Diary of a Creative

This week is a bit of a cozy, Saturday night catch-up (slumber party?) - pajamas, couch, and random updates from the week.

Also if you weren't following the Artemis stuff: MOON JOY FOR LIFE (google it).

We get into life upgrades (internal vs external), a surprisingly deep improv lesson on embodiment, and a reminder to just have fun.

Lots of small shifts that are adding up in a big way.

✨ In this episode:

• 💎 Upgrading your life (inside and out) - from Invisalign to skincare, and how external changes impact confidence more than we admit

• 🧠 Why “surface-level” upgrades aren’t actually shallow - and how they feed your internal state

• 🎭 An improv exercise that changed how I think about identity

• 🍸 The lost art of just having fun - nights out, flower fields, and doing things that have nothing to do with productivity

• 🔁 Consistency > perfection — showing up weekly even when it’s messy, low energy, or “nothing to say”

The A > C Framework for Creativity (aka improv concepts for creative living)

I just got back from my UCB improv class, had my second on-set shoot as a YouTube host, and am in the middle of exploring new on-camera opportunities (including a TikTok Live role). So thisss week we’re connecting a lot of dots across improv, performance, and identity.

Inside:

🍍 The “A → C” improv rule - and how skipping your first idea can lead to more original thinking

🧠 Performance vs. prep - and why people experience your energy more than your résumé

🎬 My second shoot update (and why you can't skip being a beginner no matter how much you want to)

⚡ Building intuition through reps - and how things start to fade into the background as you improve

Love you guys. See you next week 💫

Iiiii just started improv for the first time - and it's magical, healing, and expansive as heck. (ALSO: MY NEW PODCAST STUDIO WOOT)

In this episode, I share what it’s actually like taking UCB’s Improv 101 class in LA, what surprised me, what terrified me, and why it’s become one of the most powerful tools for creativity, confidence, and learning how to be seen.

This week:

🎭 What Upright Citizen's Brigade Improv 101 is actually like

😂 Why improv feels like play therapy

🧠 The concept of a “creative trust fall” and co-creating in real time

💼 Rethinking career paths, money, and the pressure to be “impressive”

📺 Why I’m falling in love with YouTube and long-form storytelling

🪞 How my definition of authenticity is changing (and getting more specific)

I also talk about Homestar Runner (#TROGDOR), AI, storytelling, and what it feels like to be fully in the messy middle of building a creative life.

WOOO Love y'all bye 💫

This week I’m taking you inside something very new for me: my first ever acting class, 10 minutes after I got home from it 😂(The Commercial Class)

After booking a major YouTube hosting role and realizing just how different it is to perform on a full set versus filming alone in my living room, I knew I needed more reps. So I built myself a “semester” of skill building - commercial acting, improv, Toastmasters, and public speaking coaching.

In this episode I walk you through what these classes are actually like as a beginner, what surprised me the most, and why we should be exploring embarrassment more. 

Inside this episode:

🎭 Commercial vs normal acting (they’re different? I have learned?)

🎬 What my first class at The Commercial Class in LA was really like

🎤 My experience trying Toastmasters for the first time (and why public speaking still terrifies me)

😂 Why improv is way more approachable than I expected

🧠 How embarrassment, adrenaline, and fear can become part of the learning process

I’m also sharing the broader “curriculum” I’m building for myself right now - from studying the history of film to learning entertainment law and negotiation - as I continue bridging the gap between the creator economy and the entertainment world.

If you’re stepping into a new skill set, challenging a fear, or letting yourself be a beginner again… this episode is for you.

What happens when the “creator economy” starts bleeding into the entertainment industry? When 10 years of salary negotiations suddenly become negotiations about your likeness and voice in perpetuity?

In this solo vlog episode, get cozy and let's talk about stepping into a new chapter without a blueprint (aka an audio journal note live from the in-between)

Inside:

🏡 Redecorating the studio (from playhouse to sanctuary)

🎭 What shifting from creator to entertainer actually requires (improv, acting, Toastmasters & more)

📜 The wild reality of entertainment contracts (paid ads, AI dubbing & likeness rights)

🏆 The Artios! Inside an LA award show — what it’s really like behind the red carpet

Plus some quick updates on the podcast evolution: what's next, and what's feeling good to create honestly (vs out of optimization).

