LADY GAGa
episode 9
Broadcast date: September 2017
The Moonshots Podcast discovers a world of little monsters with Lady Gaga. Get your dancing shows on and join us in uncovering the magic by the First Lady of Pop.
OUR FABULOUS GUEST CO-HOST
Host of Inflection Point, a public radio show & podcast about how women rise up.
Lady Gaga Interviews
Lady Gaga entrevistada por Zane Lowe, da Beats1
RDT Lady Gaga
Published on Oct 21, 2016
Lady Gaga Interview - Inside The Outside
Randy Scarhol
Published on Jul 16, 2013
Gaga By Gaultier Documentary Full HD 720p
Santiago Montoya
Published on Apr 18, 2013
Chad's Film Recommendation
Gaga: Five Foot Two
Director: Chris Moukarbel
Books Mentioned in the Show
The Education of a Coach
by David Halberstam
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
by Brad Stone
TRANSCRIPT
Hello and welcome to the moonshots podcast. It's September 26, 2017. The big episode nine is upon us. I'm your cohost? My passes joined by the man with a plan. Mr. Chad Allen. Hey there, Mike, how are things in the beautiful gold coast of Australia? They are indeed golden. And, um, boy. Am I just ready to do, I mean, shots, podcast.
We've got another fantastic twist on the saga of creative and innovative minds. So I'm really looking forward to this show because not only are we going to go into the, to the universe, what do they call it? Chad, the house of Gaga. Is that how it's cold house of Gaga? Yeah, that's her creative team. That's arounds surrounds herself with.
Yeah. Yeah. We're going to go into the house of Gaga. And the reason that we're doing that is that a wonderful friend of mine. Miss Laurie, Sheila. She actually suggested it to us because in fact, we would like to welcome her as a cohort, as a guest to the show. Hello, Lauren Schiller in the East Bay. Hello. I feel like we've triangulated the globe at this point.
Beat me here in the Bay area. You guys, wherever you are, we're doing a fabulous, uh, sort of Holy Trinity. We've got ACA, we've got, uh, Brooklyn and the gold coast of Australia. So we have indeed transversing. This lovely planet of as welcome Lauren, Sheila, you are fabulous media guru. You, you have a great show that I remember the Genesis of the show, the inflection point.
Do you want to tell us a little bit, bit about your, your podcast, which has really grown. A bunch since we first talked about it and give us a little sense of your, your media universe. Yes. Well, thank thank you for that opportunity. Um, inflection point is a show about how women rise up. So I spend my days talking with women about the amazing things that they do and the amazing stories that they have to tell about how they do what they do.
So anything from, uh, Annie Leibovitz and how she takes amazing photographs, too. Uh, someone recently who was documenting the protests in Ferguson, two women who talk about how to lead from the feminine or how to negotiate, not like a man. So they learn all kinds of things about how to rise up as a woman when you listen to inflection point and as a man men learn a lot from this, these conversations as well.
So as, as, um, as budding two white guys sitting on the other side here, what have you, what can you tell us? Uh, Chad and I, what can you share with us as being the, is there like some universal patterns that you see across all of these wonderful women that you talk to? Do you start to see like a, like a trend in how they think, how they behave?
Do you, what do you learn looking across that huge spectrum that you, that you talk with? That's a really interesting question because one of the things that has emerged and emerged really quickly is that we categorize women into this one bucket of. Being female and just like you and Chad, we are all different and unique human beings with different, new, unique backgrounds and needs and approaches and points of view.
And, and so bucketing us all into one category of being women is impossible. So, but in terms of the women that I speak with and the things that contribute to them, success is probably very similar in many cases, to what you would attribute your own success, to having a strong point of view, tenacity, willingness to take risks, ability to Excel failure as an option where the differences really come in is how to women approach problems.
And if they approach problems differently, from the way that we would typically accept someone in a leadership position, To approach something, which would be typically a male approach. We can get pushback and be perceived badly. Whereas when women operate more in the roles that we are expected to operate in and I'm being very nice and smiling all the time and, um, you know, being conciliatory like that were, were much more easily accepted.
So we're battling these things. Uh, I believe a former candidate for the presidency has written an entire book. About this called what happened or sexism plays a big role. So it's real sex, misery Israel, but it is not necessarily something that is in every woman's way. It's really a question of anyone who encounters a woman or works with a woman and, or works with a man and encounters.
A man is accepting that each person brings something interesting and diverse to the table. And that being open to those different approaches, uh, is the way to get the work done as opposed to having a preconceived notion. Yeah. And let me ask you, when we first met and worked together, uh, you were really at the start of this new chapter in working with fortune magazine so long, having your own podcast, what's been the biggest learning for you in going through that, that exciting new chapter of the last five or six years.
What have you discovered about yourself and what what's been the big learning of such a, a wonderful new chapter to write a wonderful question that requires a lot of introspection and that that's actually one of the things that I've been spending a lot of time thinking about, which is. Why do a podcast, why try and present a particular point of view to the world?
And I approached it with the idea that I was going to be this objective journalist and my job was to create a platform for women, for their voices to be heard so that we could all get a better sense of what women are capable of and through. And I've interviewed over a hundred women, maybe 150 at this point.
And only in the last six months as the result of a process that you're familiar with called design thinking where I really dug in and understood who is my audience and what is happening from a cultural standpoint, aside from the fact that you know, it, we really are at this inflection point for women where we've.
