Standout Creatives: Business, marketing, and creativity tips for solopreneurs launching their ideas

What if the version of yourself you keep trying to get back to was never the one you were supposed to become?Grace Grossmann has lived in England, Spain, Germany, and now Costa Rica. She’s been a journalist-in-training, a freelance writer, a yoga teacher for nine years, a well-being coach, and a kindergarten teacher.She self-published Chill Out and Cheer Up: A Ten-Step Guide, a book she wrote while grieving her best friend. She then sat on it for four years because her inner critic wouldn’t let her release it. She finally did it from inside a mental health clinic.She doesn’t call any of this a comeback story. She calls it a cycle.HighlightsReinvention isn’t a phase. It’s a practice.Grace doesn’t describe her life as a single before-and-after. She describes it as ongoing.“I’ve reinvented myself all the time. I feel like it’s a never-ending cycle, right? You’re always growing and becoming every day. There’s never a moment where you’re like, yeah, this is fully me.”Most people wait for reinvention to be finished before they trust it. Grace’s story suggests the opposite. You don’t arrive at yourself. You keep stepping into higher versions of it, over and over, for the rest of your life.The book almost never came out.Grace wrote Chill Out and Cheer Up while grieving her best friend, who struggled with mental health his whole life. She finished it years before she published it.“I didn’t self-publish it for four years until I was in the mental clinic and I was out of my mind, like of boredom and just like horrible thoughts, suicidal thoughts. I was like, well, there’s no better time than now.”That’s the part the highlight reel skips. The book that “changed everything” for her readers almost died in a drawer, because her inner critic told her no one wanted to hear it. She published it anyway, from the lowest point of her life, and it became the thing readers said felt like talking to a friend.The inner critic isn’t protecting you. It’s shrinking you.Grace is direct about what imposter syndrome is actually doing.“Your imposter syndrome and your inner critic is just trying to protect you from being the best you... it’s like, no, go back into your shell, shrink back down again.”If you’re sitting on something you’ve written, built, or started because a voice in your head says you’re not the one who should be saying it, that voice was never protecting you from failure. It was protecting the smaller version of you it’s used to.Living in different countries taught her who she actually is.Grace left England for Spain at 18. Later, Germany. Now Costa Rica.“When you live in different countries and different cultures, you get to know so many of yourselves, if you know what I mean. You can be who you want to be.”Nobody needs to move across the world to reinvent themselves. But if you’ve ever felt like your environment was the thing keeping an old version of you alive, Grace’s experience shows you the way. Change the room, and you find out which parts of yourself were actually you, and which parts were just the room.Being a “spaceholder” for everyone else eventually broke her.Yoga teacher. Well-being coach. English teacher. Every role Grace has held has been about giving other people room to grow.“I’ve always been a spaceholder... and hence also why I had a breakdown, because I think I’ve always been a spaceholder for the past decade, and I never knew how I could take up space myself.”This is the part of the healer’s story that rarely gets told. You can’t hand out something you’ve stopped giving to yourself. Grace’s breakdown wasn’t a failure of her calling. It was the cost of doing it without taking care of herself too.Rest is necessary if you want to be productive.Grace’s Substack writing centers on rest, and she’s specific about why.“In that rest, you can be your best and show up as your best... when we go slow, we actually soften smarter.”Most people treat rest as something they’ve earned after the work is done. Grace treats it as the thing that makes the work possible in the first place. Not a reward. A requirement.The small things were never small.At 30 Grace became a kindergarten teacher, and found herself paying attention to what young children notice without trying.“It’s funny, isn’t that beauty of life that we’ve forgotten because we’re all just so in our own worlds... Little things is also a chapter in my book. And the little things have always excited me.”A butterfly. The taste of your food. A tree outside a classroom window. Grace doesn’t romanticize simplicity. She just recognized that most adults have trained themselves out of noticing anything that doesn’t come with a task attached to it.You can dance with discipline instead of fighting it.Grace rejects the idea that structure has to be rigid to work.“I like to think I dance with discipline now, because when I was going through mental health issues, the lack of structure was really hard.”She keeps routines and creates rituals but she doesn’t treat a missed habit as a failure, and she doesn’t force her body into a schedule that ignores how she actually feels that day. Structure gave her safety. It just stopped being allowed to run her life.Closing ReflectionGrace Grossman has been an aspiring journalist, a freelance writer, a yoga teacher, a well-being coach, and a kindergarten teacher. She’s grieved a best friend, broken down completely, and rebuilt herself in four different countries. And she still doesn’t consider any of it finished.“There’s no need to have to explain yourself or want to optimize yourself, but rather knowing already as you are and embodying that is the biggest part.”Reinvention was never about arriving somewhere permanent. It’s about trusting that the next version of you is already trying to come through, the same way it always has.If you’ve made a bold change: a move, a career shift, a creative leap, and you think your story could inspire others, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment and tell us about your reinvention.

What if the thing keeping your idea stuck isn’t a lack of money, connections, or credibility? What if it’s just that you’re aiming for the finished version before you’ve made the pilot?Darnell Brown calls himself a multi-passionate creative polymath, and after 18 years in branding, design, and storytelling, he’s earned the title. He helps non-creatives find their voice through design, and runs Forge, a community for multi-passionate entrepreneurs who want to grow their impact without abandoning what makes them them.In this conversation, Darnell traces his path from drawing superheroes as a kid, to cutting lawns with a mower he didn’t own, to the mindset shift that changes how he helps people get unstuck today.HighlightsArt doesn’t need permission to matter.Before there was a business model, before there was a plan, there was a kid with a pen who couldn’t put it down.“I would just doodle and draw and just always have a have a pen or some chalk or a pencil or something in my hand and just like go into town with it.”That instinct never asked for approval. It just needed an outlet. Maybe yours doesn’t need a five-year plan either. Maybe it just needs you to pick the pen back up.Resourcefulness beats waiting for the right conditions, every time.As a kid, Darnell wanted to mow lawns for money. He didn’t own a lawnmower. He went door to door anyway.“I don’t got the lawnmower. But I got the grit and I got the will to actually do this and stuff for people.”He kept knocking until he found someone who had the tools and needed the help. No plan survives when you think “I don’t have what I need yet.” The plan survives when you show up anyway.Your idea doesn’t need $200 million. It needs a pilot.Darnell’s favorite metaphor: you walk into a movie studio pitching a blockbuster with no track record. They say no. Most people stop there.“The difference between me and them in that context is that if I would have went to you, yes, I would have did all of that, but if you said no to me, I wouldn’t continue to just go to the other studios. Like I would say, well, what’s a way that I could get this idea out without needing that much money to do it?”The idea doesn’t die because the funding said no. It gets smaller, scrappier, and out the door anyway. That’s the version that gets noticed.The smallest version of your idea is still the idea.Robert Rodriguez made his first film for $5,000, playing every behind the scenes role himself. Darnell described the exact same principle without ever having read the book.“Think about your pilot, man. Don’t think about the business model or anything yet. Get the idea out there.”You’re not failing by starting small. You’re doing the one thing that actually moves you from thinking about it to having made it.Community is the multiplier.Through Forge, Darnell works with entrepreneurs who don’t call themselves creative, helping them see that their business itself is a creative act.“We’re just there to basically align and integrate our entrepreneurial inclinations into our creative identity so that one isn’t at the expense of the other.”Cross-pollination through networking is recognizing that someone else already has the piece you’re missing, and you probably have theirs.Knowing your worth starts with knowing the right questions.A free lead magnet called Breaking the Time Barrier changed how Darnell thinks about pricing entirely, moving him away from hourly rates toward pricing based on value delivered.“How can I price things based on the value that I can provide if I’m working with you one-on-one... you have to be able to do that as well, I think, to be able to command a different price point.”Charging more isn’t about confidence alone. It’s about learning what to ask so you actually know what you’re worth to the person in front of you.The work you leave behind doesn’t need your name attached to matter.Darnell doesn’t have children, but he thinks often about creating things that outlive him.“I want to put out art that does outlive me, even though I don’t have children.”You don’t need a legacy plan. You need one piece of work good enough to still be useful after you’ve moved on to the next thing.Closing ReflectionDarnell’s story keeps circling back to the same idea in different costumes: the lawnmower he didn’t have, the studio pitch he didn’t get, the years he spent not drawing because life got in the way. None of it stopped the work. It just meant the work had to get resourceful.What would your idea look like if you stopped waiting for the full budget, the perfect timing, or someone else’s permission, and just built the pilot instead?

What if you lost almost everything, except the one thing you were building?Migdalia Sanchez and Claudio Soriano (aka Migdy and Clau), didn’t set out to become authors. Migdy is a professional counselor and life coach. Clau has a background in electrical and process engineering. Both spent twenty years mentoring young adults, first as volunteers, then as certified life coaches, long before either of them thought about putting any of it into a book.Then came a workshop, a hurricane, a decade of writing, and a 450-page manuscript that had to be split in two just to become manageable.In this conversation, Migdy and Clau talk about what it actually took to turn twenty years of mentorship into their book What The FCK is Happening To Me? (Esp: ¡¿Qué PÑTA me está pasando?!) They also talk about why they left Puerto Rico with almost nothing, and why the project survived every single thing that tried to stop it.Note: Some quotes below have been lightly edited for clarity and readability.HighlightsTrust isn’t given. It’s earned one relationship at a time.Migdy’s first experience with mentorship came through a volunteer program in Puerto Rico, matching mentors with teenagers from high-risk environments for a full year. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t supposed to be.“No matter if the program is finished, no matter if the school year ends, no matter if you change schools, that senior still looks for you. And they still call you… they keep in touch with us.”That’s something deeper than a program. It’s what happens when a young person finally gets to feel like someone showed up for them without needing anything in return.One offhand comment can change the whole direction of your work.Migdy and Clau spent years running relationship workshops for young adults before they ever thought about a book. The shift happened during one particular workshop, when they asked the room a simple question: who do you know that’s been together for more than ten years and is still happy?Only one or two hands went up. And one participant told them something neither of them expected to hear.“You are the only couple I know that you look happy together.”Out of thirty-something people in the room, that was the answer. It was an admission that healthy, long-term love wasn’t something most people in that room had ever witnessed up close.That’s when the idea of writing something bigger than a workshop started to take shape.Sometimes your audience finds you.The same workshop surfaced another realization neither of them expected. Parents in the room wanted the same guidance their kids were getting.“That means they understand that the parents need this information too. It’s something that they are looking for, that is something missing in their environment.”That was the moment the idea of a book stopped being abstract. Not because they set out to write for a wider audience, but because the wider audience showed up and asked for it first.Ten years is a long time to keep believing in something.What started as notes typed into a phone became a 450-page manuscript, then two separate books, illustrated, edited, translated, and self-published, all while Migdy and Clau kept mentoring, working day jobs, and raising a family.“That is a 10 years project. That idea was maybe 12 years ago. I don’t remember, but we start everything and hold the process. It took us almost 10 years.”Nobody hands you a book after ten years just because you stayed committed. But there’s no book at all if you don’t.AI can’t write the book that took you a decade to live.Clau is direct about what AI can and can’t do, especially for a project built on twenty years of real relationships and hard-won lessons.“There’s nothing in AI related in this book. People need to understand something. There’s a lot of people writing books and they’re writing books with AI. AI does not have the capacity to create something up until now. What it does is that it goes to the books that they have built or fit into the large language model and it creates something related to what you’re asking.”Migdy’s editor ended up teaching her to edit rather than editing for her, because she recognized something worth preserving.“Migdalia is an editor. Migdalia writes better than AI, let’s say, because this book was prior AI.”The book works because it came from two decades of sitting across from real young adults, not from an AI model.Resilience is the only reason the book exists.In 2017, Hurricane Maria destroyed the island Migdy and Clau called home. Clau lost his consulting work overnight. Their son’s therapy, school, and support systems disappeared along with the electricity and water.“We have been kicked out from Puerto Rico after the Hurricane Maria that hit… in 2017.”A childhood friend of Clau’s, reached by landline because there was no cell service left and paid for their plane tickets to Florida.They moved four times in three months. Clau couldn’t find work for six months. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, the manuscript kept moving forward.“That book is so resilient… because the book survived the transition, the moving, the adaptation, the other adaptation that Claudio has to… another state.”The book survived because they refused to let it end.The first time you hold your book, nothing goes the way you pictured it.When the printing company sent a sample ahead of the full order, Migdy and Clau assumed they were finally about to hold the finished book. What arrived instead was a stack of loose, unbound pages, sent only to check paper weight and transparency.“We opened that envelope and what we found were pages... it was so frustrating.”The real moment came later, in Miami, picking up the full shipment straight off the pallet.“We were so exhausted that night... you know, so many people cry when they received the book and opened the book, smell the book. But we don’t have any more tears to cry… we were just watching the book and… we laugh.”Ten years of work, and the reaction wasn’t tears. It was laughter, because there was nothing else left to give it.Authenticity isn’t optional when your reader is young and paying attention.Clau’s advice to other authors comes from two decades of sitting across from teenagers and young adults who have zero patience for anything that isn’t real.“Young adults can smell shit a mile away. So they’ll find out if what you’re putting in the book, or when you’re coaching a young adult, if what you’re saying, you’re standing behind it.”Migdy adds the piece that keeps a project like this from collapsing under its own weight.“Do not reanalyze things because you’re going to paralyze the process. Just flow, flow and flow. Do not try to be perfect because it’s not going to happen. You have settle for being excellent.”And here’s the thing that actually gets a ten-year project across the finish line:“Never forget why for you are doing this. When you feel frustrated, when you feel stuck, keep going, and never forget the reason that put you in that situation.”The book is structured around whatever the reader needs.The book is built around seven chapters: Mommy and Daddy, Life and Stories, Who the F*** Am I, You’re Gonna F*** It Up, Distinctions and Ways of Being, After, and Couple Relationships. But Migdy and Clau don’t even agree on how it should be read.“I tell young adults, if you want to read the book, you go to the index and you read the name of the chapters, and if there’s something that resonates with you, read it and that’s it. Migdalia says, start with the book from the beginning and read it until the end.”Two authors, two voices, two philosophies on how to approach the same material and both work, depending on where the reader happens to be standing in their own life.Closing ReflectionMigdy and Clau didn’t write this book because the timing was right. There was no good time. There was a hurricane, a job loss, a cross-country move, a son who needed support systems that had just been destroyed, and a decade of mentoring squeezed in around all of it.“That is a 10 years project... we start everything and hold the process.”The book is proof that the project you truly believe in doesn’t need perfect conditions to survive. It just needs you to keep showing up for it, one difficult year after another, until it’s finally real.If you’re an author with a story worth sharing, leave a comment and tell us about your work. You deserve the spotlight too.You can find Migdy and Clau’s book at <a...

What if the thing standing between you and your best work isn't a strategy problem? It's a permission problem.Christi Johnson spent ten years as a wedding photographer, earned a master’s degree in piano performance, and later burned out so badly as an online business manager that she stopped sleeping and had to shut her business down for six months.Now she runs the Dream Biz Playground, teaching creative and neurodivergent entrepreneurs to build businesses through creative play instead of hustle.In this conversation, Christi walks through what her crash and burn actually looked like, why she had to relearn how to sit at a piano without judging herself, and how a five-minute photo walk became the thing that pulled her back.HighlightsSuccess on the outside doesn’t mean you’re okay on the inside.Christi was fully booked. Her online business management clients were happy. From the outside, everything looked like it was working.“We were booking clients, we were successful and things were like on the outside going really, really well, but I was extremely stressed... it got to the point where I was having panic attacks.”She kept pushing past the signs because she didn’t want to let her clients down, or her team, which included family members she’d hired. Eventually her body made the decision for her. She got sick for three months straight, and the exhaustion turned into a full breakdown.Maybe the metric you’re using to check in on yourself isn’t “is it working.” Maybe it’s “how do I feel while I’m doing it.”Permission over motivation.After the burnout, Christi assumed she’d never run a business again. Her coach’s first assignment wasn’t a strategy session. It was homework to lay around and watch TikTok without feeling guilty about it.“She gave me homework like that and we really focused on tapping into what actually really is fun for me.”Christi didn’t need a better system. She needed someone to tell her it was allowed to be easy.The self-judgment shows up long before the finished thing does.Christi has a master’s degree in piano. She went eight years without sitting down to play for fun, because in her head, playing meant working toward something impressive enough to post.“I had to make a conscious choice to allow myself the freedom to just sit down and play for fun... only recently haven’t I been able to sit down and just play for fun, play for five minutes, play whatever I want.”Notice what actually blocked her. It wasn’t lack of skill. It was an audience that existed only in her head, judging a video she hadn’t even made yet.Naming the block is the first move, not the last one.When Christi missed a business goal she’d set for herself, her instinct was to perform positivity about it. It took her coach pointing it out for her to admit she was actually disappointed.“I had to recognize, you know what I’m, I’m actually disappointed... I think the first step is like admitting it. Hey, I have this block. I’m discouraged about it.”Only after she named it could she ask the more useful question: what would be fun to try instead.Dream life exercises work because they collapse the timeline.One of Christi’s favorite tools with her community is having people build a paper zine mapping out a day in their dream life, then finding pieces of it they can bring into today.“What often happens when we do this exercise is that you will find really specific ways that you actually can bring your dream life to today... I don’t have to wait five, 10 years to pull these things into my dream life.”The exercise shows you that the gap between where you are and where you want to be is smaller than you thought.Leaning into what makes you you is the actual differentiator.Christi’s brand has nine colors in it, against every piece of conventional branding advice. It came from a piece of art she made in therapy.“The more you lean into yourself, the more you will attract people who want to be around that and also repel people who don’t.”You don’t need a bigger platform or a smarter funnel. Just stop editing of the parts of you that already work.Christi’s Challenge for You“With every single piece of content that you put out there... can you just ask yourself, how can this be more me? Or how can this be more fun? Or how can this be easier?”Closing ReflectionChristi’s story isn’t really about photography, or piano, or even business strategy. It’s about what happens when you keep overriding your own signals long enough.She didn’t get her creativity back through a better routine. She got it back by giving herself permission to be bad at something, to rest without guilt, and to admit when she was disappointed instead of performing okay.What would it look like to ask “how can this be more me” about the next thing you create?Let us know in the comments.

