About Me:

I'm Paul "Santa for Nerds" Pape, TEDx speaker, author, and creative business strategist who spent 20 years proving that the "starving artist" stereotype is completely unnecessary. After being told I'd never make it as a solo creative entrepreneur, I completely ignored traditional business advice and built my own system using gaming principles - leading to work with companies like Disney, Universal, and Nickelodeon.
That contrarian journey led me to create Gamify Business, a revolutionary methodology that translates intimidating business concepts into gaming language that creative minds actually understand. Instead of forcing artists to "think like business people," I make business think like creativity.
I'm the author of "The Creative Player's Handbook to Business" and help creative entrepreneurs discover that their unique thinking patterns aren't weaknesses to overcome, but competitive advantages to leverage. My mission is simple: prove that creativity and commerce are natural allies, not opposing forces.
When I'm not helping creatives build profitable businesses or working on custom design projects, I'm at home in Nebraska with my costume designer wife Lindsay and our three boys, probably keeping our cats out of trouble.