One Creative Act

Dan Nevins is a soldier and war hero. In 2004, an explosion took the life of his dear friend and changed him forever while serving in Iraq. After losing his legs, he entered a two-year journey, 36 surgeries, learning to walk again and learned that the wounds of war are far greater than physical wounds. He remembers vividly being met at his bedside by an organization, Wounded Warrior Project — a nonprofit organization in Jacksonville, Florida, that poured hope into Dan in a way that he did not know at the time. During a time in 2013, Dan had eight weeks at home alone and struggled immensely. A friend introduced him to meditation and ultimately, the physical practice of yoga. Quick to say he laughed at the idea and struggled through it, Dan had physical and mental breakthroughs unlike anything he's ever experienced because of yoga practice. Today, he believes in the healing and restoration that yoga and meditation provide anyone suffering; and particularly vets. He speaks his truth, "bring a vet to yoga; you might just save his life," every chance he gets. 

Now, as an internationally recognized speaker and yoga teacher, Dan shares today what’s most important. His life as a dad, soon-to-be husband, working on his vision for his wedding day, what he wants and coming home to claim these things has him present and awake to what matters right now. Heartfelt and inspiring, Dan lives a life of service and shares in this episode what it’s like to look downstream and take action from creating and managing your own life. 

In this conversation you’ll hear:

• What happens when you forgive and look forward
• Why choice brings us to repeat the past or create the future
• What a life of joy can be in the midst of challenges
• What results from listening, patience, and love
• How our story is always unfolding. Keep creating it.

Resources:

• One Creative Act’s Instagram: @onecreativeact
• Mary Lyn Jenkin’s Instagram: @marylynhjenkins
• entreYOU Instagram: @entreyoubymlj
• entreYOU Website: entreyou.com
• Dan Nevin’s Instagram: @dannevins
• Dan Nevin’s Website: dannevins.com 
• Wounded Warrior Project’s Website: woundedwarriorproject.org
• Wounded Warrior Project’s Instagram: @wwp 

Mal Washington is a cool guy. A real estate investor, entrepreneur, husband, father, philanthropist, pro athlete, business owner, olympian, and Wimbledon finalist, he started tennis at the age of 5 and became a 2-time all American and finished his sophomore year at the University of Michigan ranked as the NCAA #1 tennis player in the nation. Over a career that spanned 10 years, he won four career titles while reaching a total of 13 finals. He reached a career high #11 in the world in singles in 1992, 1993, and 1996; and in 1996, he reached the Wimbledon championship final becoming the first African American man to reach a grand slam singles final since 1975. He remains one of only two African American men to achieve this. 

A member of the US Olympic Team and US Davis Cup Team, Mal suffered a knee injury during his final Davis Cup appearance in 1997; following two knee surgeries, he retired in 1999. 

He shares in this episode his love for the greatest sport — tennis. But his voice now stands solidly in what to do with what you’ve been given. He’s giving back through his Foundation, The Mal Washington Foundation, located in the urban core, Durkeeville neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida. Now, this 25-year-old non-profit organization provides after school homework assistance and life skills programs to kids; and it all started simply to show kids the game of tennis who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity. 

In 2020, after completion of a $5 million capital campaign, the Foundation opened a brand new state of the art Club 904 Teen Center to serve for decades to come. Ready to serve up your creative gifts to others and get love in return? It’s your serve. 

In this conversation you’ll hear:

• How to step out of your comfort zone — serve.
• Why your gifts matter
• What connecting creates
• What pays it forward — giving back.
• How to be inspired — share your gifts.

Resources:

• One Creative Act’s Instagram: @onecreativeact
• Mary Lyn Jenkin’s Instagram: @marylynhjenkins
• entreYOU Instagram: @entreyoubymlj
• entreYOU Website: entreyou.com
• Mal Washington Foundation’s Website: malwashington.com
• Mal Washington’s Instagram: @malwashington
• Mal Washington Foundation’s Instagram: @lovemwyf
• Mal Washington's Website:  DiamondLifeRealEstate.com

Born in 2014, Congaree and Penn began as a rice farm.

