For early-stage entrepreneurs, the pressure to “pick a lane” and niche down can be overwhelming. But what if having multiple talents isn’t a distraction, but rather a profound superpower? In this article, entrepreneur and creative technologist Scott Itepu unpacks how multi-passionate individuals can strategically steward their varied interests without losing focus.

Scott’s shoulders are one on which I have stood in my creative journey, and I continue to be amazed by his works, clarity, purpose, and excellence with which he executes daily.

Here is a deep dive into unlocking the multi-talented mindset, avoiding the pitfalls of premature niching, linking your skills, and overcoming the fear of failure.

In the context of entrepreneurship, stewarding your talents means allowing your baseline skills to naturally evolve. My journey started with simple, fundamental interests: writing, drawing, and poetry. By remaining active in these early pursuits, I built a foundation that naturally transitioned into business content and creative technology.

While many business coaches advise beginners to find one single passion, embracing broad curiosity allows for vital evolution. Here is a highlight of my creative journey: my early days in poetry evolved into writing about reading habits, which then transformed into writing business copy, ultimately leading me to start my creative tech organization, Axel Studios, in 2020. Furthermore, my distinct academic background in agricultural science allowed me to spot a unique problem—the “debt dump” of unused student research—leading me to launch a science commercialization foundation, Borderless Science now called Merigen Science Foundation.

I think the big question we should ask is how do we know if a curiosity/talent/skill is worth pursuing? We must ask ourselves why we are learning what we are learning. At one point, I tried learning coding and product design simply to “feel relevant”. I quickly realized these were just “side quests” that offered no fulfillment and didn’t align with my grand purpose. To avoid wasting time, entrepreneurs must ask themselves: Is this adding to my life’s direction, or am I just doing it to survive or look busy?.

One thing we must remember is that if we force ourselves to focus on just one thing too early, we risk missing unexpected breakthroughs. For instance, had I only focused on my writing, I may never have utilized my agricultural science background to identify the massive potential in discarded university research—a venture I now view as finding a “diamond in the rough”.

“The Riches are in the Niches” can be a dangerous advice most times because the standard advice to “niche down” does not mean the same thing for everyone. For a person with only one skill, niching down might simply mean applying a targeted marketing strategy (e.g., only branding fintech companies). However, for a multi-creative person, forcing a single niche can be psychologically detrimental. Mentally, we all have a threshold for optimal performance; if you are capable of operating at a high, multi-faceted capacity but force yourself into a tiny box, you end up working “under the optimal level,” which eventually leads to exhaustion and feelings of incompetence, and a lack of fulfillment.

You don’t need to box yourself in to build a brand. A multi-passionate entrepreneur can build a cohesive identity by finding their central core. How you can do this is by breaking down your pursuit into a “noun” (the people or cause you are passionate about) and a “verb” (your actionable skill). For example, if you love sewing (verb) and care about sheltering the poor (noun), you can make clothing for charity. For me, that central core is the “execution of ideas and talent”, a broad enough umbrella that allows my creative tech business, my science foundation, and my public speaking to all perfectly align.

However, there is time to safely use the word niche down instead of permanently picking one talent, which is focusing your attention on a particular area at a given period in time based on your current ambition and capacity. The clear sign that you are ready to focus your efforts is when you have clearly outlined the specific purpose you want to achieve for that particular project, keeping in mind that this focus “can expire too”.

By combining seemingly unrelated talents, such as agricultural science, creative design, and storytelling—entrepreneurs can forge entirely new industries. When managing multiple skills, time allocation is critical. I utilize what I call “baseline priorities” and “enforced priorities”. You must recognize that some ventures naturally demand more time, but by setting strict goals and targets for yourself (enforced priority), you can keep all your varied interests moving forward.

The beauty of managing multiple talents is that it naturally builds high-level leadership. It teaches you how to avoid “Parkinson’s Law” (the adage that work expands to fill the time allotted for it). If you give yourself a year to take one step, it will take a year; instead, a multi-talented leader learns to take 1,000 steps in that same year. This requires immense decisiveness; moving fast and making quick decisions is a non-negotiable leadership trait for the multi-passionate.

Here are a couple of Foundational, Non-Negotiable Skills for Every Industry Regardless of what you end up doing:

And on How do I Handle the “Jack of All Trades” Criticism. Multi-talented individuals like myself frequently face criticism or skepticism from people asking, “Is it everything you want to do in this life?”. And all I do is to view this not as an insult, but as an admiration/compliment in disguise for such a superpower. So it is all about perspective and the story we tell ourselves. So the next time someone criticizes you, simply reply: “I’m doing it because I can. It’s capacity”.

On deciding which Project to launch first when paralyzed by choice, the ultimate framework is speed. The greatest gift you can give yourself is reducing the time frame between thinking and execution. Don’t wait for the perfect moment; if you have an idea, begin executing it immediately to see if it holds water.

To avoid the feeling of “wasting time,” you must rigorously validate your ideas. I advocate for applying “design thinking” by asking yourself: Have I validated this idea? What tools do I need? Am I overstretching?. Excitement isn’t enough; you must put yourself in check to ensure your efforts are directed properly.

To maintain focus amid a sea of ideas, you must understand your own operational style. Some people are great at strategy, others at execution, and some at selling. By identifying which “infinity stones” (core strengths) you possess, you can build on your current strengths rather than trying to do “125 things” just to prove a point. Furthermore, always find a way to link any new creative curiosity to the work you have already done, ensuring you are building a cohesive portfolio rather than fragmented, unrelated side quests in that way every success and perceived failure counts in the grand scheme of things.

I would leave us with this definitive advice, if you feel pressured by the world to “pick a lane” right now, calm down and stop using internet success as your yardstick. The glamorous 20-year-old billionaires on social media are not the standard reality. Stop waiting for a magical “purpose” to hit you—purpose is simply what you choose for yourself based on God’s creative design-You. Identify what catches your fancy, build upon your existing skills, and above all, shrink the distance between your ideas and your execution. 

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Scott’s life is a testament to what happens when a multi-talented individual meets purpose, gains clarity, and is willing to execute on ideas. He has consistently delivered with excellence on various platforms and his works continue to inspire those who come in contact with it, and I am happy you have come in contact with a piece of his greatness.

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