent Thalman: 9:42

supplementing my pancakes with cornmeal.

Sam Featherstone: 9:46

That's pretty good. Yeah. I've definitely enjoyed that. Well,

Kent Thalman: 9:51

So my question was, I mean, it doesn't matter what, where this is at, but I just, I'm just curious to know if you are, you, have you decided on a very specific concept for the feature that I know you want to make. have you written some stuff, have you started writing

Sam Featherstone: 10:08

or where are you at? So let me tell you a little story here. This is a little, maybe a little background, but I've had this, The idea kind of bouncing on my head, little bits and pieces. I'm sure. Everybody experiences, right. Little scenes is all write down on a piece of paper. If I'm at my computer, I'll be okay, this would be funny. And I, and I've got the concept pretty dialed in on what I wanted it to be. And, and I would block out the times and my schedule, when I was calendaring, at the times, when I wanted to write and, and get the story on, on paper. And so I'd find myself more outlining and getting that sort of stuff down and it would always kind of shift and change. And, and I realized something sort of in that process I don't really enjoy working on a project by myself. I'm, I'm far more team-oriented if I've got at least one person to be able to bounce ideas off of, it helps my, helps me come up with new ideas, fresh ideas, and be able to. just structured a little faster and, and I think more effectively. and so once that started to happen, it was, it was in Alaska, I think on that same trip where I was really kind of debating. I was okay, if I'm, if I'm going, full-time freelance, I'm going to hit this really hard. I spent a lot of those, those first weeks when I'm, when I'm drumming up work to, just really focused on getting the script written and everything. And then on the other side, I was like,, and if something happens where I, I do decide to stay at Kodiak cakes. If they counter with a, an offer that that I'll want to take, I'm still gonna find the time, but I I'll, I'll, it'll be more just kind of finding the time where I want to write and everything, instead of hitting it quite as hard as I, as I would, if I was freelance and, and it was while I was out there, as I was kind of bouncing ideas off of. some of the people we were working with, I realized what, I think I want to work with a writer on this. I think I, I I'd be better off if I worked with somebody who actually, because I really, it was funny. I feel I've been, I haven't been working on screenplays for a while and I've been working a lot more on the advertising, which, which I've changed kind of my process where it felt fairly unfamiliar, getting back into full outline character, like breakdowns and everything. I was like,, oh, like,, this feels a little overwhelming just for, for me right now. And so if I, if I work with, with a writer this, allow me to, to flush it out a little bit more to, be able to bounce. I, I said, bounce ideas off of somebody and sort of hone in on, on better ideas and better characters and all that sort of stuff. And so I wrote on the rocks with Martha. And then she's great with, with, just building the characters and, and the actual writing process. And so, so I reached out to her to see if she would even be interested in, in the idea and kind of just laid out just a brief synopsis for her on what it is. And, and I knew it was right up her alley and it was great. Cause, cause I reached out to her, I was like,, Hey, I'm going to send you this idea. If you're not interested, just tell me. And she's like,, yeah, I'm fairly busy. but I'll take a look and see what you think. And it was funny. The second she got the email, she was I love it. I want to do it. let's do this. This is fun. So I was like,, okay, good. I at least I at least know that the idea is that. And if Martha's excited about it, then, then it got me more excited about it. Right. And so, and so we jumped on a phone call a few weeks ago and started to just kind of I kind of brain dump. I am right now, as far as here's my idea. This is, this is where I, where I think it could go. This is where I think it can be fun. Here's some visual examples. My center, probably 10 videos that she watched probably half cause she's like,, Sam you're you're overloading me right now. but, but basically got, got to the point where it's okay, we're working on this together. And, and, and I can focus a lot more on, just the, the story is as a whole and, and let Martha kind of help. Just dial, the story in, and, and we just worked better together. Anyway, at least for me, she, she might work pretty well alone, but, but I having somebody where I can just, just bounce stuff off of. So, so yeah. We're just wrapping up kind of the emotional, beats and the emotional journey for our, for our four main characters. And, and now, we're going to start going in and plotting just about everything. And then I think our goal right now is to be done by February 15th. if we can, if we can get it done sooner than all the better, but, but that's our timeline right now. And, and we're shooting, we're really hoping, or I'm hoping that we can. Dialed in enough and to be able to start, finding some money for it by the summer. And shot anytime in the summer, honestly anytime between June to September, it could work. And so I'm hoping to shoot something this coming year. So, yeah. And it's a simple enough, it's a simple enough really five character story that that is actually quite like,, I think it's quite a bit of fun. and, and it's small enough that it's, it's very doable. And so I think it can. No. I I know if we, if we do the, take the right steps to make it happen, it'll happen. So, yeah. So that's where we're at on that. That was a lot you guys, I'm sorry. I just need to no, I'm a terrible interviewer. It's funny. When I'm, when I'm dragging projects and I'm the inter the person interviewing, I'm like,, okay, let's just take all that and just sum it up in about this much time. And I am an interviewer's worst nightmare because I won't shut up. No, no, no. You're

