Is creativity a talent you’re born with — or something you can train?

Playwright and theatre director Stan Lai, one of the most influential figures in contemporary Asian theatre, shares his philosophy of creativity, discipline, and lifelong artistic growth.

After studying directing at UC Berkeley, Stan returned to Taiwan in the early 1980s when there was almost no theatre infrastructure and helped build a modern theatre movement from the ground up. Over four decades he has written more than forty plays, including Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, and developed a creative approach rooted in both craft and lived experience.

We talk about his idea of “wisdom and method” — that technique can be taught, but meaningful creativity comes from attention, failure, curiosity, and unlearning what blocks us.

In this conversation:

• whether creativity can be taught

• discipline vs inspiration

• unlearning perfectionism

• failure as part of mastery

• sustaining creativity over decades

• the role of life experience in art

• building meaningful cultural work

• staying humble through success

A thoughtful conversation about developing creativity not just as a skill, but as a way of living and seeing.

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How do you pursue creative success without losing your values, burning out, or chasing approval?

Musician, author, and creative coach Allen C. Paul shares what it means to build a sustainable creative career rooted in purpose, integrity, and clarity. As the founder of God and Gigs, he has spent years helping artists align their work with their beliefs, strengthen confidence in their calling, and define success beyond numbers, visibility, and comparison.

This conversation explores the tension between money and meaning, discipline and freedom, ambition and family — and why many creatives struggle when they measure success only through external validation.

Inside the episode we discuss:
• balancing creativity, faith, and real life responsibilities
• confidence vs ego in creative work
• redefining success beyond metrics and social media
• avoiding burnout while still growing your career
• why knowing your “why” matters more than chasing opportunity
• choosing community and family over constant touring
• building a long-term creative life with integrity

A grounded conversation for musicians, artists, writers, and creators who want success that actually feels good to live inside — not just impressive from the outside.

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How do you rebuild creative confidence after years of being silenced?
How do you learn to trust your voice again after emotional abuse?

In this conversation, author Teri M. Brown shares her journey of healing, writing, and reclaiming her identity after a 14-year emotionally abusive marriage that slowly eroded her self-belief.

For years, Teri wrote quietly, unsure if she had the right to call herself a writer — until everything changed when she and her husband rode a tandem bicycle 3,102 miles across the United States during COVID. That journey became the catalyst for her first book and for finally claiming her voice.

We talk about perfectionism, imposter syndrome, creative fear, and why confidence isn’t something you wait for — it’s something you build through action.

In this episode, we explore:
✨ healing and rebuilding self-trust
✨ finding your voice through writing
✨ creative confidence and visibility
✨ letting go of perfectionism
✨ sharing your work without fear
✨ marketing without burnout
✨ building a sustainable creative life

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This week, I’m joined by outdoor boudoir photographer Ren Morrow — someone who’s completely redefining what it means to be seen through the lens.

Ren’s work takes women into wild, natural spaces and creates the kind of photoshoot that’s more like a self-return than a performance. It’s soft, powerful, intimate, and deeply connected to the land — and to the body.

We talk about the moment that shaped her entire approach to photography (a boudoir shoot that left her feeling small and judged), and how that led to the values-driven business she’s built today — one that holds space for real, unfiltered self-expression.

Inside this conversation, we explore:
– What it really means to be seen through the lens
– How to build a brand around your creative values
– Reclaiming vulnerability as part of your process
– And how to keep creating when self-doubt, shame, or burnout show up

If you’re building a creative business that doesn’t fit the mould — this one’s for you.

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In this episode of Maverick Mind, I’m joined by mindful living guide, educator, and boundaries mentor Cindy Brockway for a grounding conversation about burnout, courage, and what it really takes to reconnect with yourself in a world that asks for too much.

Cindy spent more than 30 years working with children who had emotional and learning needs — a career that taught her the real meaning of self-regulation, compassion, and resilience. After her own experience with burnout and medical leave, she rebuilt her life around mindful living, nervous system awareness, and the courage to slow down.

We talk about the patterns that drain creative people, why so many of us push past our limits until something forces us to stop, and how your spark never disappears — it just gets buried under pressure, perfectionism, and doing too much.

Cindy also shares how jewellery-making became an unexpected gateway back to calm and creativity. Working with her hands offered a different kind of stillness: one rooted in presence, craft, and quiet joy rather than productivity.

Inside the episode, we explore:
✨ how to recognise burnout before it’s too late
✨ building boundaries that protect your energy
✨ nervous system regulation you can actually use
✨ neutral thinking as a path to clarity
✨ reclaiming time, focus, and internal space
✨ creativity as a grounding practice — not a performance
✨ returning to your spark after overwhelm
✨ choosing courage over constant productivity

This is a soft, honest, steadying conversation — a reminder that calm isn’t something you wait for. It’s something you learn to cultivate, one boundary, one pause, one breath at a time.

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In this week’s episode of Maverick Mind, I’m joined by spoken word poet, TEDx speaker, and confidence coach Tricia Veldman — a creative whose work explores identity, self-expression, public speaking, and what it really means to live fully alive in the face of uncertainty.

For ten years, Tricia worked as a speech coach helping people overcome fear, build confidence, and find their voice. But her life shifted dramatically when her mother was placed on hospice at 65. Moving back home to care for her reshaped Tricia’s perspective on time, creativity, and self-expression. That experience inspired her 2023 TEDx talk and much of the spoken word poetry she performs today.

