I’ve met, I know and I’m learning about some incredible folks. Inspired by all of them, I’ve decided to create a “Living On Dreams” category to share who they are, what they’re doing and how they’re able to turn their dreams into a reality.
Allan Cole and Darien Victor Birks are two of my incredibly talented guy friends, who have known each other since middle school. While they’re both doing it big solo, they’ve recently combined their super powers to become The Stuyvesants.
left to right: Allan Cole and Darien Victor Birks
Name: Allan Cole (A.C) & Darien Victor Birks (D.V.B)
Home:
A.C: Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn by way of Maryland / Washington D.C.
D.V.B: Brooklyn, NY (Bed-Stuy)
The dream I’m working on:
D.V.B: Becoming an entrepreneur in the creative field.
A.C: For the last two years, I’ve been self-employed which has allowed me to put my hands in a lot of different things. To start off, I produce and arrange music under the moniker Algorythm, and also as one half of The Stuyvesants. I have a few music placements with other artists out (Skyzoo, Substantial, Naturel, Tonedeff and FreshDaily.) but most recently, I’ve been focusing on keeping things instrumental. Right now, I’m in the early stages of working on a second album with Darien- the other half of The Stuyvesants team.
On top of that, I do graphic and web development through my company fthrwght (Feather Weight), which is about a year or so old now. There are three main focuses for the company. 1) Custom WordPress Design/Development which is generally client based. A few site’s that are live now are: okayafrica.com, deconrecords.com, studio-sloan.com, petertosh.com, and revivalist.okayplayer.com. 2) Graphic development which nine times out of ten ends up on the web in some way ie: rickjames.com or jimmorrison.com. 3) WordPress Theme Distribution where I design/develop themes and distribute them to the WordPress community. Most of my themes can be found here and you can also take a closer look at this blog which happens to be using one of my themes as well.
After that, there’s a bunch of other endeavors with a few collaborative groups I’m involved with including, SD and MVMT.
Inspired by:
D.V.B: I’m inspired by a number of things: my environment, family, friends, music, books, movies, etc. Whatever I get inspired by, I then remove it from my creative process, that way the end result isn’t so obviously influenced by something that everyone is already familiar with.
A.C: Not to be cliche, but I really am inspired by my family, friends and experiences. There’s an infinite amount of little things that when stumbled on at the right time, can spark a really great idea. The privilege of having the time to realize those ideas is also inspirational.
Recommended resource for other dream believers:
A.C: Jullien Gordon, the Purpose Finder and the Career Change Challenge.
D.V.B: Honestly, I can’t recommend a resource. Something as specific as chasing a dream is so subjective that I feel like everyone needs to organically find their own way. If you feel it’s right for yourself, then it’s right.
Mantra:
A.C: You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.
D.V.B: Actions speak louder than words. Simple and cliche, but there are more “talkers” in the world than those who act upon their dreams and ideas. By actually doing, whether it’s a success or a failure, the dream is being manifested.
When I grow up, I want to be:
D.V.B: A successful principal of my own creative agency, but I also want to be in a position where I can mentor to those who are brought up in a situation where they have less opportunities, and less exposure to the arts and expressing their creativity.
A.C: known as that guy who * insert something that will hopefully inspire someone else to pursue their dreams.*
Comments
One Comment so far. Leave a comment below.DOPE post! The pics are awesome. They actually have me feeling slightly uncomfortable by how good-looking my friends are.
Fantastic inspiration in these answers. Keep up the good work fellas!