What if the tool everyone else uses isn’t the only way in?Tiffany Yu is the author of The Anti-Ableist Manifesto and the founder of Diversability, an organization she built to help disabled people move through what she calls their shame-to-pride transformation.She was in a car accident at nine years old where her arm became permanently paralyzed. And she lived a decade feeling like there was no community built for someone like her. So she built one.In this conversation, Tiffany talks about how a literary agent found her through a fifteen-second TikTok, why she recorded her entire first draft instead of typing it, and how a book that almost didn’t get written on time ended up shaping a movement she never expected to be part of.HighlightsShe’s building the thing she wished existed.Tiffany didn’t come into disability advocacy through a career plan. She came into it through a decade of isolation, watching nine-year-old Tiffany go without the community she needed most.“I’m building and funding the things I wish existed when I was younger.”That’s the whole engine behind Diversability, the book, the TikTok series, all of it. It’s a memory of what was missing, turned into a mission to make sure the next person doesn’t have to go without it too.She didn’t write the book. She spoke it.Tiffany types with one hand. She knew from watching other writers develop injuries from overuse that typing an entire manuscript wasn’t sustainable for her body. So instead of forcing herself into the process everyone else uses, she built her own.“What are some creative ways that I can continue to write this book, lean into my strengths?”She recorded every chapter using a speech-to-text tool called Otter.ai, turned the transcripts into a rough skeleton, and edited from there. When she shared this publicly, she heard from people with hand injuries, arthritis, and their own barriers to writing, people who’d quietly given up on the idea of ever finishing a book.“Essentially, what I’m doing is you want a book, the way I’m going to do it may look different, but eventually you will get the book, right? I’m just doing it a little bit differently.”You don’t have to follow the same road everyone else takes, just the one that actually works for you.The book found her before she went looking for it.Tiffany wrote a letter to her high school guidance counselor once, mentioning that maybe someday she’d write a book. She forgot about it for fifteen years. Then a literary agent found her through a short-form TikTok series she’d started almost by accident, and a few months later, a publisher reached out directly before she’d even finished her book proposal.“Hachette at that particular point in time had also published books from a lot of my fellow disability advocate friends.”She got the book deal on November 11th, 2022.“I don’t know about you, 11.11 is meaningful if you are someone who views repeating numbers as what I like to call gentle nudges from the universe or messages that you’re moving in the right direction.”Nobody plans for a book deal to arrive before the proposal is finished. But sometimes the work you’ve already been doing publicly is the proposal, whether you meant it to be or not.Structure the book so people can find what they need.Tiffany built her book around a framework called Me-We-Us: what you need to understand about yourself, what you need to understand in relationship with others, and what all of us need to build together to create real change.“I think too often we jump to part three because we’re like, okay, policy change, let’s get to it. But if you haven’t done the internal work, the me, like why do I care so much about this particular topic, then you’re actually gonna jump to a place and it’s gonna feel performative.”Every chapter title is the takeaway of that chapter, on purpose. Because unlike fiction, where mystery pulls the reader forward, a book meant to create change has one job: help someone find exactly what they need, exactly when they need it.Make yourself impossible to forget.Tiffany’s book cover is orange. It almost wasn’t. And she leaned into that color so hard it became part of her.“I made my whole personality an orange book cover.”She kept her title short enough to include both roles that mattered to her, author and founder of Diversability, so that even a passing glance could spark curiosity in someone who didn’t know her yet.Standing out doesn’t require being the loudest voice in the room. All it takes is being unmistakably you.The book creates connections you never planned for.Tiffany didn’t expect her favorite part of the whole process to be the book events. But she learned to love the rooms full of strangers who showed up because of something she wrote.“There are two people who were on my launch team, who one lives in Los Angeles, the other lives in New York. They met through the launch team, kind of stayed connected, had a lot of other points of connection... and they just met in person for the first time in New York, like maybe a month ago. And that’s pretty cool.”A book doesn’t just reach a reader. Sometimes it introduces two people who never would have found each other otherwise, and gives them a reason to build something together long after they’ve turned the last page.Purpose makes it last.Tiffany doesn’t measure the success of her book by a single launch day. She measures it by whether the message is still doing something, still reaching people, long after the initial noise has faded.“I want people to feel hopeful that creating an accessible, disability inclusive society is possible. And I want people to not only feel hope, but know that their action in collective action is what is gonna create change.”That’s the difference between writing something for the moment and writing something built to outlast it.Closing ReflectionTiffany Yu didn’t write her book the way anyone told her to. She spoke it instead of typing it. She structured it so a reader could skip straight to the chapter they needed. She picked an orange cover and made it part of who she is. None of it followed the rulebook, and all of it worked.“You are gonna be the one who is the most excited about your book.”Tiffany reminds us that you’re allowed to build the process that fits you, and still end up with something that changes the room.If you’re an author with a story worth sharing, leave a comment and tell us about your work. You deserve the spotlight too.

What happens when the thing that defined you for most of your life suddenly isn't yours anymore?Bridget Baker has reinvented herself so many times she’s started to consider herself an expert in it. Her reinvention journey spans a car accident at 21, a Las Vegas tiger show, five years in a travel trailer, and a writing group she started on a whim that’s almost two years old.She’s a brand and website designer, a creative coach, and the host of a brand new podcast, The Deep Dig. But before all of that, she was a ballerina, and the story of how she got from there to here is anything but a straight line.HighlightsReinvention isn’t always a choice.Bridget was at the peak of her dance career when a serious auto accident changed everything.“When I was 21, I was like at the peak of my career, the peak of my physical ability and strength. And I got in a very serious auto accident... my injuries were very severe.”She didn’t frame it as a tragedy. It was just the first in a series of reinventions.There’s the reinvention you choose. And there’s the reinvention that chooses you. Bridget has lived both.Losing her body taught her to see other people differently.While Bridget was recovering from her injuries, she learned how to draw it out of others through choreography.“It had me actually appreciate the uniqueness of each dancer more and go, what is their unique skill set? Like, what are they good at that maybe they’re sort of like the underdog and no one’s seen them do this thing on stage?”Whenever you lose one part of yourself, you evolve in different ways.Her shift from performing to perceiving became the throughline of everything she’s done since. Her coaching, branding, and writing all come back to the same question: what’s already in this person that the world hasn’t seen yet?She went back. And then she left again.After the accident, Bridget rehabbed and returned to the ballet company. People cheered. And almost immediately, she knew it wasn’t right.“I’ve made it back. And then I thought, yeah, I don’t think this is it anymore.”That’s something no one talks about. Sometimes you have to return to something confirm you’ve outgrown it.She left dance. Went backstage into costumes. Worked with Siegfried and Roy in Las Vegas. And even there, surrounded by live tigers, she felt the same pull.This isn’t it either.Your environment will resist your change.Bridget’s father introduced her as “my daughter, the ballet dancer” for fifteen years after she left the stage.“Your environment sometimes does not support your change... it affects your friendships. You have to start hanging out with new people.”The people who were a big part of your life aren’t trying to be rude. They just identify with who you were, not who you are. Their relationship was with a previous version of you. When you change, it’s unsettling, because if you can change, so can everything.Don’t try to convince people of who you are. Find people who are comfortable with who you want to be.Write Shit Thursdays and the habit that came back around.Bridget and her husband used to go to a different coffee shop every Thursday in Los Angeles. They didn’t have an agenda. They just put words to page.“I don’t have anything to say. I don’t have anything to say. That’s all I’d be writing... And then at some point it would build on itself and I’d go, oh my gosh, I just wrote a thousand words.”But that habit eventually faded. They decided to live in a 24-foot travel trailer for five years and her writing fell off.Then one day she asked herself a simple question: can I call myself a writer if I’m not writing?She started Write Sh*t Mondays. Invited people to write with her. It’s been almost two years. Now it’s evolved into writing coaching programs and retreats. It transformed into something she didn’t even know she was building.Some things don’t leave you, they’re just waiting to come back.The handshake that started everything.When Bridget’s husband first floated the idea of living in a travel trailer, she wasn’t ready. She pushed back. The idea nearly died.Then, months later, she came back to it.“I put out my hand to shake his hand. And he shook my hand. I’m like, I’ve never done that in my life, let alone with my husband. We’re gonna shake hands on it. And then the rest was history.”I’ve lived this moment too. On Valentine’s Day last year, Anita and I sat at a restaurant with chips and salsa and a notebook, and made our own version of that handshake. We were going to sell the house and move to Costa Rica. We were going to stop waiting for someday.The handshake doesn’t mean you’re ready. It means you’re committed to figuring it out.Keep it for yourself first.When you’re in the middle of reinventing, the instinct is to tell everyone. To make it real by saying it out loud.Bridget’s advice is more careful than that.“Start writing about it for a while and seeing what comes out of that. Like keep it for you for a while. Don’t publish it. Don’t give it away.”Other people’s expectations can shape your reinvention before you’ve had a chance to shape it yourself. Their enthusiasm can push you faster than you’re ready to go. Their doubt can stop you before you’ve had a chance to find out if you believe in it.Write it first. Sit with it. Let it be yours before it becomes a story you tell.Closing ReflectionBridget has been reinventing herself for thirty years. And she’ll tell you she’s more herself now than she ever was as a ballerina.That’s the thing about reinvention. It isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about shedding the versions of yourself that no longer fit.“I’m still me. Probably a lot more me than I was back then.”We don’t lose ourselves in reinvention. We grow into someone we couldn’t have imagined before.If you’ve made a bold change: a move, a career shift, a creative leap, and you think your story could inspire others, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment and tell us about your reinvention.Thank you Tomesha Campbell, Dharma Paige, and many others for tuning into my live video with Bridget Baker!

What if the book you never planned to write became the business you were always meant to build?Cathy Derksen didn’t grow up wanting to be an author. She wasn’t a writer. She’s dyslexic. Books weren’t even on her radar, let alone publishing them. But somewhere between a divorce, a career change, two teenagers, and a quiet voice she couldn’t ignore — she ended up in a book. Then another. Then she started making them herself.Today Cathy has contributed to twenty-four anthologies and created ten multi-author books of her own, giving over two hundred people the chance to become published authors for the first time.In this conversation, she shares how it all started, what it really takes to coordinate a book with twenty authors from around the world, and why the multi-author model might be the most underrated visibility tool in a creative entrepreneur’s toolkit.HighlightsThe calling doesn’t always make sense. Listen anyway.Cathy’s first chapter wasn’t planned. It wasn’t strategic. There was a book being put together called Emotional Intelligence, Mental Health Matters and something in her just knew her story had to be in it. She’d just come through a divorce, a complete career change, and the chaos of raising two teenagers through all of it. The dust was barely settling.“There was just, I describe it like almost like a calling. There was this feeling in me that my story had to be in that book. I wasn’t allowed to say no to whatever this message was inside me.”She thought it would be a one-time thing. That was her twenty-fourth book ago.Not every next step comes with a clear plan or a logical reason. Sometimes it just comes with a feeling you can’t shake. The question isn’t whether it makes sense. The question is whether you’re willing to listen.You don’t have to write the whole book. You just have to write your chapter.One of the biggest lies the publishing world tells creative entrepreneurs is that becoming an author means writing eighty thousand words alone in a room until something coherent comes out. Cathy’s model dismantles that completely.“I don’t forget though, my books are all multi-author books. So I’m only writing one chapter.”One chapter. One story. One slice of your expertise, your journey, your perspective wrapped inside a book with nineteen other voices all pointing toward the same theme.Your story is a sample of your work. Treat it like one.Cathy is deliberate about how she coaches her authors to write their chapters. It’s never just a personal essay. It’s always a combination: your journey, what you learned, and the tools or strategies that can help the reader move forward too.“Someone reads the chapter, now they feel like they’re connected with you. They feel like they understand more about what you do, why you’re doing it. And then you’ve got that part where you’re giving your tips and strategies, which really is kind of a sample of what you do in your business.”The reader sees themselves in your story. They trust you because they know you. And then they get a taste of what it’s like to work with you. The chapter does the work quietly, and the right people follow.The book creates a deadline. The deadline creates momentum.One of the most unexpected things Cathy sees happen with her authors is what the book unlocks beyond the writing itself. Suddenly there’s a launch date. A real one. And everything that’s been sitting on the back burner, the website, the LinkedIn profile, the social media cleanup, has to happen now.“There’s a deadline… I need to get my website done. I need to get my social media stuff cleaned up and set up. So suddenly there’s this motivation to get all those things together. And so really what it’s done for their business is that it has accelerated and amplified everything that they were doing.”A project in motion moves differently than the one that’s always “almost ready.” The book doesn’t just give you a chapter. It gives you a reason to show up fully and a deadline to complete it.Twenty authors means twenty networks. All pushing towards the same goal.The visibility math on a multi-author book is something most people don’t think about until they’re inside it. When twenty people from around the world are all promoting the same book at the same time, something happens that no solo launch can replicate.“You’ve got 20 communities that are now connecting and overlapping and collaborating and tagging and liking and sharing. And so it really does become a wave of activity.”Cathy’s books have hit international number one bestseller status on Amazon — not because of a massive ad budget, but because of twenty people with twenty communities all riding the same wave at the same time. The key, she says, is being ready when that wave comes. Your website, your profile, your offer all need to be in place before the launch, not after.Imposter syndrome shrinks when you’re not doing it alone.Cathy is honest about what holds most people back from writing their book. It’s not time. It’s not skill. It’s the quiet voice that says who am I to think anyone wants to hear what I have to say.“For most people, imposter syndrome is one of the big things holding them back. And so when you get started by participating in a multi-author book, now you’re working with a group of people. So you’re all going through that together.”There’s something about doing a hard thing alongside other people that makes the hard thing smaller. You’re not the only one writing your first chapter. You’re not the only one scared of what people will think. And when the book comes out and someone you’ve never met tells you your story changed something for them, that’s the moment the imposter loses a little ground.What becomes possible changes everything.Cathy’s favorite story from her books is about a woman in her seventies who had spent her whole life feeling like an outsider. Too spiritual. Too different. Too much. She did one chapter in Cathy’s first book and got such a response that she couldn’t stop.“In the three years since that first book was published, she has done two books with me, completed two solo books, and she started a YouTube channel. She went from someone who is just living like… she couldn’t tell anyone what she was really wanting to do — to someone who is now a four times bestselling author.”That’s not a publishing story. That’s a permission story. And Cathy builds those, one book at a time.Closing ReflectionCathy didn’t plan any of this. Not the first chapter, not the ten books she’s created, not the two hundred authors she’s helped become published for the first time. She just kept listening to the voice that said keep going and built something real around it.Her work is proof that you don’t need to write the whole book. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need one chapter, one story, and the willingness to say yes to the thing that keeps calling your name.If you’re an author with a story worth sharing, leave a comment and tell us about your work. You deserve the spotlight too.

What if the secret to creative success isn’t your portfolio... but your people?Melquea Smith is a children’s book illustrator and artist who creates clip art of black and brown kids.Her journey from side-hustling artist to full-time creative is built on one foundational truth: community changes everything.In this conversation, Melquea shares why the lone genius myth is killing creative careers, how she’s learned to create her own luck through intentional relationship-building, and what it really takes to survive the marathon of creative entrepreneurship when patience is basically a required skill.HighlightsThe marathon mindset separates survivors from quitters.Melquea is refreshingly honest about what it takes to make it as a creative.The glamorous overnight success stories we see on social media? They’re not real.What’s real is showing up consistently, even when the work feels invisible, even when progress feels impossibly slow.“I’m learning through all of this is that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And really it’s just like longevity, just outlasting everyone.”Her story is proof that persistence trumps perfection every time.Sometimes the only difference between the creative who makes it and the one who quits is one decides to keep going even when it gets hard.But surviving the marathon isn’t just about persistence. It’s also about strategy.Standing out means zigging while everyone else zags.Most creatives hide behind their portfolios, hoping their work will speak for itself.Melquea took the opposite approach.She embraces podcasts, public speaking, webinars, workshops, and Instagram Lives. She does all the visibility work that many creatives shy away from.“Right now I’m in my promotion phase where… people need to know that I exist.”She understands something most creatives miss: talent without visibility does not get you noticed.The goal isn’t just to create great work. The goal is to make sure people know your great work exists.You can’t be discovered if nobody knows you exist.Melquea is in what she calls her “discovery phase”—that crucial period where building awareness matters more than perfecting your craft.Because your ideal clients can’t hire you if they don’t know you’re available.“It’s just our job as creators and marketers to just remind [people], hey, this exists.”It isn’t about being pushy or salesy. It’s about consistent, generous visibility that keeps you top of mind when opportunities arise.The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing at all. It feels like building relationships with people who genuinely care about your success.Community amplifies everything you’re already doing.Melquea has cracked the code on something most creatives struggle with: she doesn’t just create work, she creates advocates.By building genuine relationships with other creatives and business owners, she’s created a network that does the heavy lifting for her.“Other people will do that heavy lifting for you. They’ll share your work or repost your work without even asking.”The magic happens when creatives genuinely support each other’s success.When you help others win, they remember. When opportunities come up that aren’t right for them, they think of you.Luck is just preparation meeting intentional outreach.Melquea believes in making her own luck through relationship-building.She reaches out to people in her network regularly, follows up consistently, and treats every connection like it could lead somewhere meaningful.“You just never know what email will land into your inbox or DM on Instagram.”We should avoid being transactional. We should create opportunities by staying genuinely connected to people.The creatives who seem “lucky” are usually just the ones who’ve been planting seeds consistently, even when they couldn’t see the harvest coming.Closing ReflectionMelquea’s story dismantles the myth that creative success is a solo journey.Her path from side-hustling artist to full-time illustrator wasn’t built on raw talent alone. It was built on community, consistency, and the courage to be visible when it would be easier to hide.She reminds us that the creative life isn’t just about making beautiful things. It’s about building the relationships and systems that help beautiful things find their way to the people who need them most.What’s one way you’re building community around your creative work? Share in the comments.

What if your biggest breakdown became your creative breakthrough?Maya Sarin didn’t plan to become a poet.Her journey began in beauty marketing. And she wrote consistently but never quite found her voice.Then illness forced everything to stop.In that stillness, something changed. Poetry emerged from fragments. Healing became creation. And the beginnings of her book were born.In this conversation, Maya shares how trauma reshaped her relationship with creativity, why she learned to collaborate with the divine instead of forcing inspiration, and what it really takes to transform personal struggle into art that resonates.HighlightsIllness can redirect your entire creative path.Maya thought creativity was linear.Put in the work. Get the inspiration. Achieve success.When that didn’t happen, she felt like she was failing.“Before I got sick, I had a very different relationship to creativity. I thought it was very linear. I thought if you just put in the work and the energy consistently, then you would get the inspiration and you would get the success. And when I didn’t see that happening, I felt like I was failing.”Then her body forced her to stop.Sometimes the universe interrupts our plans and we are forced to evolve.Creativity is collaboration.Maya discovered something most of us resist.The best creative work doesn’t come from grinding harder. It comes from learning when to step back and let inspiration flow.“I now see creativity as much more cyclical. Some days you’re meant to rest. Some days you’re meant to create. And I see it as a collaboration with spirit or the divine.”She stopped trying to force words onto the page. She started trusting the process instead.The result was poetry that felt authentic, healing, and deeply connected to something beyond her individual will.Boredom is where breakthrough lives.In a culture obsessed with constant motion, Maya found her creative breakthrough in deliberate quiet.She learned to embrace boredom instead of fearing it.“Part of my process is making time for boredom. and it’s so hard, you know, just sitting there essentially doing nothing. and I find for me it’s just easy to step outside of the home environment and just be outside, among the trees, among the birds, and just… be still. And that’s actually where a lot of the inspiration came for the book.”Maya’s experience challenges our addiction to busyness.Sometimes others see things we don’t.Maya didn’t even recognize her fragments as poetry at first.“Looking back… I didn’t even identify them as poems. I didn’t know what it was. I just kept writing without thinking, okay, this is the first poem of my book and this is gonna be the last... It didn’t unfold that way for me.”It took less than a year to write the entire collection.But recognizing it as a book? That required other people.Friends and early readers saw the potential and provided the external validation that motivated her toward publication.Recognition led to momentum.Once Maya committed to publication, everything accelerated.From winning a scholarship in November to launching her book took less than six months.“It’s actually less than six months from deciding to publish to now. And I wouldn’t recommend the short timeline.”Her rapid progression shows what happens when you’ve been doing the internal work.When you slow down, creativity teaches you to collaborate with the divine, and community helps you recognize what you’ve built.Things can happen quickly because the foundation was already there.Closing ReflectionMaya reminds us that our greatest creative breakthroughs often emerge from our most challenging moments.Her journey shows what happens when you stop fighting your natural rhythms and start collaborating with them.If you’re navigating your own creative transformation, share your story in the comments.