We've come a long way, but we've, uh, you know, we've hit a little pivot, a little pitfall point where it's time for us to pivot and get that, get that direction going back in the upward upward position, um, is that. Understanding for myself, why talking with these women is important and what my personal experiences have been, and what I have experienced can bring to the conversation.
And that has made for more interesting stories, more resonance, and more relevance to the audience, because my I'm vested in, in what these women have to say. Um, in a way that is beyond a kind of objective journalistic approach. Although I am still, I do still consider myself a journalist, but I'm also invested in these stories and, um, you know, the women that I speak with, I don't always agree with what they have to say, but I, there's always something that I can hear from them that I can apply to my own life.
And before I know that there's probably something in what they have to say, that a listener can apply to their own life as well. And that was, that was, you know, that is the world of podcasting. And I think that's what makes, uh, doing a podcast different from doing a radio show in that you can move from this more objective observer position into a vested participant, um, you know, bringing your, you know, it's not that the conversations are not about my story, but bringing my, why I'm interested in this person and what.
Uh, I'm interested in taking away from how they do what they do or how, how they overcame their challenge, um, seems to just make for much deeper and more interesting conversations. So that, that has been a really big learning for me. And it's, it's been hard to open up, so that's a, you know, that's, that's been my challenge.
Yeah. I'm so excited that that Mike shared your suggestion. Not only to take a look at lady Gaga and for success over the past 10 years, but also to, to bring someone like yourself on the show, that's done so much interviewing of interesting female figures. Um, I'm really excited to, uh, to dig into our subject today.
So thanks again for joining us, Lauren. Yeah, absolutely lady Gaga, man. If she would come on my show, can this be a shout out lady Gaga? If you're listening, you are invited to inflection point anytime any day we want to hear from you directly. Mike's all over that, right? Yeah. You got that. I got that. I got that.
I got that. I wanted to start just talking about Gaga for a moment. I mean, I, I didn't know a lot about a guy guy before you suggested that we do on the show floor, but Oh my gosh. Did this investigation, you amazing results. I, first of all, didn't realize she's self-taught. I did not realize she writes all her own song.
I did not realize that she designs and produces all the aspects of her shows in the fact that and so forth. And I it's really taken me by surprise pleasantly by surprise to realize that she is a truly remarkable. Artists. And I think this is the perfect moment for us just to, to play a little intro. Now that sets her up and then Chad's going to take us into some really interesting things of learning, um, having no filter, being very authentic, and then we're going to get into, um, how she's built an amazing community of followers and lots more.
So let's start with a little intro into the universe of Gaga. It's January 20th, 2006 in the New York bar. The young singer behind the keyboard is Stephanie Germanotta. Her dream was to become a music star, but back then, no one was really interested in her music. The looks were pretty unoriginal. Her musical style was unclassifiable.
A couple of years later, Stephanie transformed herself into lady Gaga. The world's number one star. Where'd he go
sold over 25 million albums and won over 60 awards. Gagen turned her songs into worldwide. Hit records.
There, we have it lady Gaga, our subject of today's show. And I must say I've kind of obsessive only had her music on my Spotify for like the last week. Um, it's really catchy. It's really great. And I think as I went into these interviews to find the clips for the show was really fascinated by, uh, her creative process and just the kind of.
Different artists or different pop artists. I wouldn't even call her a pop artist. Um, like you said, Mike, she's much more intentional, much more in control of what she's doing. And I think that's, what's made her such a fascinating subject for us to talk about today. Absolutely. I think she's such a powerhouse.
And we're going to talk later about the brand new documentary. I mean, did we just time this show perfectly once again? Thank you, Lauren. We've really got some great stuff to talk about. You set us up for the first couple of clips that you found shared that that really speak to this idea of learning and the authentic self.
Sure. And, you know, I do want to give a little shout out to Lauren too. Just kind of from your, your background from the brand side of things, this next clip, or this first kind of interview clip that I stumbled across is an interview that Anderson Cooper did with her, uh, kind of at the height of her fame and in 2011.
And she's kind of talking about how, what she does and what she's. Taught herself about is this art of fame. So here she is talking with Anderson Cooper. From what I understand, you're very, you studied, I mean, you are a student of music. You're a student of fashion, but you're a student. One of my greatest artworks is the art of fame.
Uh, I'm a master on the RFA as part of my mastering of the art of fame. Part of it is getting people to pay attention to what you want them to pay attention to and not pay attention to the things you don't want them to pay. You studied the fame of other people, how they got it. How they kept it and how they lost it, this sociology.
Okay. Um, and how to maintain a certain privacy without, um, feeling like you're withholding anything from your fans. My philosophy is that if I am open with them about everything and yet I, art direct every moment of my life, um, I can maintain a sort of privacy in a way. I maintain a certain soulfulness.
That I have yet to give. And I, I thought it was just so interesting and I think she was like 26 at the time of this interview, maybe even 25. Four 25, just to, to, to know. And self-reflect that I, you know, I am this thing, I have this phenomenon and I can direct it in, in an intentional way. And I think what sets her apart from some of our contemporaries is just how in control of, and how empowered she has been in directing her own career.
But what I love about that clip is how she's just, she's, she's admitting first of all, that she's studied fame. Um, and that she's actually taken, taking the time to be a student of what it means to be famous, but also the confidence with which she says, I am a master at this, and she's completely unapologetic.