Love you. See you next week. 💫

In this audience Q&A ep, I'm answering Q's straight from the DM's.

Inside:

🎨 Are we all meant to be creators?

🪞 How do you “find your voice”?

💸 Should you monetize everything you make?

🧠 learning: going wide vs going deep?

💎 Why is pricing your art so emotionally hard?

<3 Follow the journey @margaretlefton

In the words of our lord & savior Chumbawamba: I get knocked down, but I get up again.

After a year of building in the creator space: podcasting, going viral, directing, stepping on bigger sets, I booked a dream opportunity. .... and then imposter syndrome took the wheel.

Instead of spiraling, I did what creatives actually have to learn to do: I studied the miss, poured over the gametape, and built a brand new curriculum.

In this solo episode, I unpack:

🎭 The difference between “creator mode” and commercial/on-camera performance

🧠 How imposter syndrome sneaks in right before big opportunities

🎬 Why entrepreneurs might need acting, improv, or public speaking training

🏒 What Ilia Malinin's Olympic performance taught me about ego, pressure, and sportsmanship

Invest in reps, at bats, and even losing. Every performer when stretching a new muscle is going to have periods they aren't great, and that investment of time in your weaknesses (where inevitably you're going to fumble while learning) is what leads you to mastery.

It’s about caring deeply enough to fail publicly and keep going anyway.

K LOVE YALL BYE 💫

Follow along: @margaretlefton | @multihyphenateuniversity

Life is... heavy right now. I sort of feel like i'm moving through molasses, and while others use their big emotions to create I have an urge to... hide like a turtle in a shell.

So. If you have a commitment to showing up, and you don't want to... What then? How do you create when you're uninspired?

[spoiler alert: you do it anyways, even if it's imperfect, different than your norm - in format, medium, or tone]

This week:

🎨 The Artist Paradox: Wanting to be seen vs. fearing being perceived

🌿 How to find “new energy” without uprooting your life

🌀 When shutdown replaces productivity - and how to rewire through micro moves

🌙 The call to return to your witchy side after creative overdrive

Shout out to anyone else feeling stuck, slow, or secretly scared they’re “not doing enough” and thus would rather not create at all. COME HAVE SOME TEA and sit in the in-between with me

WELCOMEEE back to campus. This solo episode is a cozy housemate chat on the couch - embracing the slow, strange start to January and the feeling of coming home to yourself after a season of movement, family, fatigue, and creative expansion.

Getting into:

• Post holiday + travel feels and settling back in

• The emotional weirdness of U-turns - exes, old friends, job offers - and how I’ve started approaching them with curiosity, not panic

• Why stepping into a very literal spotlight for the first time broke my brain (in the best way)

• And what it means to trust yourself to show up, even when you’re tired, slow, or scared

PS: I’m doing a listener Q&A episode soon, so DM me your questions @multihyphenateuniversity or drop them in the Spotify comments.

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🎓 Multi-Hyphenate University is the campus for magical creatives building lives and businesses that feel like art. Your fairy god-professor is in. 💫

A truly original experience: teaching a workshop on leveling up your life for creative entrepreneurs, taught in a Bernese Mountain Dog onesie with 3 berners jumping on and off the couch

Follow the podcast: @multihyphenateuniversity | @margaretlefton

After walking away from traditional jobs (and saying no to six-figure offers), I’ve spent the last year going through my own self-led creator MBA. Now I’m sharing the exact tools and habits that helped me build momentum in early '25.

In this episode:

📱 The digital detox

📆 A calendar audit to track what drains vs energizes you - and where to delegate

🪩 Mapping your life to a story

🧦 Spring cleaning (in January)

🧡 Morning rituals, phone hygiene, and the magic of a totem item

🔐 Why building self-trust is the key to any transformation

Perfect for the creative entrepreneur craving a soft place to start the year.