Following up from last time: how my nephew's piano recital went, and what we can all learn from how he handled the unexpected. As always, I love to hear your thoughts about what you've heard. Leave a review and tell me about a time when laughter saved you. Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks! Get stuff DONE at my free Creative Check-In/Parallel Universe Time session. Register here . Feeling stuck in your creative process? Or wondering how to start havi...
Jun 01, 2022•8 min•Ep. 131
Desiree Adaway, founder and principal of the Adaway Group, is one of the nation’s preeminent diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant-facilitators with over 25 years of experience creating, leading, and managing international multicultural teams in 40 countries through major organizational change. She also leads the annual Whiteness at Work program, which I took in 2020. When she sent an email a few months ago about the intersection of creativity, and was leading a journaling workshop, I imme...
May 25, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 130
What I learned from helping my 9-year-old nephew learn "Hey Jude" for his piano recital—both from the process of working with him, and from the song itself. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review ! But in it, share your favorite Beatles lyrics with us so we can all check them out. (Your favorite song will do, too, if that's easier!) Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks! Get stuff DONE at my free Creative Check-In/Parallel Universe Time sessi...
May 18, 2022•8 min•Ep. 129
My guest today is John Noltner, a writer and photographer whose project, A Peace of My Mind, has produced three books, the latest of which is Portraits of Peace: Searching for Hope in a Divided America. John’s freelance photography career took him all over the world for a variety of national magazines, but the 2008 recession, along with his increasing awareness of the growing divide in American society, called him to explore both the breadth of human experience and the things that we have in com...
May 11, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 128
Small and crappy can be the key to creative success. In this episode, I tell you why *and* give you a fun exercise to give it a try. Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks! Get stuff DONE at my free Creative Check-In/Parallel Universe Time session. Register here . Feeling stuck in your creative process? Or wondering how to start having a creative process at all? Check out my super-affordable Creative Tune-Up , which is full of my favorite coaching tools t...
May 04, 2022•8 min•Ep. 127
Actor, photographer, and filmmaker Jon Davey has appeared in 50 episodes of Doctor Who since its revival in 2005, as a variety of monsters including Cybermen, Daleks, Ood, and Judoon. He’s also done behind-the-camera work on a variety of projects, including quite a few music videos for Radiohead. He joins me to talk about how he came to those roles, as well as what it’s like to meet fans at a convention when you grew up as a fan yourself, how growing up with learning issues including dyslexia eq...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 125
I'd love for you to join me for a free Creative Check-In session this coming Sunday, May 1 at 12pm ET. I explain in this super short episode what a Creative Check-In is and how it works. It's a great way to keep yourself in the creative process while having fun with others. I hope you'll come hang out with me (and bring a friend or three!). You can register here . If you have any questions, or can't make it but would love to suggest another time, send me a note at nancy at fycuriosity.com or on ...
Apr 27, 2022•1 min•Ep. 126
Kids find joy all the time, but as adults, we tend to think it's not important, or at least not a top priority. I realized this past week how backwards that is. Here's why you should get back in touch with what brings you joy and add more of it to your life. Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks! Get stuff DONE at my free Creative Check-In/Parallel Universe Time session. Register here . Feeling stuck in your creative process? Or wondering how to start ha...
Apr 20, 2022•7 min•Ep. 124
Author Rick Bleiweiss has always followed his creative curiosity, and it’s led him to some unexpected destinations. He was studying filmmaking when he landed the internship that would lead to a career in the music industry. At the same time, he was still making music—and he’s also always been a writer. Rick shares his incredible creative adventures with me, from his work on Spinal Tap to some great stories about working with Melissa Etheridge and the Backstreet Boys, and his current work in the ...
Apr 13, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 122
I'd love for you to join me for a free Gratitude and Wonder session this coming Friday at 7pm ET. I explain in this very short episode what G&W is, how I came to start it, and how it works. It's a great way to end the week, and I hope you'll come hang out and experience it with me (and bring a friend or three!). You can register here . If you have any questions, or can't make it but would love to suggest another time, send me a note at nancy at fycuriosity.com or on Facebook , Instagram , or...