Anna Thalman: 15:38

great. This is long form. Cause it's podcasts.

Sam Featherstone: 15:41

It's good. And

Kent Thalman: 15:42

Anna was like,, I think Sam reminds me a lot of you. And I was like,, oh, I wonder why. And then you're like,, I'm all stream of conscious and I'm like,, all right. Yeah, I know. It's funny, right? No, I process literally everything out loud. I have to just, just talk it out so right. That's. Oh, that's exciting. No, I think it's, it's a good you're in the honeymoon phase. I think of of that story, development. I'm excited. Well, if you ever need anyone to read, well, I'm a happy reader, but if you want to just, otherwise, I'll just wait to see it in theaters. So, or wherever on Netflix bought for a few million,

Sam Featherstone: 16:23

so let's hope that's the case.

16:26

So Sam, you mentioned that you spent some time watching the film and family academy before you decided to join. Can you tell us why? You eventually decided to join in the first place.

Sam Featherstone: 16:40

That one's actually pretty easy. I knew I needed some type of intervention for lack of a better word. I needed. I needed a little more structure or some, somebody to kind of help me structure my life better I knew if I could, if I could just change the way that I was thinking and approaching my time, I'd be able to get more done, do the projects that I wanted to be more productive at work at home, in just about every aspect of my life. And I wouldn't feel guilty for the time that I was taking off, to do the other things that I wanted to do. Right. That, that I would normally call time-wasters, but now they're like, you know,, rewards and, and, and that type of thing. And so, and so I would, I would for example, I'd work, I'd be at work for most of the day. And a lot of that time would be filled with just, filler stuff that would just distractions, you know,, where if I didn't want to do a project or if I didn't want to get into an edit, I would just find anything and everything to distract myself, because I knew that Hey, this edit's going to take some time, but I would, I would turn it into a mountain rather than just take a one step at a time. And, and so basically long story short, I knew that I needed help to sort of figure that out. And I, and I observed the program or what you were putting out for probably five months. And, and then it was just one day, honestly, it was, it was. It was an, it was inspiration. It was one of those moments where it was like,, okay, this is something you need to do, take action on it now. And so I sat down and said, okay, this is, I need to do this. And, and shortly after, it sort of dawned on me just how helpful it was going to be for, for me and, and managing my time better and getting the things done that I really wanted to do with my life. So I'm not sure what else, you're, if that's a good starting point,

Anna Thalman: 18:39

that's great.

Kent Thalman: 18:41

I'm curious, something that I think Anna's noticed a lot with most of her clients is, is that, when she was putting people through private coaching, which is what you did, she had a 12 week program. And, and you remember, you started off, you did a little life tour or what is it tour,

Sam Featherstone: 18:58

tour,

Kent Thalman: 18:58

your brain tour or whatever. And, and, and that's still part of the, the coursework. but you, you decided to focus on time management and that was kind of the main result that you wanted to come out of this whole thing with was I just want to feel like I've like on top of that and I can really control my life in that way. Well, at what point in the 12 weeks do you feel like you were

Sam Featherstone: 19:20

like,, yeah,

Kent Thalman: 19:23

I'm pretty solid on time management.

