In this episode, we have invited Gregory Plater, a former professional basketball player turned Art Director. He is a talented student of life who founded “Intellectual Athlete” as an extension of himself. Intellectual Athlete is the world inside of Greg’s mind, that moves with its own frequencies, holds its own rules, and connects the often unconnected. Coming from humble beginnings, Greg coins himself as lifelong underdog, working hard and intentionally to be a positive representation for marginalized people in spaces where they are absent. Today, Greg shares what inspired him to pursue art and imparts his advice that will surely spark your interest if you want to chase the dream.
Mentioned in this episode:
- Intellectual Athlete: https://www.theintellectualathlete.com/
Amora Brown:
Hey Gregory, thanks for coming on today. Super awesome to have you.
Greg Plater:
Hey, Amora, thanks for having me. I'm really excited to be here.
Amora Brown:
Yes. Oh my goodness. I'm not recording on my other camera. One moment. Okay.
Greg Plater:
Hey, if I have my, if I have my Zoom little screen showing, will it record on yours or no?
Amora Brown:
Uh, no.
Greg Plater:
Okay, cool. Cause I kinda wanna have my screen just so I can kind of like see , you know.
Amora Brown:
Uh, okay. That's no problem. Okay, here we go, . Okay, let me, let me start that over.
Greg Plater :
Yeah, no problem. You did great, dude.
Amora Brown:
Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Corpartainment podcast. I am your host, Amora Brown, and today we have a super awesome guest on the show today. He is a former, professional basketball player. Now he's an Art Director and overall, an extremely talented student of life. His name is Gregory Plater. Gregory, thank you for being on the show today. Awesome to have you.
Greg Plater:
Hey, Amora, thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here.
Amora Brown:
So, you know, I gotta ask you, starting off in professional basketball, what kind of influenced you to be interested in art direction? In my opinion, or from what I think right now it is kind of two opposite things on the spectrum. Are they, or what, what kind of made you wanna get into art direction after having many years of doing professional basketball?
Greg Plater :
Yeah, I think to the average person or someone who doesn't know both areas, it definitely would seem like there's no connection or correlation. But, uh, in basketball, a lot of, a lot of what we do is about self-expression and the amount of time that you spend, uh, training and honing your craft and understanding how you want to present yourself, um, as a player is influenced by a lot of different things. So for me, I was always influenced by music and pop culture and, and film and comedy. Um, and along with obviously the, the amazing players that I grew up watching. So as a, as a point guard, it's super important to be able to understand what's happening around you, and you also operate as an extension of the coach. So you have to develop a style of communication, um, and then also like how you dress, the kind of shoes you wear, the kind of swagger you have.
Amora Brown:
There's a certain taste you develop. And so with art direction, it's a similar thing where you are sort of the, the middle person where you're able to communicate with a lot of different kinds of people, a lot of different creatives, and be strategic and also, um, have a plan, you know, based on what the, the problem is you wanna solve. So say you wanna solve this certain problem, you have to develop a visual for it. You're, you're bringing the taste, you're bringing the, the feeling, the mood, the sound, you know? Like, who's gonna be involved? And so I think that yeah, when you, when you play basketball, as much as it doesn't seem like it, we're watching all these sports documentaries, sports movies, we hear these stories. We, we meet people in different situations..
Amora Brown:
Mm-hmm. .
Greg Plater:
I've traveled to different countries because of basketball, and it's allowed me to, to develop like a global view on how, uh, life operates. And so when I, when I am in art direction, as I'm learning, I'm seeing the experiences that I've had are really influencing the work I do. And so that shows, so I develop my own style so people recognize when they see my work, "Okay, that's Greg".
Amora Brown:
That's super cool. Like you're the first person I've ever met that has that perspective.
Greg Plater:
Nice.