You know, there wasn't, there's no giggle. There was no, you know, wink or knowledge is just like, I studied it. I'm a master at it. Yeah. And it really inspired me because she, what you said to see here is I think you said it very well. It's like, she's unapologetic. She's like, yeah. It's like, I'm a marketing whiz.
I now have to make myself famous and actually being control of this to a point where I have the ability to have my own sort of. Personal life sort of protected from that. And it makes me want to ask you Lauren, you, what do you, this is a big theme that we see this idea of being a student for life of learning.
This is in all of the most remarkable people that we have deconstructed on the show. This is like challenge. If a number one thing, tell us about your experience in talking to these, uh, wonderful, uh, moonshot is all these people trying to do something. Truly remarkable. Do you see this, this theme of learning coming back time and time again?
Oh, absolutely. There's no resting on one's laurels. That's the, the, the sad, but real truth about succeeding and achieving that highest possible goals that you can set for yourself is that you constantly have to be studying and it's not, it's, you know, it's studying what is, you know, if I, if I talk to, you know, for example, I talked with.
A women in the healthcare industry who we did an app so that people could have access to doctors more easily because they couldn't, you couldn't, or wouldn't go to the doctor themselves. So this app made it possible for them to receive healthcare advice through their phone, which they have with them 24 seven Ben.
And she is constantly studying what is happening in terms of what are the top diseases? What are the things people most need treatment for? What are the most, you know, preventative ways, um, that, that her app can. Help people from needing to see a doctor in the first place, constantly staying on top of the data has been the only way for someone in her position as an example, to stay on top of her game and have something that is relevant to the market.
Right. And tell us a little bit about how has this inspired you to learn, like, how are you. Starting to introduce this theme of constant, uh, learning into, into your practice for one thing, that means that I'm constantly listening to other people's podcasts, uh, as much as I can. Um, and, and I'm listening to podcasts about making podcasts.
So there's this sort of meta aspect of it. Um, but, but most importantly, I'm. Listening, uh, and to these women that come on my show and I am using what they tell me and reapplying it to what I do on my show. So whether it's, you know, understanding how to negotiate something better for myself or trusting my instincts, you know, w w whatever it is that they're, that they're sharing with me, I'm, I'm actually, I'm like, Thank you very much.
I will use that the next time I have a conversation like that. Does that go a little bit to that thing you talked about at the side of the show where you originally thought your mission was to showcase other women. But it's been even more than that. It's been a learning and discovery journey for yourself as much as it has been for your listeners as well.
Oh, absolutely. Well, so here's another great example. And, and, and there is a connection from this person that I'm about to talk about to lady Gaga. And that is I spoke with, uh, and this is an upcoming episode actually in October, um, a woman named Kate black, who is the chief of staff over at Emily's list, which helps, um, pro-choice democratic women get elected.
To office. And one of the things that she talked about a lot was that women tend to be reluctant to self promote and that in order to run successfully for office, you have to let go of that as a fear and be willing to put yourself out there and to promote yourself. And for her, that was one of the things that she had to overcome in order to continue to move forward in her career.
So I would say lady Gaga is a master again of self promotion and, and, and also unapologetic about it. And it's part of what people love about her. So it's actually, she's turned it into a benefit. And in fact, what she does is the same thing as Oprah is Oprah had this very, uh, she had her own inflection point.
Um, where she realized that TV was sort of using her in the early part of her career. So she turned around and said, uh, how am I going to use television? And what's really interesting is that this shift seems to be really critical for women to, because for all, all the reasons we've talked about, it doesn't come perhaps as naturally, or the condition are set for.
For women to self promote to stand up to be a one thing that, that also strikes me with this clip is this was quite early in her, in her career or kind of when she had first peaked and in notoriety and fame. And this there's been a big shift. I feel like in her music and in her just public persona. In, in, in more recent years and, uh, the, the recent documentary that just came out actually this past weekend called, uh, Gaga five foot two, really, you get to see kind of this, this newer, uh, presentation from her, but I feel like her studying fame.
Was very insightful because she understood that's kind of the currency or the economy of pop stardom. And I think her specific insight into fame is creating either a perceived or faith or I, but I think it's actually a real emotional connection with her fans. Yeah, well, she's, I mean, sh talk about knowing your market and knowing your audience.
I mean, she is so tapped in to what the people who listened to her music want, which is very, very high percentage of America. Um, but tapping into some of these universal emotions and being able to reflect that back in this, in the way in, in the lyrics to her songs. And they, you know, and, and the way that she is is in a way, a leader.
For the people who are feeling that way, because she's saying, I know how you feel, and I feel that way too. And I'm actually looking out for you. Yeah. In fact, it was her theatrical personality, as she describes, it was a young young girl in New York, brought her a lot of teasing and hardship when she was at school.
And she actually credits this as being the core empathy that she has for her, her fans, who are all going through their own. Journeys and their own challenges. This she's very open about it. Sorry. I want to, uh, um, it's like the perfect moment to cue up the next clip, which is she referred. She's actually positioned her, her fans.
She's given them a moniker called little monsters. And so I wanna play this next clip because it leads us what we've been talking about. Leads us straight into this idea. Of Hashi really respects and empathizes with her audience. And has she actually has really broken new ground in creating community.
So here's lady Gaga talking about her fabulous little monsters. Gaga is the first star in the world to have renamed her followers. She calls her followers little monsters as a sign of recognition. This nickname demonstrates that she considers her public as an entity. Her fans are no longer anonymous.
