Ash Lamb and the Personal Monopoly

How do you make yourself stand out in a crowded field?

Hi everybody! In my latest podcast, I chatted with Ash Lamb, the talented illustrator of so many compelling visuals on life, ideas, career/industry, and more. The following is one of his illustrations that summarizes what he does in a simple and minimalistic way:

There is a very good chance you have run into Ash’s content at some point. You can watch the full interview below:

You can also watch/listen to this on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more. Go here for the full list.

Power of the Personal Monopoly

One of my favorite parts during our chat happened when we talked about how to increase one’s odds of being successful as a content creator:

In his response, Ash talks about building a personal monopoly.

A personal monopoly is all the things that are unique to you that others can’t easily replicate. If you channel those unique characteristics into the content you create, then what you end up creating is something that has your unique fingerprint on it. It’s authentically you, and this is something others can’t easily replicate.

In looking over Ash’s large body of work, you can see his personality and interests represented in each pixel:

Going beyond just content creators, Ash’s observation applies to almost all walks of life. Almost all of us are working in a crowded field that keeps getting more crowded thanks to easier tools and AI assistants. Building up and using our personal monopoly is one of the best ways of increasing our chances of being successful or just staying relevant.

Conclusion

Towards the end of the interview, Ash and I discuss the role AI is going to play in commoditizing so much of what we do today that is considered a valuable skill. This is a topic I’ll talk more about in a future article, especially as it pertains to the work I do as someone who creates technical educational content.

If you have any questions or comments about this, feel free to reply back, post on the forums, or find me on X / Twitter.

Cheers,
Kirupa 😇