Amora Brown:
So it's really cool to like hear it and just kind of be educated on it as well too. I like that. I was looking at your website and I was looking at your Instagram. I was just like, this is, this is dope. I know you created your own blog, um, or your company called Intellectual Athlete, which is an extension of your own personal brand, and we're just trying- and where you're trying to go in life. Right? And in our previous chat, which people weren't aware of, but I, I remember I spoke to you earlier, you know, to me you described it as what Black Mamba was to Kobe Bryant and . And I wanted to kind of talk a little bit about that. Why did you create it? And where do you, where do you hope to see it go 10 years from now?
Greg Plater:
Well, intellectual athlete is really, is more less than a company, but more of an extension of myself at this point. Um, it's, it's sort of a way that for me to express myself, because like I mentioned before, as a, as a, as an athlete, you have a lot of people who ask you about your journey. You have a lot of people who have their own perspective on what influences you. And there are a lot of stories that are told around that same narrative when a lot of the time those, those narratives and those stories that are shown aren't super realistic. They're sensationalized. And also, uh, the amount of people that I know doing really cool things, not just in athletics, but just overall. Uh, my, my friends are doing really cool stuff. I always have a lot of people asking me for updates on other people.
Greg Plater:
And so, uh, around the time when Donald Trump was, uh, the last election, I would say, and, and, you know, there's a lot of turmoil with, you know, Trump and, um, that election, a lot of people were, were using their voice. And I felt like, okay, I need to find a platform to use my voice and do it in a way that's not just me, you know, saying how I feel, but more like, how can I bring other voices into the conversation, but do it from my lens so I can be the, the bridge for other people to go through. And then, you know, when you're doing that, you develop your own style, you develop your own, you know, it, it, it kind of evolves into something. And I felt like, okay, I think this will turn into, you know, me just expressing creativity. Then it's like me telling stories, me highlighting others, and it's, it's something that'll evolve over time.
Greg Plater:
It's not set in stone what it is, but, uh, yeah, it's really, like I said, what people knew Kobe for was Mamba mentality. And there was a whole set of, you know, there was a standard, there was fundamentals, there was a foundation and something that came to mind when you heard that. And it took time to build. And so that's the same thing with me is like with Intellectual Athlete, I'm, I'm just building, uh, the way that people can perceive how I am in the world and understand me deeper, but then also see like, there's so many other people that have influenced me, and I wanna make sure that, those inspiration points come to life.
Amora Brown:
I'm trying to just chew on that really , because it's like, it's a different form of art than what I'm used to. I'm more on like, performing arts side, and you're more on the side of like creative-art-with-the-mind type of thing. And, and that's really interesting to hear that. Um, I guess like what kind of advice would you give to someone who is working a nine-to-five job and maybe come from a non-traditional background based off your experience, what have you learned along the way? I mean, in a way, you're kind of designing your own life, right?
Greg Plater:
Mm-hmm. .
Amora Brown:
So what advice would you give to someone who is kind of afraid to, I guess, design their own, I guess, career in that way to kind of step outside their comfort zone outside of structure? Obviously, you can only give this perspective based off your experience. So how has your experience helped mold you to who you are now?
Greg Plater:
I think-
Amora Brown:
I know I asked a bunch of questions.
Greg Plater:
. No, it's okay. It's okay. It's fine. I think that the best way to go about exploring your passions is to, first of all, figure out what you're passionate about. You know, I think before you start moving, you wanna know where you're going. And I think that takes, like, I took a lot of time to really think and explore a lot of different areas. You know, I was coaching, I tried holistic nutrition, I've worked in tech. I've, um, I've done non-profit jobs. I've done so many different things, and I've asked a lot of questions. I've talked to a lot of different people based on interests. So it's like, I had, I'm very curious minded, so I want to know kind of what different career paths are, like what different avenues of expression are like, and how, what can I do? What could I do to really be happy expressing myself as a creative in life?
Greg Plater:
So that's where I was looking like, okay, I knew I wanted to be creative, so I pinpointed that, you know, so I went one level in, and then the next point was like, okay, well what part of the creative do I want to be involved in? Right? And then I was looking at illustration, and then I was looking at graphic design and, you know, like, do I want to paint? Like I'm open! I wanna do whatever makes me feel right. And I think I wasn't making that decision just because of what I thought. I was really exploring and asking questions to learn more. And then as you learn more and you figure out a point, you know, I've found some really cool people who helped me understand where I wanted to go and the skills that I had that would translate to certain careers.
