Meet Sean Coyle | The Barking Seal Creative Studio LLC CEO & Art Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sean Coyle and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sean, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?

Serving as an Active Duty Soldier and Operating a business can take time and effort. Competing requirements and many unknowns between both. Just recently, I had to make a significant move to New Hampshire, something I was not ready to do but was prepared to do in service to my country. Although something like this may seem like a wrench in anyone’s life, especially when running a business with the help of my girlfriend, Danielle Dauberman, the military has taught me to look at this feat as a new opportunity to learn and a challenge to face.

When I think of where my balance lies on my life’s pendulum of priority, my service to my country and family is most important, while my business is second to that. However, this does not mean that I neglect my company; it just means that I must be creative and reflect on why I started my business.

Being in the military, one day you are at your post, the next deployed to another country, or in the field conducting a field exercise. Many days I showed up to work when the sun was down and left when the sun was set. My girlfriend had reached the point of telling me, “Let me know when you’re getting home early,” which meant before 8 P.M. Caring for Soldiers and $60 million of equipment is much work, especially when there is a common understanding that what we care for is what we take if the nation were to ever call upon us. When running my business, I need to take pockets of time and use it to improve it. When driving home from work, I listen to audiobooks and sit in my parking lot, writing thoughts and notes before entering the house. I always carry a notebook to write down ideas and thoughts. I’m not a fan of taking notes on my phone because the stimuli of writing on paper are more pronounced. During weekends, I make most of my improvements to my website because it’s the most time-consuming part of running my business. Every other morning before work, I wake up earlier and work on completing tasks or researching a burning question. There’s a lot to do and only so much time in the day, so I try to make it count where I can.

When I started my business, The Barking Seal Creative Studio LLC, I wholeheartedly accepted that it would not be easy and consume most of my life; however, I also entered knowing that I would never sacrifice the welfare and success of my Soldiers for my own. I will choose my Soldiers over my business without hesitation if I must. They deserve that of me because they have already sacrificed so much for me and our nation. This ties into an essential skill I have been trying to develop being a single-tasker. I found it essential to be deliberately present and focused on one task at a time. If I try to do two or more things simultaneously, I find that everything fails or is half-completed, and I spend more time trying to fix it. Measure twice and cut once.

My business is the manifestation of my passion for art and my love of creativity. What I enjoy about art is seeing others’ creativity. I love looking at a piece of art and being like, “Wow! I would have never thought of that!” and seeing how other artists can be so different from me. I genuinely love it. It gives me excitement and makes me happy to see something new! It’s a dopamine rush! I like looking at something and being impressed and inspired. It does not have to be much, I’m simple like that. I tie this enjoyment into my business. When I see something I like, I reach out to the creator. What’s the worst thing they will say, “No.”
What upsets me and drives me to run my business is that so much art is out there, and the market is saturated. You go on Instagram and see these artists creating brilliant pieces of art, but the greatest evil comes of it, comparison. Thoughts of, well, I don’t have 300,000 followers, oh my work didn’t get a like, or nobody ever would want this. This kind of thinking is toxic and misleading. I have seen soldiers create masterpieces of art and music, but it’s never seen because it’s restricted to their account or should be on another medium like a shirt or a mug. The difference is that it never gets seen, so it does not get the appreciation it deserves. The Barking Seal Creative Studio LLC offers the service of taking art from artists and manifesting artists’ intent.

The mission of my company is changing, we are in its infancy right now. We entered as a storefront for art and are now developing into an Art Consultation and Storefront business. Running my business has been a journey leading to self-discovery. One may think they know what they want but never really do, and that’s fun in it. It can be challenging to keep my business separate parts of my life, so I need to be deliberate. I’m happy to have started the Barking Seal Creative Studio and I look forward to where it will take me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Lesson 1: Incremental change is the best type of change. Too much change can cause fatigue, doubt, and identity crisis in a business/personal life.

Lesson 2: It’s ok to fail if you learn from it. Hypothesize, test, and then pivot. Find out what works and doesn’t, and move on.

Lesson 3: Take a step back/break. Sometimes you’re in the maze of running a business for too long. If you step out and breathe, you’ll develop way better solutions.

Lesson 4: Have fun. It’s hard not to get carried away with things and get upset if it something doesn’t go your way. Remember way you started your business and do not confuse it with why others started their business.

Lesson 5: Have a plan, you’ll save money (or not), but plans fail or change on first contact. Be flexible and adaptable. It’s going to be ok.

Lesson 6: DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!! You can’t make it through life without the help of others.

Lesson 7: Be kind to yourself. You’re not an expert with 10,000 hours of experience because, frankly, you are not an expert with 10,000 hours in every field. It’s ok not to know or to suck at things.

Lesson 8: When running your business, be the boss. Everyone online will sell you on advertisement, the next gimmick, or say you’re doing something wrong. As a business owner, you are the business owner because you can make decisions. Silence and filter out all the information, decide on a route and execute. You can always shift directions along the way. Just be decisive.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them to check out the Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix. It’s so tranquil and relaxing. I love listening to the sound of the small waterfall and feeling the cool breeze from the water. I grew up in Connecticut, so I love the crafted landscapes and lush greenery.

I’m a big breakfast guy, so I would take them to Elly’s Brunch & Cafe and get the Baked Apple Pancake. They are irresistibly delicious treats that are fluffy goodness manifested in pancakes. The tender apple slices, cinnamon-infused batter, and sweet maple syrup make a delicious breakfast.

For lunch, I would take them to Bootleggers! Their burgers are delicious! I love their Bootlegger Burger! Their House Sauce brings the burger altogether. I love the ambience!

For dinner, I would take them to Cherryblossom Noodle Cafe! You can’t top Ramen, like, come on! Get the TanTan-Men Ramen if you can handle some spice or Zaru Soba Noodles for a more relaxing experience.

Finally, dessert, hit up Sweet Republic for sugar overload. Get the Pecan Turtle Sundae. I think I cried from how good it was, or maybe it was just my blood sugar spiking.

As you can see, my ideal day is carbs.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to thank my brother, Patrick Coyle, and my girlfriend, Danielle Dauberman. My brother and girlfriend have been 100% supportive of me starting my business. My brother is constantly lending me advice and finding any way to support my business, whether by sharing a post or telling people about it. He constantly tells me he is proud of me and always looks forward to seeing what is coming next. He is in the Navy, so he understands the struggle of pursuing a hobby or, in my case, business with the demands of our service. And I want to thank my beautiful girlfriend, Danielle, because she has also been very supportive. She helps me out so much when it comes to social media. I never really felt like I was detached from social media until I started my business. She has stood by me since the beginning and has kept me on the straight and narrow. I love you Jagi!

Website: https://www.thebarkingseal.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebarkingsealstudio/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theebarkingseal

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085926330855

Other: Handles: IG: thebarkingsealstudio Twitter: theebarkingseal Facebook: The Barking Seal Creative Studio

Image Credits
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