What if the book you were meant to write has been sitting inside you for years and all you just needed someone to help you bring it out?That’s the question underneath everything Anita Henderson does.She calls herself the Author’s Midwife. And the more she explained what that actually means, the more I realized how perfectly it fits. She doesn’t write your book for you. She helps you bring it into the world the right way.In this episode, she walks us through everything that means.HighlightsThe myth that almost every first-time author believes.You write a great book. You upload it to Amazon. It finds its readers.If only.Anita has spent nearly 15 years watching that assumption cost authors dearly. Good content, she’ll tell you, is the floor. Not the ceiling.“The core of a great book obviously is the content. If you don’t have that in there, then a pretty cover can only take you so far. But it is a compilation of inputs that makes a book really good.”Structure. Story. Strategy. All three have to show up together. And most first-time authors only think about one of them.What readers expect, even when they don’t realize it.Here’s something Anita said that reframed how I think about nonfiction entirely.Readers come to a book with invisible expectations. They expect the structure to make sense. They expect chapter two to follow naturally from chapter one. They expect you to close the gap between the lesson you promised and the one you actually delivered.And if you don’t give them that, they feel it. Even if they can’t name why.“You can tell me your 12-point process all day long, but if I can’t follow you and the structure isn’t there, then I’m confused.”That confusion is the thing between your reader and your message. Remove it, and something opens up.The moment she stopped working for other people for good.Anita went back to corporate twice.She’s honest about it. Cash flow dried up, the business got hard, and corporate looked safe. Both times she went back, and both times she left again.The second exit was different. She hired a business coach who asked a simple question: what do you love? Writing and books, Anita said. And the coach told her something she hadn’t considered.“You know, there’s people who teach other people how to write their books. That’s a thing? An author coach?”She looked into it. She networked. She learned the space. Then she left corporate for the last time and built Write Your Life into what it is now.Sometimes the business you’re meant to run is sitting right there in the thing you already know how to do.Why panicking is the most expensive thing you can do.When revenue slows down, the instinct is to add things. New offerings. New platforms. A pivot. Something. Anything to make the numbers move.Anita calls it out directly.“We panic by adding new products. We panic by adding new platforms. We pivot when we shouldn’t, when we should stay focused on the thing we do best.”And here’s what that panic actually does. It confuses the market. It confuses potential clients. And it closes off the momentum you spent years building.The business you’ve been developing has a kind of gravity to it. When you scatter in every direction, you lose it.Your superpowers are probably hiding in plain sight.Anita has two superpowers she talks about that most people would overlook.The ability to see the big picture and the small details at the same time.And listening. Really listening to what a client isn’t quite saying.“I need to hear what they’re not saying in a way.”Neither of these sounds like a marketable skill on paper. But they’re exactly what makes her process work. They’re what lets her pull the right book out of someone who’s been sitting on the idea for five years.Don’t downplay the soft stuff. It might be the thing that makes you irreplaceable.The nine to twelve month process that changes everything.This is where the conversation got specific in a way I think a lot of aspiring authors needed to hear.Anita’s process at Write Your Life starts with a complimentary book strategy session. Then a VIP Day, six hours of structured conversation that generates the entire framework for the book, thousands of words of content pulled from the conversation itself.Then months of writing, revisions, beta readers, final edits, cover design, interior layout, and book launch.“Nine to twelve months from concept to completion, which is a drop in the bucket for most of my clients who say they’ve been thinking about writing a book for three to five, eight years.”One year. That’s all it takes when you stop going it alone.Embrace your comfort zone.Every entrepreneur has heard the opposite advice.Get uncomfortable. Push your edges. Do the scary thing.Anita disagrees. Or at least, she thinks we have the order backwards.“Get into your comfort zone before you try to get out of your comfort zone.”Find the process that works. Master it. Do it well enough that the results are consistent, that clients are satisfied, that you feel the flow of it. Then you can expand from there.Mastery first. Then iteration. Not the other way around.The challenge she wants to leave you with.Stop trying to do a million things.Stop trying to escape your comfort zone when you haven’t really found it yet.“There is a flow that happens when you develop a process or a system. It impacts who you say yes to as a client. It impacts your enjoyment. And it also impacts the quality of the output.”Find the thing you do well. Do it consistently. Let the momentum build.That’s the whole game.Closing ReflectionAnita just wants to see creative entrepreneurs profit from their genius.That’s the thing underneath all of it. The frameworks, the VIP Days, the nine to twelve month process. The years of figuring out her own comfort zone before she could help others find theirs.She’s watched too many talented people write good books that never found their readers. Or never got written at all.If you’ve been sitting on a book idea for three years, or five, or eight, this episode is the nudge.You don’t have to figure it out alone. You just have to go first.How long have you been sitting on your book idea? Drop it in the comments.

What if the thing that makes you feel like an outsider is actually your greatest business asset?Danielle Anderson figured that out after 15 years as a paralegal.She didn’t have an English degree. She’d never worked at a big New York publishing house. She wasn’t an agent with industry connections. But she had something else: a way of combining structure with soul that authors desperately needed.In this conversation, Danielle, founder of Ink Worthy Books and creator of the Soulful Nonfiction framework, talks about building a business that honors both the creative process and the human being behind the book.HighlightsLaw school taught her how stories work.Before Danielle was helping authors craft their books, she was crafting legal arguments.The skills translated perfectly: the research, the structure, and building a case that moves people from point A to point B. The only difference was the outcome she was fighting for.“What drew me to law wasn’t just the structure — it was the writing.”That legal background didn’t disappear when she pivoted. It became the foundation for how she helps authors organize their ideas, strengthen their arguments, and build books that actually work.She said yes before she knew how.Danielle’s first real publishing client was a yoga instructor writing about recovering from an eating disorder.Did Danielle know exactly how to guide someone through that process? Not really. But she knew something more important: how to show up with care and figure it out together.“If you have a strong enough connection with somebody, you trust them enough to do things because you know they’re going to work as hard as they can to make something happen.”That willingness to lean into connection over credentials became her business model. And it works because authors need someone who believes in their story as much as they need expertise.Soulful nonfiction is structure with heart.Danielle coined the term “soulful nonfiction” for a reason.Too many business books feel soulless. Too many personal development books lack structure. She helps authors find the sweet spot between both.“It’s really bringing like that structure in with the creativity and the flow and allowing for that to be really supportive.”Her authors don’t have to choose between being vulnerable and being clear. They get to be both.She builds business around real life.Danielle is refreshingly honest about the gap between business advice and actual life.Most entrepreneurship content assumes you have unlimited time, energy, and resources. Danielle had to build differently.“I got four kids. I’ve got a mortgage payment. Like I got to do this my way.”That constraint helped her relate with clients who also have real lives, real responsibilities, and real limits on their time. She gets it in a way that matters.Free calls build the right relationships.While other coaches are optimizing funnels, Danielle is offering free Zoom calls.It sounds counterintuitive. But it works because book coaching is deeply personal work. People need to feel the fit before they commit.“I think there is so much value in truly leading with your heart and like truly leading with such an openness and an authentic energy.”Those calls help her convert the right clients. The ones who are ready to do the work and trust the process.Your weird path is your competitive advantage.Danielle’s unconventional background could have been a liability.Instead, it became exactly what set her apart. She brings legal thinking to creative work. She combines structure with intuition. She understands both the business side and the human side of publishing.“There’s absolute value in going out there and if you don’t know what you’re doing, finding a guide or a mentor or someone to help you find your way. But I always reserve a little bit of discernment to say, does this feel right for me?”That discernment of knowing when to follow advice and when to trust your gut is what turns an unconventional path into an unbeatable advantage.Closing ReflectionDanielle Anderson is proof that you don’t need the “right” background to build something meaningful.You need the willingness to show up authentically, the courage to combine your unique skills in new ways, and the patience to build relationships that matter.Bonus Challenge from Danielle:Write a post sharing why you do what you do and a specific moment when things shifted for you. Make it vulnerable. Don’t worry about grammar or typos. “I want you to tap into the fact that this is probably going to feel a little vulnerable. I really want you to allow space for that.”

What if the genre you dismissed as too dark was actually the most honest thing you could read?Lee Murray has spent twenty years writing horror from the edge of the world. She’s won five Bram Stoker Awards, a New Zealand Prime Minister Award for Literary Achievement, and a medal from the King.And she’ll be the first to tell you she’s barely making grocery money. That gap between recognition and reward is just one of the things Lee is refreshingly honest about in this conversation.She also talks about what it really means to put yourself in a story, why horror is one of the most grown-up genres out there, and how building community from the bottom of the world changed everything for her.Highlights“Write what you know” means something deeper than you think.Most writers hear that phrase and think about surface-level experience. When she was starting out, Lee did too.She wrote about marathon running because she had run 25 of them. She knew the material. But something was still missing.It wasn’t until she started writing from her identity as an Asian woman in a Western country, about her experience with depression and anxiety, and the tension between cultures she carries every day, that her writing found its real power.“What I think they mean when they say put yourself in this story is you need to write the story that only you can write. You need to write the things that resonate for you, that make you frightened, that make you feel something. You need to put those things into the story.”That kind of vulnerability is harder than craft. And it takes longer to find. But when you do, readers feel it.Horror is the most grown-up genre in the room.There is a particular kind of prejudice that follows horror writers around.People assume it’s B-grade, gratuitous, not serious literature.Lee pushes back on that because horror is where we go to face the things we can’t say out loud: losing control, shame, the unknown. All the parts of the human experience that we aren’t supposed to talk about.“Fear is the most primal feeling. What frightens us, what worries us, what gives us the chills — exploring that is a universal thing because we all are afraid of something. And it drives our behavior.”Monsters, she explains, are almost always metaphors. For trauma. For oppression. For the generational weight we carry without even realizing it. Horror allows us to hold those things up and examine them.Everyone has their own process.Lee describes herself as a slow writer. She does not do vomit drafts. She can’t turn off her editor brain long enough to just get words on the page.For a long time, that felt like a flaw but now she sees it differently.“I tend to kind of have an idea, kind of know where it’s going, and then I kind of write it... I’ll write a sentence and I’ll go back and revise the sentence and then I’ll write the next sentence. That makes me a slow writer. But at the end of the day, I tend to find that I don’t change too much.”She has no stories on the backburner. Nothing is abandoned. Everything she has written has found its place.Find the gap that only you can fill.Lee did not set out to create a niche. She just started writing the stories she wanted to read and could not find anywhere else: horror thrillers set in the New Zealand bush, feminist Asian horror, stories about mental illness.“Sometimes it’s a good idea to look for the gap. Where is the gap that you can fill that only you can tell that story? Your story.”And once she found that space, she did something most people won’t do — she invited others in. She believes you don’t need to protect your niche because there’s more than enough room for everyone.When you bring more writers into the space you helped create, the whole genre grows.Survive and thrive through community.Publishing from New Zealand is difficult because the industry mostly looks the other way. Traditional publishers are largely absent and literary agents are almost nonexistent. Shipping a $12 book to New Zealand costs $35.And yet Lee has built something that spans the globe and she did it by showing up.Through anthologies that built readerships around shared ideas. Through mentorship that she gives and receives. And through joining every writing group she believes in.“If you want something to happen, you need to step up and do it.”That lesson came from her parents, who ran school committees and sports clubs because they wanted to see those things exist. Lee brought the same energy to horror. And horror gave her a tribe in return.Success means something different for everyone.Lee is not a millionaire bestseller, but she also doesn’t aim to be one.Instead she has a community she loves, a genre she is proud of, and a body of work that has earned some of the highest honors in the field.“Once you’ve defined what is successful to you, what would successful look like, then you can step forward and say, how am I going to get there?”That question is worth asking because the answer changes everything. The path to a bestselling series looks nothing like the path to a life built around craft, community, and meaning. There is no “right” path, only the path you choose to take.Closing ReflectionLee Murray reminds us that horror is not a guilty pleasure. It is literature doing serious work in a world that needs it.Her journey shows what happens when a writer stops acting the part and starts putting the real, complicated, vulnerable parts of themselves on the page.If you are an author who writes stories that feel too personal, too niche, or too strange for the mainstream, we want to hear from you.Leave a comment and tell us about your work. You deserve the spotlight too.

How does a daughter’s simple wish become a full creative enterprise?Osayi Lasisi didn’t set out to launch a product line. She set out to find a brown plush doll for her daughter.When that search came up empty, her daughter didn’t just get disappointed and move on. She said, let’s make them ourselves.And that’s where everything started.In this conversation, Osayi shares how Pocketlings was born, what it’s like to co-build a business with a 10-year-old, and the lessons that have emerged from just figuring things out as they go.HighlightsYour idea doesn’t have to be brilliant.Pocketlings didn’t start with a market analysis or a brand strategy.It started with a kid who wanted something she couldn’t find.“She couldn’t find brown plush dolls and she decided she wanted to start selling them.”That’s it. That was the spark.And it’s a good reminder that the ideas closest to our real lives, the ones rooted in genuine need, are often more powerful than the ones we manufacture trying to be clever.Research is a skill.Before anything was ordered or designed, Osayi asked her daughter to do the research: manufacturers, price points, competitors, and profit margins.Not because she needed her daughter to do the work. But because she wanted her to build the skill.“I asked her to research manufacturers and how much it would cost. She would find similar dolls and the pricing and then we’d discuss it.”That’s real-world learning.And it produced real-world results. Her daughter came back with data. They made decisions together. And the business became something they both owned.You can’t learn everything before you start.There’s a version of this story where they spent months researching the perfect doll size before placing any order.They didn’t do that.They started with the size her daughter wanted. And only after shipping real dolls to real customers did they realize a smaller size would have been easier to manage.“There are some things that we understood better after we started.”That sentence says it all.Not everything can be researched in advance. Some knowledge only comes from doing the work.Quitting can be a strategy but it must be intentional.Osayi brought up Seth Godin’s concept of the dip:The hardest moments are often the thing separating the people who figure it out from the ones who walk away before they get the chance.“Quitting is always okay. My only thing is, if you’re going to quit, you want to decide to quit. Not because it’s hard. Because you’ve decided to quit.”Decide with intention. Not with exhaustion.Building in public means learning in public too.One of the unexpected gifts of starting Pocketlings has been the conversations it opened up.Other parents started asking how they could give their kids the same experience. That led Osayi and her daughter to libraries, to workshops, and to community entrepreneurship sessions for kids who want to build something of their own.“We didn’t think we were going to be doing that when we were starting out with just dolls.”That’s how it usually goes.You start one thing and it opens a door to something you never planned for.Closing ReflectionOsayi’s story isn’t just about dolls or books or tween period journals.It’s about what happens when you take a child’s idea seriously.When you let them research, make decisions, deal with real world problems, and experience what it means to build something from nothing.And it started because a girl couldn’t find a doll that looked like her.

What if understanding money was the thing that finally set your creative work free?That’s the quiet truth running through my conversation with Hannah Cole. She’s a tax educator, an artist with over 20 years of experience, and the founder of Sunlight Tax.We talk about why there’s no standard path for creatives, how the story you tell about your worth shapes everything, and why financial literacy might be the most underrated superpower in your business toolkit.HighlightsThere is no standard path. And that’s actually the point.Creative careers don’t come with a rulebook and for a long time, that felt like a disadvantage.But Hannah reframes it completely.“Believing there should be a standard route stifles innovation and self-direction; embracing the openness enables more organic growth and resilience.”When you stop waiting for someone to hand you the map, you start drawing your own. And that map tends to be more honest, more durable, and more you.The story you tell about your work changes everything.Marketing is hard for a lot of creatives. Not because they don’t have something valuable to offer. But because they haven’t fully claimed the value of what they do.Hannah connects this directly to how we price, pitch, and show up.“Valuing your authenticity and the unique perspective you bring makes marketing more genuine and attracts aligned clients.”When you believe in what you bring to the table, you stop underselling and hedging. And you start speaking to the people who actually need what you have.Money is just value wearing a different name.So many creatives carry a complicated relationship with money. It feels awkward to charge and uncomfortable to negotiate. It’s like asking for money means somehow caring less about the art.Hannah flips that story.“By reframing the way we perceive money in relation to our creative work, we begin to see it not as a barrier but as a reflection of the value we provide. This mental shift cultivates confidence and legitimacy, making it easier to set fair prices and negotiate contracts.”Money isn’t the opposite of meaning. It’s what happens when your work matters to someone else enough for them to exchange something for it.Financial literacy is a creative superpower.Most of us weren’t taught this. We got great art education, maybe. But no one sat us down and walked us through estimated taxes, deductions, or what self-employment actually costs.And that gap creates unnecessary stress.“Financial literacy empowers creative professionals to maximize deductions, reduce anxiety, and reinvest in their craft.”The less time you spend in financial fog, the more you can put into the work.Simple systems beat complicated intentions.Hannah is a big advocate of this one. You don’t need a complicated accounting setup. You need something easy enough that you’ll actually do it.“People are more likely to sustain beneficial habits that are effortless to maintain, leading to better long-term financial health.”Things like creating a dedicated account for business expenses or building a habit of tracking can go a long way. Small sustainable things compound into real clarity over time.You don’t have to do this alone.One of the most powerful things Hannah talks about is collective action. The tax laws that have protected artists and creatives didn’t happen by accident. They happened because people organized, showed up, and made noise together.“Building civic engagement and belonging to professional groups magnifies influence and creates systemic change.”Your individual voice matters. But when you join it with others, the impact multiplies in ways that go far beyond your own studio or business.The creative brain is built for entrepreneurship.Hannah makes a case I think a lot of us need to hear.Pattern recognition, lateral thinking, and standing out in a crowded room all make us good artists and writers. And those same skills can make for a remarkable entrepreneur.“Recognizing their own superpowers can help artists and creators craft authentic, compelling brands and find underserved markets.”You’ve been business skills your whole life. You just might not have called them that.Closing ReflectionHannah’s work is about more than tax tips.It’s about helping creatives step into the full picture of what they’ve built. To stop treating money like a foreign language and start seeing it as part of the creative practice itself.Because when you understand the financial side of your work, you protect it. You grow it. You give it staying power.If you’re a creative entrepreneur figuring out the money side of your work, leave a comment and tell us where you’re at. Because this conversation is worth continuing.

