Episodes

What do you do when something's broken? You take it apart. I think we all have a deep sense that EVERYTHING is broken right now and because of that we are deconstructing EVERYTHING!! For this reason, this year's 99u conference theme of "Challenging Everything" felt VERY APPROPRIATE to me. In this episode I want to share the breakthroughs I had while at 99u this past month and how they've impacted my outlook in my day to day creative career and my big picture perspective as a person. In this episode we will talk about the power of writing your own rules, how admitting you don't know everything is the first step of breaking new ground and unlock the secrets of the cosmos!!! haha... not really... but kinda ;) ... This week's show is a very special edition of Creative Pep Talk because it was made in partnership with Adobe! They brought me out to their 99u Conference in NYC and this episode is all about what I learned while I was there. ...

Anyone can deal with the good times, but it's how we deal with the hard times that defines our creative careers. In this episode I want to share tools for getting back up when the chips are down and you're feeling crushed. I've been dealing with some burnout and struggle and I hope these ideas are as energizing for you as they have been for me!! Even if you already feel good today, I hope this episode takes you from good to great!!

Do you ever feel like you're hiding behind the subjectivity of art? Like the fact that creativity is subjective, means no one can tell you you're bad or good. Right? I would say: wrong! Take the very creative world of food for example. Like what's good food and bad food might be up for debate to a degree, but ultimately undercooked poultry can objectively kill you! That is undoubtedly "bad food". I believe that in the world of professional creativity, value is more objective than you think and in this episode I explain why this is great news! We also talk about a practice that will help you become objectively better at what you do.

Chris Piascik has been doing a daily project for 10 years!! In fact, he's built an entire illustration career on the back of this project! In this episode, Chris shares the core insights he's learned about personal projects throughout this enormous journey!

Is it just me, or does it seem like people think creative work only matters if it's reaching insane amounts of people? Like if you've never made something that's gone viral, than you're not really in the REAL creative game? Like if you don't have a bonkers amount of followers on social media than you're creativity just doesn't really matter? In this episode I want to argue the opposite. I want to prove to you that deep impact is better than wide appeal when it comes to your creativity. I also want to suggest a practical way of implementing this idea into the creative work you're making today.

It can be extremely discouraging when you pour yourself into your creative work, and it fails to connect with an audience. In this episode I share everything I've learned about growing an audience, including specific examples and tactics I personally employ, as well as a few ideas I've been waiting to share for a long time!

Today's show features an extremely special guest!! JENI of JENI'S ICE CREAM! In this episode we hear Jeni's story and the breakthrough moments that lead to her extremely creative and successful business, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. There are so many aha moments and lessons from this episode, I know it's going to be one of your all time favorites!! Thank you so so much Jeni for taking the time to give so much to the Creative Pep Talk Audience! You are so amazing!

Did you know that you may be subconsciously sabotaging yourself? Well since you're doing it subconsciously, you probably don't! In this episode we talk about how to recognize your self sabotage and how to fight it. We also talk about Shiny Object Syndrome and why starting tons of things and never finishing any of them is killing your chances for progress. I also share my method for knowing what to focus on today.

Everyone wants to know the secret sauce to directly approaching those you want to work with. How do you contact the publishers, record labels, or clients you want to work, for in a way that actually works? In this episode I will share the only method that's worked for me and exactly how I've used it! We will also talk about the power of pivoting and what questions to ask yourself when your at the end of your current path.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! Creative Pep Talk is teaming up with Elle Luna and Lindsay Jean Thomson for The 100 Day Project this year!!!!! In this episode, Lindsay and Elle both share how their personal stories have powerfully impacted their creativity and personal projects. Lindsay walks us through her story of being diagnosed with breast cancer and how it impacted her writing and Elle shares about her new book, "Your Story is Your Power" and how and why she claimed her feminine voice. We also talk the through the 100 Day Project and why it's such a powerful exercise for creative breakthrough.

"I barely have time to make personal work, and when I do have the time, I waste it trying to figure out what to make, or second guessing what I'm making!" Does this sound familiar? If so this episode is for you! We're often told that personal projects are the key to unlocking our creative career goals, but if you've ever done a personal project yourself, you know it's not that simple. What's the key to making effective personal projects that cause real breakthrough in your career? Find out in this episode! --- The Creative Career Path series continues! The Creative Career Path is a 7 step process to help you strike the perfect balance between business and art, i.e. thriving financially while staying creatively fulfilled.

When it comes to your creative career, do you ever feel lost and confused, wandering in a metaphorical desert? In my experience, making progress in your creative career can feel random, haphazard and lonely, but I don't think it has to be this way. In this episode, we tap into the power of finding where you fit in the industry (your market) and how to then, and only then, stand out (your niche). I personally return to these ideas on a very regular basis and they never cease to give me clarity and direction in my creative career, and I hope they do the same for you!

Honored to have esteemed and hilarious illustrator and cartoonist Gemma Correll back on the show today!! I had a fantastic time chatting with Gemma and also had some major take aways to chew on for my own practice... so I'm sure you will too! In this episode we talk about anxiety, self care, knowing your target and the bad and good of having 500k+ instagram followers! Gemma is a star and you're going to love this episode!

