Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Putscher.
Hi Mark, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey has never followed a conventional path, but entrepreneurship, creativity, and bringing people together have been consistent threads throughout my life.
Over the years, I have owned and helped build businesses in remarkably different industries. I owned bakeries, managed a rock band, operated a casino entertainment company, and helped launch a nightclub. Today, I lead a retail outlet as its general manager, where I continue to draw upon decades of experience in leadership, customer service, problem-solving, and building strong teams.
Each venture required me to enter a different world, learn quickly, take risks, and earn people’s trust. Some chapters brought success, while others brought difficult lessons and the need to reinvent myself. Together, they taught me that accomplishment is not simply reaching one destination. It is having the courage to keep evolving, especially when life does not unfold as expected.
Creativity has also remained an important part of who I am. Through my own experience, I came to recognize how many talented people never share what they create—not because they lack ability, but because they fear judgment, failure, or being told they are not good enough. I wanted to help change that, so I became involved in building a nonprofit called the Better Together Group that is dedicated dedicated to encouraging artists, creating opportunities for them to be seen, and helping people discover confidence through creative expression.
We began organizing community art shows where creators could display their work, connect with others, and experience the pride of putting something personal into the world. One of the most rewarding moments for me is watching someone who once doubted themselves stand beside their creation and realize that their voice and ideas have value.
My own life has taught me that accomplishment is not measured only by business ownership, revenue, titles, or recognition. Sometimes accomplishment means rebuilding, choosing a healthier direction, continuing after disappointment, and turning what you have learned into an opportunity to help someone else.
That mission is now entering an exciting new chapter. I recently met with community partners who are helping create opportunities to bring our program into schools. Our goal is to help young people find inspiration through creation and understand that imagination, courage, and self-expression can become lifelong sources of confidence, resilience, and hope.
When I look back, the bakeries, music, entertainment businesses, leadership roles, art programs, successes, and setbacks may appear to be separate chapters. Today, I see how they connect. Each one prepared me to lead, create, adapt, and encourage others.
I am still building and learning, but my definition of success has changed. It is no longer only about what I can accomplish personally. It is about using a lifetime of business and creative experience to open doors for others—especially young people—and help them recognize that what they create, and who they are, truly matters.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My journey has never followed a conventional path, but entrepreneurship, creativity, and bringing people together have been consistent threads throughout my life.
Over the years, I have owned and helped build businesses in remarkably different industries. I owned bakeries, managed a rock band, operated a casino entertainment company, and helped launch a nightclub. Today, I lead a retail outlet as its general manager, where I continue to draw upon decades of experience in leadership, customer service, problem-solving, and building strong teams.
Each venture required me to enter a different world, learn quickly, take risks, and earn people’s trust. Some chapters brought success, while others brought difficult lessons and the need to reinvent myself. Together, they taught me that accomplishment is not simply reaching one destination. It is having the courage to keep evolving, especially when life does not unfold as expected.
Creativity has also remained an important part of who I am. Through my own experience, I came to recognize how many talented people never share what they create—not because they lack ability, but because they fear judgment, failure, or being told they are not good enough. I wanted to help change that, so I became involved in building a nonprofit called the Better Together Group that is dedicated dedicated to encouraging artists, creating opportunities for them to be seen, and helping people discover confidence through creative expression.
We began organizing community art shows where creators could display their work, connect with others, and experience the pride of putting something personal into the world. One of the most rewarding moments for me is watching someone who once doubted themselves stand beside their creation and realize that their voice and ideas have value.
My own life has taught me that accomplishment is not measured only by business ownership, revenue, titles, or recognition. Sometimes accomplishment means rebuilding, choosing a healthier direction, continuing after disappointment, and turning what you have learned into an opportunity to help someone else.
That mission is now entering an exciting new chapter. I recently met with community partners who are helping create opportunities to bring our program into schools. Our goal is to help young people find inspiration through creation and understand that imagination, courage, and self-expression can become lifelong sources of confidence, resilience, and hope.
When I look back, the bakeries, music, entertainment businesses, leadership roles, art programs, successes, and setbacks may appear to be separate chapters. Today, I see how they connect. Each one prepared me to lead, create, adapt, and encourage others.
I am still building and learning, but my definition of success has changed. It is no longer only about what I can accomplish personally. It is about using a lifetime of business and creative experience to open doors for others—especially young people—and help them recognize that what they create, and who they are, truly matters.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Better Together Group?
