Building Something?
I help creators, artists, entrepreneurs, and business owners figure out what their ideas are trying to become.
Where would you like to start?
Talk to Me About Your Idea
Learn About Me and My Newsletter
See Some Ideas I'm Working On🍊 2Moods Beverages
🎠Pam from Port Richmond
❤️ Family Business for My Stepsons
🦅 Watching the Birds Social Club
My job isn't to force an idea into a business plan.
It's to help it find where it belongs.
"John sees things I don't see."
I don't have all the answers.But after twenty years plus of working with creators, artists, founders, podcasters, and business owners, most of the time your idea just needs someone who isn't standing inside it.I've come to believe that we spend too much time trying to own our ideas and not enough time trying to understand them. Of course we all want to make more money, grow our audience, serve more customers, and build something that lasts. We just can't force it.That's what these sessions are all about.
Perspective Conversation
$49
What is this idea trying to become?
Bring your idea that's been bouncing around your head for hours, days, weeks, months, or even years.We'll spend thirty minutes figuring out what it's trying to become—and whether anything is actually standing in its way.
Working Conversation
$89
How can i turn this idea into action?
You know what you want to build.Now let's figure out how to build it.We'll spend an hour creating a practical plan together. If you're local to the Philadelphia area, lunch is on me. Some of my favorite ideas have come from conversations around a table.Within 24 hours, you'll receive a written recap with the biggest takeaways from our conversation, practical next steps, and a few more ideas worth exploring so you know exactly where to go from here.
Who Books a Session With You?
Usually, it's someone who can't stop thinking about an idea.It might be a business you've always wanted to start. A podcast you've talked yourself out of launching. An Instagram/Tik-tok page you've been meaning to create. A product or service sitting in your notebook. Or maybe you've been building for years and just need another set of eyes.Whether this is your very first idea or your fiftieth, you're welcome here.
Or It Could Just Sound Like:
"Should I finally start this?"
"Why isn't my business growing?"
"What am I missing?"
"I feel like I should be making more money with this"
"Is this sponsorship actually worth it?"
"What should I charge?"
"Should I quit my job?"
"How do I build a community instead of just an audience?"
"Am I solving the wrong problem?"
"What is this idea actually trying to become?"
Have a question before you book?
Join The Newsletter
Nobody has a playbook for building something meaningful. Most of us are figuring it out one conversation, one collaboration, and one idea at a time.Art, Commerce, & Community is my journey to understand how creators, artists, entrepreneurs, and local businesses are building a stronger creative economy together.Each week I share conversations, ideas, and observations from the people who are actually doing the work. No gurus or courses. Just creators, artists, business owners, and communities finding new ways to build together.I'll introduce you to people and projects worth paying attention to, and share my perspective on what we might be missing when art, commerce, and community come together.If you're a creator, artist, entrepreneur, or business owner, I hope you'll join the conversation.
I'm John, and this was me in Los Angeles in 2005.Like a lot of people who moved to Los Angeles, I thought I knew where my career was headed. I'd already been working in radio since I was 18, so somewhere between voice acting, television, music, and entertainment, I assumed I'd find my place in traditional media.Then I discovered podcasting.This was long before smartphones took over the world and years before most people believed you could build a career on the internet. I was hooked because it completely changed the relationship between creators and the people they wanted to reach.I've spent the last twenty years chasing that idea. First as an artist, then as a creator, and now as a business owner and father. Along the way, I've become convinced that we're entering one of the most exciting times in history to build something meaningful.The best ideas have a funny way of finding the people they need.Sometimes that's an artist. Sometimes it's a business owner. Sometimes it's an entire community. The more I pay attention, the more I realize those worlds were never meant to be separate. The strongest ideas simply give them a reason to find each other.I've come to believe my job isn't to force an idea into a business plan. It's to help it find where it belongs.I'm convinced that most of the answers we're looking for already exist in our own neighborhoods. The next customer, collaborator, audience member, mentor, or breakthrough is probably a lot closer than we think.The hard part isn't coming up with good ideas. It's helping artists, creators, entrepreneurs, and local businesses realize they're all part of the same creative ecosystem.If we learn to serve the idea first, the money has a way of following.That's the philosophy behind everything I do.The future of entertainment clearly doesn't belong to Hollywood anymore. I think it's being built in coffee shops, breweries, local theaters, small businesses, spare bedrooms, and main streets all over the world.The old playbook isn't coming back.That's exciting.It means we get to write a new one together.