When comedian Steve Martin was asked advice on breaking into Hollywood his advice was simple and brilliant “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” Yes! This advice is true and helpful, but there’s just one problem: how do you “get good” when the arts and all things creative are “subjective”? What’s the secret to “getting good”? In this episode I share a career changing principle that unlocks the first major step in your journey. The ideas in this episode have become a foundation in which I’ve built my creative career and I hope they do this for you too! This is part 2 of the Creative Career Path Series - The Creative Career Path is a 7 step process that helps you make REAL progress and enables creative career breakthrough! If you feel lost or stuck, this series is designed for you!When comedian Steve Martin was asked advice on breaking into Hollywood his advice was simple and brilliant “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” Yes! This advice is true and helpful, but there’s just one problem: …

I’ve been waiting literally years to bring you this series and I could not be more excited!!! In this episode I tell the up and down story of my career path and the biggest lessons I learned along the way. This is my ‘keynote’ talk that I have been developing over the past few years and I am so glad it’s now ready to share with you! The Creative Career Path Series is my 7 step plan for making intentional systematic progress in your creative career. This process is years in the making, from studying the patterns of consistently successful creatives and my own experiments and experiences. This series is meant to be a roadmap that will help you figure out where you’re stuck on the journey and unlock your next big steps!

The further you go in your career, the easier it is to get stage freight. Whether it’s a your first conference call, a call with the creative team at Apple, or standing face to face with Adam Levine, you are going to encounter intimidating situations. And yet, you will only do your best work if you can show up in the moment unafraid of voicing your ideas and true opinions. Today we have a super special guest, Emmy award winning James Pearse Connelly, production designer for shows like The Voice. James has worked with a myriad of superstars ranging from Billy Nye to Snoop Dogg(!). In this episode we dive into his journey of finding his people, his place in the world and how he’s developed courage to bring his real ideas to the table… even when it’s a table where Martha Stewart is sitting!

There are a million reasons we like to bury our heads in the sand and just get lost in our art, but if you want your creative business to consistently thrive for the long haul, we need to stay tuned to the culture, where our audience’s attention is and what people are responding to in our work. Can you imagine any business completely ignoring their audience / the market and succeeding long term? Can you imagine a stock broker that didn’t follow the stock market? I believe that creative professionals are partially called to be like stock brokers in the stock exchange, but instead dealing in the currency of culture exchange. Ryan Holiday calls this ‘Product Market Fit’ in his book Growth Hacker Marketing, and in this episode we do a deep dive into WHY ignorance about your industry and culture in general is a terrible strategy and how to stay-tuned-in in such a way that you develop and evolve with your audience.

It’s easy to want to give up on social media as a means to grow your creative business. With changing algorithms, fickle engagement and snail paced growth, it’s easy to feel like ‘what’s the point?’, right? BUT THERE’S A HUGE BUT and here it is: the people who are crushing it in the creative world often credit their success to social media… I don’t think there’s debating it, social media is important to our creative career… no matter how much we wish it wasn’t true. In this episode we share 8 ways to rethink social media that lead to new excitement around this topic and strategy for making real progress.

Whether you’re 22 or 52, it’s very easy to feel like you’re falling behind. In this episode Lisa Congdon brings inspiring stories from her new book “A Glorious Freedom - Older Women Leading Extraordinary Lives” that prove it’s never too late to start a new path. I’m thrilled to have Lisa on the podcast again! My last interview with Lisa is one of my favorite episodes and as it’s one of the most popular episodes of the show to date, I’m guessing you feel the same way!

If you want sustainable drive and enthusiasm for growing your creative career in 2018, this episode is for you! If you had high hopes for 2018 but you feel like it’s already kicking your butt a little, this episode is for you! I am all about pepping you up on this podcast, but even before I started this podcast I knew that what truly keeps people 100% jazzed is real strategies that work! This is not empty positivity, this is an episode packed to the brim with tactics that changed my creative career. Things you can actually DO! Today’s episode is JAMMED PACKED WITH SUPER JAZZ! :D I share 17 creative career growth ideas that super charged my motivation when I first found them, and then actually worked!

This is a SUPER SPECIAL episode to kick off 2018 RIGHT! This week’s show brings you CPT SUPER FRIENDS and their biggest lessons from 2017. Let’s learn from last year and make 2018 count! + I share my biggest takeaway from 2017 as well.

It’s that time of year when we start thinking about goals and New Year’s resolutions, but if you’ve ever had high hopes for a new year and crashed and burned the second you left the gate, this episode is for you! This episode is not about some idealistic super goal setting plan. It’s a simple method for making next year count in a big way! I hope this episode plants a seed that sprouts into your best year ever!

Full time public speaker Kyle Scheele guests on the show today! This one is a doozy! Kyle is a close friend of mine and we get very into our chats, I think you're really gonna enjoy this one! What we cover: - Trusting the Journey - How to Make Big Career Pivots - Public Speaking Tips - Letting Go of Past You that's Holding You Back - A Ton More!

I don’t know how to tell you this without just telling you: this episode contains personal stories of emotional / mental health struggles from my past that I’ve never publicly shared before. It wasn’t easy to record, but I believe I have an opportunity to open up and shed some light on some dark areas that I assume many in our community have struggled with. “Creative professional” can feel a bit like an oxymoron sometimes. Most creatives I know can be pro and act the part on the surface, but still remain the very squishy emotional artist underneath. Because of this, we often hide our struggles behind professionalism and positivity. In this episode, I want to give you some tools for grappling with obstacles and setbacks in totally new ways. Also, I’d like to pull behind the curtain a bit and share my own past struggles. It’s my hope that by sharing my story of emotional ups and downs that you will feel encouraged and less alone.