Heal and Grow with Creativity

What does it look like to leave everything familiar behind and build a life that actually feels like yours?

In this episode, I'm sitting down with my dear friend Joanna Oyarzabal Méndez — a multi-passionate healer, writer, and creative soul who left her 9-5, moved from California, USA to Oaxaca, Mexico, and began the deeply personal work of unlearning, reconnecting, and coming home to herself.

We talk about following intuition when the path isn't clear, cooking as a love language, why creativity belongs to everyone, using art to process difficult emotions, body liberation, neurodivergence, and what it means to be multi-passionate in life and business.

This is a conversation about trusting what you carry, honoring where you come from, and giving yourself permission to live differently.

📝 Read the accompanying blog post for this episode. 

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode: 

• Joanna’s Substack
• Joanna’s Instagram
• The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor (Book)
• Dra. Dulce’s Love Journal

Connect with Renata 👇🏽

• Subscribe to my newsletter.
• Book a free discovery call here. 
• Renata’s website
• Renata’s Instagram
• Renata’s YouTube
  
  

Have you ever made a decision that felt completely right — and then immediately felt awful about it? You're not broken. You're not impulsive. And you definitely didn't make a mistake.

In this episode, creativity coach Renata unpacks why good decisions so often feel bad — especially for sensitive, intuitive, and neurodivergent women of color. Drawing from her own experience of a stressful move, she explores three reasons this happens: the deep-rooted fear of trusting yourself, the nervous system's resistance to change even when it's good for you, and the way intuitive decision-making gets mislabeled as impulsivity.

If you've ever second-guessed a choice that felt right in your bones, this one's for you.

📝 Read the accompanying blog post for this episode. 

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode: 

• Get tickets for Pause & Release, A Live Expressive Art Workshop here
• Listen to next: A Reflection of Friendship and Emotional Labor
• Subscribe to my newsletter.
• Book a free discovery call here. 
• Renata’s website
• Renata’s Instagram
• Renata’s YouTube

This week on Heal and Grow with Creativity, I’m chatting with our first guest, Kait Matthews. She’s an artist and illustrator born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, of Ojibwe/Potowatomi heritage. She graduated from the Laguna College of Art and Design, and currently resides in North San Diego County with her partner and their four-legged rescues.

During our chat we talk about: 

• Creating as a form of self-care 
• How creating can help us to shift our relationship with ourselves 
• Finding creative community and connection without losing ourselves, and 
• The power of self-talk as we attempt to sit down and create

Moreover, we also discussed her passion for painting portraits and how she’s using her art to amplify and celebrate stories, myths, and legends of Indigenous women from around the world. She also shared about her own journey reconnecting to her native heritage and how this experience has shaped her relationship to her art and healing journey. 

📝 Read the accompanying blog post for this episode. 

You can check out her work here: 

• Website
• Instagram

Other links mentioned in this episode:

• The Clarity Tarot Deck by Debra Zachau and illustrated by Kait Matthews
• The Flowerwise Oracle by Leigh Podgordski and illustrated by Kait Matthews
• Feathers of Wisdom Book by Leigh Podgorsky and Illustrated by Kait Matthews

Connect with Renata:

• Subscribe to my newsletter.
• Book a free discovery call here. 
• Renata’s website
• Renata’s Instagram
• Renata’s YouTube

Have you ever walked away from a conversation feeling strangely empty—even though you were the one listening, caring, and showing up? Nothing technically went wrong, yet something didn’t feel mutual. That quiet sense of invisibility can be hard to name, but deeply unsettling.

In this reflective episode, I explore what it’s like when friendships quietly turn into one-sided emotional labor and when you’re cast as the “unofficial therapist” and begin to question whether your needs are allowed. Rather than offering quick fixes, this is an invitation to notice, reflect, and gently reconsider what you need from connection.

📝 Read the accompanying blog post for this episode. 

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode: 

• Book a free discovery call here. 
• Why You Feel Behind Before Your Day Even Begins (Especially Right Now)
• Subscribe to my newsletter.
• Renata’s website
• Renata’s Instagram
• Renata’s YouTube

Have you ever woken up already feeling behind, before you’ve even gotten out of bed?

In this episode, Renata explores a quiet but heavy experience that often shows up at the start of a new year: the sense that you’re already late, already failing, already not doing enough. 