What if the stories you grew up with weren’t just entertainment… but training?Dr. Bailey Lang didn’t become a book coach and editor by accident.Her path moves from hyperlexic child… to marketing professional… to PhD… to founder of The Writing Desk. And when you zoom out, none of it is random. Every season sharpened how she sees story, structure, mindset, and the humans behind the pages.In this conversation, Bailey and I talk about creative writing beyond fiction, the realities of academia, the power of marginalized voices, and why standing out has less to do with tactics and more to do with telling the truth about who you are.HighlightsCreativity processes are personal and they evolveSo many writers assume there is one correct way to be creative.One correct routine.One correct drafting method.One correct productivity system.And when their process doesn’t look like someone else’s, they assume they’re doing it wrong.Bailey gently dismantles that myth.“People kind of assume there’s one right way to do it. And that is where people get stuck. The same thing is true with our creative processes, right? The actual practice of showing up to write, I think people often assume, I’m supposed to do it this one specific way, right? And it’s, no, you can do it in infinite ways.”Different seasons of your life require different approaches. Different projects demand different rhythms.When you stop trying to copy someone else’s creative process, you free up energy to actually create.Marginalized voices reveal universal habits of mindOne of my favorite parts of this conversation is when Bailey talks about her dissertation research.She studied women writers outside academic spaces and asked whether the same “habits of mind” celebrated in academia showed up in their reflections on craft.“I was looking specifically at women writers who were not working in academic spaces... And do we see these same habits kind of showing up in how they’re reflecting on their own work... But the answer that I found in my dissertation was more or less, yeah.”This is why diversity is a strength. Different lived experiences expand the creative toolbox for all of us. When we spotlight marginalized voices, we don’t narrow the conversation. We deepen it.Mindset will make or break your progressCraft matters.But mindset is often the real bottleneck.Bailey works as both a coach and an editor, and she sees how the inner critic shows up when revisions land in someone’s inbox.It’s not just about fixing sentences. It’s about facing fear.“Mindset is huge, particularly in coaching engagements, right? So I also do editing. At that point, a lot of mindset stuff is like dealing with how do you make revisions once I give them to you.”Revision isn’t a verdict on your talent. It’s part of the creative loop.If you can separate feedback from identity, you unlock growth.Authenticity Over Visibility TacticsThere’s a difference between being loud and being aligned.A lot of creatives think standing out means reaching more people. Bigger audience. More noise. More reach.Bailey reframes that completely.“Standing out isn’t about broadcasting to a broad audience but about amplifying your unique perspective and personal qualities. Genuine authenticity attracts the right audience organically.”The right people are not found through volume. They’re found through clarity.Value of Authentic Self-RepresentationWe copy because it feels safer.If it worked for them, maybe it will work for me.But that instinct slowly erodes the very thing that makes your work compelling.“Your unique personality, perspective, and vulnerabilities are your strongest branding assets—cloning or copying successful models dilutes genuine appeal.”The more you sound like you, the less competition you actually have.Adaptation Is Essential for SuccessThere is no fixed formula for a creative life.What works this year may not work next year. What worked for one book may not work for the next.“Different seasons of your life, different seasons of the year, different projects, they can all require some adaptation and flexibility.”Flexibility keeps you in motion.Rigidity is what burns people out.The creatives who last are not the ones who find the perfect system.They’re the ones who adjust without abandoning themselves.Community is not optionalThere’s a myth of the solitary genius.Bailey rejects it completely.“Find your people, make a cool thing, and then show it to all of the people that you know who like cool things. It’s great.”That’s it.Community accelerates courage. It also keeps you sane when the work feels heavy.Writing is solitary. A creative life doesn’t have to be.Closing ReflectionBailey’s story isn’t about choosing the perfect path.It’s about noticing where your skills, values, and energy intersect… and building from there.From hyperlexic kid to marketer to PhD to book coach, every chapter informs the next. Nothing is wasted.If you need help building a creative business, writing a book, or trying to find your voice in a crowded world, sign up for a free call and we’ll figure out your best path forward.If you liked this conversation or want to share your own insights. Drop a comment and tell us what you’re building.Your story might be exactly what someone else needs to see.

What if the book you want to write isn’t waiting for the “perfect time” but for a version of you who’s willing to start messy?Jennifer Locke helps people turn ideas into books.Not someday books.Real books that get written in the middle of family life, busy schedules, self-doubt, and the very normal fear of being seen.In this conversation, Jennifer shares what it really looks like to follow through on a writing life, how nonfiction and fiction require completely different muscles, why marketing can’t be an afterthought, and why community might be the thing that keeps you going when motivation disappears.HighlightsMastery comes from consistency, not perfectionJennifer offers one of the simplest, and hardest, truths about writing.You don’t finish a book by waiting for the perfect conditions.You finish it by showing up.“Writing a little each day, even if it’s just 10 minutes, accumulates into a completed book. Consistency outpaces perfectionism in long-term growth.”Ten minutes doesn’t sound impressive.But it’s how books get built.Your unique voice is your greatest differentiatorSo many writers spend years trying to sound like someone else.Jennifer gently pulls you back to what actually matters.The thing that makes your work stand out is you.“Focus on what makes you feel alive and true to yourself, because no one else can replicate your authenticity, making it your most powerful asset.”Your voice is your advantage.Rejections and revisions are part of the jobJennifer doesn’t sugarcoat the creative process.Books don’t come out fully formed.Drafts get rejected and ideas get reshaped.The people who finish don’t avoid setbacks, they learn from them.“My experiences with multiple rejections led to stronger drafts. Setbacks often precede breakthroughs when approached with curiosity and resilience.”Rejection isn’t the end.Sometimes it’s the edit that makes the work better.Marketing should start earlier than you want it toThis is the part writers love to avoid.But Jennifer makes it clear: Marketing isn’t something you add on at the end.It’s something you build alongside the writing.“Identify where you enjoy showing up and dedicate your efforts there, instead of chasing every trend or platform.”You don’t need to be everywhere.You just need to be somewhere that’s enjoyable.The core of a creative business is self-knowledgeJennifer keeps coming back to alignment.The writers who last are the ones who know what matters to them.“Focusing inward, what excites and energizes you, rather than external metrics or comparisons, is the key to long-term differentiation.”Your work grows when it’s rooted in who you actually are.Creativity is meant to feel joyfulRevision doesn’t have to be misery.Writing doesn’t have to be constant pressure.Jennifer reframes the creative process as something that can still be playful even when it’s hard.“Turning edit and revision into playful opportunities for discovery, not solely tasks to be endured, keeps the joy in crafting.”Community makes the writing life possibleJennifer pushes back against the myth of the lone genius writer.Books are personal but writing doesn’t have to be lonely.Feedback, support, and people matter.“Critique groups and collaborative relationships foster resilience and inspire continuous improvement.”Community keeps you going when your brain tells you to quit.Closing ReflectionJennifer Locke reminds us that writing a book is about building trust with your own voice, starting marketing earlier than feels comfortable, and surrounding yourself with people who understand what it means to create something from nothing.If you need help bringing your book to life or balancing your endless to-do list, I want to help. Sign up for a free call where we get all those ideas out of your head and into the world.

What if the thing you thought was pulling you away from writing was actually preparing you for it?Andy Hodges didn’t set out to follow a single creative lane. His path winds through anthropology, academia, fiction editing, and now novel writing, all held together by curiosity and a deep respect for story.In this conversation, Andy and I talk about what it really means to balance structure and freedom in your creative work, why genre expectations matter more than many writers want to admit, and how building a sustainable creative life often requires letting go of the paths that once felt “safe.”This episode is for writers who love the craft, feel pulled in multiple directions, and are trying to figure out how to make creativity fit into real life, not an idealized version of it.HighlightsCreative freedom is intentionalAndy speaks candidly about choosing creative work because because it felt necessary. Writing fiction became a way to reclaim time and energy for the work that made him feel most alive.“I just thought, well, you only live once. And I really, really want to spend some of the time that I have on this Earth doing this kind of creative work, like writing a novel, writing short stories, learning the craft of all of that.”Genre tropes aren’t creative limitsAndy breaks down why understanding genre expectations isn’t selling out, it’s showing respect for your audience. Readers come to a book with emotional expectations, and ignoring that can break trust fast.“There’s expected tropes when you’re writing for certain genres, especially, like you said, the mystery and the romance and people are expecting what they expect and that’s the reason they picked it and that’s reason that they like it.”You can still surprise readers. Just don’t surprise them by giving them the wrong book.There is no single “right” way to writeAndy pushes back hard on the idea that writers need to follow one approved process. His early fiction work was intuitive, unpolished, and deeply influenced by everyday life, and that wasn’t a weakness. It was the point.“There’s no one right or wrong way of doing things. I think it’s important to lean into your intuition and do things in a way that just sits right with you.”The goal isn’t to copy someone else’s system. It’s to build one that actually fits how your brain works.Sustainability protects your creative workAndy is clear that balancing editing, consulting, and writing wasn’t about diluting his passion. It was about protecting it. Financial stability gave his fiction room to grow instead of forcing it to perform.“My route into that in a way that was sustainable for me was to strike a balance between doing this sort of academic editing and consulting work and the fiction stuff. The fiction stuff is the stuff I’m really passionate about.”Originality comes from combination, not inventionAndy reminds us that no story exists in a vacuum. Every book is both familiar and new, shaped by what the writer loves, reads, and notices.“Every new novel is not a completely novel invention. It’s very familiar in some way and it’s new in some way.”Building an audience is about ownership, not platformsAfter stepping away from social media, Andy refocused on what he could actually control. His takeaway is simple but powerful: your book doesn’t stand alone. It lives inside a bigger ecosystem.“Your book is not just a book by itself, but it’s part of a wider platform that you cultivate.”“Loads of people actually do make a decent living, not from the book by itself, but from the kind of ecosystem that they have linked to their book.”Closing reflectionAndy’s journey is a reminder that creative careers are rarely neat or linear. They’re built through experimentation, financial recalibration, uncomfortable transitions, and a willingness to learn new skills without abandoning your core interests.Whether you’re navigating publishing paths, trying to balance creativity with stability, or questioning how much structure you really need, I’m here to help you on your journey.Sign up for a free consultation to see how we can build a better path creative path forward together.

What if the thing you’ve been taught to ignore is actually the thing guiding you?In this episode, I talked with Julia Carmen, a curandera, spiritual healer, and founder of the School Without Walls. Julia has spent her life walking between the physical and non-physical worlds. Seeing, sensing, listening. Not as a party trick, but as a way of being.Julia talks about presence, self-worth, grief, choice, and the courage it takes to listen to your soul in a very loud world.Walking Between WorldsJulia was born into a lineage of healers. Seeing spirits, hearing guides, sensing the unseen wasn’t something she learned. It was always there.“I don’t know what it feels like not to see things.”But walking in both the spiritual and physical worlds came with real challenges. Confusion. Fear. Being misunderstood. Learning how to stay grounded while holding what most people can’t see.Actionable Insight:You don’t need to escape the human experience to be spiritual. Take a moment that is especially chaotic and ground yourself.Bonus:Today, pause once. Put your feet on the floor and notice where you are.The Container of Unconditional LoveAt the heart of Julia’s work is one idea: the container of unconditional love.Just hold space for yourself and for others.This is the foundation of the School Without Walls, where learning happens through relationship, soul care, and deep listening rather than rigid systems.Actionable Insight:Growth requires a container. Ask yourself where you feel safe enough to tell the truth.Bonus:Identify one relationship or space where you can show up without performing.Intuition vs. the Soul SelfOne of my favorite moments in this conversation is when Julia separates intuition from the soul self.Intuition, she says, is human.The soul self is eternal.Your brain matters. Logic matters. But so does the quiet voice underneath all of it.“Shhh. Be still. Get quiet.”That’s where clarity lives.Actionable Insight:Stop asking for louder signs. Start listening more carefully.Bonus:Before making one decision this week, sit in silence for two minutes.Self-Worth, Creativity, and ValueToward the end of the conversation, Julia drops something creatives especially need to hear.Your work has value.Your presence has value.You don’t need to give yourself away to be worthy.Self-worth is quiet. Steady. Rooted.Actionable Insight:Stop underpricing your energy, time, or creativity.Bonus:Ask yourself where you’re overgiving to earn belonging.Key TakeawaysBeing present is a spiritual practiceYou can walk both worlds and still be humanHealing requires unconditional loveIntuition is human, the soul self is eternalGrief can deepen, not derail, your growthSelf-worth is something you practice dailyYour creative work deserves respect and careClosing ReflectionJulia didn’t set out to build a brand. She chose herself over and over again.If you’re a creative or writer who knows there’s more in you, but you’ve been second-guessing your voice, your value, or whether your work even “fits” anywhere… you’re not broken. You just need the right container.That’s where I come in.I help authors and creatives get clear on their message, build visibility in a way that actually feels like them, and turn their work into something sustainable.If you’re ready to stop circling the same questions and start moving with intention, let’s talk. You can book a free, low-pressure clarity call at The Standout Creatives.

What if writing the story you’re afraid to tell is the exactly what your readers have been waiting for?Leigh Carron, author of Fat Girl and other body positive romance novels, didn’t set out to follow trends, chase algorithms, or fit neatly into what the publishing world expects. She set out to tell her truth. And in doing so, she’s built stories centered on body diversity, biracial identity, desire, and authenticity, even when it felt risky or uncomfortable.In this conversation, Leigh opens up about choosing self-publishing, navigating imposter syndrome, writing spicy romance that centers fat and marginalized bodies, and learning how to market without losing herself in the process.HighlightsDiversity in writing as lived experienceFor Leigh, diversity is personal. Her stories are shaped by who she is and who her readers are, and she writes with the intention of reflecting real bodies and real identities on the page.“I write spicy, diverse, body positive romance. That’s sort of my niche, my brand, and I love doing that, bringing body diversity and racial diversity to my stories. I want them to reflect me and the people that read my books.”Empowerment through characters who take up spaceLeigh is intentional about who gets centered in her stories. Her characters aren’t there to support someone else’s arc. They get to be seen, desired, and fully human.“I want to show fat characters being loved on, being desired, feeling good about themselves, not being the side characters in stories, but being their own leads.”Choosing the indie path without a roadmapTraditional publishing wasn’t the only option, and Leigh chose to take the leap without having everything figured out. What mattered more was resonance and momentum.“I decided I’ll just venture out into this wild world of indie publishing. And I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, but… it sort of resonated.”Marketing as an ongoing experimentMarketing isn’t something you master once and move on from. Leigh talks honestly about the trial-and-error nature of showing up, learning, and staying curious without burning out.“You have to be your own marketer and you have to figure that out... I’m still learning those things. Why do some posts hit? Why do some books resonate and others don’t?”Writing authentically even when it feels riskyChasing trends might feel safer, but Leigh chose alignment instead. That decision comes with risk, but it also comes with clarity.“I have stayed true to what I want to tell and haven’t followed what’s popular in tropes, and I know that can also be a risk.”Writing through cultural and racial identityLeigh shares how early experiences shaped her understanding of identity and belonging, and how those experiences continue to influence her storytelling today.“I learned very quickly that being biracial was not a good thing then. Like that was not something to be proud of. That was something to be worried about and to fear what people would think.”Balancing creativity with real lifeWriting doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Leigh balances her creative work with a demanding professional career, and some days are harder than others.“It’s a challenge some days, especially because I’m a change management consultant. So I work with companies in helping them kind of reframe their culture.”Reader connection over perfectionNot every conversation has to end in agreement. For Leigh, the value comes from connection, curiosity, and dialogue.“I love the reader interaction, even if we’re not on the same page with things, just learning and having that conversation, I think, is great.”Advice that leaves room for both art and strategyLeigh encourages writers to stay grounded in their creative vision while still acknowledging the realities of publishing and marketing.“Write the story that you want to tell and make that your focus. That’s not to say you shouldn’t be mindful of the marketing and all of those pieces.”Authenticity is what lastsAt the core of everything, Leigh believes readers respond to honesty more than polish.“It comes down to authenticity, of being true to yourself. I think that’s what people will see. That’s what will resonate, that authenticity that people can relate to.”Closing reflectionLeigh’s story shows us that our most resonate work comes from honesty. We just need to trust our voice and keep writing, even when it feels vulnerable.If you’re an author navigating visibility, representation, or the pressure to do things the “right” way, this conversation is for you.You might be sitting on a story that the world has been waiting to hear, so let’s share it.If that sounds like you, leave a comment about your journey in the comments.

What if the thing you’ve been trying hide is actually the reason people remember you?Rachel Lee is a brand stylist and designer who built her business by doing the opposite of what she thought “serious” creatives were supposed to do. From growing up as an imaginative art kid to hiding parts of herself in traditional design roles, Rachel spent years trying to fit in before realizing that belonging to herself mattered more. In this conversation, she shares what happened when she quit a stable job, stopped performing professionalism, and let her real personality lead, cat ears and all.From Art Kid to Self-TrustRachel’s story starts the way many creative stories do: curiosity, imagination, and a slow drift away from those instincts in order to be accepted. The farther she moved from herself, the harder it became to feel fulfilled.“I spent so long thinking that fitting in was the safer option, but over time I realized it was costing me way more than it was giving me.”That realization didn’t arrive all at once. It came through frustration, burnout, and the quiet feeling that something was off.Actionable Insight: Pay attention to where your work feels heavier than it should.Bonus: Name one part of yourself you’ve been muting to feel more legitimate.Choosing Alignment Over SafetyRachel left a steady job because she refused to keep living out of alignment. She talks openly about fear, family expectations, and learning business without a roadmap. “Walking away from something stable was terrifying, but staying would’ve meant ignoring the part of me that knew this wasn’t it.”Actionable Insight: You don’t need certainty to move forward, just clarity on what you’re done carrying.Bonus: Identify one small step toward work that feels more like you.Personal Branding That Feels HumanFor Rachel, personal branding stopped being about aesthetics the moment she stopped pretending. Her brand worked when she did.“Personal branding isn’t about looking polished or put together. It’s about letting people see who you actually are when you’re not performing.”The cat ears weren’t a tactic. They were a signal. And people remembered her because she felt real. Actionable Insight: Make your brand feel like you. Bonus: Ask yourself where you’re trying to sound like someone else.Attracting the Right People by Being ClearWhen Rachel showed up as herself, the right clients leaned in and the wrong ones drifted away. “The moment I stopped trying to appeal to everyone was the moment the right people started finding me.” That clarity made everything simpler.Actionable Insight: You’re allowed to be specific, even if it means being less universal.Bonus: Remove one message from your site or bio that feels watered down.Staying Human in a Noisy WorldAs Rachel moves into content creation, her focus stays the same. Connection over polish. Practice over perfection. “With everything becoming faster and more automated, the thing people are craving most is something that feels human.”Let yourself evolve without abandoning who you are.Actionable Insight: Growth comes from repetition, not reinvention.Bonus: Show up once this week without overthinking the outcome.Key Takeaways Fitting in costs more than it gives. Your quirks are signals. Personal branding starts with self-trust. Art and business don’t have to compete. Standing out begins with letting yourself be seen.Closing ReflectionRachel didn't want to fit in. She wanted to be memorable by telling the truth. Remember, the people you’re meant to reach are looking for you, not a generic version of you.If you want support marketing your book or creative business that showcases the real you, I’m here to help. Sign up for a free consultation at TheStandoutCreatives.com.Let’s amplify your work in a way that is fun for you.

What if the story you’ve been holding onto is the one someone else has been waiting to hear?Marc Cordon and I had a great conversation about the upcoming Book Summit. It will be a creative space built for writers, not-yet-writers, and anyone who feels a tug to put their story into the world. If you’ve ever felt like your experiences aren’t “big enough,” or you’re nervous about sharing something personal, this conversation might shift something for you.We talk about why storytelling is such a powerful form of liberation, how writing in community can dissolve fear, and why personal stories, especially the ones about transition, liminality, and rebirth, resonate universally. We also dig into the anthology we’re creating together, the therapeutic nature of writing, and the collaborative energy that makes this summit feel different from anything else.This episode is an invitation to stop waiting for permission and start exploring the story that’s already living inside you.If you are interested in coming to the Book Summit. It is this Saturday December 13th at 1pm ET. You can read all about it here.HighlightsStories are a form of freedomWriting isn’t just an art. It’s a way to reclaim your voice.“Books, storytelling… that’s the new form of freedom and liberation.”Everyone is a storyteller (even if you don’t believe it yet)You don’t need a title to begin. You only need curiosity.“Everybody is a writer and a storyteller.”Community makes your writing strongerWhen you share in a circle, something shifts in you and in the people listening.“The fact that we can all hear and experience these stories together is what really makes it powerful.”Feedback forms connectionWhen people lean in to your story, you can feel it.“It’s really cool to see people at the edge of their seats leaning forward when it comes to you and your story.”Specific stories create universal resonanceThe more personal you get, the more people see themselves in your words.“The more specific you are… the more people will say, I see myself in your story.”Creation is a transformationSomething magical happens when you start with nothing and end with something only you could have made.“There’s an ebullience that happens when you leave with something you created.”Closing ReflectionIf you’ve been telling yourself you’re not a writer… consider this your gentle interruption.You don’t need a polished story.You don’t need a plan.You just need a spark. And if you’re feeling that nudge, the Book Summit and the Story Circle are the places to explore it. These spaces are designed to help you uncover your voice, shape your story, and feel supported every step of the way.If you’re curious about writing a book someday… come.If you want to share a personal story but don’t know where to start… come.If you want community, feedback, and a little creative courage… come.You don’t have to do this alone.Let’s see what unfolds when you step into a room where your story is already welcome.LinksBook SummitMarc Cordon

What if the thing that makes you feel “different” in business is actually the thing that makes you magnetic?In this special conversation, I sit down with Aicila from the Business as Unusual, where we talked about what it’s like to build a business as an introvert. If you’ve ever felt drained by networking, overwhelmed by visibility, or unsure how to show up without feeling fake… this one will feel like a deep exhale.We talk about what it really means to be an introverted creative in a world that wants you to be “on” all the time. The pressure. The awkwardness. The energy dips. But also the parts we don’t talk about enough: the power of authenticity, the ease that comes from true connection, and how collaboration can actually give introverts energy when it’s rooted in trust.This episode is an invitation to stop forcing yourself into strategies that don’t fit, and to start building your creative business in a way that feels like you.HighlightsYou’re not broken — you’re wired differently, and that’s a strengthMany creatives are introverts, and the business world wasn’t built with you in mind.“Creatives are often introverts.” — AicilaAuthenticity makes networking tolerable — even enjoyableWhen you stop performing, conversations get easier.“Authenticity leads to genuine connections.” — AicilaRelationships matter more than the transactionNetworking isn’t a sales funnel — it’s a human one.“Networking isn't just about sales.” — KevinEnergy awareness is a form of self-trustYou get to honor your limits without apologizing for them.“Energy management is crucial.” — AicilaCollaboration doesn’t have to drain youWhen you’re with the right people, co-creation feels nourishing.“Co-creation fulfills introverts.” — AicilaYour lived experience is your creative advantageAI can help, but it can’t replace your perspective.“AI lacks the human touch.” — KevinAuthenticity lands because it’s humanWhen you show up as yourself, your work resonates more deeply.“Presence enhances creative impact.” — KevinReal success is built on reciprocityPositive, generous relationships carry you further than any strategy.“Positive relationships drive success.” — KevinClosing ReflectionIf you’ve ever felt like you had to push, perform, or “be more extroverted” to succeed… this conversation is your permission slip to stop.You just need to learn how you work best and build from there.If you want support creating a book or creative business that honors your energy, I'm here to help. Sign up for a free consultation at TheStandoutCreatives.com. Let’s build something that feels true to you.

