I used to love to work with my hands but then my life took over.   

I have the numbers to prove my success, but my boss says I lack creativity.

I’ve always known I was an artist, but no one really appreciates that side of me.

If any of this resonates with you, keep reading.

If you are struggling personally and/or professionally with the idea of Creativity, try something completely different. Join other men like yourself and step into the world of fire and steel for three days – you are not alone!

You will learn how to design, cut, weld, fabricate, grind and finish your own works of metal art.

While immersed in a fully equipped professional metal studio, you will gain access to a missing piece of your creative puzzle. 

Did you wake up one day and you were 50? You have a successful career but feel like you missed out on other dreams? You used to be good with your hands. You used to draw and make things. You made a good life for yourself but the pull to create has never gone away.

But wait, maybe you are making things: Software, Apps, The Cloud, New Business Models, NextGen Everything, Sales and Marketing Strategies. Maybe you are even making history…but you’re not touching any of it.

You touch keyboards and screens. You spend your days (and nights) on conference calls and in meetings. You’re successful, but your bosses and managers are demanding new ideas. They need you to be more creative, more innovative. Even with your engineering degree, your MBA and your decade of running a profitable business, it’s not enough. 

How do you tap into your own creativity? How do you find new ideas and address the fear of losing your job if you don’t figure this out? And will there ever be time to do “your art” again? What is this struggle doing to you at work and at home?

“Psychologists are now recognizing something that artists have intuitively always known, that we think with our hands as much as our brains.“

– Psychology Today, 2014

Attend a Design Thinking workshop?

Take a class on how to think creatively?

Participate in a company innovation challenge?

That all helps but it’s not enough.

Immersing yourself in an authentically creative
environment will activate aspects of your creativity
that a Design Thinking course can’t touch.  

The word is out. Artists and creatives deserve a seat at the business table. They think differently. They see the world through a different lens and they are making a difference. Search any recent copy of the Harvard Business Review, Forbes or Fast Company and you will find articles about the transformative power and business value of creativity.

And, guess what? Many executives leaders are already bought in and investing in creativity and innovation practices that will transform their workforces (You may even be one of them). They know that if their leaders and their teams don’t figure this all out, the company is at risk.

We have only scratched the surface of what is possible. Design Thinking, Creativity programs and Innovation practices have successfully vaulted us into a new world.  It’s time to go further. Neuroscience and psychology now show that by using our hands, we change the way we think. This is why I’ve created Men and Metal.

I am here to help you get into a space that frees you from the constraints of linear thinking and desired business outcomes. So block out three days, put on your leathers, pick up a plasma cutter and see what happens. Bring your fire – this is your time!

JAMIE E. DOES

Jamie is Founder and Principal at www.jamiedoesvisuals.com. Men and Metal is his latest offer and one of more to come. At his core, Jamie is an artist and sees the world through that creative lens. Painting, woodcuts, metal sculpture and photography have been at the center of his practice. Jamie also loves business and balances the two. Over the past twenty years, utilizing a unique Visual Thinking methodology, he has been changing the way leaders and their teams see, understand & engage with their company strategies. Jamie has worked as an internal employee in corporate and not-for-profits and as an external design consultant. His undergraduate degree is in Fine Arts, with advanced study in metal sculpture and painting, and he has a Master’s in Organizational Psychology with a focus on Corporate Social Responsibility and Group Dynamics/High Performing Teams.

Along the way, Jamie has lived in Ireland, Australia and Germany, painted wildlife t-shirts to pay rent, fought fires for the Idaho National Forest Service, managed an Italian gourmet food store, was a cross-country ski racer, did hunger and poverty work for AmeriCorps in its inaugural year, and did humpback whale research in Maui (mind blowing!).

Jamie has two kids and loves being a father. His older brother is his best friend, shocking, since they used to send each other to the Emergency Room as kids. If you’re looking for Jamie on a day off, try Point Isabel in Richmond, where he’s getting some fresh air and exercise with his Pit-Lab, Tucker.

When: November 3 – 5, 2017
Friday 9am – 6pm, Saturday 9am – 9pm, Sunday 9am – 6pm

Where: American Steel 1960 Mandela Pkwy, Oakland CA 94607

Cost: $1000
We are excited to offer a one-time 50% off program rate!  

What to bring:
* Your desire to create with fire and metal!
* Comfortable cotton clothing
* Leather boots (Steel toed boots ideal but not required)
* A water bottle

We will provide all safety equipment.

What to Expect: You will work hard, get dirty and be tired. You might even get burned. But you will feel alive and connected. Connected to yourself, to those alongside you and perhaps to something bigger. Are you ready for high tech plasma cutters, MIG welders and metal grinders? You will learn how to use all of them on the first day!

Each of you will leave the workshop having completed an individual metal project. You will also collaborate on a group piece. We will provide a menu of options, help you design something new or you are free to come up with something on your own. The power of metal and fire makes so many things possible. We will also send out material ahead of time to help get the creative ideas moving. Time to stoke the fire!