Andy Wright and Rachel Zhang discuss every creatives dreaded topic – Impostor Syndrome. How to deal with those voices that keep telling us we're not good enough, we don't deserve to be in the room, or that everyone is better than us.

Luckily they source advice from previous Asking For A Friend guests, Maria Devereux (Executive Creative Director and Head of Innovation at Accenture Song), Psychologist, Dr. Aileen Alegado, and Aimee Davies from The Hey Mate Project.

Thanks to our supporters Streamtime, creative business management software for happier, healthier agencies.

Rachel and Andy are discussing the topic of how to deal with bad behaviour from colleagues, managers and even clients.

It's a topic that has been frequently asked in our Asking For A Friend events and so we've brought the learnings and discussions into our latest episode.

Our hosts discuss the excellent advice shared on questions like:

We reference excellent advice and opinion from:

Thanks to our supporter, Streamtime – Project management software for happier, healthier creative businesses. Also to our editor Linley Lai and Community Manager Fong Yu. And to our friends at Paper Moose, who were very kind to share their studio and resources!

Andy and Rachel are back with the still, rather awkward question – How is your mental health?

We delve into questions like, how should we talk about mental health at work, as a leader, as a colleague?

How do we bring up a subject that can sometimes lead to fear of judgement?

Well, fear not, the stigma relating to mental health is improving by the day and we share advice on all of these questions and more by referencing some fantastic Asking For A Friend episodes.

How do I let my team know that I'm stressed or not coping?

How do I deal with a manager that has no empathy?

How do I build up the courage to talk about my mental health with someone at work?

Thanks to Nicky Bryson, Martine Beaumont, Sharon Draper, Kristen Highett and Nick Hunter who all contributed to this episode.

Editing by Linley Lai.

Hosts, Andy Wright and Rachel Zhang.

And thanks to our sponsor Streamtime - project management software for happier, healthier creative businesses.

The Never Not Creative podcast is back after a 2 year hiatus. Joining Andy for this new season is co-host, Rachel Zhang, a digital product designer living in Sydney and with experience working across brands and agencies including Telstra, R/GA, Accenture Song and now her own design consultancy Ro&Co.

Paul Balfe is no football expert. But he is a male creative who was willing to chat to us about his mental health and his experiences with anxiety. Paul is Creative Director and Founder of Pennybridge Creative, an independent design studio at home on the Gold Coast of Australia. 

Paul shares his battle with anxiety as a result of the recent Queensland flooding and the steps he took to improve his mental wellbeing. From hypnotherapist to psychologist, Paul tried a number of different ways to tackle his challenges. 

He's gone on to curate an exhibition about creatives' relationship with their own mental health, titled, Welcome to Yourself. Find out more about the exhibition at https://www.nevernotcreative.org/welcome-to-yourself.

Thanks to Streamtime. Project management for healthier creative businesses.

Nasya Kamrat is the Co-Founder of FACULTY, a certified, woman-owned spatial storytelling agency. After experiences working with multi-national agencies owned by the global holding companies, Nasya decided to start something new and do completely the opposite. Nasya is joined by Chief Creative Officer, Aaron Wolfe and both chat to Andy about the positives of building a company that is diverse, equitable and different to the status quo. Nasya also shares how she's gone one step further to co-found Komuna, a co-operative of independent BIPOC, women and LGBTQ+ led agencies and leading industry knowledge brokers designed to support the world’s most intrepid brands.

Show Links:

Komuna

In our latest episode, Ve Dewey interviews James Routledge, the co-founder of Sanctus. After starting Sanctus, a coaching business to help improve mental wellbeing in workplaces, James has gone on to author the Penguin Business Book, Mental Health at Work. He's always very transparent and honest in his own challenges and shares how practice was the key to opening up and helping people realise that we're all capable of talking about our mental health.

Links:

More about James and Sanctus.

James' book, Mental Health at Work.

Thanks to Streamtime, project management for healthier creative businesses.

In this episode, Ve and Andy join forces to chat to recent winners of the Deutsche Bank Awards For Creative Entrepreneurs – Jameisha Prescod, founder of You Look Okay To Me, an online space for the chronic illness community and Nahum McLean, founder of African Diaspora Dance Association (ADDA), an organisation that aims to expand the curriculum and training of dance under the African Diaspora.

Jameisha and Nahum share the importance of strong mentorship, community and not letting social norms stand in your way.

Since 1993, through DBACE, Deutsche Bank has overseen the launch of over 220 ventures, helping young visionaries bring their ideas to life as one of the longest running creative enterprise programmes. In 2018, MeWe360 was brought in as a new partner to deliver and help shape the new direction of the programme.

Every year, the DBACE programme provides support to 10 entrepreneurs (5 Winners + 5 bursary business support recipients). All entrepreneurs join MeWe360’s incubator membership to receive tailored 1-2-1 mentoring which looks at aspects of business support depending on the entrepreneurs’ individual needs.

Applications for the 2022 DBACE program are open now. You can apply here.

More about Mewe360

It's our third and final episode of the F Word Mini-Series. David and Ve sit down for an inspirational conversation around failure at an organisational level with the award-winning transformational change leader Eva Applebaum and Global CEO of Butchershop® Global, Trevor Hubbard. Within the episode, we go in-depth discussing failure, what the opposite of failure is (clarity), key leadership attributes, and what failure for women in a work environment means.

Thanks to Streamtime for their support. 

More at nevernotcreative.org

In our second episode, David and Ve sit down with Alina Mendoza Lopez, currently an intern at Dragon Rouge London, and Max Ottignon, co-founder of the London based agency Ragged Edge to discuss failure at the individual level. Within the episode Max and Alina discuss their experience of failure: Alina discussed her relationship with failure in university whilst Max elucidates early career experiences with failure as well as his current experiences running Ragged Edge.

Ragged Edge

Thanks to Streamtime. Project and studio management for healthier creative businesses.

More at Nevernotcreative.org