They are all part of the Gaga family. You have a very special relation with your fans. I remember that I went to see you in Paris in the concert. You were speaking to them in a way like with so much emotion. And they were feeling so close to you. It's truly like a special, very special revelation on unique relation you have with them.
I do. I, I feel that's the one thing that no one can ever take away from me or, uh, steal from me. They're so pure and so loving. And we have such a tremendously close and intimate community. It's always nice because. No matter what's going on with my career publicly. Whenever I go to the monster ball, nothing matters.
It's just happiness and joy. And it's the electric chapel. Well, that was that, that little saying that was so fabulous. Just so differential in that insecure, there was a jumbo Gotea and fabulous interview between guiltier and Gaga. We'll have it on the show notes, which you can grab@moonshots.io, but really appealed to me was even these basic marketing principles that she identified, she gave, I gave them a platform and calling them little monsters and they have the monster ball is such brilliant.
Branding, um, is very associative for her. I think I I'd love knowing that your you've got a deep branding and marketing background. Lauren, I'd love to know how, when you hear this, it's such a great community building approach. Isn't it? Oh, it's incredible. And she, I mean, she's got how many millions of followers on Twitter?
77 zero. Yeah. And I think at one point she was outpacing rock Obama in terms of number of followers. If I'm, if I'm getting my statistics, my, my Twitter data, correct? Yeah. 70 million Mike, I just, I just want to be clear there's six zeros after that. Um, but she's is she stirred? She's mastered. That medium as well, where it's an opportunity to connect directly with her fans and, um, and whatsoever interesting.
What, what really truly fascinates me about lady Gaga is that she does make these deep intimate connections with her fans, 70 million of them. I mean, how, first of all, how can you make a deep, intimate connection with 70 million people? I mean, I guess if your voice is coming through their ear buds, you know, that's one.
Yeah. One way to break down that barrier of one to so many. Um, but secondly, what really fascinates me about her is that she also seems to, while she, she is, seems so authentic Lee giving herself, she also has so many different personas. Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and she doesn't even use her real name. You know, she's definitely from the, from Yonkers, I think.
And you can hear, you can hear her lovely New York accent when she does these interviews. And she sounds like a real down to earth person. Whereas her stage presence is so larger than life, you know, and just these, this kind of dichotomy of her being so authentic and soak and connecting so deeply and yet being so much larger than life and, and not looking the same.
Ever any time you see her on stage she's she's got some canny ability to have the taste. And I think taste is the word, the word that fits very well here to reimagine. It's a continual rebirthing process, which gives so much energy to her. To me, she is she's very artful and tasteful in navigating that line.
Artistic creativity and continuity and, and, and reinvention. So I look at some of the greatest music and pop artists, the ones that, you know, you know, you instantly think of Madonna as being her peer from an earlier generation. You know, if Madonna did one thing while it was continual. Re-invention and I think God got us doing that in a way, perhaps with even a greater level of authenticity, um, and in a very classy way.
And I think what's really powerful though, is if you look at the journey she's going on. She's built this great audience, this sort of social device with the little monsters. She knows what it takes to be famous, but she's always delivering on this very emotional level that really connects her with her audience.
What I found really interesting in this next clip is she goes to a new level of maturity. And again, Uh, there's this theme of humility that we've seen across all of these great innovators. So this next clip, we're going to listen to. Is all, all about how she created it, transformation, how despite all of her success, she can erase it all and start again.
And how she already has this learning very presence in her, in herself and her work. So here's lady Gaga talking about success. You gotta erase all that success in a way. It's like, I always say, when you start a record, you got to take all those, uh, platinum albums off the walls, you know, put 'em in the back, make room for more, you know, it, you can't, you can't create records, resting on either the laurels of your previous success or caring about that.
I mean, at the end of the day, that's not really what. I'm here for, I've always been obsessed with the music and I enjoyed transformation. A transformation through music is one of the most beautiful gifts you learn about yourself when you write music. Yeah. I love this. The, you can hear the drive in. Um, you can hear the power just in her voice.
Yeah. She really stands up ready for that challenge of reinventing herself. But I love this idea of taking the platinum albums off the shelf to make room for more. But Lauren, I'm really interested to know from you this idea of sort of putting the platinum albums back in the cabinet to create room for more, this humility.
When you hear something like this from a, from an artist, like, what are your impressions? Where do you, what does your mind go to the news? Well, when I heard that clip, I thought, wow, wow, that's really smart because you, um, you're only as good as your latest presentation in some ways, if you're, if you're an artist and you're continuing to put yourself out there or you're leading a business and you're continuing to innovate, you're you're in some ways only as good as your most recent.
Product. So, um, but I do think that she has probably learned a lot from, uh, her previous albums and our previous successes and what's worked and what hasn't worked. And so in some ways I would imagine that she's not entirely putting them, you know, in the, in the basement, big time behind lock and key, but she's taking what she needs to from those past successes and applying them to the future.
I mean, you can't. You can't completely erase and reset or you'll never move forward. So I think that there is something to be said for building on what you've learned, you know, failures and successes to take you to the next stage. Um, but I also really just love this idea that you're not. Uh, you know, that she's not relying on her past success for, for her future, just like the stock market.
Yeah. I would say that this is the paradigm, like for anyone who's not in the music industry, that's listening, it's thinking so far. How do I use this? I would say. It's really getting beyond this. What we refer to as the endowment effect, companies become very obsessed with their products and forget to look at things through the lens of customers.
