Season 1 is officially coming to a close! Listen to hear my five biggest take-aways from the 20+ interviews I conducted in Season 1. In this episode, I reflection on themes of the show including identity, perfectionism, vulnerability, creativity & AI, creativity & practicality, and creative practice. I hope you enjoyed this season as much as I did. Please reach out to let me know what you thought of it on instagram @lessons_in_creativity. or on substack.

What would you like to see in Season 2? Reach out on Instagram or Substack to let me know!

My latest podcast episode is out and my guest is Joy Batra! Joy’s journey has caused her to embrace an identity with equal parts corporate and creative. She graduated from Harvard Business School with a JD/MBA when her life took an unexpected turn. Instead of practicing law, she wound up pursuing a Bollywood acting contract and started freelancing on the side to finance her dream. This experience caused her to write and publish the book, the Freelance Mindset. In the episode, Joy talks about about her interest in creativity across many disciplines and especially how her learnings have translated back to the corporate world.

To learn more about Joy:

• Check out her website joybatra.com.
• Read her book - The Freelance Mindset: Unleashing your side hustles for Better Work, Play, and Life

In this episode I spoke with Christina Ducruet. Christina is the founder of Labryxnth, a modern haven for spiritual growth. After experiencing a significant loss at a pivotal moment in her life, Christina decided to pivot her career to focus on spirituality, which ultimately gave way to the founding of Labyrxnth. In the episode, she talks about her relationship with creativity throughout her life, how it has fueled founder journey in the last year, and its connection to spirituality. Hope you enjoy the episode.

To learn more about Labyrxnth and for details about joining their Autumn 2024 virtual retreat please visit www.labyrxnth.com

https://www.labyrxnth.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cducruet/

In this episode I spoke with David Nebinski. David is the host of the 300+ episode Portfolio Career Podcast, the Community Manager for the Chief of Staff network, and a community builder for community builders in NYC. In the episode, David talks about how his personal project of consistently publishing a weekly podcast episode over the last 6 years has transformed his life and allowed him the creativity to evolve formats and experiment with in person events in NYC like podcast mixers and mini-conferences. David is a great example and resource to anyone looking to re-imagine or intentionally design a life. I’ve been fortunate to attend many of his events and am so grateful to him!

To learn more about David and the Portfolio Career Podcast, check out the following

https://www.davidnebinski.com/

https://www.portfoliocareerpodcast.com/

https://davidnebinski.substack.com/

In this episode I spoke with Sasha Schechter, an Emmy award winning TV producer. Sasha talks about how her early interests in writing, music, and storytelling contributed to her career as a TV producer. She pivoted into the business world a few years ago and shares perspectives about the importance of awareness and appreciation for both creative and business goals. I hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode I spoke with Brigitte Iaciofano and Carrie Lawless, two sisters who run CharlieBrigitte Hair, a boutique, personalized and luxury small experience, in Morristown, NJ. After Brigitte graduated from college, she decided to pursue a path in beauty school with a dream of one day opening up her own salon. In this episode you’ll hear Brigitte’s story of pursing beauty school, working at some of the best salons in NYC and then ultimately teaming up with her sisters to open up the salon!

Check them out here: https://www.charliebrigittehair.com/

In this episode I spoke with Noah Frank. Noah is a singer-songwriter, drummer, innovation consultant, and overall creative. He has busked all around the country, grown his own music business, and released his music under his alter ego artist name, Pharr. Noah grew up as an extrovert with a stutter and in this episode, you’ll hear Noah tell his story of finding singing and music as a means to express himself when he couldn’t through words.

To learn more about Noah, check out his website (https://www.noahsfrank.com/) and you can find his music on major streaming platforms under Pharr (https://open.spotify.com/artist/5UlnHd14QXueycTvgL1Ibo)

In this episode I spoke with Amanda Branson. Amanda started her career in management consulting and then worked as a Chief of Staff in a startup. More recently though, she has taken on her own marketing freelancing and started a podcast called Professional Life Crisis. Think of Amanda as a career big sister for 20 somethings navigating through their early career years. Amanda and I have been on similar journeys of starting our podcasts around the same time and it was wonderful to talk with her about her process of starting this podcast and what she has learned from this project.

Take-aways:

• Perfection is the enemy of good - Amanda has made a commitment to herself to show up and publish an episode every week. Perfection gets in the way of doing this.
• Be clear about your why - Amanda is clear about why she is doing her podcast and committing time to her personal project.
• Passion and Paycheck eras - Amanda is currently in a passion era but she acknowledges that these eras are temporary and change throughout our careers!

Check out Amanda’s podcast, Professional Life Crisis! https://open.spotify.com/show/5xDZJOPtcgZ1S0RZlbbaxE?si=04778f74ea25449d

In this episode I spoke with Ali Geramian. Ali’s career has ranged from working as a chemical engineer, a DJ and producer, an innovation consultant to his current role as a partner in venture capital within the fintech industry. In this episode, Ali talks about his creativity in building his own career path, how he sees creativity show up with early stage founders, and the evolution of the venture landscape and its role in innovation. Hope you enjoy our conversation.

In this episode I spoke with Esther Jang. Esther is brand and product marketer who was an early employee at Venmo and helped shape the brand from the beginning. Since then, she has worked with many fintech startups building the brand from scratch. Esther talks about brand evolution, the bravery needed to launch a brand, allowing space for crazy ideas, and more! I hope you enjoy our conversation!

Three take-aways I had from this conversation –

1. Brands evolve over time. Esther talks about the early brand at Venmo and how the team worked to grow and mature the brand to appeal to more sophisticated customers.
2. It takes bravery to launch a brand that is truly unique and authentic! Esther helps founders work through the vulnerability and fear that comes with putting out an authentic brand vs. trying to copy existing brands.
3. Leave space for crazy ideas! Esther purposely leaves space in brand campaigns to ‘throw a goat’ (listen for the full story) or try something crazy to see if it resonates.

Esther also talks about her transition into coaching in this episode! She is currently accepting new clients and works with women who have no time for bull shit! Check out her website and reach out to work with her – https://www.nobullwoman.com/