Would you break the law if it made you a multimillionaire?

That’s what happened with Ken Perenyi - one of the most “successful” art forgers in the world.

His works have been sold all over the world, including in Christie’s and Sotheby’s, with one painting going for as high as $717,000!

He was also close friends with Roy Cohn - the notorious lawyer who helped Trump enter the New York market. The Independent called him the evil master architect who mentored Donald Trump (to Ken, he was just a great friend and protector).

Was hunted for decades by the Mafia and the FBI.

And got away with it all without even a slap on the wrist.

When the statute of limitation passed for his “crimes”, Ken then published a book telling everyone exactly how he did it. 😂

(Talk about giving everyone the finger!!)

And lest you wonder whether that’s all there is to Ken’s story, believe me.

It is not.

Ken’s childhood was spent hanging out with Tony, an influential Mafia member, who introduced him to the world of fine art.

He was so enamoured with art that he taught himself to paint. To crack the paintings and mimic the black spots that flies would leave on very, very old paintings.

He was also neighbours with Andy Warhol.

One memorable incident: He was sharing a flat with Tony who found an abandoned bathtub in the streets.

They didn’t have a bathtub so they decided to steal one (in a stolen car) and install it themselves in their flat.

The installation wasn’t done well.

Water leaked.

The flooring cracked.

And one evening, everything - the ceiling, bathtub and all - crashed from the first floor down to the ground floor, on top of a bustling Jewish restaurant.

Needless to say, Ken and Tony were kicked out of said flat.

And he spent a miserable 2 weeks wandering around New York before eventually finding a new place that would lead him to Roy Cohen’s doors.

*

This is just the tiniest glimpse of Ken’s life and it’s so epic - we ended up having a 3 hour conversation! - that I had to split his story into 2 parts.

Are you ready to get started?

Highlights:

• 3:36 An Unlikely Artist growing up in the summer of love
• 5:51 Life changed forever when…
• 6:36 Hanging out with the real New Yorkers
• 8:12 Being introduced to fine art world
• 9:23 Being friends with a Mafia associate
• 12:06 Trying out art forgery
• 16:53 Imposter syndrome when calling himself an ‘artist’
• 19:10 Self-validation?
• 21:53 Andy Warhol - his neighbour
• 23:53 The bathtub
• 26:59 His biggest regret with Andy Warhol
• 31:15 Making fake art to survive
• 32:46 Finding his niche in life
• 35:24 Being evicted - another great turning point in life
• 37:35 The notorious Mafia fixer & lawyer, Roy Cohn
• 41:49 Donald Trump’s mentor
• 51:20 The greatest validation of his work
• 56:15 “I had a fantastic career…”
• 59:43 Entering the elite art world
• 1:03:04 How much art isn’t genuine in art galleries?
• 1:08:05 Is it harder to sell fake art today?

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📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/152

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Imagine growing up in a hair salon.

Being thrown out of the house and sleeping in an abandoned cupboard.

Being bullied in school and almost failing SPM.

But knowing deep down inside that you love storytelling.

You just… don’t know what that means.

And how to make that dream a reality.

That was Jared Lee - one of Malaysia’s most famous YouTubers and the founder of the award-winning production house, Grim Film.

Jared started his journey in an event company, while also freelancing as a storyboard artist and production assistant.

Being passionate about storytelling, he decided to create a short film called The Long Distance Relationship. A film that, for him, he had to make happen, no matter what.

And it blew up.

✨ Within a day, it hit 10k views.

✨ Within a week, it hit 70k views

✨ Within a month, it hit 1 million views

This short film opened doors and led to the creation of his production house, The Grim Film.

Which has since bagged multiple awards, including Best Drama at America’s Soul 4 Reel International Film Festival 2013 for The Long Distance Relationship and Best Pilot and Best Special Effects at the 2018 Vancouver WebFest in Canada for The Last 7.