Greg Plater:
And I came across art direction because it, it took a while. It wasn't just something that was like, "oh, I wanna do art direction". When I first finished basketball, I didn't know anything about what careers were out there, really. Um, and it just, it was, it is an exploration point. So I would say don't be discouraged if you don't know exactly what it is, but explore and learn. Go on YouTube, ask questions, go to, uh, you know, online events. Just explore what's out there.
Amora Brown:
Network with people.
Greg Plater
Yeah. Network with people and figure out what people are doing. And then once you figure out what people are doing, and then you see yourself in that, then you can sort of assess, you know, "what might, you know, feel good for me?" And then when you figure that out, you start to just do stuff on the side. You do stuff at home, you, you know. I'm just constantly researching, constantly doing side projects and then, um, reaching out to people on LinkedIn and just always learning, always being open-minded. And as soon as you get that goal, just like reverse engineer the process and then follow each step to get there.
Amora Brown:
I think part of getting that direction is talking to strangers. So one reason why I started this podcast is because I thought it was really important to kind of talk to people who I don't know that I admire and that I think are smart and get their tips and guidance and advice even just for a little while, right? And then you can apply that and that kind of gives you some inspiration of, you know, where to get started, especially where to get started now, because it's really easy to go online and Google things, but that process might be outdated. But as you go out and you talk to people, it's really easy to figure out what didn't work and why certain processes don't work anymore like they used to, and what's relevant now. So that's just some advice I want to share to people who are working their nine-to-five job. And, and just don't realize that there's a lot more resources around you than what you might think, especially people sitting next to you like, that are really interested. And, you know, creative things too. I think more people than we know are interested in and have knowledge in the creative, uh, aspect of things.
Greg Plater:
Mm-hmm. . Yeah. I would add to that and say, I think it's important to, to not only explore things that you're interested in, but explore things that you might not think you're interested in. And understand what you don't like and what you don't want. Uh, for me, I, I try to, even if someone might not be the person that I'm so attracted to, I still want to hear their perspective and kind sort of see like, you can steal gems from people that you don't really vibe with and that can help you. So it's just being super strategic about the places you find information, like really broaden that scope. You know?
Amora Brown:
We really talked about that too, about adapting the mindset to take gems from people who you might not vibe with very much. And I think that's a skill in itself to be able to take what's useful and leave what's not. Because with that mindset, you'll always be able to learn something. And it's could be somebody who you don't like, but they'll give you, I mean, I don't know. I'm trying to think of a good example, but I can't really think of a good example right off the bat. But I think that's a really important mindset. It's just setting boundaries of what your own morals are, but still being open to hearing something that could be useful for you. I mean, you could learn it and then change it, or you can learn it and adapt to it. So that's really cool. I know you gave me advice in the past, and we talked about this.
Amora Brown:
If someone says, "how can I help you?" You wanna be specific in one thing. What I understood from that, and then I want to hear you kind of elaborate on it as well too, is it's cool to have all these different interests, like about where to start, right? It's cool to have a whole bunch of different interests. For example, I might say, I wanna be a singer, dancer, actress, model, poet, clothing designer and have my own TV show, which is true. But if I'm not talking to someone who understands all of that, it might be overwhelming to them. It'd be better off just to tell someone, Hey, you know, for you to know I'm working on my own podcast mm-hmm. , you know, maybe you can, you know, help me with that. Or maybe I can give you some tips on that to kind of like, succinctly focus in on one specific thing when you are, uh, connecting with people about your passions and that that could be an easier way to, uh, work together. But maybe you can explain it better. .
