Real stories. Real people. Real lessons.
Welcome to The Journey : In Conversation—a special series where we sit down with founders, builders, and big thinkers to explore the highs, lows, pivots, and lightbulb moments that define their entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial journey. These unscripted conversations go beyond surface-level success stories. We dig into motivation, failure, resilience, and execution—so you can absorb lessons by osmosis and apply them to your own journey.
Want to be my next guest on the show? Tap that big, blue button and tell us more about yourself.
Prefer watching on YouTube? This podcast episode was also filmed live and published on September 10, 2025.
Episode Description
Phil Bean joins The Journey : In Conversation to share his creative evolution—from culinary school and logistics work to blogging from China and self-publishing a rhyming children’s book. He opens up about accountability, building confidence, and navigating the publishing industry on his own terms. We discuss how perfectionism holds people back, what happens when creative projects meet real-world barriers, and the importance of doing the work for yourself first.
Whether you’re thinking about writing your first blog post or launching a full-on creative project, Phil’s story is a grounded, honest look at the journey to shipping meaningful work.
Subscribe to catch future conversations with builders and founders sharing their experiences, challenges, and lessons along the way.
Summary of Insights
Creative work starts by doing it for yourself : Phil emphasizes the importance of intrinsic motivation—writing should begin as a personal act, not as a quest for validation.
Public accountability builds momentum : Saying goals out loud and sharing work publicly—especially with strangers—creates a sense of responsibility that can push you to follow through.
Blogging taught him how to tell stories : His early blogging experience while traveling in China helped Phil develop narrative voice, turning daily experiences into character-driven storytelling.
Perfectionism is the enemy of progress : Phil now follows an 80% rule—good enough to be proud of is good enough to ship. Trying to be “perfect” delays or kills projects.
Self-publishing is both liberating and demanding : After facing publisher rejections—especially for rhyming children’s books—Phil chose to self-publish, taking on marketing, logistics, and business responsibilities himself.
Loyalty and creative vision matter : Despite knowing that publishers prefer to use their own illustrators, Phil chose to honour his collaboration with illustrator Sarah Walker and preserve the integrity of their joint work.
Failure redirects, it doesn’t end the journey : Being rejected by publishers didn’t stop Phil—it helped him discover what truly mattered to him and why he was creating in the first place.
AI can be a helpful creative tool—but not a substitute : Phil uses AI like a thesaurus—occasionally to nudge him forward—but never to generate his voice or creative output.
Inspiration comes from community and curiosity : When stuck, Phil turns to his kids or photos from the week for writing prompts, proving creativity doesn’t have to start with a grand idea—it just has to start.
Motivation grows when values align : His main driver for publishing wasn’t success metrics—it was fulfilling promises to himself, his collaborator, and showing his kids what follow-through looks like.
About the Guest
Phil’s always had a passion for the creative; writing is just one expression of that which began in 2004 when he discovered the art of the blog.
Since then he’s used that medium to share, journal and document his way through life's many adventures. From food and music, to art and culture, sharing his experiences is not just about flexing some creative muscle, and it's certainly not about or gaining a fan base—the most powerful thing that it offers is a way for him to ensure that he appreciates the things he’s writing about by being purposeful in his recollections of them.
It seemed only natural that the evolution to writing online would be to put something into physical print. He has his children to thank for inspiring him to take that leap.
Connect with Phil Bean :
https://philbean.ca/ ← blog and books
Imagine That! on Amazon Canada and Amazon USA
Imagine That! on Indigo
Imagine That! at the Magic Pebble
Feedback
Improving The Journey is a journey in itself—and I’d love your help. Share your anonymous feedback here : https://6catalysts.ca/subscribe/the-journey-feedback/
