Episodes

In this episode we tackle: - Why create when the world is on fire? - Why to try at anything when everything changes before you can make progress. - A tool from the business consulting world for organizing your efforts and determining what to invest and double down on and what to let go of

Listen to this episode if you are: - Having trouble finding creative motivation - Unsure of what’s stopping you from making progress - Struggling to stay consistent in your creative practice - Miles away from where you want to be

Listen to this episode if you feel like: ⁃ You’re missing something crucial in your creative practice but you’re not sure what it is ⁃ You’re stuck hitting the same dead end over and over ⁃ You don’t know what your value is or what you bring to the table ⁃ You don’t feel like you belong anywhere and isolated creatively ⁃ You have tried to collaborate in the past and it went horribly wrong and you’re afraid to try it ever again

A chat with Hrishikesh Hirway, the man behind the legendary creative podcast, Song Exploder. Listen to this episode if you: - If you love your ideas but they don’t seem to be hitting the mark with your audience - If you need ideas for how to get your work to click with others - If you need an example of how to learn from your creative heroes

This episode is for you if you feel like: - You're never early enough to get the opportunities you want. - Your creative efforts are not paying off in any real way. - By the time you learn the skills you need, they will be rendered useless.

This episode is for you if: ⁃ You’re stuck in an old version of your creative self. ⁃ You need steps to follow to find new mentors and creative guides. ⁃ You don’t know how to make your work more personal in a way that’s truly meaningful and also resonates more deeply with others.

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This episode is for you if you need to: 1 - Make your work more "you" but don't know what that means or how to do it. 2 - Find a style. 3 - Find ways to stand out in your creative field.

THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF: 1 - You want a process for finding the hidden clues for what to make unique work about within the work of your creative heroes. 2 - You get stuck doing nothing because you want to do everything. 3 - You know what you love but you don't know how to be appropriately influenced by it.

We often dream of someone showing up out of nowhere and giving us a real chance to get creative and unleash our potential, but the most important creative opportunity to take advantage of is taking a deep interest in your We often dream of talent scouts showing up with dream creative opportunities on silver platters - but the biggest and most important opportunity you’ll ever have is taking an interest in yourself before anyone else has! Maybe you already know that, but you can’t seem to find the motivation to put in the work without anyone else asking you for it? If that’s the case this episode is for you! In this episode we will explore how to completely rethink what you do and find supercharged fuel that can keep you creatively stoked for a lifetime!

You know that having the creative practice you're after means gaining new fans and maybe even followers of your work, but why does this feel impossible? In this episode we explore the idea that you may be approaching this completely backwards. By the end of this episode, you will have a tool for diagnosing where your practice is stuck in this process and next steps on how to move forward.

We've all been convinced from movies and media that we must CHASE OUR DREAMS and it will ALL WORK OUT! But what happens when you've given it everything you've got and it really hasn't worked out anything like what you were dreaming of? Today on the show I have Illustrator and YouTube Anoosha Syed. Take one look at Anoosha's career illustrating for mega clients like Netflix and Disney, illustrating over 25 picture books and now bringing out a kids book she's also AUTHORED and it's easy to assume she is truly LIVING THE DREAM! But Anoosha wouldn't say that's exactly the case. In this episode she shares why this life wasn't really her dream at all, but also why that letting go of her dreams was essential to building the life she loves. If you are sick and tired of chasing your creative dreams to no avail, you gotta check out this episode for how to know when to quit, and how to find a path forward to a life that might even be better than any you could dream up!

You can’t always be in high demand. We all have slow times, but what you do with these seasons can be make or break. Looking back I’ve noticed there’s 3 simple things that make these times either the worst of times or the most pivotal. If you’re in a season that’s slow or quiet, tune in!