And I also think that anybody who's in a more creative space industry can learn that you have to in a way reset every time you embark on a new product, a new, a new television show and your podcast and your media format. Because at the heart of this thinking is that you have to, the energy comes from this reinvention.
The energy comes from the drummer of the unknown. And when artists of any sort produced too much of the same product, obviously we become tired and it doesn't have the impact. And, you know, I look at some music artists and they just seem to roll out the same type of album time after time after time. And I think corporations.
Can be very risk adverse. So they like to iterate and think, think to themselves that it's innovation, but it's really just iteration. So, so that's really the connection I can make there. What I'm really interested to hear from, from you, Chad, you had the chance to actually get through the Gaga documentary five foot, two.
Give us a little synopsis. Like what was, how candid was this documentary and, and what did you, what did you learn from it? Sure. So kind of going a little bit into my past. Um, I was a premed student in college until I took a documentary class with the woman who would eventually become my mentor and she exposed me to a lot of.
W what are called cinema verite documentaries are essentially fly on the wall, documentaries where the filmmakers kind of. Recede into the background and the camera's just kind of following their subjects. Some very amazing work by the Maysles brothers in the film salesmen as well as grey gardens, which is probably a more well known film, that type of work.
And so this film by Chris mecarbil or , I'm not sure exactly how to say his name. He's kind of in this, in this school, this is this verite school of documentary. So it's very fly on the wall, which is great because you have. These seemingly cause you never know. Cause the camera does, you know, there is some mediation there, but it feels very intimate with her.
The camera is always right there next to her and there's just some really fascinating moments that really humanize her in a way that I had never seen before. So it makes you, makes you, it makes you really wonder, uh, can you imagine touring around the globe then and the pressure and the stress that puts on your body when you get back home, making time to record and get back in the studio and then get back out there again.
Pastors being famous. I mean, what, it just sounds exhausting is in your face the entire time, like rolling 24 seven. I, I can, I can, I can say that. I mean, I was not really a fan of lady Gaga and then listening to her music and watching this documentary really made me a huge. Fan. And I know that that's kind of what her and her producers, everyone like, that's their desire, but I think it's, it's, uh, it's genuine.
I th I think it's, it's quite genuine. Yeah. Well, that was, that was going to be my comment. I, you know, I did read one review of, uh, lady Gaga, five foot two. That was. So snarky and really picked up on, you know, her desire to craft her image and what role this documentary was playing in doing that. And I have not seen it, so I cannot comment, but it is, it must be very interesting to watch a documentary about someone whose entire career has been based on her ability to create a persona.
And, you know, and to deliver what her fans want from her, um, in such an authentic way. And you have the cinema verite, but is it real? Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's really interesting to see that creatively. They're making a choice to reveal this so much about her and it speaks to, I think that fine line that you always have on.
You know, sharing with your audiences and artists and bringing them in on your journey. And it looks like it will definitely achieve its results. I feel if I look at all the coverage and be it's Nike or not, you know, I think it's really added nicely to her portfolio. Of content that speaks to, to her fans.
The documentary is called Gaga. It's on Netflix. It's it's definitely worth checking out. Yeah. And it's, it's nice to have a, have a video review from each ad instead of your. You'll know, more book review. Did you find it as satisfying as a Booker, as reading a, a book about one of these innovators, one of these creative gurus?
Uh, it, you know, it's like a candy bar and I think some of the books that I've read and that we've read the David Howardson book about. Bill Belichick and the Adam Stone book about Amazon. I can't highly more highly recommend those books, but it's only an hour and 40 minutes. And, you know, you'll, you'll bounce along to some of the music and it's enjoyable at the very least.
Um, I would definitely recommend everyone, everyone check it out. And you're you're you're, you're a fan now. So you've been converted you monster? Yes he's.
Okay. So we've learned a lot about Gaga we've we've had some great insights into her relationship with her fans and community, her, her real mastery of the out of same in her own unapologetic approach. I think it's been. Really fun to dig into that now more into the music itself, and we're going to go through her music.
We're going to actually, we've got some really cool stuff coming up because we're going to look at it, her creative process. And that was right. Really cool to look at. So we've got lots of, lots of insights coming up. Really focusing on how she's made the sound and the artists that she truly is. And we're going to hear that great voice from her.
So, Chad, do you want to set up this next clip, which is really kind of captures the spirit of her, her musical sound? Yeah, it's interesting. She, and this comes through in the, in the documentary as well. She's a very intentional person while her kind of public persona may seem a little. Kind of flighty or impulsive.
I think as an artist, she is very intentional. And I think what she did very early on in her career was make the music that she was best creating, or she was best at creating, um, not listening to what was successful in the industry and, you know, kind of contrary to. Uh, what you would normally think like that actually yeah, even more successful.
So here she is just, just talking about her contrarian approach to creating the music. That's like nothing else that that's on the radio. Well, you know, the thing is you just never know what's going to happen. I mean, when I put just dance out, there was nothing on the radio. Like just dance. My friend, Mike Skinner from the streets, said something to me.
Once we were having a coffee, you know, the Street's amazing. And from the UK and we were talking about your newsletter, look, Gaga bought four to the floor, back to American radio. She was the first artist to put a fall or floor bead on American radio. You were Predium. PDM. I'm not going to blame you for all them.
It came out of . You certainly put some of the good stuff on the radio. It's true. That was the first time four on the floor came back on radio. Thank you. Yeah. I'm not going to take responsibility for that. That's a nice thing to say, but all I'm trying to say is this just dance was like nothing on the radio.