What if growing your business didn’t require grinding harder, but actually slowing down, tending to your nervous system, and building something that feels human and sustainable?Heidi Weiland is a holistic business coach and strategist who went from burned-out freelance web designer to someone helping entrepreneurs blend smart strategy with real self-care. Her work sits at the intersection of nervous system support, authentic marketing, and human-centered business. In this episode, she shares the turning points, hard lessons, and gentle reminders that helped her rebuild her business from the inside out.From Burnout to Real BalanceHeidi’s story starts where so many creative businesses hit a wall: doing everything, being everything, and pretending it’s fine until it isn’t. Burnout pushed her into yoga, deep self-care, and eventually a whole new way of supporting clients.“I got to a point where I was just so burned out. I didn’t know what to do with myself.”Try this: Check in with your body before you check in with your to-do list.Bonus: List three tasks draining your energy right now. What can be paused, delegated, or simplified?Human-Centered Business Isn’t OptionalFor Heidi, business work is human work. Your energy, your nervous system, your values are all the foundations.“Business should be human-centered. We are the foundation of everything we do.”Try this: Before taking on a new project, ask: Does this support the version of me I’m becoming?Bonus: Rewrite one boundary that needs strengthening in your business.Authenticity as the StrategyOne of my favorite things about Heidi is how simple she makes authenticity feel. It's not a branding exercise or a persona. It's just… you.“I’m me and that’s enough. That’s great, actually.”Try this: Notice a moment today where you filtered yourself. How would it feel to soften that filter?Bonus: Share something real with your audience this week: a story, a lesson, a moment.Blending Smart Strategy with Nervous System SupportHeidi’s approach is part intuitive, part tactical. She’ll talk funnels, then ask what your body is telling you. She’ll map your plan, then help you regulate so you can actually follow through.“Blend strategy with nervous system support.”Try this: Before planning your week, take three deep breaths and let your shoulders drop.Bonus: Choose one strategic task and break it into the smallest next step. Your body will thank you.Energy + Task AlignmentThis is where so many creatives get stuck. You can do the work. But should you?“What is sucking your energy? Are there tasks outside your zone of genius that we can shift?”Try this: Highlight everything in your business: green for energizing, yellow for neutral, red for draining.Bonus: Delegate or delete just one red task this week.Relationships, Referrals, and Being a Real HumanHeidi builds her business the same way she lives her life—through genuine connection.“Referrals are just what I call being in the world.”Try this: Reach out to one person you appreciate in your creative circle.Bonus: Share your work in one community space where you already feel comfortable.Key TakeawaysBurnout is often the doorway to a more honest business.Human-centered business leads to sustainable growth.Authenticity is your greatest marketing strategy.Your nervous system matters as much as your strategy.Alignment comes from knowing what energizes you.Relationships build stronger businesses than algorithms ever will.Ready to Grow Your Business Without Burning Out?Heidi’s journey is such a good reminder that you don’t have to choose between success and self-care. You can build something meaningful, aligned, and fully yours without sacrificing your wellbeing.If you’re ready to grow your creative business with more clarity and ease, book a free strategy session at TheStandoutCreatives.com. Let’s make your business feel more like you.

What if finding your creative voice wasn’t about adding more to your plate, but about slowing down, listening inward, and allowing yourself to realign with what feels true?Britta Buchanan is the founder of Aligned and Undefined, where she helps spiritually conscious creatives reconnect with their authentic voice and creative flow. After leaving her career as an elementary school teacher, Britta began guiding others through Human Design and the Akashic Records, helping them align with their soul’s blueprint and create from a place of authenticity and ease.In this episode, Britta shares her journey of transition, transformation, and learning to trust her intuition—plus what it means to see creativity not just as something you do, but as a way of being.The Power of Transition and TransformationBritta talks about leaving behind a career that no longer fit and stepping into entrepreneurship with an open heart. For her, it wasn’t a sudden leap—it was a series of small, honest realizations.“I always knew it wasn’t going to be a lifelong thing for me.”Try this: Reflect on an area of your life or business that feels like it’s shifting. What truth are you ready to admit to yourself?Bonus idea: Write down one small step that would bring you closer to what feels more aligned.Creativity as a Way of BeingBritta believes creativity isn’t limited to art—it’s how we think, connect, and move through life.“Creativity is a way of being, it’s a way of thinking.”Try this: Approach your next decision or conversation like an act of creation. What’s possible if you treat it as a canvas?Bonus idea: Start a short daily ritual—five minutes to sketch, write, or simply imagine freely.Aligning with Your Soul’s BlueprintUsing Human Design and the Akashic Records, Britta helps people understand who they are at their core.“Human Design is really great for that, but so are the records.”Try this: Look up your Human Design type or journal about what alignment feels like in your body.Bonus idea: When something feels off, pause and ask, “What would feel lighter right now?”Living with AuthenticityAt the heart of Britta’s work is the belief that when you show up as yourself, you naturally attract what—and who—is meant for you.“When you show up as you, you attract the people that are for you.”Try this: Notice moments where you filter yourself out of fear. What would it look like to speak or create from full authenticity instead?Bonus idea: Reach out to someone who sees the real you and thank them for holding that space.Quick RecapChange starts with honesty and self-trust.Creativity isn’t something you do—it’s something you are.Alignment begins when you listen to your own energy.Authenticity attracts the right people and opportunities.Ready to Explore Your Own Alignment?Britta shows that your creative path doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. You just need to come home to yourself and create from there.If you’re ready to take your own creative business to the next level—without losing yourself along the way—book a free strategy session with me.Let’s make your next chapter feel aligned, grounded, and uniquely yours.

What if the secret to impactful design isn’t talent or aesthetics, but responsibility to your community, the planet, and the people you’re building for?As the co-founder of Reny, a certified B Corp agency, Ben Rennie has built his career around using design as a force for impact. The agency now works with global brands like Patagonia, Google, and Nike. But that wasn’t the starting line. Ben started as a self-taught designer, shaping his craft over time while developing a worldview anchored in responsibility, sustainability, and community.From Grassroots to Global ReachWhat began as a personal practice turned into a studio and eventually, a full-scale agency operating on a global level. Reny didn’t grow because it chased trends. It grew because it stayed grounded in purpose, credibility, and long-term thinking.Ben learned early on that visibility matters but alignment matters more. The work had to stand for something.“Design should make you feel something or change something.”Actionable Insight: Start with a clear vision, but be willing to evolve. Consistency over time is what creates traction in creative businesses.Bonus: Spend 10 minutes today identifying one small creative habit you can repeat weekly. Pick something so simple you can’t avoid doing it.Creative Control as a Business StrategyA big part of Reny’s staying power comes from creative autonomy. Instead of relying on outside permission or gatekeepers, Ben built the platform around ownership: of ideas, of impact, and of the process itself.That choice wasn’t just aesthetic. It was strategic.“Design isn’t just about things that look good. It’s about the impact they make.”When you control the work, you control the integrity.Actionable Insight: Identify one area of your creative process where you can step into full ownership even if it makes you uncomfortable.Bonus: Look up one independent designer or creative studio you admire and note how they control their platform.Building a Brand People NoticeWork this intentional doesn’t spread by accident. Rennie put in the reps through strategic marketing, community-building, positioning, storytelling, and showing up where the right audience gathers.Actionable Insight: Commit to being visible. Start small: post, publish, share, and see what resonates.Bonus: Engage with at least 5 people in your audience this week. Not “posting at them” but actually interacting with them.Balancing Work While Building the VisionNone of this happened overnight. There were years where the agency grew in the margins — nights, early mornings, pockets of time between responsibilities. Creative entrepreneurship is a long game, and Ben understood that early.“It’s a long-ass marathon, not a sprint.”That mindset of patience + forward motion became their competitive advantage.Actionable Insight: Block out a small, consistent window of creation each week. Bonus: Use a single 20–30 minute session to plan your one creative priority for the week.What Ben’s Journey Teaches UsPassion might start the work, but persistence finishes it.Design is both a craft and a lever for change.Creative control requires boundaries and leadership.Brand recognition is earned through consistency and clarity.Growth comes from being visible, not waiting to be discovered.Bringing It All TogetherBen didn’t wait for permission. He built his own lane — project by project, conversation by conversation, collaboration by collaboration. His story is proof that you don’t have to jump early to land big. You just have to stay committed long enough for your work to matter.Want help growing your own creative business?If you’ve been sitting on an idea: a creative project, a business, a new direction, but don't know where to start, I'm offering a free strategy session to help get you on track.Just sign up at TheStandoutCreative.com

What if standing out means showing up fully and not shouting the loudest?Felicia Iyamu’s creative journey has taken her from architecture and economics to Google, burnout, and back into the arms of poetry. Along the way, she’s been reflecting, writing, and reimagining what it means to live and work with purpose.Her latest work, Poetry in Eden, explores identity, healing, and the unseen forces shaping our lives. In this episode, we talk about creativity, burnout, self-publishing, marketing, and what it really takes to share your work with the world in a way that feels true to you.From Burnout to BreakthroughFelicia didn’t set out to be a poet. She started in architecture. Fell in love with economics. Landed at Google. Then hit a wall.Her doctor in Germany told her to stop working immediately. Burnout, officially recognized as a medical issue, forced her to pause.That moment cracked something open. And was followed by a deep return to creativity guided by questions of identity, culture, and healing.Try this: Revisit a creative idea you set aside. What if it’s ready now?Bonus idea: Share that idea with a friend or write down a tiny first step you could take today.Making Art Personal and ProfessionalPoetry isn’t just a passion project for Felicia. It’s her career.She walks us through the steps, and surprises, of self-publishing, why she’s eyeing traditional publishing next, and how she thinks about the business side of creativity.She’s not just writing for herself. She’s building work that connects personal insight with universal ideas. Felicia also talks about marketing with intention, community, and without waiting to be discovered.Try this: What’s one thing you could do this week to share your creative work more boldly?Bonus idea: Make a list of 3 people you could reach out to about your creative project—collaboration, feedback, or just a cheerleader.The Power of Saying YesAt the end of our chat, Felicia shares a challenge: say yes to invitations for two weeks. Not just social invites but creative ones too.Because the unexpected paths often bring you back to yourself.Try this: Say yes to something today you’d usually overthink.Bonus idea: Keep a little ‘yes journal’ and track what you said yes to and what happened because of it.Quick RecapBurnout can be the beginning of something new.Your creative work can hold personal meaning and professional ambition.Marketing = connection, not cringe.Saying yes opens doors you didn’t see before.You don’t need to wait for a perfect moment to begin.Want to Bring Your Creative Work Into the Spotlight?Felicia’s reminds us that your voice matters and there’s room for all of it.If you’re building a creative business and ready to stand out (without selling out), let’s chat.Book a free strategy session at TheStandoutCreatives.comSpots are limited, so grab yours while they’re open.Let’s make your creativity impossible to ignore.

You ever get that gut feeling to do something wild — the kind that makes zero sense on paper but just feels right?That’s how this Substack Live with Heather Vickery started.Heather’s a Joy Warrior: coach, retreat host, and professional permission-giver for anyone tired of living by other people’s rules. We talked about what it means to lead with joy, why curating your circle matters, and how trusting your gut can lead you places your brain never would’ve approved of.It was a great conversation even with the tech hiccup in the middle.Finding Clarity in Creative SpacesWe dove into the power of community and collaboration. Heather calls it the “collective mind” — drawing on the energy and ideas of others can spark some of your most innovative work.But we did agreed that having too many ideas without a filter can be overwhelming. Boundaries aren’t just nice to have. They’re essential for clarity and focus.Heather: “I take intentional pauses to reflect on what truly serves me.”Me: And I realized that I do the same thing, but in a different way — sifting through inspiration, holding onto the ideas that really line up with my goals, and letting the rest fall away.Try this: Notice one idea or opportunity you’ve been juggling. Which one actually lights you up? Which feels like busywork?Bonus idea: Give yourself permission to drop the rest, even temporarily. Creativity isn’t a sprint.Vulnerability, Leadership, and Showing UpOne thread that kept coming up was vulnerability and how stepping away from the need to always “lead” opens space for listening, growth, and deeper connection.Heather and I talked about the energy shift that happens when you let go of perfection, or the pressure to have all the answers:“Joy isn’t a reward at the end of the journey,” Heather reminded me. “It’s the fuel that gets you there.”I shared my own experiences with creative retreats and live conversations — feeling energized, humbled, and reminded that showing up authentically often leads to the richest insights.Try this: Reflect on one area where you feel pressured to perform or lead. How could leaning into vulnerability actually make the experience richer?Bonus idea: Take a small action this week that’s just for the joy of it, without any expectation.Embracing Uncertainty and Rule-BreakingWe also explored the “messy middle” — the uncertainty that comes with growth, creativity, and breaking rules that no longer serve you.Whether it’s stepping into a new project, a retreat, or just saying yes to curiosity, Heather reminded me that growth often lives in that uncomfortable space.“Just because you can do it all doesn’t mean you should do it all.” Try this: Look at one area where you’re following a rule just because “that’s how it’s done.” What would happen if you rewrote it for yourself?Bonus idea: Journal about what your ideal day, project, or connection would look like if you removed the pressure to perform.Listen InThis Substack Live was full of gentle nudges:Joy is your compass.Connection is a creative practice.Boundaries and reflection are part of the process.Trusting your gut and embracing uncertainty can spark your best ideas.So whether you’re navigating your own creative projects, curating your circle, or just figuring out how to live with more ease, Heather and I unpacked ideas that remind us to start with joy, trust the process, and lean into what energizes us.Closing ReflectionWhat would shift if you let joy lead the way instead of waiting for it?If that resonates, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Drop a comment, share a reflection, or just sit with the question for a moment. If you want to explore how leading with joy and authenticity could shape your life or work, I’ve got a few spots open. Book a free session and we can unpack what’s waiting on the other side of the “rules”.

I’m switching things up. No more intro or outros.Just straight into the good stuff — the conversations.Because honestly? The production side was slowing me down.And I’ve got too many amazing people to talk to.This new format means:Faster episode releases.More creative stories.Easier to share on YouTube.Over the summer, I’ve been deep in three big projects:Moving to Costa Rica — adjusting to new rhythms and finding inspiration in everyday life.The Creativity Summit — bringing together creative minds from around the world.The Global Zine Project — a beautiful collaboration with artists everywhere.I’ll be sharing conversations with some of the folks behind those projects soon.Plus, I’ve started a new series called Standout Authors Unbound — interviewing 100 authors through Substack Lives and written Q&amp;As. It’s all about spotlighting writers whose voices deserve to be heard.And somewhere in between it all, I’ve been thinking…Maybe my move story wants to become something more — a book, a play, a TV script? Who knows.So yeah — things are changing.More curiosity, more conversations, and way more creativity.

What if your next event didn’t have to feel overwhelming? What if it could actually be aligned, intentional—and even profitable?Heather Black is here to show you how.She’s the founder of Phoenix Collaborations and has spent 25 years in the event world, helping solopreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits turn events and speaking gigs into meaningful, money-making opportunities.In this episode, Heather shares her signature S.O.P. method for event planning, breaks down what it really takes to host events that work, and gives practical advice for those of us who are already feeling maxed out. If you’ve ever wanted to share your message on a bigger stage—but the logistics have held you back—this is your starting point.From Chaos to ClarityHeather knows how easy it is to get lost in the weeds of event planning. With so many moving parts, it's no wonder people give up before they even start. But she believes events don’t have to be chaotic. With a clear strategy and a plan that fits your goals, events can become a major part of your business growth.“Event planning is easy if you give yourself the right runway. But if you try to take a Boeing 747 off on a runway for a Cessna 180, it will not be pretty.”Try this: Map out what a successful event looks like for you—what would you want people to walk away with?Bonus idea: Write down your biggest fear about hosting or speaking. Then write a plan to work around it.The S.O.P. MethodHeather’s signature approach helps mission-driven entrepreneurs move from idea to action using three key steps:Strategic – Align the event with your goals and create a clear plan.Organized – Use checklists and timelines so you know exactly what to do and when.Profitable – Make sure it’s actually worth your time and energy by tracking expenses and revenue.Try this: Think of your next event idea. What would make it feel more doable?Bonus idea: Break it into phases—planning, promotion, delivery—and focus on just one at a time.The Power of 1:ManyWhether it’s hosting your own event or speaking on someone else’s stage, Heather is a big believer in the power of connecting with many people at once. It’s a visibility tool, a trust-builder, and a major income generator when done well.“When it comes to being a speaker, I kind of break the speaking engagement down into three phases: the spark phase, the flame phase, and the ember phase.”Try this: Make a list of 3 topics you’d love to speak about. These can turn into workshops, talks, or even content for an event.Bonus idea: Reach out to one podcast, community, or group you’d love to speak to. Just start the conversation.Why Events (Still) MatterIn a world where we’re all glued to screens, events offer something different—connection, presence, and real-time transformation. But it doesn’t have to be fancy. Heather reminds us that even small, focused gatherings can make a huge impact.“Just be your authentic, fun self, whatever that looks like. Don’t get in that box that says we have to do it this way.”Try this: Think small. What’s one micro-event you could host—online or off?Bonus idea: Invite 3–5 people to a mini workshop or Q&amp;A. Keep it simple, and focus on connection.Quick Recap:Events don’t have to be overwhelming when they’re aligned with your goals.Strategy, organization, and profitability are the keys to making events work.The power of 1:Many helps you expand your reach without burning out.Small, focused events can have a big impact.A clear plan beats a big production every time.You don’t need to do it all—you just need to do what matters.Ready to Bring Your Event Idea to Life?Heather’s story is a reminder that events and speaking don’t have to feel stressful or out of reach. With the right support, they can be the thing that unlocks the next level of your business.If you’re ready to get clear, organized, and actually follow through on that event or speaking idea—let’s talk.Book a free strategy session at TheStandoutCreatives.com.We’ll figure out where to start and how to make it feel like you.