Greg Plater:
Uh, yeah, I think it's like you give a person a, starting point. Mm-hmm. , because I think when people do- people don't understand how much they know. It's like, that's hard to think, oh, I'm this person that has these resources. Cuz people are very, you know, they're humble and they're shy and they're, they want to make sure they're not leading you down the wrong way and making you think something that's not there. Mm-hmm. . So they're gonna start from the small place and you say, Hey, like, I know you have your own podcast. Like, "can you tell me about how you got that started?" And they'll say, "well, where do you wanna start?" You know, do you wanna know about the video recording the audio? And then you give them somewhere to start and then it, it will grow because then they'll say, oh, okay, I remember this. And then they'll keep giving you things and then next thing you know, they're saying, "Hey, I got a buddy who actually does the sound part. Let me connect you with them". And then they, or they send you a few links, right? And they tell you a book to read. And so that's, it doesn't mean that you can't, you know, want to learn more, but give someone a place to start and then it'll, it'll, you know, grow from there.
Amora Brown:
Yeah, definitely. So I have a random question for you. Mm-hmm. . And let's go. This is a question, this is a question from the previous interviewee. His name is Matthew Carauddo. Oh my God. I'm terrible at pronouncing names . My boyfriend's like, you cannot mess up people's names. I'm like, you Right. I'm trying my best.
Greg Plater:
Do you have to say his name?
Amora Brown:
Uh, yeah. Cause I wanna give him some credit.
Greg Plater:
Okay.
Amora Brown:
I wanna give people credit to I'll say your name when you, when you do the same thing. And then it's like people, say, "Oh who's that? I wonder what that's about" And then they, go back watching that episode. Learn about them.
Greg Plater:
Okay. That's cool.
Amora Brown:
A random question from the previous interview. I thought this would be a good way to like, kind of make things interesting. He is a person who is very intelligent and very creative. I interviewed him in one of my previous episodes and he created this book called Diamond Dragons, which is similar to Lord of the Rings, but with dragons. And it's, it's like a hero's journey concept. Um, his name is Matthew Carauddo. And this is his question for you, very similar to what I asked earlier, but now I need you to kind of dive into it.
Greg Plater:
Amora Brown:
What is the kind of advice that you would give, not necessarily to your younger self, but for people who are getting involved in art direction and they're creating their own career into art direction. So maybe they're not going about it, uh, formally and not just like the advice, but the thought process that you would suggest that they adopt for, for kind of going into this like very uncertain like field, not uncertain field, but like, just without structure? So if they didn't go to a university and they're thinking about getting into this, would you suggest that they go to university or, or not? Um, that's kind of where the question is going. And he was saying like, for example, and the advice you give, it could be something that you didn't realize that was a good idea, but turned out to be a really good idea. Like, "Ooh, I first thought this was a bad idea for me to take these steps, but later on found out that it was actually one of the best things that I could have done". So tell us like, if you have any advice or just guidance or anything in that way. That's what Matthew wanted to know.
Greg Plater:
Okay. Let me think about this , because I'm still getting into it.
Amora Brown:
Chew on it ,
Greg Plater:
I, figured out, you know, I I think it starts with, uh, figuring out how to develop who you are. So I think the most important part is having a perspective. And this is stuff that I've learned. It's not stuff that I've just come up with, but I, I've learned that the, the steps that I was taking happened to be, right. So I'm just gonna say like, okay, this is what I've done. It's not the all be all. There are many different ways to do it. Mm-hmm. , um, you can go to university if you feel, you know, if you really think you need that. Uh, I'm the type of person I like to move fast. So for me, I felt like, um, I could, you know, scrap together some YouTube tutorials. I could talk to different friends and people who are creative who could give me insight, you know, on ways to skip steps. Uh, but I would really say , you know, when I say skip steps, I just mean like, to do it faster than what school could give me. Right?
Amora Brown:
Right, right, right, right.