Apr 12, 2022•2 min•Ep. 123
If you've never thought of quitting as a valid creative/problem-solving technique, this week's topic may sound controversial. I hope you'll give me a chance to change your mind, because quitting might be exactly what your project needs. Journal questions: What was I taught about quitting that makes it hard for me to walk away? How could I feel 5% more comfortable with quitting? I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com , or cont...
Apr 06, 2022•9 min•Ep. 121
Creativity enthusiast and educator JoAnn Nocera knows what it’s like to stop listening to your creative spark—and she’s done the work to get hers back. Now she helps students, teachers, and parents keep that spark alive. She joined me to talk about that journey, what she sees happening in classrooms, and most importantly, how to keep kids from losing that spark in the first place. As an added bonus, a lot of what she says can be applied to adults, too. She also shares her favorite creativity too...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 120
If you think lowering your expectations means lowering your standards, and that you'll never do any worthy creative work again if you give it a try, you'll want to listen to this episode. It can revolutionize your creative process—my journaling experience is one great example you'll hear about—and actually make room for you to accomplish so much more than you might by holding your own feet to the fire. Feeling stuck in your creative process? Or wondering how to start having a creative process at...
Mar 23, 2022•9 min•Ep. 119
Author, actor, and podcaster Vance Neudorf is a man of many talents. In addition to those three pursuits, he’s also a set designer and builder, and the executive director at the Badlands Amphitheatre, Canada’s largest outdoor theatre stage. Our conversation covers everything from his free-range childhood, his transformation into a voracious reader thanks to The Hobbit , how he stumbled—almost literally—into acting, the perks of releasing a novel-in-progress as a podcast, and a lot more. Vance ha...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 118
Journaling can be a fantastic tool both for personal exploration and for your creative process. If you're groaning at the idea of journaling, you're in good company: I used to feel that way about it, too. I'll tell you what changed my mind, some tips from my own journaling practice, and give you a prompt to get you started. Feeling stuck in your creative process? Or wondering how to start having a creative process at all? Check out my super-affordable Creative Tune-Up, which is full of my favori...
Mar 09, 2022•12 min•Ep. 117
If you’ve been listening for any length of time, you’ll know that I very firmly believe that anyone who’s breathing is creative. I recently came across a definition of creativity that really rankled me, because it seemed to be saying the exact opposite was true. I contacted my friend and fellow creativity coach Dawn Kotzer, who’s been on the show before, and asked her if she’d be interested in tackling the question of just what creativity really is. We batted that question around, looking at eve...
Mar 02, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 116
If you're going to be courageous enough to follow your creative call, it helps to be on your own side. Here's why. Want more help with your creative process? Check out my Creative Tune-Up , which is full of my favorite coaching tools to help you get unstuck TODAY. I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com , or contact me on Facebook , Instagram , or Twitter ! I also post pretty regularly on TikTok ....
Feb 23, 2022•6 min•Ep. 115
Alison ver Halen always wanted to write, and act, but was told as a child that neither of those were possible careers. Nonetheless, she never gave up—she majored in English and psychology and minored in theater, which gave her the perfect background for content marketing, a field she stumbled into, starting as a part-time blogger. And she still writes fiction. In our conversation this week, she explains just what content marketing and search engine optimization are, how story works both in ficti...
Feb 16, 2022•50 min•Ep. 114
At the beginning of a project, you probably want to tell the entire universe about it. Here's why you might want to go against that instinct, at least for a while. Feeling stuck in your creative process? Or wondering how to start having a creative process at all? Check out my super-affordable Creative Tune-Up , which is full of my favorite coaching tools to help you get moving TODAY. I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com , o...
Feb 09, 2022•7 min•Ep. 113
Prolific author John Peel has written novels in universes from Doctor Who to Star Trek to James Bond. John started off writing fan fiction, and as you’ll hear, is an advocate for fan fiction as a training ground for fiction writing. He tells me how he made the leap to writing authorized fiction—novels set in existing tv and movie universes—and how he approaches writing assignments and his relationships with editors. We also talk about the unexpected lessons his good friend Terry Nation, the crea...