We talk about the emotional side of confidence and visibility, how to work through creative fear, and why declaring your identity can feel so vulnerable. Tricia shares how one open mic night led her into spoken word poetry, how daily writing became her grounding practice, and what motivated her to publish her poetry book Create & Receive, Make & Believe.

Inside the episode, we explore:
✨ identity, self-expression, and the courage to be seen
✨ how mortality and grief can fuel creativity and purpose
✨ the truth about confidence (and why it’s not about being fearless)
✨ spoken word poetry as a tool for emotional processing
✨ creative blocks, imposter syndrome, and visibility fears
✨ shifting from public speaking coaching into full-spectrum confidence coaching
✨ the messy, human process of sharing vulnerable work
✨ why waiting until you’re “ready” keeps you stuck

This conversation is grounding, energising, and full of permission — an invitation to say what you need to say while you’re here to say it, and to live a creative life that feels honest, courageous, and fully alive.

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In this week’s episode of Maverick Mind, I sit down with artist and illustrator Jessie James for a deeply honest conversation about what it really looks like to return to creativity after life hands you something you didn’t choose.

Jessie shares how a profound personal loss connected to 9/11 led her to step away from art for years — not out of lack of passion, but because creativity sometimes goes quiet when life becomes too heavy. Her return wasn’t dramatic or strategic. It came through tiny, unglamorous moments: sketching in the car during school pick-ups, drawing at her kids’ practices, slowly reconnecting with a version of herself she thought she’d lost.

Today, Jessie is known for her emotional pet portraits and for illustrating the children’s book Rocco and Ruby, but her journey has been shaped by self-doubt, identity shifts, motherhood, and the courage to begin again later in life.

In this episode, we explore:
✨ what it means when creativity disappears — and how to trust its return
✨ rebuilding an artistic identity after loss, grief, or long pauses
✨ navigating self-doubt and the “mid-piece panic” every creative knows
✨ the emotional weight of memorial pet portraits
✨ learning to value your work (and yourself) after years of unpaid labor
✨ trusting imperfect beginnings and letting art evolve with you

Jessie’s story is tender, relatable, and a powerful reminder that creativity doesn’t vanish — it waits.
And when we come back to it, we come back changed.

This episode is for anyone finding their way back to their craft, their confidence, or their voice.

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Find her website here

What if the real blocks to your creative expression aren’t in your mind — but in your subconscious?

This week on Maverick Mind, I sit down with Stepanka Kurlová, a clinical hypnotherapist, published writer, and coach for creatives, entrepreneurs, artists, and lightworkers. Stepanka specialises in helping people break free from visibility fears, creative blocks, procrastination, self-sabotage, and the deeper insecurities that silently shape how we show up.

With a blend of hypnotherapy, subconscious reprogramming, nervous system regulation, and practical strategy, she guides people toward emotional safety, self-expression, and authentic success — without abandoning their values or burning out.

In this episode, we explore:
✨ How subconscious conditioning shapes creativity, confidence, and momentum
✨ What hypnotherapy actually is (and why it’s not what most people think)
✨ Why visibility feels “unsafe” for many creatives and how to change that
✨ The root of procrastination and the myth of laziness
✨ Emotional regulation as a foundation for creative expansion
✨ Small, sustainable shifts that dismantle self-sabotage
✨ How to stay aligned while pursuing big dreams
✨ Stepanka’s personal story — from the Czech Republic to England, navigating chronic illness, ADHD, and intuitive expression
✨ What it means to break free and actually feel safe being seen

This is a grounded, expansive, and deeply supportive conversation for anyone who feels called to share their gifts — but sometimes gets caught in their own way.

If you’re ready to understand why you block yourself, and how to rewrite those internal patterns, this one is for you.

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What does it mean to take the hardest parts of your story and turn them into art?
This week on Maverick Mind, I sit down with author, ghostwriter, and radio host Kimberly Love: a woman who transformed a traumatic childhood into a life built on creativity, storytelling, and courage.

Kimberly began writing as a way to survive her early years. Journaling became her therapy, then her memoir, and eventually the foundation for a career helping others share their own stories. After ghostwriting over 100 books, she finally stepped into her own voice, claiming space as an author in her own right.

In this conversation, we explore what it really means to alchemise pain into purpose, embrace your creative identity, and stop hiding behind other people’s narratives.

We dive into:

✨ Writing as a tool for healing and emotional liberation✨ The shift from ghostwriter to author — and the fear of being seen✨ How trauma can shape a creative voice without defining it✨ Social media boundaries and showing up authentically online✨ Letting go of perfectionism and trusting your own creative instincts✨ Building confidence as a storyteller, even when your voice shakes

Kimberly’s journey is a reminder that creativity isn’t just an artistic act — it’s a form of reinvention.

If you’ve ever felt afraid to tell your story, or struggled to believe in the value of your own voice, this episode will speak straight to your heart.

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In this episode of Maverick Mind, I’m joined by desire coach and storyteller Milica Grjic for a deeply grounded conversation on returning to your body, your truth, and the wild intelligence of your desires.

We explore what happens when you stop performing, stop packaging, and start listening.
To your signals.
To your softness.
To the truth beneath the noise.

Milica shares her perspective on self-love as an energetic frequency, not a checklist—and how desire, when deeply felt and honored, becomes a compass for creativity, love, and leadership.

This conversation is an invitation to reclaim your expression without needing to explain it. To let what moves you, move through you.
Without apology.

We talk about:

• Why self-love starts in the body, not the mind
• Releasing old identities and performing for belonging
• Desire as a spiritual and creative force
• Embodied boundaries, emotional safety & feminine power
• Creating from the truth of your experience—not the performance of it

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