Greg Plater:
I'm, I'm like a two a days type person. I'm reading at 11 at night, I'll stay up till three in the morning, like, I gotta put in work. So that's the number one thing is like, you gotta be ready to work regardless of if you go to school or not. And I would say for our direction, for what I've, what I feel like has helped me is I'm like endlessly curious and I'm endlessly throwing myself into situations where the perspectives and point of views aren't mine. And I have to adjust and understand the way that things are happening from somebody else's, uh, angle. Right? So it's like I'm developing a lot of empathy and understanding of someone else's experience. And then at the same time, it's like when I expose myself to all different sorts of mediums of expression and thought and learning and, uh, ways of life, I then can like draw in different references and influences that help me build my work.
Greg Plater :
And I'm always leaning on watching other creatives and seeing what they do, uh, creatively and looking at things that inspire me. And I collect 'em and I'm always researching. I'll go on Pinterest and be on there for hours. I'll go-
Amora Brown:
Same.
Greg Plater:
And look at a film and I'll, you know, it's like I, I see a, I hear a song and I'm shazaming it. I'm not just listening to it and letting it go. I'm shazaming it and then seeing that. And then I might try and figure out who did the album cover art, and then I wanna know who's the producer, and then I might see what movie that song was played in. Right? So then it's like, you're finding this, like this, these dots are being connected where you're creating a whole ecosystem on how something was created. Where if I see a photograph, I wanna know, okay, what song might come to mind?
Greg Plater:
Or it's like this, I could see this on a, on a Medium article or in the New York Times. And, and different things spark your, your curiosity and then it leads you somewhere. And I think that's my personal, um, journey is like, okay, I was inspired by these things. They made me feel this and I wanna express it in this way. And then to do that, I have to lean on other things to help me put it together because I, and, and all those collective things helped me figure out my own style and taste and vision, right? But it was, everything's influenced by life. So by traveling around the world, by having friends of all different backgrounds and cultures and, you know, uh, lifestyles and occupations and talking to people of all ages, I love talking to older people. I love talking to young people. Just like really diversifying your experience.
Greg Plater:
And then like, once you get places, don't be discouraged in taking like an internship or taking, um, a lesser role or, you know, like, you gotta be humble. So I've been okay with taking internships. I've been okay with learning when somebody's ready to, and, and, you know, you just, you put things on the fly. Like there's no set plan on how to do it. You just have to be determined to figure it out and be ready for a lot of like, unknown circumstances. Like when I'm, when I don't know, I keep asking different people until I figure it out and I ask a bunch of different perspectives on one thing. Because if I just ask one person how they do it, that's the only way I might see it. But if I ask six people, then I can collectively see, okay, where's the commonality between those? And I can really focus on those parts that everyone's kind of chiming in on, or like really be observant to what they're saying. And then come to that conclusion myself.
Amora Brown:
That's really smart. Thank you for sharing that with us. And it, it's a way to always stay curious. So "how do I stay curious, I'm not naturally a curious person?" Well, uh, you could start with, you know, surveying people and asking them all different perspectives of one question and kind of just chewing on that and, and diving into that. That's really cool. Thanks. Um, mm-hmm.
Greg Plater:
I would say, what is, what is or who is the most unexpected, uh, person or thing that inspired you to, um, pursue what you're doing?
Amora Brown:
Thank you for coming on the show, Gregory.
Greg Plater:
Absolutely. I'm super happy to talk with you. I'm really excited about what you're doing. I think the, the way you're going about it, the energy you have and the, the vision you have for yourself is really unique. Because when we spoke I was like, wow, she knows what she wants to do,
Amora Brown:
Thank you so much for coming on and I really appreciate you taking time outta your day to share that with us. Like a, a fresh perspective of something new about art direction and it's coming from someone with a background and playing professional basketball, like something that, you know, it's something that is like a culture, like an American culture type of thing. Mm-hmm.
Greg Plater:
Yeah. Okay. So my, my Instagram is at @gregplater and my Twitter is, hoop_nerd I think, or maybe it's Hoop Nerd
Amora Brown:
Wonderful.
Amora Brown:
Thank you so much for coming on. Have a wonderful rest of the day.
Greg Plater:
Thank you. Take care. Bye.
Outro:
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