I made a graphic of those I admire to stay inspired

For years I’ve been curating what I call my “wannabelike” list — a master list of friends, founders, and creators I admire most.

I reference it as I pick projects, learn new skills, and plot a course for my next life chapter.

Rather than continually re-read the list for inspiration (which lives deep in Notion) I made this graphic.

If I’m sitting at my desk having a bad day, just a quick glance seems to cut through negative emotions, helping me take action in the right direction.

The list ranges from close friends to famous podcasters.

Why I’m inspired by them isn’t singular.

For some, it’s stuff they create. 
For others, the qualities they embody. 
For most, just how they treat other people.

If you’re on this list, thank you for the role you’ve played in shaping who I’m becoming!

For those interested in making their own graphic. I used Lightroom to edit and crop the photos, then Photoshop to put the photos together.

If you aren’t familiar with those tools, I’d suggest using your phone’s built-in photos app to edit and crop, and Canva to compile.

Here is who’s on the list

(in no particular order)

Pablo Levin — Great Friend. Founder of aervideo.com. Present, creative, deep.

Christian Watson — Photographer/Designer. Striking, recognizable work. Shares potent and vulnerable takes on life.

Chris Burkard — Adventure photographer. Stunning work. Friendly, humble, happy.

Jack Conte — Musician and CEO of Patreon. Relentless builder helping creatives make a living.

Daniel Vassallo— Entrepreneur. Love his story of quitting Amazon and “small bets” mentality toward business.

Kat Papera — Close friend. Has unmatched authentic upbeat energy!

Rich Roll — Podcaster, Athlete. The story in his book “Finding Ultra” of his broken relationship did a lot for me.

Elliott Bernhagen — Climber, photographer, friend. Most adventurous person I know. Built a career in photography in the wake of losing his best friend.

Sofia Henry (Mother) — #1 Mom, selfless, upbeat. Remained so despite unfathomable challenges.

Tim Ferriss — Podcaster, experimenter. Exposes so many awesome ideas in many aspects of life. His book “The 4-hour workweek” is great.

Pieter Levels — #1 indie builder. Has created 100s of companies as a solo founder. Publicly documents everything.

Marshall Haas — Entrepreneur, investor. Well rounded in both regards.

Andrew Huberman — Scientist, podcaster. World-class, humble and measured in his speech. His podcast has done wonders for my physical and mental health.

Amir Salihefendic — Founder of my favorite app, Todoist. Advocate for remote and async work. Passionate about bootstrapping.

Steph Smith — Blogger. Great takes on career, remote work and tech.

Steph Cruchon — Generous Designer. Uttered a life-changing statement for me once “we designers love turning problems into questions”

Ian Bennett — Close friend, designer. Authentically himself. Tremendously hard working.

Jeremy (Red Means Recording) — musician, motion graphics artist. Love his music and YouTube videos.

John Howard — Helpful Designer. I respect his current venture (useslingshot.com) and focus on shipping small but potent solutions.

Chris Johnson — Previous business partner. Physical Therapist. World-class in multiple regards. Selfless. Family man. Relentless learner.

Mike R Henry — My late father. Successful Entrepreneur. Family, fun, faith first though!

Casey Niestat — YouTuber. Fun-loving, generous, humble, motivated, hard-working.

Goth Babe — Musician. Great music, great message, lives a life of adventure.

Eric Birkemeier — friend, founder of shredlights.com. Created a company aligned with his passion, remains dedicated.

Jesus — the OG wannabelike.

Dayglow — Musician. Great sound. Transparent behind-the-scenes videos on YouTube.

Scott Trench — Real Estate Investor. His book “Set for Life” opened my eyes to a lot.

Paul Stamatiou — World-class designer, blogger. Massive fan of his personal site.

Jimmy Chin — Climber, Photographer, Director. Early to climbing, incredible work, creates incredible films with his wife.

Michael Riddering — Generous Designer. Found a focus in online education companies.

Jack Butcher — Graphic Designer. His Visualize Value content provides awesome inspiration.

Sammer Mitri — friend, investor, owner. Showed me the importance of inclusivity.

Sebastiaan de With — Designer, photographer, motorcyclist. Master of his craft. Co-founded the best iPhone camera app — Halide.

Milos Jovanovic — Father, trainer, christian. Most disciplined “David Goggins” like person I know.

Lex Fridman — Computer Scientist, podcaster. Incredibly humble, interesting, and loving.

Matt Merhige — friend, father. Very caring. Authentically himself since day 1.

Kyle Sutter — Creator, new acquaintance. Tried a ton, “no longer afraid to fail”, and not messing around on his current venture — The Espresso Newsletter

Bill Butler — friend, entrepreneur. Has an unreal track record of failure that led to some substantial wins. Still goes hard.

Michael Kranitz — Serial entrepreneur, RC enthusiast, comedian. Totally re-skilled in his 30s. Mixes interests with business better than anyone I know.

Jordan O’Connor — engineer, SEO expert, blogger. Good dude who builds cool things and makes helpful content.

Matt Shaver — close friend, comedian, video maker. Relentlessly pursuing his dream to make a living making others laugh. Moved to LA recently to do so.

Neatherfriends — Musician. Funny, good vibe. Has released dozens of albums at an unbelievable cadence.

Jon-Paul Wheatley — Founder. Creates niche companies perfectly in line with his interests.

Tallest Man on Earth — Singer-songwriter. Powerful music. Huge name but makes his own videos on YouTube.

Patrick Mahoney — close friend, guitarist. Won a guitar in a High School raffle and let it take over his world. He’s top 1% now. Always willing to geek out.