I’ve been in the culture game since before it was part of any "brand strategy."

Before blogging was a word (I was blogging).
Before Burning Man had a website (I had one about Burning Man).
Before brands cared about fandoms, identity, or belonging (I cared a lot).

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I’ve been shaping culture from the inside out since the internet was duct-taped together and creative misfits like me were building worlds not "brands."

 

​When I moved to the Bay Area in the ’90s, I built a Franken-computer from spare parts and started documenting my new California life online. The counterculture scene I was part of was the one that birthed Burning Man. Participation wasn’t optional. Being different wasn’t a costume. It meant something.

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That’s when I became Rusty Blazenhoff, gave myself the title “Professional Free Spirit,” and never looked back.

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Since then:

• For over a decade, I collaborated with Paul Reubens to keep the Pee-wee Herman universe joyfully weird and beloved across generations.
   

• I've produced the on-playa newspaper and some events in Burning Man's early days. Years later, I developed Project Citizenship, a grassroots effort to preserve the culture’s core values as Black Rock City grew up.
   

• My likeness has been turned into finger puppets and wrapping paper (thanks, Archie McPhee).
   

• I’ve spent over a decade publishing Rusty’s Electric Dreams, my inbox zine for positive deviants and the people who love them.
   

• And I now help carry the torch for the late, great Allee Willis,visionary songwriter and creative powerhouse.

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All of that led me to create Pop Cultish.

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Pop Cultish is where I help creative outsiders grow their world without losing what makes it magic.

It’s about meaning.
It’s about belonging.
It’s about knowing what people really care about and creating the kind of culture they want to carry with them.

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Because culture isn’t something you sell.
It’s something you spark.
And it spreads when it’s real.

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Let's do this!​

-Rusty.