Sam Featherstone: 19:26

It's funny, for me, it wasn't super noticeable. I, and from day to day, it wasn't super noticeable. Right. And so I I would be making a conscious effort to, to improve and to manage my time and, and, and sit down, create my, my list, my to-do list, calendar it, get it in, you know,, so I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. And, and, and it's funny. Day-to-day I, I still felt okay, there's still these pockets of time that I, that I feel like I'm wasting and everything. And it, and it almost took the help of Anna just to, to change the way that I was thinking about it, where it's like,, no, the improvement that I made from day one to say three, four weeks down the road, I was like,, holy crap. I'm actually, I'm doing pretty good. and it took, it took that step back to realize okay, there's definitely progress being made here. And an improvement is, is happening. And if I just step back to take a look I'm doing way better than I was beforehand. And, and so I think it was, it was around probably week four when, when Anna helped me take that step back. And then also I mean, just rehauling and changing the way that you think. and what you tell yourself about the circumstances you're in and the way, just the thought process that follow those was, yeah, it was, it was a pretty gradual process, but I'd say somewhere around week four is when I started realized okay, like I'm, I'm doing better. I'm starting to, to realize, what I, what I was hoping for through this program. And, and then it was just piece by piece. Cause I remember there were, there were moments in weeks where, I didn't do so well, but still like I would look at those weeks and. That was not a good, a good week for me, necessarily on where, where I'm trying to go, but then I'd compare it to beforehand. I'm like,, but still that week I would take a hundred times over any previous week before the program. It's the,

Kent Thalman: 21:13

the worst day marriage is better than the best day. Single exactly. That's what I just said was an untrue statement. just cause I don't want to perpetuate the belief that marriage will complete you. but, but I think all of us here, like marriage generally speaking, so, yeah. well, my other question was, was just about. I'm curious to know, you came in with a specific thing in mind, but you look at your whole life and usually this is very common. Your, your whole life will is like wherever, you know,, certain things are up and down and then you have this one thing that's either your lowest point or it's just something you want to focus on and you just kind of super focus on it. And usually you see, major improvement and you feel really great about that spot in your life and one, or both things happen where I feel like what Anna has experienced is that almost all of our clients about half-ish waste. I feel like I don't feel like I need coaching on this thing that I came in for to begin with anymore. And they decide I'm going to focus on this other thing. And it's usually making a feature film or they want to work on their marriage or whatever, or money. I think those are the most common, I think it was three. And, and, I'm just curious to know, did you naturally see other parts of your life, experiencing upticks, in terms of confidence or your money mindset or your, or your marriage or your feature film career, did you see that or did you end up even focusing on that towards the end of the coaching process?

Sam Featherstone: 22:44

I mean, we touched on a few other things, but generally, I think we stayed pretty focused on time management because. Coming into it. I knew that was the common denominator for just about everything else in my life where it's if I, if I can learn to really manage my time, well, I will naturally be scheduling time for everything else. I'll be finding time for my family, for my relationship, for, for work, for, whatever it is. If I can manage my time, all those things will benefit because I'll be dedicating more time and effort to it. And so that was, that was kinda my main focus coming into. It was time management. And even there were a few times where I think Anna probably suggested let's, let's maybe try something else if you're feeling pretty good about it. And I think naturally, we just sort of came back to the time management. Kind of as a whole, because I just, yeah, that was, that was one thing where I just knew, if I can improve that in that one area of my life, that would be the tide that raises all the ships, So, yeah.

Kent Thalman: 23:45

Well, and so, yeah, and that's not a, that's not a, please don't consider this a PR question. Yeah. It improved everything in your life and your teeth got wider. Right. I I'm here. I'm just curious. do you feel like it, that, I mean, that was your plan, time management would improve everything else. Do you feel you saw parts of your life? oh wow. There's this starting to show dividends or whatever?

Sam Featherstone: 24:05

No, I, I absolutely think it did. And, and that's my honest, truthful answer and, and there, like any more, like there are weeks. Or I feel like it's keeping up the momentum, And, and sometimes, I feel like my momentum's a, semi-truck it's hard to get going. And then once it's moving, it's it's ways to keep up, And I feel this week has actually gotten off to a great start and I feel I'm just chugging right along. But when it slows down, it's hard to get moving again. but when, when I am making that conscious effort and, and really working to improve my, my time, it makes everything better. My relationship with, with Emma and my kids and, and, with, with work and, everything. Yeah. It really is everything. Cause I am just making that effort to, to make time for it. So. Yeah, it's an improvement pretty much all around. So that's funny.

