Creative Impact Podcast

Today, my friend Mallory Lara joins me for episode 72. She and I both attend Sugar Land Family Church in Sugar Land, Texas. Something I admire about Mallory is her authenticity and her willingness to share her story with others. Today, we dive into her faith journey as well as her experience as a hairdresser and visual artist. We talk about things like the difference between joy and happiness, walking through grief, how art can be a tool for healing, and encouragement for when you may be feeling a lack of inspiration as an artist.

May this episode be an encouragement to you wherever you find yourself today. As we discover in Mallory’s story–life is a journey–but we don’t have to go it alone.

Check out our website http://creativeimpactpodcast.com for the full show notes that include Mallory's biography and additional links mentioned in this episode. You can be sure not to miss a Creative Impact conversation by subscribing through your favorite podcast app.  We are so grateful to have you as a part of the Creative Impact community and would love it if you would share the show with your friends!

I am so excited to introduce you to my lovely friend and guest for episode 71, Leyna Doran. Leyna is a professional dancer and is currently the Artistic Director of Ballet Hartford, located in Connecticut. Leyna and I know each other from our time at Belhaven University, and it was such a joy to get to reconnect!
 
Leyna shares some incredible stories about God’s provision allowing her to train in dance. We also chat about her time at Belhaven and her transition from college to life as a professional dancer. Leyna talks honestly about what it was like stepping into the Artistic Director role in 2019 and leading through a pandemic. If you have ever felt overwhelmed or unqualified, you will be encouraged by Leyna’s journey and her reminder that God qualifies those He calls. I am so inspired by Leyna’s heart for leading with joy and excellence.

Check out our website http://creativeimpactpodcast.com for the full show notes that include Leyna's biography and additional links mentioned in this episode. You can be sure not to miss a Creative Impact conversation by subscribing through your favorite podcast app.  We are so grateful to have you as a part of the Creative Impact community and would love it if you would share the show with your friends!

My sweet friend Jessie Winters is back on the podcast for episode 70! Jessie was an early guest on episode 11 back in August of 2020. It is such a joy to catch up and hear how her journey has continued to unfold over the past two years.

Jessie is currently the Director of Open Sky Connecticut, and she shares how the Connecticut branch of Open Sky Arts Collective came into being. We chat about the first year of Open Sky Connecticut and some of the exciting ministry happening including Sanctuary Barre, connecting with Bridgeport Rescue Mission, and their recent summer trips! I love Jessie’s heart for people, her love for God, and the way that she partners with the Holy Spirit day to day.

Jessie brings powerful encouragement about standing in confidence in who God has created you to be, walking forward in faith, not comparing your journey with others’, and what it looks like to "build in rest." I encourage you to go back and listen to episode 11 as well to hear more about Jessie’s story!
 
Check out our website http://creativeimpactpodcast.com for the full show notes that include Jessie's biography and additional links mentioned in this episode. You can be sure not to miss a Creative Impact conversation by subscribing through your favorite podcast app.  We are so grateful to have you as a part of the Creative Impact community and would love it if you would share the show with your friends!

Today’s conversation was such a sweet time with my new friend, Hannah Requa. Hannah graduated from Texas Christian University’s School for Classical & Contemporary Dance and trained at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She has performed with multiple professional dance companies including wild goose chase dance, Bruce Wood Dance, Corpus Christi Ballet, and Mei/Co. Dance. Hannah has experience teaching in a variety of settings, including as an adjunct faculty member at Baylor University.

Hannah’s journey in dance started at the age of 14. She shares about what it looks like to trust God’s timing and to trust the doors He closes and opens along the path of life. Hannah has continued to dance professionally while being a mother of two, and I love hearing about her experiences seeing God’s goodness in the midst of what can certainly be a challenging balancing act! Hannah currently lives in Waco, Texas, with her husband Spencer and their two children. I am so inspired by Hannah, and I believe you will be as well!

Check out our website http://creativeimpactpodcast.com for the full show notes that include Hannah's biography and additional links mentioned in this episode. You can be sure not to miss a Creative Impact conversation by subscribing through your favorite podcast app.  We are so grateful to have you as a part of the Creative Impact community and would love it if you would share the show with your friends!

I am honored to have Lindsey Carlson back on the podcast for episode 68! Lindsey was a guest on the podcast in fall of 2020 for episode 22. It was so much fun catching up with her and hearing about her newest book, “A Better Encouragement: Trading Self-Help for True Hope,” which released in June of 2022.

Lindsey and I talk about her family’s recent move back to Texas and her experiences processing this season of change. She shares her journey writing and publishing “A Better Encouragement: Trading Self-Help for True Hope” in the midst of the pandemic and what prompted her to write the book in the first place. Through her work in women’s ministry and her own personal experiences, Lindsey recognized that there is a gap between our desire for encouragement and our understanding of how to offer Biblical encouragement.

If you are feeling discouraged and like you don’t have the strength to “make it happen” on your own, listen as Lindsey points us back to the truth of God and His promises. I love Lindsey’s thoughts on how to practically encourage one another in life. Get ready to be inspired, and learn how to offer a better encouragement to those around you!

Check out our website http://creativeimpactpodcast.com for the full show notes that include Lindsey's biography and additional links mentioned in this episode. You can be sure not to miss a Creative Impact conversation by subscribing through your favorite podcast app.  We are so grateful to have you as a part of the Creative Impact community and would love it if you would share the show with your friends!