For neurodivergent, multi-passionate, and deeply sensitive women, this feeling can hit hard and often without a clear reason why.

What if this feeling isn’t a personal failure?
What if you haven’t actually done anything wrong?

If you’ve been craving clarity, ease, and permission to start your day without already feeling behind, this episode is for you.

📝 Read the accompanying blog post for this episode. 

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode: 

• Book a free discovery call here. 
• Why is expressive art such a powerful tool for self-discovery
• Subscribe to my newsletter.
• Renata’s website
• Renata’s Instagram
• Renata’s YouTube

What if the reason you’re feeling stuck with your creativity isn’t a lack of ideas… but the pressure to make good art?

When your creativity becomes a performance instead of an opportunity to play, explore, and get curious, it’s easy to feel like you’re not a “real” artist unless your work looks impressive, polished or instantly beautiful. 

But here’s the truth: messy, chaotic, “ugly” art is often the doorway back to creative freedom.

In today’s episode, we’ll explore why the pressure to create good art can keep you silent, disconnected, and afraid to try new things. 

If you’ve been craving a more spacious, honest, and joyful relationship with your creativity, this episode is for you!

📝 Read the accompanying blog post for this episode. 

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode: 

• Subscribe to my newsletter.
• Book a free discovery call here. 
• Renata’s website
• Renata’s Instagram
• Renata’s YouTube

In this episode, I share why art-making is one of the most powerful tools for self-discovery and healing.

If you’ve done the therapy, read the self-help books, or tried to optimize your morning routine but still feel disconnected from yourself, this conversation is for you.

We’ll explore why so many of us are trained to think about our feelings instead of truly feeling them. And, how creative expression offers a more playful, embodied, and low-pressure way to reconnect with your inner world.

Tune in to learn how art-making can help you uncover what’s true for you and bring more ease and meaning into your healing journey.

📝 Read the accompanying blog post for this episode. 

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode: 

• Subscribe to my newsletter.
• Book a free discovery call here. 
• Renata’s website
• Renata’s Instagram
• Renata’s YouTube

Are you tired of hearing “just practice” as the answer to becoming more creative? Because let’s be honest, you can practice for years and still feel stuck.

What starts as something fun slowly turns into a chore. You feel guilty for not being consistent enough, so you stop showing up. But what if showing up more often, has nothing to do with discipline and everything to do with curiosity?

If you’re ready to stop pushing harder and start creating with more ease and joy, this episode is for you. 

📝 Read the accompanying blog post for this episode. 

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode: 

• Book a free discovery call here. 
• Check out my 12-week coaching journey, Build a Creative Habit.
• Subscribe to my newsletter.
• Renata’s website
• Renata’s Instagram
• Renata’s YouTube

Let’s be real for a second. A lot of people don’t actually want to be creative, they just want to be seen as creative. In a world of grifters, sellouts, and AI, it’s easier than ever to slap on the “creative” label without actually practicing your craft. 

But here’s the problem: this clout-chasing version of creativity is keeping you stuck and creatively blocked (without you even realizing it).

In this episode, we’re diving into why genuine creativity isn’t about getting likes and attention, it’s about following your own curiosity, showing up consistently, and making something of substance.

📝  Read the accompanying blog post for this episode. 

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode: 

• Check out my 12-week coaching journey, Build a Creative Habit.
• Subscribe to my newsletter.
• Book a free discovery call here. 
• Renata’s website
• Renata’s Instagram
• Renata’s YouTube

If you’ve been wanting to be more creative—but keep collecting ideas, saving recipes, or buying art supplies without actually making anything—this episode is for you!

Your creativity doesn’t need more inspiration, it needs you to show up. Avoid the number one mistake newbie creatives make: chasing results instead of practicing. 

In this episode, you’ll learn why starting small and creating often matters way more than waiting for the perfect idea! 

Read the accompanying blog post for this episode. 

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Subscribe to my newsletter.
• Check out my 12-week coaching journey, Build a Creative Habit.
• Book a free discovery call here. 
• Renata’s website
• Renata’s Instagram
• Renata’s YouTube

Practicing feeling hard? Check out these related episodes for a deeper dive:

• 016 - Why You Need to Create Even When You Don’t Feel Like It
• 019 - How I Prioritize Creative Self-Care While Juggling Multiple Responsibilities
• 020 - Creative Self-Care: Why It’s Not Always Fun at First (What To Do About It)