Kent Thalman: 24:57

I've always compared myself to a train, especially when a talk, when we talk about sleep and I compare Anna to a Prius and I'm it takes her two seconds. All right, let's go. And she'll just be at 9:00 PM, her body's like sleep. It's like,, boom, boom. On, I'll wait now. Whereas I'm like,, oh, I'm awake. But it's gonna take me a while to get into that sleep. slow way down. You gotta slow that train down. And then morning it's all right. All right. All right, let's go. Let's get the thing going. That's why we're laughing. Cause you're, you're comparing yourself to a semi truck and I was like,, oh yeah,

Sam Featherstone: 25:32

I get that.

Kent Thalman: 25:35

Oh, that's funny.

Anna Thalman: 25:36

yeah. What would you say to someone who's been listening to the podcast and they're kind of thinking about maybe joining.

Sam Featherstone: 25:46

I think my, my first piece of advice would be to take a hard look at, at where you're at. And if you think the program could genuinely benefit you because where I was I mean, I, I think I thought it would for a while, but, but it took me some investigation in the program and, and what you were putting out in the podcasts, just, to really think okay, would this, would this benefit me? And then, and then it took a couple of days for me to just sit down and be like honest with myself, and be real where it's like,, okay, am I going to do I want to change a and then B am I going to actually put in the effort that it takes. To change and how much, or how, how worth it is it to me to, to take that step. And so, being real with myself and deciding yeah, this is, this is where I want to go. And, and Anna can help me get there, through the coaching and helping me, sort of just see those blind spots, for myself and realize okay, yeah, that's where I can improve and give me a structure to improve. that would be probably my biggest suggestion is to be honest with yourself, look at where you're at. And if, and if you feel it's something that, that can, can help to take that step. Because I mean, I obviously, it was a very good thing for me. What I really wanted was just to improve my time management as a whole. And, and honestly just change the way I thought about, lots of things in my life. And that it's funny, that was more of a by-product of, of what I came in for originally. But, but end of the day, it was a huge, a huge step for me. It was a, it was a big step to join for me too, because a lot of that stuff on like, you know,, I don't either, I wouldn't put in the effort for it, or I just felt like,, and I don't know that, you know,, how much something that could help me, but it really was, it was just a moment of of inspiration, where I was okay, this is this, this is what you should do. And so. That's when I decided to take a hard look at my life where I wanted to go. And if I felt the program could get me there and well, here we are. So obviously I felt like it could and, and I, and I definitely feel like it did.

Kent Thalman: 28:04

That's awesome. That's

Anna Thalman: 28:05

great

Sam Featherstone: 28:05

to hear.

Kent Thalman: 28:08

I have a question. What do you feel like is if you could, like,, this might put you on the spot, so feel free to think about it. if you could sum up one or two things that were like the biggest principles, or maybe just mind shifts, this is how you think, and this is how I think now. I don't know. It's the biggest things you've learned. I know it's asking you what your favorite movie is. You just tell me the first two that pop your head. Right.

Sam Featherstone: 28:34

It's funny. I, this is a pretty simple answer for me. Funny enough. I think before. And working with Anna, my immediate thought process was I'm trying to fill in the blank the best way. So for example, let's say I'm trying to sit down and write a screenplay. Right. And in my head, in my brain, it was, I can't write today because I don't have enough time or I can't fill in the blank, whatever it is, And, and that's where I think my mental block was before going into the program. And, and I think the biggest shift in thinking for me was putting an if at the front of all of my thoughts, as far as accomplishing what I want to do, because. I still waste time. There, there are moments where I find myself, just filling time with mindless stuff and, beforehand, that would totally derail me for the rest of the day where it's like,, I've wasted too much time. And that's perfect example of the thought, right. I've wasted too much time. I can't do this anymore because I've, I've already squandered the opportunity. Right. And now it's shifted that where if I find myself wasting time or at the start of the day, I say okay, if I stopped doing this and, and if I, if I can just get started on the first step of whatever I'm trying to accomplish, I can get that thing done. And, and so like,, if it's the screenplay, it's if I sit down at nine o'clock and, and start writing, I'll have a page or two done by nine 30 and then, to sort of compound on that. If I'm wasting time, or if I don't hit that benchmark at nine o'clock, 10 o'clock rolls around. And I haven't gotten started on that. I can think, okay. If I, if I start at 10 o'clock, maybe I don't get as far as I had originally planned, but if I just get started I'll accomplish, who knows what? And so I think for me, it's just adding that, that if at the front where we're changing and that completely changes, for my brain, it completely changes the conversation I'm having with my, with myself. And, and it makes me believe, or helps me believe that I can, I can get the things done that I want to get done, that I need to get done and things that I've put off for a long time. So, yeah. Hopefully that's that answers your question. Oh, it

