In this episode, Joe Baron speaks directly to the listener and breaks down eight lessons gathered from Jalen Brunson's postseason, covering how confidence is built, what pressure is really telling you, why sacrifice is the strategy, and the 0-0 mindset that carried the Knicks to a championship. These lessons were there when Jalen Brunson walked into his post-game interview especially after Game 4 in the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history. It wasn't about basketball. It was a leadership philosophy.

Whether you're managing a team, running a creative business, or just trying to grow your career these principles apply. Brunson demonstrated every single one of them under the highest pressure possible. Here's what you can take from it.

Topics covered:

— Confidence comes from work ethic, not the moment

— Pressure as a signal, not just a feeling

— How the best leaders think about worst-case outcomes

— Chasing wins over accolades

— Sacrifice as a leadership strategy

— Work ethic across roles and titles

— Why doubters don't deserve your energy

— The 0-0 mindset and what it looks like professionally

Chapters

0:00 — Intro — A Leadership Manual, Not a Basketball Story

0:33 — Who Is Joe Baron / Branded Baron + Mark It 2 Me

1:13 — Setting the Scene

2:12 — Lesson 1: Confidence Comes From Your Work Ethic

2:35 — Lesson 2: Pressure Means You Stopped Preparing

3:03 — Lesson 3: Think About the Worst Outcome — Then Move On

3:32 — Lesson 4: Stop Chasing Accolades. Chase Wins.

4:00 — Lesson 5: Sacrifice for Your People Pays Off

4:52 — Lesson 6: Your Work Ethic Doesn't Change With Your Role

5:17 — Lesson 7: The Doubters Don't Deserve a Response

5:53 — Lesson 8: You Never Know What's Possible If You Keep Working

6:46 — The 0-0 Mindset

7:29 — Branded Baron Insight + Outro

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Connect with Joe Baron:

BrandedBaron.com

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Mark It 2 Me Website:
https://markit2me.com/

Key Takeaways

• Confidence is the byproduct of preparation

• Pressure that paralyzes you is almost always a preparation problem.

• The best leaders absorb friction, pass the credit, and take the blame. That's the job.

• The 0-0 mindset means resetting after every win and every loss and only the next task exists.

• Most creative careers stall not from lack of talent but from a premature stop. Keep chipping away.

Host Joe Baron sits down with Cleveland muralist and illustrator Lisa Quine for a conversation about how she built a mural business that actually works and what she's doing now to get back to the creative work that fills her up. From landing the Cleveland Guardians to writing a book to designing a Phantom of the Opera cover, Lisa's career has never followed a straight line. That's kind of the point.

What we cover:

• How Lisa went from chalkboards and lettering to 150+ murals and counting
• The Cleveland Guardians mural trilogy — and how Progressive Insurance got involved
• Why she invested nearly five figures in SEO and how it's paying off
• Her approach to presenting one concept (and why it works)
• Balancing commercial work with the creative identity underneath it
• What makes a truly great art director or creative director to work with
• The solo art show coming in November — A to Z, every letter a chapter
• Rapid fire Questions: favorite books, paint markers, and more!

Timestamps / Chapters

• 0:00 — Intro
• 1:52 — Lisa's reaction to the intro
• 2:13 — The Third Cleveland Guardians mural
• 5:25 — Balancing two brands in one mural
• 8:18 — Painting a Cleveland Guardians mural than T-shirt
• 9:05 — Throwing out the first pitch. Twice.
• 11:31 — From chalkboards to murals: how it happened
• 13:25 — Outdoor vs. office murals
• 15:18 — How Lisa actually gets work
• 19:04 — Staying current without chasing trends
• 24:21 — Presenting one concept vs. multiple directions
• 27:19 — What clients are like when they've never worked with a mural artist
• 30:50 — What makes a great art director to work with
• 33:47 — What people don't expect about painting murals
• 38:04 — Smart business cards
• 40:34 — Big Magic, ideas, and the cost of not executing
• 43:26 — The Dreamy Castles deck of cards (still in progress)
• 47:32 — Lisa Quine, published author of Vintage Hand Lettering
• 51:44 — Designing the cover of Our Strange Duet for Andrew Lloyd Webber's team
• 55:09 — ABC Around CLE: painting letters with Posca markers on canvas
• 57:30 — Speaking at conferences and building authority (or not)
• 1:01:15 — The November solo show: A to Z, the full story
• 1:04:06 — Craft but Struggling
• 1:06:11 — Rapid Fire