A bad romance was like nothing on the radio. Yeah. Born this way was like nothing on the radio. Perfect. Illusion of applause was like nothing on the radio and a perfect delusions, like nothing on the radio. So, you know, it's like sometimes I always, I always say to people it, did everybody get the memo that it's never going to be what's happening?
Uh, because that's just not what I do. I'm always doing what I I'm what's happening. You know, I'm what's happening. And that's like a message that I think artists should take with them that you are what's happening. Why, why, uh, what, why surgically create something of yourself to fit into? Like I said, an algorithm, but that's math.
This is math. That's the business of music. The business of music is something that, um, it's not good for me. It's not healthy for me. I have a need to make music. I don't have a need to be famous. It's totally different. What a clip. I mean, that is so fantastic. I find that super inspiring to listen to. And I just, I just want to share something with you guys.
Couple of things, first of all, her I'm what's happening. Right? I like that that confidence, but also it's creative confidence. Um, and you see this in anyone and who has worked hard on their craft writer. Uh, public speaker, um, creative, uh, uh, so it doesn't matter when you work hard on your craft, you can have that confidence.
And from there comes the confidence to push boundaries and to go to new places. And then she added to that, the, the outfits she added to that, the production and she built from this, and this was the energy. And I just remember. I particularly remember when she did the, was it telephone that she did with Beyonce?
It was like a nine, it was really long form music video. I remember when she came out, it was just like, who is this woman? She's she's amazing. I mean, Lauren, take us back. Do you remember. When, when Gaga came on the scene, I mean, I remember for me it was, it was really something like I'd never seen before.
What was it like to see her just catapult on the stage for you? So I just remember thinking, who is this woman where she, where did she, where did she come from? And I actually remember wondering at the time, and I still wonder now, What were all the other forces at work that did put her in, into the limelight?
From what I understand and my own experience, there is no such thing as an overnight success story. That's that's true. That's true. She I've got the moment is we didn't clip it, but, um, one day she was singing in a record store in New York and the guy goes, Oh, you've got a good voice. My cousin, something like this.
Is a voice coach. You should, I'm getting, you know, you guys should get together. It turns out that her voice coach was this, this magic moment in a record store, the guy he is at recommends to this family member who turns out to be like world-class voice coach. And that's how it all began. Yeah. So it's this combination of.
Uh, clearly extremely hard work and also immense talent. I mean, the, the woman has been playing piano since she was what, four years old. Right. She's she's been doing this. So by that time, you know, it had been, uh, you know, at least 10, 15 years of playing and, and creating music and to then be recognized and then to have that spark of luck that it was the right person.
At the right time, uh, you know, it's the kind of thing that just simply cannot be orchestrated, but it had she not put, had she not put herself out there to begin with and been willing to sing, you know, in this record store that intersection would never have taken place. Yeah. Yeah. And, and I think that her confidence is not only in, you know, studying fame and telling very personal, emotional stories in her music.
Well marketing that to her community. I think what we're seeing in the second half of the show is she knows she really knows what she's on about with her product. And what excited me in this next clip is she has a very rigorous creative process. This is not. Just the pure coincidence, um, that she spent 20 years working hard before she was catapulted onto the public stage.
She really has a creative process. This engine that drives us and we all know that. If you want to be consistently great at creative product in design media, the arts, you have to have a methodology, a process from how you get to a, to dizzy. And so we're going to listen to a clip. Now that's a, the God guy's creative process and it is really wonderful.
This is lady Gaga talking about her creative process. Just like her fans, you know, that her live performances are always tremendous. Shows the costumes, the choreography, the direction, everything is created by Gaga in order to offer breathtaking visuals,
his performances are unique. She imagines these visuals with a very specialty to express her artistic universe. The star had the idea of being surrounded by a team of creators. You constantly work for her, the house of Gaga, their mission is to propose ideas, concepts, visuals, which Gaga, condense, select, and incarnate.
You look at everything about which is the clothes for your video, everything. So you are a group of little extra factory. It is my Warhol and factory. That was always my dream. My dream was to always have all my friends around me and be able to create for each other, with each other. Yeah. And really empower their creativity and they empower mine.
What an amazing resource that is. I know. I mean, I hear that and just think, ah, wouldn't it be great. Just to have a studio full of amazing creative friends and just working on ideas. I mean, Lauren, this must take you back to some of your fond memories of working in great creative agencies. Like we both had the chance to, there is an energy about being surrounded by creative people in a space isn't there.
Oh 100%. And I can say in a, in a creative way industry, you know, you have to have your vision because if you are then surrounded by other amazing creative people and no one's clear on the vision. It's going to be a very frustrating process for everybody. Yeah. And those, those collaborations also give you a lot of energy back when you shit.
Like I always have this thing, you know, like you share your idea with someone and it always comes back to you like 10% bid a minimum. Um, and I always, and I've said this before, Michelle. I know when I'm off track. I've been sitting at my desk for hours or days, and I haven't saw feedback around the idea and I just know it's not right.
As soon as I like men up share collaborate, eat always gets better. And even in the telling of your idea, it becomes clearer. Yeah. Yeah. Now. So Chad, have you think about having your own creative factory? Like Gaga? It's my dream chapter. Me too, but how do you bring it into your world? Like now tell us about it, but it's very interesting to me, her savviness to actively seek out those people.