Kent Thalman: 30:48

does. And you know,, what outside I'm curious about is I feel a lot of these things are, well, I'll just ask you, do you feel like that was something that. Ana sort of taught you or instructed you, or do you feel that was something that she just kind of worked with you and probed you until like you, um,, how much of that was your own conclusion? How much of that was just pure instruction? Some of those conclusions you made?

Sam Featherstone: 31:15

I mean, it was a little bit of both. It takes, for me, it took somebody pointing out the flaws and thinking. Right. And, and, and that's something where the way that you think as a person, it's hard to get out of your own subjectivity, if that makes sense. it's hard to, to truly look at something objectively and say okay, here's the circumstance. And then here's the way that I'm thinking about it. it, it, it helped. Sort of brain dump to Anna. And then she would read back to me some things that I'm saying to myself and say okay, what's the problem with this? And so that's where, where she kind of put it back to me and said okay, what, where's the issue here? what are you seeing? And then I could point out oh, I'm telling myself, this lie essentially. And it's affecting the way I feel about it, the way I think about it. And, and ultimately the result I'm getting is not what I want. And so it was, it was mostly just help having her, help me see that. And then together, we basically just restructured that thought where it was. Okay. Here's the, here's the objective circumstance now let's figure out the thought that we're having afterwards and that's where, the, yeah. If I, if I get started, or just take the first step, I'll accomplish way more than I, than I would've expected to. And then instead of feeling overwhelm and stress and frustration, it changed to hope and oh, I can actually, optimism essentially. So yeah, it just changed the whole. Result and an output for me on that end. So, yeah.

Anna Thalman: 32:46

Was it hard to believe that thought at first take the first that it'll work out? How did you get from where you didn't believe that to believing it? Well,

Sam Featherstone: 32:56

I guess, I should say it wasn't so difficult to believe as much as it was to do, because I, I, I knew the way that I worked and it was more of okay, if, if I do take that first step, there I, there are, there's plenty of experiences in my life that proved that that is the case where I can look back and with solid proof, say, if I do take that first step, it'll happen. but I think, I think reinforcing that because, because it's, for me, it was easy to look back and see okay, that's some, some concrete proof in the past, but now that I'm now that I'm making a conscious effort to notice. And, and do that rather than just observing, in the past, oh yeah. Here's a time that it worked here at the time that it worked, but making the effort to say okay, I'm going to put that through to the test and take that first step and say okay, I'm consciously, I'm making that first step. I'm expecting this result. And seeing it actually happened, just reinforces, the belief where it's yeah, it works, what I've established here, And, and with Anna, it's it's, it's working for me. It's and it's something that can move forward with and use every day moving forward. And so, yeah, hopefully that,

Anna Thalman: 34:08

so it's more difficult at the beginning, but the more you do it, the more it

Sam Featherstone: 34:11

reinforces, the more you do it, the more reinforces it. And, and, and so, yeah, it's, it's, I mean, it's just a process for me and, and, and just getting that, that positive reinforcement of that experience, Moving forward and, and yeah, over time, it becomes something that's very easy to believe.

Anna Thalman: 34:29

anything with practice can become easy,

Kent Thalman: 34:32

more practice seeing evidence. So that's awesome. So

Anna Thalman: 34:35

now, now you're preparing to make a feature film. Do you feel like that thought crosses over and you can think that about, if I just put in a little time each day, I can make this thing happen. Do you see that

Sam Featherstone: 34:48

when it, when it comes to the feature film initially, before this, I just saw the mountain. Right. And, and it's I don't really know where to start. I know where to start, but. it just looks so overwhelming. And so just yeah, too much. And, and now like just sort of applying that thought process and just the belief that I can do it and make it successful is huge. Right? because before it was like,, I like,, I want to do this, but I can't for this reason and this reason, and this reason, just list it, everybody's got a million different reasons, to not do it. And, and it's, it's just believe honestly, for me it was just believing no, I can do this. I can do this. And if I take that first step, and for me, it was, it was believing that I could make a feature. and then. just knowing myself and, and seeing sort of the steps where I needed help along the way. And for me, it was calling Martha and having somebody that I could just bounce ideas off of and, and help me get it onto paper and, and get the script done, And so it's, it's just taken it one piece at a time. And, and honestly the checklist definitely helps because then I could look down the road and just see okay, I'm doing this, this, this, and this. And I don't really need to worry so much about these next steps. It's just focusing on one piece at a time. And, and the smaller, I shouldn't say the smaller tasks, but the smaller and make the next step, the easier it is to take. Right. So, yeah.

