Maverick Mind

What does it actually take to share your work publicly — and keep sharing it?

Author and poet Justin Marlowe didn’t ease into writing. He committed fully. After leaving a career in education, he wrote and published his memoir Perfect Strangers: Echoes of a Black Suburban Youth — and then did the part many creatives avoid: he showed up to promote it.

Consistently. Publicly. Without shrinking.

In this conversation, we talk about what happens after you decide to take your creative work seriously — the momentum, the visibility, the fear, and the discipline it requires to keep going.

We explore:

• Writing and publishing a memoir

• The realities of hybrid publishing

• Marketing your work without apology

• Building creative momentum

• Navigating criticism without losing your voice

• Showing up on the days you don’t feel like it

• Moving through fear instead of waiting for confidence

• Why community matters for writers

Justin speaks honestly about the pressure of pitching agents, refining your craft, facing criticism, and continuing to create even when self-doubt creeps in.

This episode is about discipline without rigidity, confidence without ego, and the long game of building a creative life in public.

If you’ve ever hesitated to share your work — or posted once and disappeared — this conversation will meet you exactly there.

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What happens when you stop waiting for certainty — and start living the experiment?

Mongolian artist and entrepreneur Aisha Makara has built a life by testing dreams in real time. From engineering to Hollywood, from creating art that was sent to space to owning a hotel and preparing to sail across oceans — her path isn’t about impulsivity. It’s about full commitment.

This conversation explores what it really means to dream it... and give it a shot, without overthinking it.

We talk about:

• following curiosity instead of convention
• committing fully — and knowing when to walk away
• outgrowing ambitions that once defined you
• choosing alignment over significance
• building boldly without needing guarantees
• wild faith, joy, and creative action

This episode isn’t about chasing random ideas. It’s about having the courage to test your dreams in the real world — and trusting yourself enough to pivot when something no longer fits.

For anyone questioning their direction, feeling the nudge toward something new, or wondering whether it’s too late to begin again — this conversation is an invitation to move.

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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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Find more info about Stan, his plays and his book 'CreativitRy' ⁠ ⁠here⁠⁠

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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