What if your next creative breakthrough doesn't come from doing more, but from doing what truly matters?In this episode, I’m talking directly to you—the creative soul who sometimes wondersAm I on the right path? Or worse, Am I behind? Spoiler alert: you’re exactly where you need to be.We’ll explore what it means to create intentionally, how to stop spinning your wheels, and how to start steering toward the life and work you actually want. I share my own turning point—the moment I realized moving to Costa Rica wasn’t just a random whim but a signal to step into who I really want to be.This isn’t about vague “woo-woo” stuff (although I'm into that too). It’s about practical, purposeful action. If you have a creative dream quietly tugging at you, this episode is for you.Why Intentionality MattersNot all busy work is progress. I break down how to spot what’s worth your time and energy, and why you have to align your actions with your values. Becoming Who You Want to BeIt’s less about checking off tasks — although there's plenty of that —and more about evolving your identity. I also talk about how tiny shifts in what you do daily connect to your bigger vision.Reading the SignalsThat recurring idea or dream isn’t random. It’s your creative compass. I share how I recognized my own signal and used it to navigate my real-life move.Taking Action Without OverwhelmI’ll walk you through how to lean into your calling without burning out, plus some mindset shifts to help you move forward.You’re Not AloneCreative work can feel lonely, but it doesn’t have to be. I touch on the power of community and support along the journey.Try this:Reflect: What’s the one creative idea or dream that keeps coming back to you? Could it be a signal to act?Shift: What’s one small action you can take this week that aligns with who you want to become?Reach out: Need a sounding board? I’m here. Book a free strategy session or send me a DM on Instagram.Your creative journey is uniquely yours. But with intention and a little support, it can be the most fulfilling thing you ever do.Resources MentionedInstagram: @standoutcreativebusinessSubstack: standoutcreativebusiness.substack.comCoaching &amp; brainstorming sessions: standoutcreativebusiness.com

Today is my 40th birthday so I wanted to do something a little different.I started thinking about what I’m grateful for, so I wanted to bring back the idea of my gratitude journal to celebrate.Here are 40 things I’m deeply grateful for, broken down into themes that matter the most to me.Personal Relationships This is where everything starts.My wife, Anita — she’s my favorite person, a creative sounding board, and my biggest cheerleader.My dog, Pookie — he never lets me down, is a master of napping, and the cutest thing you’ll ever see.My family — laid the foundation for my growth and let me dream about weird, wonderful, things.My Friends — people who’ve cheered me on, created with me, and cared about me.Creative business friends who just get it — it’s a special kind of magic when people speak the same language.'Jeff Wirth, Matt Moeller, Lauren Morris — for introducing me to improv, and creating amazing spaces to explore creative storytelling.All my collaborators — whether we made a zine, recorded a podcast, or just worked on fun creative projects. And a special shoutout to Marc Cordon, my Creativity Parties partner in crime.The Central Florida Fruit Society — for turning me into someone who geeks out about pineapples and permaculture.Jacques Ho and Stephanie Graham — Amazing accountability partners, wildly creative humans, and even better friends.Creative Work &amp; ExpressionThe stuff that lights me up from the inside.My podcast — and everyone who’s tuned in, shared it, or sat down to record. Your creativity inspires me.Captivate + Riverside — two platforms that make it possible to connect with people from across the world.My Substack — and the beautiful weirdos who read along, reply, and remind me why I write in the first place.That spark when an idea turns real — from random scribbles to something I can share with the world.Helping other creatives launch — it’s such a gift to help someone spread their joy and creativity with the world.Discovering new ideas on the fly — some of my best breakthroughs didn’t come from thinking harder, just from thinking out loud.Past-me, who quit but never gave up — even when things got hard, you still kept the spark alive.My notebooks — half-thoughts, doodles, dreams, and reminders that messy is magic.Vision &amp; Life GoalsZooming out a bit and get a bird’s eye view.This slow-building path to Costa Rica — for teaching me how to follow a dream step by step.The idea of mountain life — simpler, slower, closer to the Earth and living among the plants.Creating a life driven by curiosity, not just productivity — this one’s a work in progress, but it feels good.Freedom to try things — even if they don’t "make sense" on paper.Designing a business that feels like me — something real. Not some copy and paste formula like everyone else.Non-hustle income streams — because I love creative work, but I don’t want to live in burnout mode anymore.Tools, Tech &amp; Tiny MiraclesA love letter to the behind-the-scenes magic.The internet — for letting me meet people who change my life without leaving my desk.Notion and ChatGPT — my digital brains that keep track of everything.Zoom — for all the deep, soul-filling chats that happened in tiny boxes.Podcasts — as a medium, an art form, and the great equalizer in media.TidyCal — the unsung sidekick that makes creative connections happen on time.Spotify playlists — music that holds my focus, lifts my moods, and fills the blank spaces.Learning &amp; GrowthBecause learning doesn’t end when you finish school. It’s a lifelong pursuit.30. Valuing the power of “I don’t know yet” — I follow curiosity wherever it leads me.Finding strength in my quiet voice — because louder doesn't always mean right.Embracing depth over expansion — go deeper instead of wider with your ideas and exploration.Seeing failure as a rough draft — failure is a step in the process, not the end.Not needing to prove myself — creation itself is often its own reward. Don’t let others tell you otherwise.Celebrating creativity’s quirks — every medium can be a canvas to explore. Let’s have fun with it.Geeking out on marketing — it’s really about the art of connection. Don’t sweat it so much.Recognizing rest as a strategy — rest is essential fuel for the creative mind.The Little Joys in LifeTiny things and big feelings.Every delicious thing I’ve eaten recently — I could write a second list just about food.That first sip of coffee in the morning — it’s still one of the greatest joys in life.And you — yes you, reading this right now. Thanks for being part of this journey.That’s all 40. I could keep going because gratitude has no end.But I’ll try to remember this list when things get tough. It’ll remind me why I do what I do.Thanks for sticking with me. I’m grateful you’re along this ride with me.What would be on YOUR gratitude list?I'd love to hear about the people, moments, or tiny miracles that light you up. Drop a comment or send me a message. Let's celebrate what matters!Thanks for reading Standout Creative Business for Authors! This post is public so feel free to share it.

What if the key to unlocking your creativity as a writer wasn't about perfection, but about embracing the messy process, taking risks, and finding support along the way?Cynthia Morris is a writer, artist, and certified coach who has spent over two decades helping creatives finally get their ideas out of their heads and onto the page. As the founder of Original Impulse, she's guided countless writers to focus, follow through, and finish their books without burning out.In this episode, Cynthia talks about how to stay committed to your writing, why accountability is key, how to handle rejection without losing your spark, and what it really takes to finish your book.The Vulnerability of WritingCynthia talks openly about the vulnerability involved in writing. She believes that writing requires a deep level of self-expression, and sometimes, the best stories come from embracing our imperfections. "Writing is an act of generosity," she says. It’s about sharing your story with others, even when it feels scary.Try this: Write without worrying about how it will turn out. Just let the words flow.Bonus idea: Reflect on a moment where you felt vulnerable in your own work. What did you learn from it?The Role of Accountability in WritingWhen it comes to staying on track with your writing projects, accountability is a game-changer. Cynthia shares how having the right support system, whether through coaching or writing groups, has helped her stay focused and motivated. "You can’t do anything alone," she says, underscoring the importance of collaboration in the creative process.Try this: Find someone to check in with on your writing goals. Whether it’s a coach or a fellow writer, accountability helps you stay committed.Bonus idea: Join a writing group or community where you can share your progress and get feedback.Embracing Rejection and Building ConfidenceRejection is a part of every creative’s journey, and Cynthia opens up about how it has shaped her growth. You have to try and lot of things and be unafraid of rejection. "You never know what’s going to happen," she says, because big risks can lead to big rewards.Try this: Reframe rejection as part of the learning process. What can you take from each "no"?Bonus idea: Make a list of past rejections that later led to something better. You might be surprised by what you uncover.The Art of Writing a NovelCynthia’s journey to writing her first novel, Chasing Sylvia Beach, took 12 years and 17 drafts. But for her, it was more than just the end product. It was about the growth that happened along the way. "Writing a book is quite the thing," Cynthia says. It’s a slow, humbling process that requires patience, persistence, and a willingness to fail.Try this: Break your writing into smaller tasks. What’s one scene or chapter you can focus on today?Bonus idea: Set a timer for 15 minutes and write freely, without editing. Let go of perfection.Marketing Your Book: A Continuous JourneyWriting a book is one thing. Getting it out into the world? That’s a whole other challenge. Cynthia talks about the importance of ongoing marketing efforts, and how it’s not just about pushing your book at launch time. "Marketing is an ongoing effort," she says. It’s about building relationships and staying consistent over time.Try this: Think about how you can build relationships with your readers. What’s one new way you could engage with your audience?Bonus idea: Write a blog post, share an insight, or connect with readers on social media. Start building your community today.Success Stories and the Generosity of WritingThrough her coaching work, Cynthia has seen firsthand how embracing vulnerability and authenticity in writing leads to profound transformations. "Writing is an act of generosity," she says. It’s about sharing your truth with others, and in the process, you can help someone else find theirs.Try this: Think about a story you’ve always wanted to share. What’s stopping you from writing it?Bonus idea: Reach out to someone who has inspired you through their writing. Let them know how their work has impacted you.Quick Recap:Writing is about embracing vulnerability and imperfection.Accountability helps you stay committed to your creative projects.Rejection is part of the journey, and it can lead to unexpected opportunities.Writing is a slow, humbling process, but it’s worth every step.Marketing your book is a long-term commitment, not just a one-time push.Writing is an act of generosity that can transform both the writer and the reader.Ready to Unleash Your Creativity?Cynthia’s story is a reminder that every creative journey is different, but it’s also filled with opportunities for growth and self-expression. If you’re ready to take your writing, and your creative business, to the next level, I’d love to help.Book a free strategy session at TheStandoutCreatives.com. Let’s dive into your creative journey and make it even more fulfilling. Spots are limited, so grab yours while they’re open.

What if success as a creative wasn’t about being the best—but just showing up, experimenting, and giving yourself permission to start messy?Bob Baker didn’t start out with a perfect plan or a polished resume. He was a former musician and “non-traditional” marketer who slowly found his groove by helping creatives find confidence, consistency, and clarity—without needing to go viral or wait for permission.This episode originally aired on Cracking Creativity back in 2017, but the wisdom still hits today. Especially if you're feeling behind, overwhelmed, or unsure how your creativity fits into your life (or business) right now.From Self-Doubt to Self-PublishedBob didn’t wait to feel ready—he just got started. One book turned into several. One small action led to a creative career helping artists, writers, and performers believe in their work and get it out into the world.“You don’t have to wait for someone to choose you. You can choose yourself.”This convo is a reminder that you don’t need a giant audience or fancy credentials. You just need to care enough to keep showing up—and to share what you’re learning along the way.Try this: Think of one tiny project you’ve been putting off. Could you take one step toward it today?Bonus idea: What’s one way you could “choose yourself” this week—without waiting for anyone else’s permission?The Real Talk Behind Building a Creative CareerThere’s no one path. Bob talks about how he followed curiosity, stayed consistent, and built a sustainable creative business that’s helped thousands of artists over the years.“I didn’t feel qualified at all. But I kept doing it anyway.”We talk about fear, procrastination, and why so many creatives get stuck in their heads instead of sharing their work. Bob doesn’t sugarcoat it—but he does make it feel doable.Try this: Instead of waiting to feel ready, try doing something before you feel ready.Bonus idea: Write a list of 3 things you have done creatively. Let that momentum fuel your next step.How to Stay Consistent Without Burning OutSpoiler: it’s not about grinding harder. It’s about making your creative practice feel like a natural, enjoyable part of your life—not a chore.“It’s okay to start small and imperfect. The key is to keep going.”Bob shares how he approaches writing, marketing, and showing up online in a way that feels aligned—not exhausting. Perfect if you’ve been spinning your wheels or stuck in perfectionism mode.Try this: Set a 10-minute timer and do something creative—without pressure, expectations, or goals.Bonus idea: Let yourself be a beginner again. Pick something you’ve never tried and just play.Quick RecapYou don’t need to be an expert to get started.Sharing your creativity can open unexpected doors.Small steps lead to big changes—especially when you stay consistent.Permission doesn’t come from outside. It comes from you.Ready to Start Messy and Make Progress Anyway?Bob’s story is proof that you don’t have to have it all figured out. Just take the next small step.If you're ready to stop overthinking and start sharing your creative work with more ease, let’s talk.Book a free strategy session at TheStandoutCreatives.comSpots are limited—grab yours while they’re open.Let’s get you moving again.

What if the key to reigniting your creativity wasn't just talent, but embracing fear, experimentation, and community?Steven Light, known as SLART, walked away from art for two decades. A single blog post reignited his passion, sparking a journey of artistic self-discovery, personal branding, and creative business growth.Now, he's sharing the lessons he's learned about self-publishing, collaboration, and balancing art with commerce while navigating social anxiety and the ever-evolving role of technology in creativity.From Creative Hiatus to Artistic RevivalAfter 20 years away from art, SLART found his way back through an unexpected spark of inspiration. His journey proves that creativity never truly disappears it just waits for the right moment to resurface."I just bought some pen and ink from Amazon." A simple act that reopened the door to artistic expression and self-discovery.That return to creativity wasn't just about making art again. It was about finding new ways to navigate the challenges of an art career mentorship, community, and financial sustainability.Actionable Insight: Creativity is always there. If you've stepped away, find a small action today to reignite it.Bonus: Set aside 15 minutes to explore an old passion without judgment.The Art of Balancing Creativity and CommerceMaking art is one thing. Making a living from it? That's a whole different challenge. SLART has wrestled with the tension between creative expression and financial stability, finding ways to sustain his work without compromising his vision."It's a real internal struggle." Every artist faces the push-and-pull of passion vs. profitability.The solution? Diversifying income streams, building an engaged audience, and treating art like a business without losing the love for it.Actionable Insight: Think beyond galleries explore self-publishing, commissions, or digital products as income streams.Bonus: Identify one new way to monetize your art without sacrificing creativity.The Power of Mentorship and CommunitySuccess in the creative world doesn't happen in isolation. SLART credits much of his growth to mentorship and surrounding himself with like-minded artists."We're not alone as artists."By seeking guidance and supporting others, artists can build momentum, stay motivated, and expand their opportunities. Whether through formal mentorship or organic connections, having a creative community makes the journey more fulfilling.Actionable Insight: Reach out to one fellow artist today whether for advice, collaboration, or just to connect.Bonus: Join an online or local artist community to surround yourself with creative energy.Experimentation, Technology &amp; The Role of AI in ArtAI is shaking up the creative world. Some fear it, some embrace it but SLART believes it's just another tool in an artist's arsenal."There's no rules in art."The key? Use technology to enhance your creative process rather than replace it. Experiment, adapt, and stay ahead of the curve."We need to embrace AI."Whether it's automation, digital tools, or new ways of reaching audiences, technology can empower artists rather than hinder them.Actionable Insight: Try a new creative tool or technique this week whether AI-powered or not.Bonus: Research an artist who's successfully integrated technology into their work.Key TakeawaysCreativity never dies it just waits for the right spark.Balancing art and commerce is possible with the right mindset.Community and mentorship make the artist's journey easier.Technology is a tool use it to your advantage.Putting your work out there opens unexpected doors.Ready to Take Your Art to the Next Level?SLART's journey proves that artistic growth isn't about waiting for the perfect moment it's about taking action, experimenting, and embracing the process.If you're looking for ways to grow your creative business and build a sustainable art career, start today.Want help navigating your own creative path? Book a free strategy session at TheStandoutCreatives.com.Spots are limited, so grab yours before they fill up!

What if the secret to success in book design isn’t just talent, but community, intention, and breaking through industry barriers?Dominique Jones is a senior designer at Dutton Penguin Random House and president of Blk + Brwn Book Designers. She turned her passion for graphic design into a powerful movement of representation in the publishing industry.In this episode, Dominique shares her creative journey, showing how she turned a passion into a mission. She takes us behind the scenes of book design, unpacking the challenges of representation, the power of community, and the art of visual storytelling.From Passion to PurposeSince Dominique was a child, she had a passion for books and book cover design. But once she was in the industry, she wasn’t satisfied with her own success. She wanted to help other designers of color get into the industry too.Through Blk + Brwn Book Designers she was able to create a space for designers of color in an industry that’s often closed off to them. She built something bigger than herself and something that’s reshaping the landscape of book design.Actionable Insight: Your creative passion can be a pathway to meaningful change. Start by looking for opportunities to make space for others in your field.Bonus: Spend 10 minutes today researching communities that support diverse creative professionals. The right community can change everything.Building a Creative CommunityDominique didn’t just succeed on her own. She created Blk + Brwn Book Designers, a group that goes far beyond basic networking. It’s about building genuine relationships that open doors for designers who might not have access to traditional resources."We all love graphic design and books," she says. This group isn’t just a space for advice. It’s a home for creatives seeking mentorship and support. It’s about connection, not just business.Actionable Insight: Community is your greatest asset. Look for groups that align with your values and creative goals. Real connections are everything.Bonus: Reach out to one person in your creative field this week for a meaningful conversation. You never know where a single connection can lead.The Realities of Creative CareersDominique’s journey shows that creative success isn’t just about raw talent. It’s about resilience. Feedback, rest, and continual growth are crucial elements that helped her along the way."Taking breaks is important," she shares. "It helps my brain get a rest."From internships to the professional world, Dominique’s story is a reminder that creative careers are about learning, adapting, and, most importantly, staying energized.Actionable Insight: Embrace feedback as a tool for growth. Use criticism to fuel improvement, not discourage you.Bonus: Create a simple system for collecting and processing constructive feedback in your creative work. It can be a game-changer for growth.Designing with PurposeDominique’s design philosophy goes beyond making things “look good.” It’s about understanding the deeper meaning behind every project. Storytelling, representation, and crafting experiences that resonate with people are all important elements of good design.Her approach shows that great design doesn’t just communicate. It connects. It’s about creating something that leaves a lasting impact.Actionable Insight: Your creative work is more than just a product. It’s a form of communication. Bring more intention to your next project.Bonus: Challenge yourself to add a layer of intentionality to your next creative project. How can you make it more meaningful?Key TakeawaysCommunity can transform individual potential.Taking breaks = creative renewal.Diversity in design matters. Representation is everything.Being intentional drives creative success.Turning Your Creative Vision into RealityDominique didn’t wait for permission. She built her path, one design at a time. Her success isn’t about luck. It’s about persistence, community, and staying true to her vision.If you’ve been feeling stuck or wondering how to make your mark in the creative world, this is your sign to start.Want help growing your creative career? Let’s talk.Book a free strategy session at TheStandoutCreatives.com. Spots are limited, so grab yours before they fill up!