Kent Thalman: 36:15

Well, it's true. And that's kind of the checklist does, I, I'll be honest. I made fun of Anna for weeks about that checklist. I was like,, why are you so obsessed about getting this checklist done? Because I thought that doesn't seem that useful to me. It's first of all, most people know what they need to do. They're just not doing it. And second of all, I don't know, I just didn't really see the value in it. And now, like,, even now I think about like,, even just working on our next feature, I'm yeah, I'm glad we have this checklist that we made. It's just, I haven't written down. So I don't have to, I don't have to worry about the next steps. I just need to worry more about the next, one and it just do it it's. Well, and I

Anna Thalman: 36:46

just count, I just did a production timeline for a feature film, and I took every item on the checklist and just put them all on a calendar. So I was like,, okay, there it is. We'll just say, this thing this week,

Kent Thalman: 36:59

I was trying to balance all 112 things in my head, you know?? And you're like,, all right. But then what if I know, but then I have to it's, if the mountain thing where you're just hold it all up in your brain, it's just, and then it just kills me. That's funny,

Sam Featherstone: 37:11

manageable bites. And you can just take it one piece at a time. It makes it so much easier. Yeah.

Kent Thalman: 37:16

Yeah. Well, so it's interesting. So, and then you reached out to this writer and fortuitous. She was interested. but do you think you would have decided to keep writing if she wasn't

Sam Featherstone: 37:28

interested? Yeah. If she wasn't interested. I, I probably at that point, I think I just realized how beneficial it was for me to, to have somebody to communicate with and to be able to brainstorm with and, how much more I enjoy the process of working with somebody else rather than just trying to do it on my own. So I probably would have reached out to a few more people and, and seen if they were interested in and if not, if they had, if they had not said, yes, let's say I just got a hard note from everybody, then, then I absolutely would have done it myself. it, it, I would have probably changed my mentality to thinking, okay, I can get this done. If I work with somebody to, I can get this done. If I take the next step, and, and, just determine what that, what that step is. And I just break it down easily for my brain to handle and manage and then, move. Yeah. I

Kent Thalman: 38:23

mean, I just asked that question because I get a sense that you're, you're taking more of that ownership mentality where you're just it's like,, I need someone else to tell me that, oh yeah, I'm interested in this and I will do it with you. It's because you believed, I think someone might be interested you've reached out. Right. And so that's, and it was true. You were right. So well, and I love

Anna Thalman: 38:42

seeing how confident, how confident you are that. You're going to find a way to make this happen. And even that you have this timeline and you're thinking, yeah, this year I'm going to make a movie this next year. We're going to shoot probably in the summer. We're going to get it financed and finish the script. And, and I think that's what happens when we realized that we're in charge of our result. That we've suddenly become empowered to create them and feel confident that you can get that result. So it's just a nice, nice to see that. That seems to be your mindset.

Sam Featherstone: 39:16

Yeah.

Kent Thalman: 39:18

So you, Sam, you've talked a little bit about, some of the results that you've seen in your time management thought processes and stuff. And I'm wondering so, so far today you've mentioned to me that you are now working with a co-writer you're, you've got some goals on writing process and production and. You've got, another result that you've talked about is, a promotion paying increase, the management

Sam Featherstone: 39:38

position that you lay it all like that, it sounds pretty good.

Kent Thalman: 39:41

Well, it's really good. And a lot of us can look back on the last year of our lives and often see a lot of progress. But especially when we're doing the work, it, it's, it's easier to see. And so, you've, you've gotten a promotion, you've had some pay increase you're in a management position, which you said has given you more flexibility to work on your feature that you are working on. and you've mentioned your family, but you haven't talked about them a lot. I'm just wondering, do you feel like,, see, this is like,, this is where the, the judge would be that's leading. I'm trying to figure out how to all my questions. So like,, could you just say again that people should like buy this program? One more time? no, like,, I'm genuinely curious, how much of this do you personally attribute to, results from some of them, the ThoughtWorker tools and the tools and the model that you've been working with? and how much of it do you think would have happened? Had you not done any of this stuff?

