Lauren Martin - Cool Aunt Creatives - Building Spaces to Play

This one is a long one (and a fun one). My conversation with Lauren Martin, founder of Cool Aunt Creatives, clocks in at just over two hours and covers a huge range of ideas about community, creativity, and what it means to keep building a meaningful life after school.Lauren shares her Guelph origin story, how exploring downtown shaped her early connection to the city (including a shared love for the now-gone Dis-a-Rays), and what it was like navigating that post-university chapter of moving away, coming back, and trying to find real community as an adult. We also dig into her pandemic-era reset, learning new creative skills through trial and error, and how all of that eventually led to Cool Aunt Creatives, its workshops, and its bigger event universe.We talk about:- Coming to Guelph for school and choosing to stay- Making friends as an adult and building “third spaces”- Learning new hobbies, making mistakes, and pushing through discomfort- The meaning behind “Cool Aunt” and the ethos of the brand- Why structured play matters, especially for adults- Cool Aunt Creatives workshops, markets, and the kind of makers Lauren loves to work with- Fairy & Iron and building a fantasy world that continues across events- Creating dance spaces for adults that are joyful, structured, and not overly competitiveConnect with Cool Aunt Creatives:Website: https://coolauntcreatives.com/Events calendar: https://coolauntcreatives.com/events-calendarWorkshops: https://coolauntcreatives.com/workshops-1Cool Aunt Jr: https://coolauntcreatives.com/cool-aunt-jr-summer-campInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/coolauntcreatives/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coolauntcreatives/More links (including other platforms): https://linktr.ee/coolauntcreativesThanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.