It’s very easy to get creatively blocked waiting for all the answers. In fact, I have been in that exact phase with a personal project of my own! So it was a relief to speak with our guest Poet, Maggie Smith, who just wrote and published a new New York Times Best Selling memoir with the premise of writing from questions rather than answers. In this episode we will explore a different way to approach creative work, that by its very nature allows for creating in the space where yourself still confused and Maggie also delivers a creative career prompt at the end that is very useful for finding new opportunities to do more of what you do best!

This episode is a step by step practical roadmap to building a thriving creative practice that does not require making it big on social media, in fact it excludes any mindset of going big whatsoever. Do you worry that you have to make it big on social media in order to succeed in your creative pursuits? And if that’s true, does it feel impossible or simultaneously like a complete waste of time? This episode proposes that maybe thinking you have to go big may be whats keeping you small.

If you are feeling stuck and don’t know what you need to reignite your spark, this episode is for you! This episode will give you tips in the areas of self development, marketing your work, as we as new prompts that are designed to help you have creative breakthrough!

In this episode we serve up a flavorful buffet of creative inspiration for when you don't even know what you're creatively hungry for! We recommend seven unique podcast episodes from other podcasts from various categories that relate to Creative Pep Talk, offering bite-sized takeaways and lessons I have learned from each. By the end of this episode, your creative appetite will be satisfied!! AND you might even discover a new favorite podcasts to feast on in the future!

Have you ever noticed the striking similarities between the creative flow state and mystical experiences, which are often associated with spirituality, religion, or nature? Our guest, Eric Zimmer, certainly has. As the host of the popular podcast The One You Feed, Eric takes a practical, grounded approach to exploring traditionally spiritual topics with curiosity and non-judgment, while maintaining a healthy respect for logic, rationality, and reason. In this episode, we delve into concepts and practices that inspire you to tap into your inner depths and elevate your creative process and output.

How shedding inauthentic layers in your practice can lead to true connection - In this episode, we dive into the struggles of constructing the perfect creative image and how it can hinder genuine connections. Drawing inspiration from the classic (yet problematic) movie Grease alongside personal experiences, we explore the importance of letting go of layers that prevent true self-expression. Tune in to discover how embracing your authentic self, even at the risk of being uncool, can lead to deeper resonance with your audience and the creative breakthroughs you've been longing for. This episode is a must-listen for artists and creators seeking to make meaningful connections through their work.

If I could only give a creator 3 pieces of advice - this would be it. It’s very easy to get lost on the creative journey, but with these three calibrating elements, you don’t have to stay lost long. If you’re stuck and unsure of what your creative practice is missing, tune in and see which of these three essential things you might need to add to the mix!

THIS IS A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE! It’s still early in the year, so, many of of us are still wrestling with goals or even still struggling with goal setting, but sometimes the most clarifying and energizing thing you can do is to determine what you are NOT going to do. This is your anti-goal. This is your “Creative Battle Cry” - it’s the thing you’re going to war with that’s been perpetually throwing you off your creative horse so to speak. In this episode I chat with someone who has endlessly inspired me over the years, and that is textile artist Sophie Miller AKA my wife! This was an emotional and powerful chat for me! Hope you love it!

If you’ve ever felt like your work wasn’t deep enough or that when you tried to make it deeper that it actually just got worse overall - this episode is for you. In this episode we explore how to find the hidden layers of depth ALREADY PRESENT in the work you’re doing and in yourself. Tune in for a creative prompt on how to diversify your influences and strengthen the substance in your practice as well!

Does your creative work seem to get worse the better you try to make it? Is the only option to just quit trying? In this episode we explore how to approach improving your creative work in such a way that it actually works and maybe even makes the process more enjoyable as well!

Do you ever feel like your only option for making peace with your creative practice is just accepting that maybe you just don’t have it? It’s ironic that for many of us - the magic of our creative heroes is what attracts us to the creative journey, but then years into the process, we’ve yet to capture anything like that in our own work, and that same magical creative work that made us say yes to the journey is what is making us feel like phonies and causing us to want to abandon our practice. In todays episode we’re going to explore how to unlock that creative magic in your work by finding and utilizing the power of your creative sensibility.