What if your biggest creative block isn't talent, opportunity, or resources, but the fear of being fully seen?Brian Perry's journey is a testament to transformation, moving from struggling with depression and feeling like an outsider to becoming a communication coach, singer, and songwriter. Through his music and coaching, he's found a way to bridge creativity and personal growth, while helping others do the same.His path wasn't linear. Critical moments, personal setbacks, and the constant tension between art and business shaped a powerful philosophy:"The value of creating is its own unreasonable reward."Brian now shares the hard-earned lessons that helped him find his true voice and how you can embrace yours.Creativity as a Sacred SpaceFor Brian, music was more than a hobby; it was a lifeline. It provided a way to process emotions, connect with others, and build the foundation of his coaching practice."I just picked up a guitar and started writing songs.""It was like going home."This act of creation became more than self-expression; it transformed into a tool for service, helping others find clarity and meaning in their own stories.Actionable Insight: Treat creativity as a sacred space, not just a means to an end. Protect your creative time without the pressure of monetization.Bonus: Spend 10 minutes journaling about why you create. What draws you to your art?Creativity, Courage, and Finding Your True VoiceBrian believes the most impactful creativity emerges from a place of truth. The more personal the work, the more universal it becomes."Authenticity is being you unabashedly, unapologetically."By embracing his unique path, including neurodiversity, he discovered that discomfort is part of the process. Creativity is about navigating uncertainty and reframing setbacks as integral parts of the journey.Actionable Insight: Instead of trying to fit into an existing mold, lean into what makes you different. That's your greatest asset.Bonus: Identify one aspect of your creative process that feels uniquely you and amplify it.Balancing Art and Business Without Losing Your SoulThe intersection of creativity and business is complex. Many artists fear selling their work might compromise their integrity.Brian's perspective? Stop trying to sell. Focus on serving.When creating with the intent to serve, marketing becomes about connection rather than pushing a product.Actionable Insight: Shift your mindset from selling to serving. Who benefits from your work? How can you show up for them?Bonus: Write down three ways your creative work has positively impacted someone else.Creating Space for Quiet ReflectionIn a noisy world, Brian emphasizes the importance of stillness. Your deepest yearnings are directing you toward your greatest joys, but only if you take the time to listen."Create room for quiet. Our deepest yearnings are guiding us."In moments of uncertainty, instead of forcing answers, allow yourself the space to hear them.Actionable Insight: Make space for creative silence. Whether it's meditation, long walks, or simply stepping away from distractions, quiet moments allow your best ideas to emerge.Bonus: Try a "silent session"—30 minutes of intentional quiet before diving into your creative work.Key TakeawaysCreativity should be nurtured, not pressured to generate income.Courage and self-expression lead to deeper connections.Your unique path is your greatest asset—embrace it.Serve through your art instead of focusing on selling.Create space for quiet reflection to strengthen your creative voice.Step Into Your Creative TruthBrian Perry's journey proves that courage, self-expression, and service can transform not just your art but your entire life. If you've been wrestling with self-doubt or feeling lost in your creative journey, this is your reminder:Your story matters. Your voice matters. And the world needs what you have to offer.Ready to take the next step? Book a free strategy session at TheStandoutCreatives.com and unlock your creative potential.The world is waiting for what only you can create.

What if the secret to building a successful multimedia company wasn’t just talent, but persistence and collaborative storytelling?Armani Salado and Eric Martinez started Forbidden Origins as a childhood passion project. Through sci-fi storytelling, collaboration, and strategic brand-building, they transformed it into a growing multimedia company spanning books, comics, and potential animated adaptations of The Old Universe.But success didn’t happen overnight. Years of indie publishing, creative entrepreneurship, and relentless dedication—while juggling full-time jobs—taught them invaluable lessons about creative control, audience growth, and turning passion into a business.Now, they’re sharing the wins, struggles, and key insights that helped them build Forbidden Origins from the ground up.From Passion Project to Growing BusinessWhat started as two friends creating stories has turned into a full-fledged multimedia venture. Their first book series, The Old Universe, explores themes of father-son relationships while setting the foundation for an expanding storytelling universe.At one point, they realized they had so much content. Then they went viral for the first time and thought, "Let’s just see what happens!"That moment wasn’t luck—it was the result of years of creative work, strategic marketing, and a willingness to take risks.Actionable Insight: Start with a clear vision but stay adaptable. Consistency over time builds momentum in creative businesses.Bonus: Spend 10 minutes today identifying a small, consistent habit that can push your creative project forward.The Power of Creative Control in Indie PublishingBy choosing self-publishing, they maintained complete creative control over their stories and business decisions. They built their own platform, ensuring that contributing writers receive 100% of their royalties while fostering a collaborative creative environment."Those writers get paid 100% for their work." They’ve made it a priority to create an “official look” while keeping full ownership of the creative process.Actionable Insight: Creative control means more responsibility. Identify one area where you can take full ownership of your creative work.Bonus: Research an indie creator who successfully built their audience through strategic engagement.Building a Brand &amp; Expanding an AudienceSuccess isn’t just about creating—it’s about getting seen. Through targeted social media strategies, understanding algorithms, and consistent engagement, Forbidden Origins steadily grew its fanbase."Brand recognition is key!" It takes strategy and investment—"You got to spend money to make money!"That investment—whether in marketing, design, or community-building—helped them gain visibility and traction.Actionable Insight: Your audience won’t find you unless you put yourself out there. Post consistently and track what resonates.Bonus: Set a goal to engage with 10 potential audience members this week across different platforms.Balancing Day Jobs and Passion ProjectsTurning a creative dream into a sustainable business requires sacrifice. The team behind Forbidden Origins juggles full-time jobs while dedicating every spare moment to growing their vision, proving that creative entrepreneurship is a long-term game."It’s a long-ass marathon, not a sprint." Building something meaningful takes time and certain sacrifices.From late nights to reinvesting earnings back into the business, success is built on delayed gratification and long-term vision.Actionable Insight: Don’t let a busy schedule kill your creative momentum. Block out dedicated time each week to focus on your project.Bonus: Try the "Sunday Night Strategy Session"—spend 30 minutes planning your creative priorities for the week ahead.Key Takeaways"Everything has to be intentional!""You have to think like a business!"Passion fuels creativity, but persistence builds success.Indie publishing provides freedom and creative control.Brand recognition requires consistent, intentional effort.Social media and community engagement are crucial for growth.Creative projects demand sacrifice and business-minded thinking.Turn Your Creative Vision into RealityArmani and Eric didn’t wait for permission—they built their own path, one story at a time. Their success wasn’t about luck; it was about taking action, learning as they went, and staying committed to their vision. If you’ve been sitting on an idea, wondering how to turn it into something bigger, this is your sign to start.Want help growing your own creative business? Book a free strategy session at TheStandoutCreatives.com. 📌 Spots are limited, so grab yours before they fill up!

What if the secret to unlocking your best creative work wasn’t more discipline but more play? Melissa Dinwiddie started her creative journey as a calligrapher and ketubah artist. But she didn’t stop there. By following her curiosity and embracing play, she unlocked new creative paths that she never saw coming. Now, as a corporate creativity consultant, she helps others break free from perfectionism and create with confidence.With years of experience in creativity training, Melissa helps individuals and teams rediscover the power of play to overcome perfectionism, spark innovation, and build a sustainable creative practice.Rediscovering Play in CreativityAfter a 15-year creative hiatus, Melissa reignited her artistic spark while planning her wedding. She realized that creativity thrives in a playful, low-pressure environment.Actionable Insight: If perfectionism is holding you back, set aside time for low-stakes creative play. Focus on the process, not the outcome.Bonus: Work on a five-minute improvisational exercise today. Try something like doodling, free-writing, or playing with a new artistic medium.Creative Confidence in Corporate SpacesMelissa didn’t just reclaim her creativity. She built a business around helping others do the same. She now works with corporate teams to integrate play, improvisation, and communication techniques to build an environment for innovation.Actionable Insight: Creativity isn’t just for artists. Identify one way you can introduce more curiosity or experimentation into your daily work.Bonus: Research one company known for its creativity and innovation. What strategies do they use that you could apply in your own practice?Overcoming Perfectionism &amp; Creative BlocksWhen confronting a blank slate, making a mark, any mark, can be the hardest step. Melissa’s philosophy, The Creative Sandbox Way, encourages exploration over perfection. This method helps creatives and professionals alike break free from creative paralysis.Actionable Insight: Set up a dedicated “sacred creative time” each week where the goal is to create without judgment or expectation.Bonus: Make a list of your top three creative roadblocks and brainstorm one playful way to challenge each one.The Intersection of Art, Business &amp; Self-ExpressionMelissa’s work bridges the gap between art and business. She's proven that creative expression can be personally fulfilling AND professionally valuable. Whether you’re an artist, entrepreneur, or corporate leader, embracing your unique strengths is the key to standing out.Actionable Insight: What creative strengths do you overlook because they come easily to you? Leverage them instead of dismissing them.Bonus: Write down one way you can turn a perceived weakness into a creative advantage.Key Takeaways:✅ Play is essential for sustained creativity.✅ Perfectionism kills innovation. Embrace exploration instead.✅ Creativity is a business asset, not just a personal practice.✅ Willpower isn’t the answer. Structured play is.✅ Your unique strengths are what make your work stand out.Transform Your Creative Barriers into BreakthroughsAs Melissa reminds us, the journey to uncovering your creative power is through play, curiosity, and the courage to defy perfectionism. Want to transform your creative blocks into stepping stones. Visit TheStandoutCreatives.com to book your free strategy session.📌 I keep these sessions limited so I can give each person my full attention—so don’t wait too long!

What does it take to stand out as a creative in a rapidly evolving digital world? For filmmaker and creative entrepreneur Kenny Tjay, success has come from constant experimentation, embracing technology, and treating creativity like a business. From his early days in wedding photography to building a digital media brand, Kenny has navigated industry shifts with adaptability and strategic thinking.In this episode, we dive into the intersection of creativity, AI, and the mindset shift needed to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.Finding the Right Creative PathHow do you know when it’s time to make a change in your creative career? For Kenny, shifting from photography to video production in 2013 was a game-changer. By leveraging Yelp for advertising, he built a thriving business and discovered the power of strategic marketing.Actionable Insight: If you’re feeling stuck, experiment with a new creative format or platform and see how it feels.Bonus: Identify one area of your creative work that you want to change and outline three small steps to test it.Use AI to Increase EfficiencyAI is reshaping the creative industry by enhancing efficiency and idea generation. But it also raises questions about originality, sustainability, and the future of creative work. Kenny shares how AI has transformed his workflow and why creatives must learn to work with technology, not against it.Actionable Insight: Identify one AI tool that could streamline your creative process and test it for a week.Bonus: Research the energy impact of AI tools in your industry and explore ways to balance efficiency with sustainability.Standing Out in a Crowded MarketWhat separates thriving creatives from those struggling to get noticed? Quality, presentation, and strategy. Kenny emphasizes the importance of professionalism in your work. Whether it's your website, portfolio, or client interactions, small details can make a huge difference in perception.Actionable Insight: Look at all elements of your online presence (website, social media, portfolio). Does it communicate professionalism and clarity?Bonus: Find three standout creatives in your field and analyze what makes their branding and presentation exceptional.Creativity as a Strategic Business ApproachKenny’s biggest lesson? Creativity alone isn’t enough. Success comes from understanding marketing, pricing, and building relationships. You also need to stop treating your work as a hobby and approach it like a real business.Actionable Insight: Shift your mindset from "I make art" to "I run a creative business." What’s one habit you can change to reflect that shift?Bonus: Write a one-sentence statement defining what your creative business offers and who it helps.Key Takeaways:✅ Experimentation creates new opportunities✅ Learn how to use AI wisely✅ Professional presentation sets you apart✅ Success requires a business mindset✅ Adaptability is key to long-term growthBuild a Thriving Creative BusinessWant to stand out, adapt to the evolving creative landscape, and turn your creativity into a sustainable business? Book a free strategy session at TheStandoutCreatives.com to take the next step.📌 I keep these sessions limited so I can give each person my full attention—so don’t wait too long!

Feeling unseen? Struggling to stand out without burning out? You’re not alone.In this episode, I’m sharing The Standout Creatives Manifesto—a call to artists, writers, and indie creators who refuse to follow the crowd. This isn’t just a poem. It’s a rallying cry.Listen in and if it sparks a fire in you, let's connect. Explore Creativity Parties, tune into The Standout Creatives Podcast, and all my projects at StandoutCreativeBusiness.com.You don’t have to do this out alone. Let’s build something that stands out—together.

What transforms a creative passion into a sustainable career? For surface pattern designer Lizzie Clark, the journey started with a love for collage and evolved into a thriving business in licensing and textile design. With years of experience navigating the creative industry, Lizzie has built a business that blends artistry with strategy—proving that with the right approach, creativity can be both fulfilling and financially sustainable.From Passion to Profit: Making Art Work for YouWhen does hobby art become a viable business? For Lizzie, the breakthrough came by reimagining her collage work as repeating patterns, ultimately finding her niche in surface pattern design.Actionable Insight: Look at your current creative work through an entrepreneurial lens. Could your existing art live in multiple formats or markets?Bonus: Research three brands or retailers that license artwork similar to your style and explore their submission guidelines.Find Creative Freedom Through DiversificationBuilding a sustainable creative career isn't just about creating multiple income streams—it's about creative autonomy. Lizzie has strategically built her career by exploring various artistic opportunities and revenue channels.Actionable Insight: Brainstorm potential ways to sell your creative work. What unexplored avenues might complement your current practice?Bonus: Identify one new revenue stream (such as licensing, teaching, or collaborations) and outline three steps to start testing it.Overcome Creative Blocks &amp; BurnoutCreative roadblocks are universal. Lizzie’s approach involves strategic disengagement, seeking inspiration in unexpected places, and maintaining artistic flexibility.Actionable Insight: Recognize when you need a creative reset. Design personal strategies for reconnection and inspiration.Bonus: Create a "creativity restoration" toolkit with five things that help you recharge—whether it’s a playlist, nature walks, or a different artistic medium.How to Navigate Copyright, Art Theft, and AIOur digital world is changing rapidly so it's essential to understand intellectual property. Lizzie shares pragmatic insights about protecting her creative work in a complex and evolving landscape.Actionable Insight: Proactively research and implement digital protection strategies for your work.Bonus: Learn about one legal tool (like watermarks or copyright registration) that can help protect your art.Align Your Art &amp; Business with PurposeUnderstanding what motivates you creatively provides a lot of clarity. Lizzie emphasizes aligning your business practices with your artistic values.Actionable Insight: Talk about the deeper purpose behind your creative practice.Bonus: Write a one-sentence mission statement that captures why you create and share it with your audience.Key Takeaways:✅ Creative careers evolve through adaptability✅ Diversification enables artistic freedom✅ Strategic breaks prevent creative exhaustion✅ Intellectual property protection is essential✅ Authentic motivation sustains creative workTurn Your Creativity into a Thriving BusinessWant to make your art work for you? Book a free strategy session at TheStandoutCreatives.com to take the next step.📌 Note: I keep these sessions limited so I can give each person my full attention—so don't wait too long!

I'm really excited to take you on a journey into the world of storytelling with someone who understands that great writing isn't just about plot, it's about connection. Meet Douglas Weissman, a travel writer and novelist who's turning personal experiences into compelling stories. But his story? It's not just about writing books. It’s about crafting experiences that stay with readers long after they’ve turned the last page.From Ordinary Moments to Narrative GoldWhat if our most powerful stories are hiding in the moments we overlook? Douglas believes your life is a treasure trove of storytelling potential. From a random conversation with a stranger to a missed train, every moment has the potential to inspire extraordinary stories. Actionable Tip: Start a story collection journal. For the next week, write down one unexpected moment each day. What made it unique? What emotions did it stir?Bonus: Choose one of these moments and write a 500-word scene exploring its emotional core. Don't worry about perfection. Just dive in and see what emerges.Breaking Free from Creative ParalysisMost writers get stuck because they're chasing some mythical "perfect story." Instead of waiting for the right moment, Doug embraces the messy, real, and raw. Your first draft doesn't need to be a masterpiece. It needs to be honest. Actionable Tip: Set a timer for 20 minutes. Write without stopping, without editing. Let your story spill out onto the page in its most raw form.Bonus: Read your unedited writing out loud. What surprises you? What feels most authentic?Navigating the Small Press LandscapeThe publishing world isn't just about big publishers. Douglas has carved a path through small presses that celebrate unique voices. These publishers aren't looking for cookie-cutter books—they're looking for stories with heart.Actionable Tip: Research three small presses in your genre. What makes them different? How do they support emerging writers?Bonus: Reach out to one small press. Ask a genuine question about their publishing approach. Build a relationship, not just a submission strategy.Writing in the Age of AI: Staying HumanAI can generate text, but it can't generate soul. Douglas sees AI as a tool, not a replacement. Your lived experiences and unique perspective are what make stories shine.Actionable Tip: Use AI for brainstorming, but write your actual story in your voice. Compare the AI-generated ideas with your authentic story.Bonus: Write a scene both with AI and on your own. Which feels more alive?The Vulnerability AdvantageDon't be afraid to share your most vulnerable moments. They're the ones that connect most deeply with readers and make the best stories.Actionable Tip: Write about a moment you've been hesitant to explore. What makes it uncomfortable? What does it reveal?Bonus: Share this writing with a trusted friend and ask for input. Sometimes an outside perspective helps us see our story's true power.Marketing Your Work Without Selling Your SoulDouglas believes in building genuine connections to sell his books. Your marketing should feel like an invitation to connect, not a sales pitch.Actionable Tip: Instead of just sharing links to your book on your newsletter, share your writing journey. What's happening behind the scenes?Bonus: Host a small online writing workshop or class. Give value before asking for anything in return.Key Takeaways:Your life experiences are your greatest storytelling resourceEmbrace imperfection in your writing processSmall presses can be powerful platforms for unique voicesAI is a tool, not a storytelling replacementVulnerability creates the deepest connectionsYour Story Deserves to Be ToldIf you've been holding back in your writing, now's the time to take action. The world needs more stories with heart. Yours could be one of them.Ready to Level Up Your Creative Career?Visit TheStandoutCreatives.com to book your free strategy session.📌 Note: I keep these sessions limited so I can give each person my full attention—so don't wait too long!Recommended Books:Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and On Writing by Stephen King

Meet Russell Nohelty, the self-publishing maverick who's cracked the code to turning creative passion into a sustainable writing career. With nearly a million dollars raised through crowdfunding and a proven track record of breaking through the noise, Russell offers a step-by-step roadmap to help authors transform their writing from a side hustle into a thriving business.Conquer PerfectionismWhy Imperfect Writing Wins Every TimePerfectionism can be a creativity killer. Russell’s game-changing approach? Treat your first draft as raw material, not your masterpiece. Perfectionism becomes your superpower when combined with radical self-compassion and a commitment to continuous improvement.Actionable Tip: This week, aim for messy but meaningful progress: draft 1,000 words in one sitting without editing.Bonus: Pick one chapter you've been stuck on and finish it within the next week, imperfections and all.Build Your CommunityHow to Network Like a ProSelf-publishing doesn’t mean going it alone. Russell emphasizes the power of building a community of fellow writers, beta readers, and a supportive network that amplifies your reach and credibility.Actionable Tip: Join one writing group or online community specific to your genre. Contribute meaningful feedback to at least three other authors this month to build genuine connections.Bonus: Propose a cross-promotion with an author in your niche. Think joint newsletter or shared promotional event.Amplify Your Unique VoiceThe Secret Weapon for Self-Published SuccessIn a sea of endless books, your unique voice is your greatest asset. Whether you write niche sci-fi, unconventional memoirs, or genre-bending fiction, your perspective will attract dedicated readers.Actionable Tip: Identify the three most unique elements of your writing style or story that set you apart in your genre.Bonus: Share a provocative social media post showcasing your unique angle. Invite readers to engage with your story’s world.Monetize Your WritingEarn More While Staying True to Your VisionAuthors have more monetization options than ever before. Russell’s approach focuses on creating multiple revenue streams. Having multiple revenue streams allows you to support your creative vision, not compromise it.Actionable Tip: Audit your existing work. Could you bundle books, offer special editions, or create bonus content for your readers?Bonus: Develop one additional product related to your book: a workbook, online course, or exclusive behind-the-scenes content.Share Your Authentic StoryBuild Reader Trust by Sharing Your JourneyYour most vulnerable stories are often your most powerful. Being transparent about your writing journey can forge deep connections with readers.Actionable Tip: Share one behind-the-scenes moment from your writing process. It can be a challenge, breakthrough, personal struggle, or something similar.Bonus: Create content that showcases your authenticity. Share your inspirations, writing rituals, or the spark behind your story.Key Takeaways:Embrace imperfection as part of the creative process.Build a supportive community around your writing.Leverage your unique voice as a marketing tool.Create multiple revenue streams from your writing.Connect authentically with your readers.Your Career Transformation Starts NowIt’s time to turn your passion into a profession. The world is waiting for your unique voice.Ready to Take the Next Step?Visit The Standout Creatives to book your free one-on-one strategy session today.Note: Don't wait. I limit the number of strategy sessions to ensure I can give my full attention to each person.Links referenced in this episode: Theauthorstack.com Writer MBA Substack