Feb 02, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 112
As a culture, we're addicted to cleverness and speed, but they may not be the best things for your life or your creative process. Feeling stuck in your creative process? Or wondering how to start having a creative process at all? Check out my super-affordable Creative Tune-Up , which is full of my favorite coaching tools to help you get moving TODAY. I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com , or contact me on Facebook , Instagr...
Jan 26, 2022•6 min•Ep. 111
My guest today is Father Michael Rossmann, Jesuit priest and creator of a video series offering perspectives and advice on life, many of which focus on creativity and aspects of the creative process. It’s easy to discount or just not even notice the spiritual side of creativity, but it’s there all the same. We talk about how he came to his interest in and advocacy for creative work, the pitfalls of perfectionism and the power of creative constraints, how creativity connects us to the divine (wha...
Jan 19, 2022•55 min•Ep. 110
We all want to be happy—and we usually want others to be, too. That second bit can get us in trouble, and we tend to ignore the first. So what do we do about it? Here's my suggestion. Want more help with your creative process? Check out my Creative Tune-Up , which is full of my favorite coaching tools to help you get unstuck TODAY. I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com , or contact me on Facebook , Instagram , or Twitter ! I...
Jan 12, 2022•7 min•Ep. 109
When I think of someone who is unstoppably creative, I think of Leonie Dawson, who is my guest today. As you’ll hear, Leonie is an artist, writer, and inveterate experimenter who build a 7-figure business by trying as many things as possible to see what she loved the most, and runs on the philosophy that whoever’s having the most fun wins. We talk about everything from how she encourages creativity with her kids to her decision to leave social media to the fact that it really is okay to decide n...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 108
Appreciation is one of the more powerful tools in the creativity toolbox, and it helps in the rest of life, too! Hear why you should give it a try, and join me in an annual appreciation exercise that's guaranteed to lift your spirits and those of everyone you care about. Want more help with your creative process? Check out my Creative Tune-Up , which is full of my favorite coaching tools to help you get unstuck TODAY. I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Se...
Dec 29, 2021•7 min•Ep. 107
A bonus holiday pep talk, short and sweet: It's okay to rest! In fact, I highly encourage it. And I'm telling you why in under three minutes. Want more help with your creative process? Check out my Creative Tune-Up , which is full of my favorite coaching tools to help you get unstuck TODAY. I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com , or contact me on Facebook , Instagram , or Twitter !...
Dec 21, 2021•3 min•Ep. 106
How often do you say, "I don't know?" And what happens when you do? None of us knows everything, but we all know more than we think we do, so let's look at what happens when we say these three words. Want more help with your creative process? Check out my Creative Tune-Up , which is full of my favorite coaching tools to help you get unstuck TODAY. I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com , or contact me on Facebook , Instagram ...
Dec 15, 2021•8 min•Ep. 104
Tara Thieleke’s art roots go back to her childhood, where two of her art teachers planted the seeds not only of the importance of art, but also of what kind of person she wanted to be. She’s been actively making and sharing art ever since, even though her path to school teaching took a few detours. Tara tells us about those two teachers, what she’s learned from her students, how she applies improv’s “Yes, and…” mantra to her teaching and her life, and more. Want more help with your creative proc...
Dec 08, 2021•58 min•Ep. 103
Last week, I encouraged you to ask for the things you want, because it makes such a huge difference in the quality of your life and the experiences that are open to you. This week, I'm talking about the courage it takes to do that, because it sure can be daunting. Embarking on any creative pursuit takes immense courage, and pretending otherwise does no one any good. The Colbert clip with Stephen Sondheim Putting It Together from Sunday in the Park with George Want more help with your creative pr...
Dec 01, 2021•10 min•Ep. 102
A bonus holiday pep talk about a simple tool that can make your life SO much better. ASK. Yup, that's it. It's simple, but not always easy, but the benefits are totally worth it. I'm sharing how it's helped me and why you should step out of your comfort zone to ask more often, too. Want more help with your creative process? Check out my Creative Tune-Up , which is full of my favorite coaching tools to help you get unstuck TODAY. I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with thes...
Nov 24, 2021•10 min•Ep. 100