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Art, Commerce & Content!Your first newsletter will arrive soon, and I can't wait to share what I'm working on.As a thank you for subscribing, anyone who books a 30-minute Perspective Session also receives a complimentary 30-minute follow-up session.Great ideas rarely come together in a single conversation, and I don't want the flame to die once we light it.Talk to you soon,John Barchard
2Moods Beverages | Orange Crush
Most beverage companies eventually rely on distributors to grow. I think that's backwards.Working with Nick Cicione on 2Moods has convinced me that the better question isn't, "How do we get into more stores?" It's, "Where do people already want an Orange Crush?"Last summer, we kept hearing the same thing from people all over Pennsylvania: weddings, brunches, bridal showers, golf courses, beach weekends, outdoor events. Nobody was asking why we weren't in another liquor store. They were telling us exactly where they wanted the product.I'd rather chase that.The more time we've spent talking to customers, the more convinced I've become that 2Moods doesn't need to create the experience. It just needs to become part of experiences people already love. If the demand is telling us where Orange Crush belongs, why wouldn't we listen?I see the same pattern with breweries. At some point, many decide they need to become restaurants. Suddenly they're running kitchens, hiring servers, and solving an entirely different business than the one they started. I'd rather make one thing people can't stop talking about than build more overhead just because that's what everyone expects the next step to be.To me, the goal isn't to have Orange Crush sitting next to a thousand other beverages on a shelf. I'd much rather it become the drink people hope is waiting for them at the golf course or brunch spot. Those are the moments people remember.Maybe I'm completely wrong. That's why this page exists.But if people keep telling us where they want Orange Crush, I'm going to keep listening. And if you own a venue, have an interesting space, or have an idea for where 2Moods belongs next, I'd genuinely love to hear it.
Amanda Yoa | Pam from Port Richmond
One of the reasons I love working with Amanda is because she understands that Pam isn't just a social media character. She's an entire world. The first time I watched her videos, I couldn't stop thinking about Carol Burnett and Mama's Family. Pam feels that honest to me. You can already picture the neighbors, the family, the friends sitting around the dinner table. That's a credit to Amanda's talent, not anything I've done.That idea really came to life when we put on our first Pam Bingo Night. Amanda sold 140 tickets in about ten hours, and when I finally had a chance to look around the room, it was exactly what I hoped it would be. Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers were all laughing together for three straight hours. Someone came up to me afterward and said, "I love Amanda because she brings all the generations together." I haven't stopped thinking about that since.Around the same time, Amanda, Justin Crowell, and I started talking on Justin's short film set about developing Pam into a television series. What excited us wasn't just writing a pilot—it was rethinking how one gets made. Instead of shooting it behind closed doors, what if we performed scenes in front of live audiences? What if every ticket helped fund the next scene? What if the neighborhood of Port Richmond became part of the cast?That's the idea we're developing right now. Not just a television show, but a way to build one alongside the community it's inspired by. If a hundred people are willing to buy tickets to watch us make a sitcom, maybe we don't need permission to make one anymore.
Trying to Build a Business for My Stepsons
I've lived with my two nonverbal stepsons for nearly ten years. They have Fragile X syndrome, and over that time they've completely changed the way I think about work, business, and what success actually looks like.Before the pandemic, I thought I'd spend the rest of my career in sports radio. I loved it. But as my family grew and my boys needed more support, I found myself caring less about sports and more about building a life that worked for all of us. Leaving radio wasn't part of the plan, but I'd make the same decision again every single time.The question I keep coming back to is simple: why do we build businesses around skill sets instead of people? My boys love helping others. I'd rather build a business around who they are than try to force them into a job that was never designed with them in mind. I don't know if that's a water company, a small farm, a food business, or something I haven't imagined yet. Those are just ideas. The mission is creating a place where they can belong.I've met so many families in the autism community who became entrepreneurs out of necessity because traditional employment doesn't fit their lives. That tells me the problem isn't a lack of capable people. It's that we've designed too few businesses around them. I think we can do better than that.This is the idea I spend the most time thinking about. I don't know what it becomes, and I'm okay with that. I just know I'll keep chasing it until my stepsons have a place where they can contribute, be valued, and work alongside people who see them for who they are. If you're passionate about building something like that, I'd genuinely love to hear from you.