So instead of maybe be given those people, cause I feel like a lot of. Other pop stars kind of fall into that. And they're just kind of a piece of that machine, but Gaga is actually actually like activated that network of creative individuals that she resonates with and, and works well with, for me, I'm still struggling getting over the mindset of like, I can do everything, but not that great.
There's a few things that I'm really good at, and I need to find the other people that can, that whose strengths, you know, pair well with, with mine. I mean, that, that's one reason why I sought while we sought each other out for this podcast. Right. Mike is, I think we can each bring a very unique perspective and we have things that we're very good at.
And I think. Hopefully, that's why the audience enjoys listening to our podcast. And especially with, with guests like Lauren and the other great guests we've had like Gary and Simon, um, But for me, it's kind of finding the smallest piece of work that is very easy to collaborate on so that there's just like very little resistance to getting that flywheel going and, and just bringing in more people and more pieces of work to do.
Um, and I feel like I'm just now doing that, you know, I've, I've found some, some collaborators very recently. That I'm really jelling with. And I'm trying to find excuses to work with them more. I'm actively seeking out more projects so that I can work with them even more. I think that's a really great point, Chad, that you don't know, certainly have to go all in at the very beginning with a new collaborator that you can start small and see where you're wearing.
You're complimentary and where you, where there's friction and where that friction is good. And where that friction is that, I mean, it's also this idea of collaboration. Uh, it goes back to something that Mike, you and I, uh, participated in when we worked together, which was the kind of the notion of improv and the idea yeah.
Of the yes am and the willingness and yeah. And interest in building on each other's. Ideas as opposed to knocking them down and, you know, trying to for own reassure them through all the time. Yeah. The, the opportunity just to put a bunch of great people in a room with a very clear mission and, and just to.
Think positively about the patient disabilities of an idea and taking it places. I think this is such a powerful thing. And I think for anyone listening, I think what we're really trying to, to transmit to our audience is. Don't get stuck behind your laptop by yourself and try and, and feel this enormous pressure to come up with a great creative idea or a business idea or a product idea.
I think what our message is here is that we continually in a outline I've experienced the three of us, but also if we look at some of the greatest people, like got. There's a whole universe of people, a whole community of people that are helping them bring ideas to life. And I honestly think that, you know, if you were to re put this into a couple of the key things is like, share your ideas when in doubt, share the idea.
Don't do the old school walled garden? No, no, I don't want to tell my ID cause someone steal it. I mean, get over it and share. Yeah. I love the feedback both from, you know, friends and family, but also like my Uber drivers, you know, I love to them too, because they're kind of, so outside of, of what we're doing, one thing that.
Uh, kind of a, even more practical tool that I've just begun using is, is meetup.com. And especially if you're in a, in a large city, just tagging a few interests around the thing that you're doing, whether that's product design or three D printing or podcasting, create a group and just organize people getting together.
And you'd be really surprised at the genuine and helpful. Community that you can begin to build with that. Yeah. Working speaking is huge and I'm sure lady Gaga is network is absolutely enormous. In fact, she probably has more people who want to be a part of her network, actually what she wants. But that is again, one of the things that I've learned from talking with, with the women on inflection point is that building that network is one of the best things that you.
Can do for yourself in terms of whatever goal you're trying to achieve, because the more people that you know, the more people you can help and that can turn around and help you when the time this gets us to our last, uh, last clip, which is Gaga talking about her relentless and fearless approach to creativity.
So let's listen to the last lady Gaga clip here. She is being fearless and relentless. I just have such a love and affinity for show business
I just always felt famous. That's what my first album was really about is that fame comes from within inside of you. And it's not something that you obtain. And I still feel that way in a lot of ways. I like to know that I can define my fame and define my beauty for myself, which is why I'm so. Vigilant and relentless about my image and my music is I will not allow no matter how successful I become for the public to define or indicate what it is I create or what it is that I believe is beautiful, or what I believe is a hit pop record.
That's who I am. And I will, I will always be that way, but that listen, fearless and vicious. I just love that. And I think that maybe what she's giving us in that clip is a little clue to what draws everybody into Gaga. And that is her fearlessness. And I think she feeds that insecurity that everyone has with a good dose of fearless, relentless energy to overcome.
Things that the challenges that come your way, I think it's her feelisness to just go out there and to make things happen. I felt like that was a rule Cole to not only have fans, but to everyone. To go out and determine who they want to be. And it was like a rally cry for her. So, I mean, when you hear something like that launch, I mean, how does it, how does it resonate with you when you, when you're here full of such direction and confidence?
Oh, well, that is, I mean, you know, she's got, what was it? The album, the song born this way. I mean, she's built confidence and she knows herself. And, you know, I think knowing herself or feeling like she's, she knows who she is, is the thing that enables her to be fearless and relentless. I think that fearlessness and relentlessness can continue to build on itself.
So, you know, the, the, the idea is how do you become fearless and relentless if you're not born that way? And you know, it starts with, and I've heard this from again from the women. That I speak with on an inflection point almost to the one that you just have to put your first foot in front of the other, you start it, you test the waters and see what happens and see how you react.
If things don't work out the way that you want them to, because how you respond to failure is just as important as how you respond to success, which sounds so trite, but it is so true. Yeah, it is. And it's the starting small is the key. Like we hear a lot of. W we've, we've dived into a lot of really successful people on the show, as I'm sure you've done on reflection.
