Fuel Your Confidence

How to Fail Fast, Trust Yourself, and Paint Your Own Path with Speedpainter and Speaker Sarah Rowan


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What happens when a keynote speaker brings a paintbrush on stage… and paints with her whole heart? Meet Sarah Rowan - speed painter, storyteller, and wild lover of life.

In this episode of Fuel Your Confidence, Sarah shares how painting fast in front of live audiences taught her how to fail with grace, stay fully present, and create without apology. From accidentally flinging paint across a graduation stage, to auctioning off an abstract masterpiece that began as Nelson Mandela, Sarah reminds us: creativity isn’t about perfection; it’s about presence, curiosity, and courage.

You’ll hear how art became her way of surviving 20 years of conversion therapy, how she shifted from starving artist to sought-after speaker, and why she chooses the microphone over the paintbrush - even if she feels naked without a canvas.

Whether you’re a creator, performer, speaker, or just craving more colour in your life, this episode will ignite something deep within you.

Highlights include:

  • Why she paints like she’s holding potato chips (yes, really)
  • What speed painting teaches about failing fast and staying flexible
  • How to silence your inner critic and start creating now
  • The power of humour, humanity, and helping others feel seen

Plus: Sarah shares 4 of the 7 steps from her book The Creativity Cycle: Seven Simple Steps to Bring Ideas to Life.

[TIME STAMPS]

2:32Imagine painting live in five minutes.

3:10How speed painting began — by total accident.

4:08Hold your ideas like potato chips.

5:48Feel it. Reflect. Then let it go.

6:40When Mandela turns into an abstract.

8:27What’s scarier: blank canvas or silent audience?

12:58Early gigs: painting for beer and food.

15:29The less paint, the better the art.

17:34When ego-filled rooms can’t receive inspiration.

19:03Her backstage ritual before stepping on stage.

21:32Creativity = curiosity over fear.

23:00We need more “beeps” in our day.

24:10A creative recipe: The seven-step cycle.

25:56Why stagnation stinks like sh*t

28:47Some art holds sunshine. Some holds suffering.

33:56Choose the mic or the brush?

35:06Three confidence tips you need right now.

CONNECT WITH SARAH

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website  

Buy her book - The Creativity Cycle 

...more
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Fuel Your ConfidenceBy Jordana Borensztajn