Sam Featherstone: 40:38

Yeah, I mean, I, I believe that, I mean, a lot of, a lot of good things still would have happened. but I don't think that they would have happened. Nearly to the extent that they have. because I'm not sure that I would have put myself out there in the way that I have at Kodiak cakes. Okay. And been more willing to just communicate and say like, you know what, I'm leaving, I'm leaving on the 15th. I'm planning on leaving on the 15th. unless there's an opportunity in the future, you know,, just, or an opportunity for me to, to move up and start doing the things that I want to. And then, then also with, with the feature and working on that, I think I'd probably still be in the development stage, And, and, and still just thinking of here's some good ideas, that could maybe throw into it. But, but instead of instead of that, and just thinking oh yeah, one day I'll get done. It's no, I'm, I'm moving forward. and I need to make this happen. I want to make this happen. And now I have the, the, the structure and the processes to be able to execute that. and so, yeah, I, I think that the good things probably still would've happened, but, but I don't think that they would have happened to the extent that they, they did. And. And I think probably the biggest takeaway for me is the confidence that I can do, essentially whatever I want, you know,, in the sense that so long as the, the thought is there and I'm, I believe that that I will be successful no matter what I'm doing. It's just finding the things that I really enjoy the very most. That's what I don't feel like I had before. And, and that's one of the biggest things, because then it, it just, it impacts so many different areas of my life as far as even the way that I look at the money in my bank account right now, before, it was, it was kind of like, you know,, it was this enough, the, the, and, or I want to make way more and everything. And even now, when I look at it, it's wow, we're doing great. I feel really good about where we are, we're making progress. And, and with my relationships at home, I feel like I have a better relationship with my daughter then, and my son, than I would have had beforehand because the time management. Right. It's and it's just being able to spend time with them and meaningful time, not just, pass the time or, go and take care of this or that, but it's no, let's, let's spend some meaningful time together and plan some fun stuff that we get to do together and build those memories and in turn relationships. So, yeah, I think it's helped quite a bit.

Kent Thalman: 43:10

Awesome.

Anna Thalman: 43:11

Yeah. It's interesting. Cause I remember that we did focus on the time management but that you would often show up. And have results in other areas of your life where you're like,, oh yeah. And I lost 10 pounds and I did this other thing and I was like,, oh cool. That's nice. Good for you. You know,, all this stuff on the side. So that's cool.

Kent Thalman: 43:34

ate some pancakes.

Sam Featherstone: 43:39

Well, I wrote the same time. the other,

Kent Thalman: 43:48

while I was on a treadmill.

Sam Featherstone: 43:51

Okay. You

Anna Thalman: 43:51

teach me now,

Kent Thalman: 43:54

how do we do that? So it's,

Anna Thalman: 43:58

Is there anything else you feel like you want to talk about or that I

Sam Featherstone: 44:03

didn't cover? I'll say one more thing. I have to think you Anna, for just for being so dialed in and knowing how to help me, specifically improve time management and, and honestly It's funny. Sometimes they get a little, like,, I feel like I've been a lot more sensitive lately. Getting emotional a lot more often because I'm a lot more in tune with like,, I feel like who I am, what I want to accomplish. And what's meaningful to me in life. And, and being able to honestly this, this is something that's helped me be able to get those things or to give those things the time that they need in my life, for me to feel like I'm, a full person. And that sounds kind of weird to say out loud, but somebody who really is doing the things that they want to and, and is leading a meaningful life that, if I was to die today, heaven forbid, I feel like I could leave this world and feel really happy with what I've done, because the program has helped me, definitely realize like there's a lot that I have to contribute in this life. And it's helped me find ways to accomplish those things that are meaningful to me and, and just be able to move forward, not feel that guilt that I felt so much, you know,, in the evenings from what I do today, but actually like,, feel like I'm making progress, I'm making this world a better place. I'm doing the things that I want to and need to, and end of the day, it's just, for me, it was, it was an absolute, answer to prayers and just exactly what I needed at the time. And, and I, and I feel that all the time and, and, and I do, I jump on the website fairly often, just. Even, even just going to the website, helps my brain kick into like,, okay, here we go. just gets that semi moving. Like We established earlier, as far as just getting that momentum, moving and getting back on track when I'm feeling like I'm starting to get a little laggy. So