Follow Us

Lisa Quine is a Cleveland-based muralist, illustrator, and author known for bringing strategy, joy, and bold design to blank spaces. Named Best Artist in Cleveland in 2024, she's completed over 150 murals across the US and internationally, collaborated with brands including the Cleveland Guardians, Cleveland Cavaliers, DoorDash, Meta, Mercedes-Benz, and the Holiday Inn, and authored Vintage Hand Lettering.

• Website: lisaquine.com
• Instagram: @lisaquine
• LinkedIn: Lisa Quine
• TikTok: @lisaquine

Joe Baron - Creative Director of the design and marketing New York boutique agency Branded Baron and host of Mark It 2 Me
• Website: brandedbaron.com

• Instagram: @brandedbaron

Mark It 2 Me Website

https://markit2me.com/

Jason Carne has been doing lettering professionally for two decades. His client list reads like a mashup of a record store, a sports bar, and a spirits cabinet — and that range isn't accidental. It's the result of staying a student of lettering long after most people would've gotten comfortable. In this conversation, Jason and Joe get into how that career actually gets built: the early days doing hardcore merch, the pivot toward packaging and branding, the Stanley Cup project that came in during COVID and somehow still landed, and the ongoing challenge of positioning yourself without losing what makes your work yours.

• Jason started in design through the NJ hardcore and metal scene ( making flyers, album art, and MySpace layouts for friends' bands
• The Stanley Cup project came through Fan Brandz (via a conference connection with Mike Sulik), got shelved when COVID hit, and was quietly approved once sports resumed
• When he works with big names (Harley-Davidson, NHL, Wu-Tang ) he's rarely talking directly to them. There's always a layer between. Know what you're claiming and how.
• Closer and Closer reps him; roughly 50% of his work comes through them, the rest direct
• He's currently repositioning his site to focus on two things: high-end spirits packaging and logo/branding work
• Carmel Type Co fonts (including Botanist, Railroad Company)
• The Lettering Library to preserve lettering and design from the past.
• His ideal art director gives some guardrails, then trusts the creative like the positive experience working with Joe Baron
• When work slows down: focus on personal work, fill gaps with less glamorous jobs, and reach back out to clients you already have relationships with

"Give me some guardrails, but trust me enough to do my thing." - Jason Carne

0:00 - Preview
0:04- Intro
1:19 - Influence of the Hardcore Scene on Design
2:34 - Tom was everyone's 1st friend
3:01 - Creative Challenges in High-Stake Projects
4:12 - The Stanley Cup Project
5:45 - Working with Smaller Agencies vs. Big Brands
7:50 - Navigating Client Relationships and Expectations
8:52 - Lettering is Easy
12:52 - Relationships in the Creative Industry
16:57 - Quality Work and Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
19:45 - Client Needs vs. Personal Vision
22:19 - Marketing Yourself as a designer
25:10 - Art Representation
28:26 - Navigating NDAs
30:07 - Jason Carne's Type Foundry
33:08 - The Business of Fonts
35:57 - Preserving Design History with the Lettering Library
40:02 - Art Directors nailing it like Joe Baron
44:46 - Adapting to Slow Periods
45:18 - Rapid Fire Questions

Connect with US

https://markit2me.com/

Jason Carne

http://jasoncarne.com/

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

Behance: https://behance.net/jasoncarne

Joe Baron

https://www.brandedbaron.com/

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/brandedbaron