“If you’re afraid to do something new, but you’re expecting a new result, I think that’s BS. To serve the market you have to serve and sell your products.” said Jaychrist Teves, in Episode 84 of The Design Life Show.
The Design Life Show (TDLS) is a “100% Filipino made a podcast that showcases [s] design life stories from the ground up.” The podcast is created, hosted, and produced by Jaychrist Teves, a Filipino designer, husband, and father, who is a strong advocate for essentialism and optimism. Jaychrist posted his first podcast in March 2018 and has since released nearly 100 episodes featuring numerous local and international creatives such as Cameron Martinez, founder of Reach and Make Millions, and Geniely Cruz, a business coach and founder of Millennial Movement PH.
What exactly is TDLS about? As Jaychrist put it in his introduction, TDLS aims to help everyone design and live out a meaningful and creative life. TDLS is composed of candid conversations between Jaychrist and designers, entrepreneurs, engineers, or what he calls “makers, hustlers, and no bullshitters.” They share industry insights, their humble beginnings, and how to overcome challenges; and in turn, their stories spark ideas and conversations which contribute to the Filipino creative community.
In TDLS’s very first podcast appearance was with Ryan Helms, founder of Grit and Hustle Co. and host of The Hustle to Freedom Podcast. This episode perfectly set the tone for the rest of the podcast because it focuses on the grit and resilience one must develop in order to succeed. Ryan talked about how he launched his own side business whilst balancing a full-time job saying, “Nothing happens overnight. Be patient. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” He then emphasized everyone’s starting point in growing a side hustle, which was establishing your “why” in your journey. This shouldn’t be something tangible; rather, something with a deeper meaning. He also highlighted the importance of having daily and weekly goals, which serve as small but consistent steps into reaching your ultimate goal.
In some episodes, Jaychrist did what he called a solo episode. With a background in computer science and more than 10 years of design and brand experience, Jaychrist shares his own insights and advice to aspiring Filipino creatives as well.
For example, in Episode 57 of TDLS, Jaychrist talked about how his own limitations helped breed his creativity. While English is not his first language, Jaychrist was determined to do this podcast in order to improve his English and communication skills, despite the criticisms of what he calls “grammar nazis.” This language limitation allowed him to work harder and strive to create a platform for him to connect with creatives in order to inspire even more creatives. He doesn’t believe in perfection; instead, he says that we must take small steps every day in order to create big opportunities. In this spontaneous 17-minute episode, Jaychrist’s honest and vulnerable words resonated with listeners all over the country who are working to overcome internal or external factors.
As mentioned earlier, Jaychrist is a strong advocate for essentialism, and he further discusses this principle in Episode 79: The Essentialism Era. Adopting the practice of essentialism allows you to make tough decisions and filter out irrelevant thoughts to allow you to pursue what really matters in life. He argued that because we live in a time where we can get as much information as we want at the tap of our fingers, this makes it difficult to know what to focus on and what journey we should take; hence, the necessity for essentialism. He also talked about another principle he lives out and practices every day: Less but Better. “Less talk, better action. Fewer BS, better results,” Jaychrist said. He encourages his listeners to integrate the ideas of essentialism and “less but better” into designing their professional and personal lives for a happier and more meaningful life.
This podcast is perfect for innovative and creative people who are venturing into unfamiliar yet exciting territory. Jaychrist and his guests deliver valuable advice and motivation to tap into your creative side in order to create a life and business you are proud of. At the start of his podcast journey, Jaychrist said how he is on “a crazy mission on creating more meaningful content that matters,” and that is exactly what he is doing.
TDLS has an overall rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 on Apple Podcasts, with one user calling it “a must-have on your podcast list” and that listening to Jaychrist and his guests “is a life-changing experience [e] especially for us creative professionals.”
Ready to be inspired? Listen to The Design Life Show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Stitcher, TuneIn, Radio Public, Amazon Music, and Alexa Podcast.
Written by Mica Magsanoc