The Better Together Group is a nonprofit organization built around a simple belief: creativity can change the way people see themselves.
We create opportunities for artists and emerging creators to share their work, connect with their community, and build confidence through creative expression. Our community art shows are designed to welcome people who may not have gallery representation, professional credentials, or even the confidence to call themselves artists. Some participants have years of experience, while others are showing something they created for the very first time. What matters to us is giving people the courage and opportunity to be seen.
What sets the Better Together Group apart is that our work is not only about displaying art. Art is the doorway, but confidence, belonging, and human connection are the larger mission. We want participants to leave with more than recognition for something they made. We want them to understand that their ideas have value, their voices deserve space, and they are capable of doing things they may once have been afraid to attempt.
That mission comes from personal experience. Throughout my career, I have built businesses, led teams, entered unfamiliar industries, experienced both success and disappointment, and repeatedly learned how to begin again. I also know what it feels like to struggle with self-worth and to search for healthier, more meaningful ways to move forward. Creativity became part of that process for me, and the Better Together Group grew from the belief that it could do the same for others.
I am particularly proud that our brand does not place itself above the people it serves. The name “Better Together” is not simply a slogan—it describes how we operate. We believe experienced artists and first-time creators can inspire one another, businesses can strengthen community programs, and people become more courageous when they know they do not have to take the first step alone.
We are now preparing for an exciting new stage of growth. Through developing community partnerships, we are working to bring our creative inspiration program into schools. Our goal is to help young people use creativity to develop confidence, resilience, imagination, and a stronger belief in their own potential. We are not trying to tell every child that they must become a professional artist. We want them to discover that creating something of their own can teach them to take healthy risks, work through frustration, express what they are feeling, and recognize that their ideas matter.
What I most want readers to understand is that the Better Together Group is not simply an organization that holds art shows. We are building a community movement around the idea that creation builds courage. If we can help an overlooked artist share their work, give a young person a place to express themselves, or remind someone that it is not too late to begin again, then we are fulfilling our purpose.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I do consider myself a risk-taker, although I have rarely felt fearless while taking those risks. Almost every meaningful step I have taken has frightened me in some way. For me, courage has never meant the absence of fear; it has meant deciding that something matters enough to move forward despite the fear.
Throughout my professional life, I have entered businesses and industries where success was never guaranteed. Owning bakeries, managing a rock band, operating a casino entertainment company, helping launch a nightclub, and accepting leadership responsibilities in retail all required me to step into uncertainty. Each venture involved different people, different challenges, and different ways of measuring success. Some risks produced opportunities I could never have predicted, while others brought difficult lessons and forced me to rebuild.
Those experiences taught me that responsible risk-taking is not the same as acting recklessly. I try to understand what I am risking, what I can reasonably control, and whether the potential outcome is consistent with my values. I also ask myself a simple question: Which regret would be greater—trying and possibly failing, or never discovering what might have happened?
Starting the Better Together Group was another significant risk. Creating a nonprofit and organizing public art events meant investing time, energy, money, and my personal reputation into something without knowing how the community would respond. It also meant asking artists to trust the vision and asking community partners to believe that creativity can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. Not every event has gone exactly as hoped, but every experience has helped us learn, improve, and clarify our purpose.
Our latest effort to bringing creative inspiration programs into schools is both exciting and intimidating. It asks us to grow beyond what we have already done and accept greater responsibility. However, the possibility of helping young people develop confidence, resilience, and a belief in their own ideas makes that risk worth taking.
Some of the greatest risks are not financial or professional. Choosing sobriety, speaking honestly about my struggles, creating art, and allowing people to see the person behind the accomplishments have required a different kind of courage. Vulnerability carries the risk of being judged, but it also creates the possibility that someone who is struggling will feel less alone.
I have learned that waiting until I feel completely ready usually means waiting forever. I may still question myself, feel afraid, or wonder whether an idea will work. I simply no longer believe fear should automatically make the decision for me. Risk has brought failures and disappointments into my life, but it has also brought growth, relationships, purpose, and opportunities to serve others. Nearly everything I am proud of began with the uncomfortable decision to try.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bt-arts.net
- Instagram: #landmarkarts
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/landmarkartist
- Youtube: @bettertogetherhappy
- Other: @better.together64 for tiktok 25k followers fun channel
