Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Crandall.
Hi Daniel, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
1Train1 gives the creative training and support you need to write, design, and publish with authority. One on one training and creative human connection drive me to help people tell their story!
An outgoing leader, artist, and tutor throughout school, I studied engineering in my early college years while in the summers I directed youth camps, led wilderness adventures, and coached soccer.
The technical aspect of engineering thrilled me, but after just 6 months in my first engineering role, I knew I had to get back to working with people and creating. So back to school, I trained in a technical program in digital graphic design, then started my first contract in book publishing. I left the Boston Book Publishing market in 2024, and arrived in Nashville with my wife in the beautiful Tennessee March weather. We were starting fresh after our first year of marriage with a new baby and a temporary job. March is still my favorite month here.
We came here to start our family and for the creative opportunities in Nashville in the publishing industry. The cycle for designing educational math text books for Pearson Education was about to end, and I was completing children’s educational book contracts for other publishers when I found work in Nashville for the Southern Baptist Convention, again designing publications and for the first time leading teams of designers and editors in a nationwide initiative. I continued creative publishing jobs, designing baby books, coloring books, a family heirloom Bible, crafting publications.
In 2006 I moved into corporate marketing for a local government contractor. While I loved developing new skills and leading teams in photography, media production, corporate communication, and marketing for nearly ten years, I knew the corporate ladder was not for me.
Living on the south side of Nashville, and with now 5 children, I left the corporate world to go back to what I always loved to do, working with people and teaching!
Directing a youth soccer program for a season, I moved into developing a technical training program for a local manufacturer. I was back on the path of doing what I love, teaching people, solving creative problems, and training creative and technical skills.
I started tutoring Adobe Photoshop for photographers, Adobe InDesign for authors, and Adobe illustrator to support small business leaders, then teaching photography classes and received so much good feedback that I went all in and launched, 1Train1 and then Pixel Glyph Press to support the authors and writers who wanted to publish their book.
Coming full circle, now I once again am in the Book Publishing space, coaching people through the process of writing their story, publishing their story, and then sharing their story with the world.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The hardest part of launching a business is the personal development. I had to navigate the expectations of everyone around me, from customer expectations to family and friends who judge you for feeling the pull to something bigger. The great feedback i’ve gotten from my clients has been 100% supportive and encourages me to move forward and continue to focus where my skills and passion overlap.
Coaching people through the difficulties of starting, finishing, publishing, or launching is now one of my super skills.
As you know, we’re big fans of 1 Train 1. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
One on one creative skills training is the focus. As a creative director and trainer for over 20 years, I’m passionate about seeing people develop the creative talent and skills within their specialty. Publishing books seems to be a universal creative need, and I’ve helped preachers and plumbers, electricians and retired execs to write and publish their personal stories.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love the size of Nashville. Coming from Boston, I’m a big fan of a small city where you can walk across town in a day. It makes it more tourist friendly and keeps the local vibe real. Now there are areas of town that have developed individual style, but I still love broadway and especially the open air festivals.
The city doesn’t manage everything well, and can be overbearing with politics and control, with corruption in the leadership, like I see in most major cities. The city’s “progressive” ideas are all about holding back progress, or controlling it in ways that benefit politicians more than local artists. But still, local artists find lots of venues and opportunities to perform and interact with people.
Pricing:
- 30 Day, 3k Book Deal — 3,500
- New Author’s Book Week — 2,400 and up
- Complete Family Book Authoring — 8,500
Contact Info:
- Website: https://1train1.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1train1/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/1train1
- Other: https://1train1.com/contact/