Kent Thalman: 46:00

yeah. I mean, if you ever feel like you need to distract yourself from some editing projects that are bumming you out, just hop on the hop on the website, visible mentioned.com, wait, waste some time on some time management courses. For

Sam Featherstone: 46:13

real though, it's crazy how much it helps my brain just sort of shifts, but anyway, I, that was unprompted, but I just, honestly, just for the two of you, you guys, thank you so much. I, I know Kent, you shook your head but I think you're as much a part of this as, as anybody. And so thank you guys for, for putting in the effort to, to make us to make real, I speak to my experience, but to help me just get the things done that I'm. Wanting to do and just honestly overall just improve my life. So it's been it's been an answer to prayers, so that's awesome. Yeah.

Kent Thalman: 46:48

Thank you

Anna Thalman: 46:48

so much. It's been such a pleasure to catch up and see how you're taping and, and to record the podcast together. And honestly, I feel the same way. Everything you're saying, I'm like,, amen. I'm so grateful to the person who taught me, these tools and how they've improved all the areas of my life. And so it's, it's really exciting to see other people benefit in the same way. Yeah.

Kent Thalman: 47:12

I mean, I mean, I've stuff you've been saying about like,, feeling like you're becoming more sensitive. Part of that might be because you have like a, sounds like a 10 month old. Yeah. They'll do it to you. But dad hood does make us more sensitive, but what you're expressing was like that you feel like, you know,, what's more meaningful to you now, what actually matters and what means most to you and what makes your life mean? Something. And I, I have felt that intensely over the last, just compoundedly over the last year or two. And, and especially in the last few months in our life, I'm just realizing more and more. Just, I dunno, I just really, it's the amen thing that Anna was saying. I'm just I really appreciate that you say that because that's really what it's all about. It's not just about get the movie done or not make a movie and you'll feel complete for the rest of your life. That's really not true. but. It's really the main by-product that I hope everyone gets out of the program is, is that is find some meaning in your life. And then you'll make movies that actually matter. so yeah, no, that's awesome.

Anna Thalman: 48:11

Well, and I think we often feel that way. We feel like once I make my feature film, then I'll be happy and everything will be great. Or once I have money or once I have time or once I have once I'm married, whatever it is, we all have something that we think once I have this circumstance different in my life, then I'll be happy. And so you joined the program and you think I'm going to make this feature film, and then I'll be happy. And what you realize is I don't actually need to make the feature film to have a meaningful life, but I'm going to anyway and I'll have a meaningful way.

Kent Thalman: 48:43

Yeah. What happens when you find meaning in life is you actually find a lot of motivation to make films and tell stories

Anna Thalman: 48:48

because you have stories

Sam Featherstone: 48:50

to tell, right? Exactly.

Kent Thalman: 48:54

Well, I'm also really excited Sam to watch your movie. I know what's going to happen and I know I'm not gonna have to be patient. I'm not trying to put any pressure on you, but I'm really glad to see it. So you've got, you're building an audience already, at least with that's good with the Tolman's we're, we're anxious. We're anxious to. Contribute to the ROI of, of that film. So,

Sam Featherstone: 49:15

well, thanks you guys. I appreciate it. And, and it's good to verbally commit on this platform as well. It's on there to see accountability where it's okay, people

Kent Thalman: 49:25

know about this, everyone's Googling for the unnamed Sam Featherstone project.

Sam Featherstone: 49:31

That's what it's called anyway.

Anna Thalman: 49:39

All right, well, we'll let should get back to your family, but don't be a stranger. Let us know where you're at

Sam Featherstone: 49:44

see. Yeah, absolutely.

Kent Thalman: 49:46

Send us, you send us a script and we'll send you a test screening of our, of our feature. And we'll both feel bad about each other.

Anna Thalman: 49:55

Yeah.

49:56

All

Sam Featherstone: 49:56

this feedback is the best. Okay. Well, thanks you guys. I really appreciate it. You too. Bye bye.