But the key thing is, uh, if you have an idea taking that first step and transitioning from, so I almost would say pocking, the grand vision. And then becoming obsessed about small steps, because this is to me where you build the momentum. I mean, you must've felt incredibly excited when you had recoded and published your first show, Lauren.
I mean, that, that was the key thing to get it to your first show. I mean, can you imagine how many people have, so what about a podcast and not even got to the first show? I mean, how did it feel when you got that first one? Oh, well, it even started before that, which was that I, I had been working with my local public radio station.
KALW in San Francisco, um, on partnering with them on developing the show. And after several meetings, I finally, you know, of interest when I said, you know, what is it going to take to produce this. And, you know, the person that I was working with, um, Matt Martin and said, well, look, I will give you the studio time and an engineer and you come in and you create a couple of pilots for me, and then we'll see what happens next.
And then that's when it became really real. And so then several months later, You know, it's not like I went in the studio the next day and recorded a show several months later, after much consideration, who's going to be my first guest. What am I going to talk with them about all the kind of structural details that went into the execution of the big idea needed to be thought through.
And so then when we were finally sitting in that studio and I had my first guest across from me, I was so excited. And so nervous, but so happy that I had been able to get to that point. And, and we had a wonderful conversation. I'm still so proud of that. First. What inspiration did you take Chad from the relentless for me?
Uh, she didn't start her music career as lady Gaga. Like she had to, uh, write her music and go into the New York clubs on the lower East side and do her thing. And then eventually she stumbled bit upon something that really resonated and, and, you know, really. Made it for her. And so I think going back to the, you know, take the first step, I think just that lesson that there are, there are really no true kind of overnight successes.
You and I might didn't start by this like grand plan of a hundred episodes of this podcast. We were just like, you know what we want to get together. We want to have a conversation about interesting individuals that are disrupting and innovating. Who are some people we can talk about and just hit the ground running.
And now we don't want to stop and hope we can go for the 70, some odd episodes that Lauren you've gone on with, with, with inflection plane. Geez, 70 that's that, that just, you know, when we're, when we're just approaching our first double figure, I mean, I I'm going to have a drink at, at 10. I think, um, I think what we've got with Gaga is, is somebody who is fun yet wise beyond the, who knows in innovation speak has a great product, but frankly, she's an excellent.
Marketing mind as well, but also with some great wisdom around, you know, put the platinum album in the back, make room for some more. Uh, she's created the house of Gaga. With her, her Epic creative process where she sings those songs, she writes us songs. So you make the outfits, the production. I mean, she is a, to a default who has so much ahead of her to think that she's already achieved this at a young age.
It's, it's inspiring. And I think the show today has just given me. I dimension a universe, more of understanding of her and I found it very rewarding. Um, what do you, you're going to take out of the show, Lauren. Um, was there any, any new bits or tips that you think, uh, spoke to you in the house of Gaga? You know, I also think that she has, you know, there's that everyone's trying to figure out what makes a genius, you know, and what makes for somebody who's able to come up with something completely new that hasn't been done before.
I think that is just that sort of artistry that you, you can't put a tangible finger on and that the way that you call it. Cultivate that for yourself and the way that you surround yourself with people who are willing to cultivate that for you. So there's just this really wonderful combination of thou knowing herself, having a wonderful vision and being able to surround herself with people who were able to help her bring it to life.
Yeah, I think it's, I think it's been great to, to hear the, actually some of the crossover between what you do learning from talking to them, the pioneering women and what we're seeing as well. And that, that for me, is very reassemble for what we're, we're all embarking on, which is just learning from others and celebrating these amazing contributions that people have made.
We're going to have all of the show notes@moonshots.io. So, uh, in particular, the books we mentioned we'll have links to the full interviews that we've taken clips from. And anything else that, uh, is really interesting follow up reading, uh, from. From the, uh, the world of Gaga. Um, but before we go, Lauren, how do people find out more about inflection point in the universe is the Lauren Sheila media complex Miller media complex.
I'm going to have to come up with a good name for that. It can go to inflection point radio.org. You can go to your favorite podcatcher and search for it, inflection point and everything all at all the episodes are available in both of those places. Um, a little bit more about the women that I've talked with are available, uh, on the website.
You can follow me on Twitter, LA Schiller. It's L a S C H I L L E R or on Facebook add inflection point radio. I think those are all the ways. And, um, I, you know, any, any amazing women suggestions, women who have a great rising up story, I'm always interested in hearing what they are as well. Well, listen, thank you, Lauren.
It's been, it's been really wonderful to have you on the show. We encourage everyone to go and catch you on a inflection point. Chad, it's been a blast again. Thanks for all that you do producing and pulling the show together. It's been a blast in the universe of, of Gaga. I also wanted to say thank you to all of our listeners.
The listeners have surpassed all of our expectations. Uh, in terms of the numbers of episodes you guys have listened to. And of course the feedback I wanted to specifically call out and Kyle, uh, thank you for listening to the show and the feedback that you've shared with us. Mike and I are always interested, uh, incorporating your feedback into the show, both in what we are, who we are.
Talk about, um, but also the kinds of questions that we ask ourselves as well. Um, so thank you everyone for listening and for giving us your feedback. And we would encourage you to, to keep doing that. Um, and you can leave your feedback and catch all the show notes@moonshots.io. Thank you so much for, including me in your conversation.
This was a ton of fun. And now I need to go listen to some way to go. That sounds fantastic. Well, that's it from us here at the main shots. Take care and we'll see you next time. Bye everyone.