The following is a narrative essay I wrote after my conversation with Bridget Baker.Fitting in was my survival strategy—until I realized it was suffocating my creative potential.In high school, I could morph myself into any group. In college, I went to parties even though I hated big groups of people. As an adult, I put on a "professional" face even when all I want to do is have fun.I thought, If I can just be smooth enough, normal enough, I'll finally belong.Spoiler: It never worked.The Moment of InsightDuring a conversation with my friend Bridget Baker—a former professional dancer turned branding expert—she said something that hit me hard: What if the parts of your story you're afraid to share are actually your greatest creative asset?I've often thought about how to share my moments of failure without people thinking "He has no idea what he's talking about. Why should I listen to him?" But what I realized when talking to Bridget was, we are not our failures. Failures are just a part of our journey. They can make us stronger if we lean into the lessons they are trying to teach us.The Unexpected Power of Your "Too Much"Let's talk about those moments you've labeled as "too much."For me, it was improv. I love improv. It taught me so much about creativity, problem-solving, and staying present. But for the longest time, I kept that part of me under wraps. I worried people wouldn't take me seriously. I thought they'd hear "improviser" and assume, Oh, he's just a guy who makes jokes.Then I said, "Eff it. Who cares if people think it's weird?"When I started sharing lessons I learned from improv, something magical happened. My audience loved it. People who had never done improv said things like, "Wow, I could never do that!" It struck a chord because it wasn't just about improv—it was about creative courage.The Vulnerability AdvantageA few years ago, I was working on multiple projects to help artists market their work. I poured my heart into it—hundreds of blog posts, nearly 100 podcast episodes, hours of connecting with my audience.When I finally offered my services, I was met with crickets. Not a single reply or hint of interest.It was devastating. I had done everything the "experts" said: build trust, provide value, connect authentically. But nothing worked.So, I took a break. I let go of the dream for years, feeling like I had failed.Fast forward to now: I've returned to this work with fresh energy and a deeper understanding of what creatives like you need. And you know what? That failure wasn't the end of my story. It was the middle.Sharing this with you isn't easy. But I've learned that the more open and honest we are, the more deeply we connect with our audience. People lean in when they see themselves in your story.Turning Your Quirks into Your Brand's SuperpowerHere's your challenge:List three ways you're different (not "wrong").Identify one story you've been afraid to tell.Create one offer that reflects your entire, messy journey.The Wild Truth About AuthenticityI used to think being a fan of anime, superheroes, or cartoons made me weird. When I was younger, everyone watched cartoons. But as we got older, I'd hear things like, "Eww, you still watch that?"So I hid those parts of me. I didn't tell people I watched Dragon Ball Z every afternoon. I kept quiet about the mini blogs I built for South Park and Rurouni Kenshin.It wasn't until years later that I realized how mainstream those interests had become. There were conventions, toy shops, and even streaming platforms dedicated to anime.The lesson? It doesn't matter if other people think you're weird. What matters is that the right people get you.What This Means for Your Writing JourneyWith so many distractions out in the world, you're not only competing against other books, blogs, and emails. You're also competing against everything else people can being doing: watching Netflix, scrolling through Instagram, watching Youtube, doing things out in the real world.There are an endless source of distraction and ideas that can pull people away from your writing. So the best way to stand out and grab people's attention is being your weird, authentic self.People don't just buy from you because your work is good. They buy from you because of the way it connects with them. The more you can find those tiny details people can relate to, the more they will follow you and your work.Standout Creative Business for Authors is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Final ThoughtsReady to transform your quirks into your greatest writing advantage? Let's do this.The world doesn't need another carbon copy. It needs your wild, wonderful, perfectly imperfect stories. By embracing the unique aspects of your writing voice and experiences, you can create work that truly stands out.What story have you been avoiding telling because it feels too vulnerable or 'unprofessional'?How can your personal story differentiate your book or work in a crowded market?What painful experience transformed you as a writer in a way most people don't see?If you're ready to embrace your creative journey and stand out in a crowded marketplace, I'm offering a limited-time, personalized consultation for self-published authors. In this session, we'll uncover the unique aspects of your writing voice, learn how to market your book authentically, and break free from traditional publishing expectations.Spots are extremely limited, so sign up now if you want to be one of the first five authors to receive a bonus 30-minute strategy session.Visit The Standout Creatives to book your spot.

I’m thrilled to introduce you to someone who’s redefining the way we think about storytelling, marketing, and connection. Meet Vince Warnock—a neuromarketing expert, 11-time bestselling author, and creative business coach. His story? It’s a testament to resilience, innovation, and the power of authentic relationships.From Adversity to InnovationLet’s start with something Vince knows deeply: How the hardest moments in your life can become the foundation for your greatest strengths. Vince’s journey, shaped by a challenging childhood, is a masterclass in turning adversity into opportunity. He shows us that every experience—no matter how difficult—can fuel your creativity and business growth.Actionable Tip: Reflect on a tough moment in your life and how it’s shaped your unique perspective. How can you use that insight to serve your audience better?Bonus: Create a “story map” of your life. Divide it into challenges, turning points, and triumphs. Use this as the basis for your content or brand narrative.Your Story is Your SuperpowerVince believes your authentic story is your most valuable asset in business. It’s not about looking perfect—it’s about showing up as yourself and building trust through vulnerability.Your audience connects with the real you, not a polished facade.Sharing your struggles creates a bridge of trust that no marketing hack can replicate.Actionable Tip: Think of a time when you faced a challenge in your business, but it led to a breakthrough. Share that experience in a quick, unscripted video or voice note. The raw, realness is what will resonate most.Bonus: Create a "vulnerability post" on your social media or blog. Share a moment when things didn’t go according to plan but how it shaped who you are today. Invite your audience to share their stories too, creating a space for connection.The Creative EdgeCreativity isn’t just about your art or product—it’s how you approach your entire business. Vince reveals how innovation can help you stand out:Embrace new tools like AI to free up time for your creative work.Experiment with unconventional strategies to find what feels true to you.Actionable Tip: Pick one task that drains your energy and explore a tech solution to automate it.Bonus: Use the extra time to brainstorm a bold, creative idea that excites you—and take one small step toward making it happen.Relationships Over TransactionsVince reminds us that success isn’t about playing the numbers game—it’s about building genuine relationships. By focusing on adding value and being authentic, you open the door to unexpected opportunities.Actionable Tip: Instead of focusing on what you can sell, reach out to someone in your network with an offer of support—whether it’s advice, resources, or just a kind word. The goal is to serve, not sell.Bonus: Organize a small virtual gathering or group discussion where people can share their challenges and victories. Make it less about promoting your work and more about connecting on a human level.Key Takeaways:Your past is an asset. Every challenge and triumph can shape your brand and connect you with your audience.Vulnerability is a strength. Share the imperfect parts of your story—they’re what make you relatable.Creativity extends beyond your craft. Innovate in all areas of your business.Relationships matter. Focus on building genuine connections, not just transactions.About Vince WarnockVince is a multi-passionate creative, blending neuromarketing expertise with a deep understanding of storytelling to help entrepreneurs thrive. As a coach and author, he’s on a mission to empower others—especially neurodivergent creators—to share their voices authentically.Website: Vincewarnock.comPodcast: Chasing the InsightsReady to Stand Out?If you’re a creative entrepreneur looking to elevate your business and connect with your audience on a deeper level, now’s the time to take action. Visit The Standout Creatives and book a call today.Let’s turn your unique story into a standout brand that captures hearts and builds lasting relationships. Spots are limited, so don’t wait—secure your session now and make your next move unforgettable.

I’m really excited to take you on a journey into the world of authentic branding with someone who’s done it in the most unexpected way. Meet Bridget Baker a former professional ballet dancer who’s now flipping the script on branding and storytelling. Her story? It’s not just inspiring. It’s a game changer for anyone looking to share their unique perspective while staying true to themselves.From Center Stage to Centering Your NarrativeNow, let’s talk about something that might feel a little uncomfortable at first: What if the quirks and odd moments you try to hide are actually your greatest asset? Bridget believes your branding should be a dance, and the steps you take, however unconventional, are what will make you stand out. Those moments in your life? That’s the heart of your story.Actionable Tip: Start small. Take a moment to reflect on your own journey. Are there parts of it you’ve been avoiding, fearing they might not “fit” with the brand you’re trying to create? Those might be the moments that resonate most with the people who truly get you.Bonus: Write down one personal story—something you’ve never shared before. It might feel vulnerable, but consider how that story could connect with your audience, even if you don’t see how just yet. This could be the bridge to people who really understand your message.Breaking Free from Creative ConformityIf you’ve ever felt like you don’t belong in the mainstream or traditional marketing world, Bridget’s got your back. Most creatives fall into the trap of trying to look like everyone else, but Bridget’s advice is clear: Your differences aren’t a flaw, they’re your superpower. Your unique story doesn’t need to fit into a mold, and it sure doesn’t need to apologize for being different. Your story is the melody, and the world needs to hear it.Actionable Tip: Grab a notebook and jot down three ways your background makes you different. Be specific. These are the things you don’t want to hide anymore.Bonus: Write a brand statement that feels like you, not what you think you should be. Make it bold, honest, and unapologetic. And above all, make it real—the world’s tired of “polished” and wants to hear you.Redefining Your Creative ValueIt’s time to face the hard truth: if you’ve been underpricing your services or products, you’re not doing your talents justice. Bridget’s approach challenges creatives to see that everything in their journey, every skill, every lesson learned, is valuable. Your past and your experience are what give you the authority to charge what you’re truly worth.Actionable Tip: Take a deep dive into your own skills and experiences. What unique value do you bring to the table? How do those talents serve your audience in a way no one else can?Bonus: Create a “premium” offering that reflects the richness of your expertise. It’s not just about asking for more money—it’s about showing people just how much depth you bring to the table. Think about how to package your knowledge in a way that makes your audience see its true worth.The Vulnerability AdvantageOkay, here’s the kicker: your vulnerability is your secret weapon. The stories you’re afraid to share, the ones where you feel imperfect or misunderstood, are often the very stories that create powerful connections with your audience. You’re not alone in your fears, and your audience will feel your authenticity when you let down the walls.Actionable Tip: Think about one moment from your creative journey that’s tough to share but feels like an important piece of your story. What would it feel like to let that moment come through, even if it’s just a small part of your narrative? How could this open up a deeper connection with your audience?Bonus: Create content that shares the emotional side of a challenge you’ve faced, don’t just focus on the “how-to.” Your audience craves the human side of your journey, the struggles, the lessons, the growth. That’s where the connection lives.Building a Community, Not Just a BrandFinally, branding isn’t just about getting people to notice you, it’s about creating relationships. Bridget’s approach is all about building a genuine community, not just a following. She encourages you to invite your audience in, get to know them, and create a space for real conversations.Actionable Tip: Think about how you can engage in a more personal, human way with your audience. Could you offer a Q&amp;A, behind-the-scenes peek, or a direct communication channel where your people can interact with you more personally?Bonus: Try hosting a small, intimate virtual or in-person event where your community can ask questions, share stories, and connect with you. It doesn’t have to be a huge crowd, just a few like-minded people who really want to hear from you.Key Takeaways:Your unique story is your greatest asset. Embrace the quirks and let them guide your brand.Vulnerability creates powerful connections. Don’t shy away from sharing the “imperfections” that make you human.Your differences are your brand’s superpower. Lean into them and let them shine.Pricing should reflect your entire creative journey. Stop underselling yourself and start charging what your expertise is worth.Authenticity trumps perfection every single time. Be yourself, and let everything else fall into place.Bridget Baker has shown us that authentic branding isn’t just about looking good, it’s about being real, embracing your quirks, and letting your story shine. When you show up as yourself, you build stronger connections and stand out in ways you never thought possible.Ready to turn your unique story into a standout brand?If you’re a creative business owner ready to elevate your brand and launch your next big project, whether it's a book, a product, or anything in between, let’s make it happen. Just visit The Standout Creatives and book a call. I’m here to help you bring your vision to life in a way that feels authentic and impactful.Spots are limited, so if you're ready to dive into a conversation about your next big idea, don't wait. Secure your spot today and let’s create something that sets you apart for good.

Ghostwriting might sound mysterious, but after talking with Kent on The Standout Creatives, it’s clear: ghostwriting is one of the most human ways to inspire and connect.Here are the 3 biggest insights from our conversation that can help your creative business thrive:1. Your Story is Your SuperpowerYour story isn’t just nice-to-have—it’s the reason people will trust and choose YOU. When you share your journey, you create emotional connections that no marketing hack can replicate.➡️ Action Step: Map out a few key life or business moments. Pick one and share it with your audience this week.2. Networking is About Real ConnectionIt’s not about knowing everyone—it’s about showing up for the people who matter most. A thoughtful gesture, like a handwritten note, can open doors you didn’t even know existed.➡️ Action Step: Reach out to one person you admire in your network. Be specific about why their work matters to you.3. Growth Comes From Staying Curious, Not PerfectCreativity isn’t about getting it right the first time. It’s about learning, adapting, and growing through the process. Curiosity is your edge.➡️ Action Step: Set aside 30 minutes to explore a book, podcast, or course that inspires you to think differently.✨ If you found any of these insights helpful, I highly recommend checking out the interview I had with Kent Sanders. It really was a great conversation.🚀 Are you an author, writer, or creative business owner who wants help standing out, or need support for your next book or product launch? Let’s chat. Visit The Standout Creatives to book a spot. But heads up, spots are limited, so grab yours while you can!

Starting small doesn’t mean thinking small. In this episode of The Standout Creatives, I’ll show you how launching with a small, engaged audience can be your secret weapon for creative business success. Whether you’re working on your first course, digital product, or any big idea, this approach will set you up for growth without the stress of trying to “go big” too soon.Here’s what you’ll learn:The Myth of “Go Big or Go Home”: Why starting small can actually lead to success.The Power of Early Supporters: How to attract the right people who will champion your work and become your first superfans.Small Wins, Big Momentum: Real-world examples of creatives who turned small audiences into thriving businesses.Your Action Plan: A simple, repeatable process for launching small while building confidence and connection.You don’t need a massive following to create something amazing. You just need to take the first step—and I’ll help you make it happen.Who This Episode is ForCreative entrepreneurs feeling overwhelmed by the idea of launching to a small audience.Digital product and course creators who have a small but passionate fan base.Anyone who’s tired of chasing vanity metrics and ready to focus on authentic, meaningful results.Key Takeaways:Start small, think big: The most successful launches often come from starting with the resources and audience you have now.Engage early fans: Focus on people who already know, like, and trust your work—they’ll be the foundation for your future growth.Momentum matters: Celebrate the small wins because they’re the stepping stones to your standout business.Resources &amp; Next Steps:💡 Schedule a free standout business discovery call: Let’s brainstorm how you can take your first small step toward a standout creative business.✍️ Grab your copy of We Are All Creative: Fuel your inspiration with 52 quotes and prompts designed for creative entrepreneurs.🎧 Subscribe to The Standout Creatives podcast: Don’t miss future episodes filled with actionable tips to grow your creative business without sacrificing your sanity.Final Thought:Big success doesn’t require a big start. It just needs a small, intentional step forward—and the right people to walk alongside you. Ready to take yours?

Ghostwriting might seem like a secretive craft, but it’s anything but. Kent Sanders breaks it down: this isn’t about hiding in the shadows—it’s about creating stories that genuinely connect. As the founder of Inkwell Ghostwriting, Kent has helped entrepreneurs and leaders bring their journeys to life in ways that inspire and resonate.If your story isn’t reaching people, what’s getting lost in translation? Is it the message? The delivery? Or maybe, it’s just missing that human touch.Your story is the bridge between you and your audience. If you fail to connect, you’re not just missing an opportunity—you’re letting relationships, impact, and trust slip through your fingers. But the good news? When you get storytelling right, it transforms everything.In this episode, Kent takes us on his journey from college professor to ghostwriting powerhouse, revealing how storytelling goes way beyond just putting words on a page. It’s about digging deep, building connection, and translating someone’s vision into a narrative that lands exactly the way they dreamed it would.Three Big Takeaways and Actionable Steps1. The Power of Understanding: Get Inside Their StoryGhostwriting (or any kind of storytelling) isn’t about slapping words together—it’s about understanding the person behind the story. You’re not just writing; you’re capturing their essence.Actionable Tip: Ask deeper questions before starting a project. Not just, “What’s the story you want to tell?” but, “Why does this matter to you?” and “What do you want your audience to feel?”Bonus: Try mapping out key moments of your journey to see the bigger picture. This "story map" becomes your roadmap for building a narrative that sticks.2. Real Connections Beat Surface-Level Networking Every TimeNetworking is about relationships, not resumes. Forget the business cards and LinkedIn requests. It’s the small, thoughtful gestures that build trust and open doors you didn’t even know existed.Actionable Tip: This week, send a quick, personal note to someone you admire—a handwritten letter, a voice memo, or a thoughtful email. Be specific about what you love about their work.Bonus: Make a habit of checking in with your network regularly—especially when you’re not asking for anything. Think of it as planting seeds for future growth.3. Stay Curious, Stay Open, Stay MovingThe creative journey isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress. Every failure is a chance to refine your craft. The most successful creatives? They’re the ones who embrace learning, even when it’s uncomfortable.Actionable Tip: Set aside 30 minutes this week to dive into something new—a book, podcast, or course that challenges how you think.Bonus: Reflect on a recent mistake. Write down what it taught you and how you’re using that lesson to grow.Kent Sanders reminds us that storytelling isn’t just a skill—it’s a superpower. Done right, it can transform your business, strengthen your relationships, and amplify your impact. The question is: Are you ready to take your story to the next level?Need Help with Your Creative Business?If you’re a creative entrepreneur ready to make your business stand out, visit The Standout Creatives. Whether you're launching your next book, podcast, course, or digital product, I’d love to help you turn your vision into something extraordinary.Spots are limited, so if you’re ready to chat about your next big idea, don’t wait—sign up now to grab your spot before they’re gone! Let’s make your next launch the one that truly sets you apart.

Big news: the podcast is back, and it’s got a whole new look, name, and purpose. After taking a much-needed break, I’m beyond excited to relaunch as The Standout Creatives! This isn’t just a new name—it’s a new mission to help you build a business that stands out while staying true to your creative passion.In this episode, I’ll take you behind the scenes:The Cracking Creativity journey: Lessons I learned from inspiring interviews and how they shaped my perspective.Burnout and breakthroughs: How stepping back helped me reevaluate and refocus on what matters most.Why the rebrand matters: My mission to bring you practical strategies for turning creative passion into sustainable success.What to expect going forward: Actionable advice, authentic stories, and insightful interviews with creative business owners who’ve been where you are.If balancing creativity with running a business feels overwhelming, you’re not alone. This podcast is your guide to standing out, scaling up, and thriving—without burning out.Ready to take the next step?Book one of my limited one-on-one strategy calls, where we’ll craft a custom plan to grow your creative business with clarity and confidence. Let’s build something amazing together!