His most recent piece of work, Horologist, even won Best Animation at the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) Film Festival 2023 and USA Film Festival! It was also a finalist for Poland's Animator Film Festival (Best Animation & Audience Choice Award) and nominated for the 2024 Eisner Award in the Best Single Issue/One-Shot category.

Proving how Jared’s wild gamble has paid off.

Although… life wasn’t easy.

In 2018, Jared was diagnosed with stage 1 testicular cancer. And he later found out that he could not have children.

But in spite of these challenges, Jared is someone who has always believed in pursuing his dreams and hustling against the odds.

Which is why I’m so thrilled to share his story as the latest guest on STIMY!

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to triumph against all odds and pursue your passion, what it takes to go from being a YouTuber to a legitimate film producer, and the personal struggles with cancer and childlessness, then this episode is for you.

So are you ready?

Let’s go.

Highlights:

• 2:02: Growing up in a single mum household
• 3:45 Finding escape in storytelling
• 5:18 Liking things that other boys don’t like
• 7:40 Worst year of my life
• 8:52 Getting kicked out
• 9:40 Finding his calling
• 11:13 A Kingdom of Paos
• 11:55 The Long Distance
• 13:42 YouTube
• 14:37 Going viral
• 17:19 There was no money!
• 20:16 Burning bridges
• 21:10 What it’s like to run a production company
• 24:54 Second-guessing himself
• 27:02 There is no joy in production?!
• 29:34 Making the switch & losing fans
• 32:58 The most successful work Jared’s done
• 34:30 Diagnosed with cancer
• 41:34 Do awards matter?
• 44:34 Any regrets?
• 45:07 Is your work acknowledged more overseas?
• 47:20 What kind of work has influenced your style?
• 50:39 What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?
• 51:07 What are the most important qualities of a successful person?
• 51:28 Sharing your private life in public

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📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/151

🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/jsbc2xuaj0I

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Jonathan Mildenhall is the former Managing Director of TBWA, SVP of the Coca-Cola Company, first CMO at Airbnb and Independent Board Member at Peloton Interactive, Co-Founder of TwentyFirstCenturyBrand and current Chief Marketing Officer at Rocket Companies.

And we are back this week with Part 2 of our interview with Jonathan.

Last week, we dove deep into his childhood growing up & how everything was stacked against him: he was the only black person in his family and community, was working class and grew up in a housing estate, attended a polytechnic, experienced blatant racism and physical abuse and also had zero connections in advertising

The very industry that he rose to the very top in.

In Part 2, we delve deep into his career.

What it means to join Coca-Cola when it was creatively bankrupt, the stories behind some of his biggest and most successful advertising campaigns including have two ads being featured at the same Superbowl, why he gave it all up for a then unknown startup called Airbnb, what it takes to ‘make it’ in his team and so much more.

And in case you didn’t know, this interview is also available on Youtube. Check it out via the links below.

Now are you ready?

Let’s go!

Highlights:

• 2:17 Coca-Cola was creatively bankrupt?!
• 7:31 Being Coca-Cola's poster child for diversity - 2014 Super Bowl [America the Beautiful]
• 15:35 The only CMO to have 2 Super Bowl ads play at the same time
• 16:14 How Brian Chesky convinced Jonathan to commit career suicide
• 22:10 Building an Olympic marketing team
• 26:08 Why 25% of people don't make it in Jonathan's team
• 27:17 Who is Jonathan Mildenhall the leader?
• 29:25 Launching his own company
• 37:12 A Colourful View from the Top
• 41:52 Advice to any aspiring CMO before they take the seat?
• 44:20 Brand marketing or customer marketing?

🙊 Want to support STIMY for as little as $0.10/day? https://www.sothisismywhy.com/support-stimy/

📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/150

🍿 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cumagnVOlRQ&t=1s&list=UULFSZlcS5ooyCjj_MkrmH_WhQ

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/profile

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