Today’s episode is so inspiring! My guest for episode 67 is Kathleen Schuler, the director of Störling Conservatory in Kansas. After receiving her B.F.A. in Dance from Belhaven University in Jackson, MS, Kathleen danced for 2 seasons as a company member with Störling Dance Theater. Following her time with the company, she has continued teaching and choreographing in a variety of settings.

For 8 years Kathleen directed a trainee style dance program for Störling Dance Theater (Störling’s Artist Development Program or ADP) before Störling Conservatory was established in partnership with Visible Music College. I loved learning about Störling Conservatory, which is a Conservatory style Bachelor of Arts in Dance degree for Visible Music College. Störling Conservatory of Dance has 3 concentrations: Performance, Choreography, and Dance Ministry, and a 1 year certificate in dance.

A thread that goes through our whole conversation is the idea of dreaming big dreams and realizing that God is a God of big dreams. I love Kathleen’s encouragement, “Why not you? Why not now?”

Check out our website http://creativeimpactpodcast.com for the full show notes that include Kathleen's biography and additional links mentioned in this episode. You can be sure not to miss a Creative Impact conversation by subscribing through your favorite podcast app.  We are so grateful to have you as a part of the Creative Impact community and would love it if you would share the show with your friends!

We have a great conversation in store for you today with my friend Grace Miller! Grace joined Open Sky Arts Collective in the fall of 2019. She is currently the Executive Assistant under Director and Founder, Jeanna Vance. Grace is a kindred spirit! She brings life, joy, and peace wherever she goes. We chat about topics such as dance as worship, community, and leadership. Grace talks about how to fight lies and insecurities we face as leaders and how we can walk in freedom and purpose.

Check out our website http://creativeimpactpodcast.com for the full show notes that include Grace's biography and additional links mentioned in this episode. You can be sure not to miss a Creative Impact conversation by subscribing through your favorite podcast app.  We are so grateful to have you as a part of the Creative Impact community and would love it if you would share the show with your friends!

Happy 2nd birthday to the Podcast!! I’m so excited to be celebrating with you today! I thought it would be fun to bring back one of your favorite guests from the last two years, Durell Comedy! Durell was one of our early guests on Episode 5. If you haven’t already, I would encourage you to go back and listen to our conversation back in July 2020 where you’ll hear Durell’s backstory and journey to this point.

We had so much fun getting to catch up on the last couple of years! Since our last conversation, Durell and his wife, Hannah, have added to their family! They now have three daughters and are currently living in the Houston, Texas, area. Durell currently serves as Worship Associate and Creative Arts Academy Coordinator for Champion Forest Baptist Church, located in NW Houston. Thank you for celebrating with us, and enjoy this conversation about the arts, worship, and so much more!

Check out our website http://creativeimpactpodcast.com for the full show notes that include Durell's biography and additional links mentioned in this episode. You can be sure not to miss a Creative Impact conversation by subscribing through your favorite podcast app.  We are so grateful to have you as a part of the Creative Impact community and would love it if you would share the show with your friends!

It is such a joy to share this conversation with my friend Tammy Tolås with you today! Her vibrant spirit and bold faith are such an inspiration! Tammy currently serves at the University of the Nations College of Arts. She leads a dance ministry out of the YWAM Kona Campus, owns and operates her own business for dance and Pilates, and is producing the 20th Anniversary Project Dance Event in Kona, Hawaii, this summer. Tammy is wife to another dancer – Andreas Tolås – and mom to two children. 

I love how Tammy describes her journey as a life of “wild obedience.” We dive into what that looks like and the difference between a good plan and obedience. I was so encouraged by her perspective on topics like what impact really means, why comparison has no place for us as artists, and being confident knowing we are loved by God, regardless of our “qualifications.”

Towards the end of the episode, Tammy shares about the Project Dance 20th Anniversary Event happening this summer! Project Dance was founded by Cheryl Cutlip, guest on episode 12. Tammy is helping to host the event and shares more about both the Project Dance event and the “Refuel” Leaders Retreat that will follow. If you are a dancer or leader in the dance ministry space, this is for you!

Check out our website http://creativeimpactpodcast.com for the full show notes that include Tammy's biography and additional links mentioned in this episode. You can be sure not to miss a Creative Impact conversation by subscribing through your favorite podcast app.  We are so grateful to have you as a part of the Creative Impact community and would love it if you would share the show with your friends!

I am honored and excited to have my friend Maren Weinberger Maddry on the podcast! Maren’s artistic journey led her to be a professional opera singer. In our conversation we walk through her journey of deciding to pursue opera and both the highs and lows she’s experienced throughout her professional career. We also chat about the mental, emotional, and physical strength it takes to be a professional opera singer.

Maren shares about highlights such as performing with The Glimmerglass Opera Festival, her time with the Fort Worth Opera, and participating in various competitions including the international Lotte Lenya Competition where she won Second Prize in 2013.

We talk about the vulnerability it takes to be a performer and the importance of taking time to reflect on our “why.” Towards the end of our conversation, you will get to hear about Maren’s new business The Mill and Refill, which is a small batch, freshly milled flour company. She combines her love of food and cooking with her love of building community and bringing people together. May you be encouraged as you listen to Maren share about her journey!

Check out our website http://creativeimpactpodcast.com for the full show notes that include Maren's biography and additional links mentioned in this episode. You can be sure not to miss a Creative Impact conversation by subscribing through your favorite podcast app.  We are so grateful to have you as a part of the Creative Impact community and would love it if you would share the show with your friends!