Since then, owners and visionaries Lindsay and Scott Meyers, have grown the farm from four acres of rice paddies into a thriving farm of orchards, you-pick vines and fields, and home to chickens, ducks, guinea fowl, goats, horses, and thousands of honeybees. Congaree and Penn, 350 acres in Jacksonville, Florida,  boasts the largest (and youngest) Mayhaw orchard in the world, welcomes guests to its farm-to-table restaurant weekly and hosts brides for wedding days and special events that look picture perfect.

Lindsay Meyer,  is the co-owner. She and her husband have been owning and growing the business since they said, YES — this is what we want, seven years ago. Lindsay is the creative director of the farm and shares in this episode a day in the life of living her dream — but she doesn’t candy coat it. Farm living is the place to be but it comes with a lot of hard work. 

In this conversation you’ll hear:

• How to say yes to what you want
• Why hard work and never quitting is what matters most
• What it’s like to work with your spouse — every day!
• Why trying it all is a fun way to live!
• How life on a farm is beautiful, challenging, and always changing

Resources:

• One Creative Act’s Instagram: @onecreativeact
• Mary Lyn Jenkin’s Instagram: @marylynhjenkins
• entreYOU Instagram: @entreyoubymlj
• entreYOU Website: entreyou.com
• Congaree and Penn’s  Instagram: @congareeandpenn 
• Congaree and Penn’s Website: congareeandpenn.com 

Thomas Hager brings people together through his creativity. His larger than life photographs hang in homes and galleries all over the country. As a local Jacksonville, Floridian, Thomas is an expressive communicator and has a great big heart for encouraging everyone to believe in yourself, being an artist and owning it passionately.

His printing process is unique to him. And the vision he has for what he brings to the world through his photography is one of a kind. He has held true to mastering and staying aligned with what he loves and his style since he started — over 30 years ago.

The best place to see his work is on Instagram and his website; his work hangs in museums that include the Huntsville Museum of Art in Huntsville, Alabama, Mobile Museum of Art in Alabama, City of Orlando’s permanent collection, the Federal Reserve in Atlanta, Georgia, and multiple collections including the Henry Buhl collection in New York and the Elton John collection in Georgia. His work is also in one of the top 10 best photography collections in the world. 

With all of this, he stays passionate and down to earth. A believer in hard work and perseverance, Thomas continues to remain committed to his passion, believing in himself as an artist and claiming it daily. 

In this conversation you’ll hear:

• How to claim yourself as an artist
• Why hard work and never quitting is the golden rule
• What to do when needing some inspiration
• What to tell yourself in the mirror if you’re an artist
• How we are always becoming who we are meant to be

Resources:

• One Creative Act’s Instagram: @onecreativeact
• Mary Lyn Jenkin’s Instagram: @marylynhjenkins
• entreYOU Instagram: @entreyoubymlj
• entreYOU Website: entreyou.com
• Thomas Hager’s Instagram: @thomas_hager_artist
• Thomas Hager’s Website: thomashager.com

In this second part of the two-part series, Lindsay Hoyt takes us inside her vision — from building a school to what happens now inside the classroom. Finding the right people, building a team, and unlearning have been part of the valuable process in creating the classical education classroom and teacher. Lindsay shares what the learning curve has been for the teacher of Cornerstone, the differences between this type of teaching and other schools and what’s most important — the beautiful impact on the children. 

The school’s motto is: Learn the truth. Do the good. Love the beautiful. This is spoken daily in the classroom along with the Pledge of Allegiance. Cornerstone Classical Academy is now in its second year of operation and increased enrollment from last year’s K-6th grade to K-7th this year with 646 students in total. It is publicly funded and expanding to 12th grade with a vision for a total of 1200 students when this happens. 

Lindsay shares today what’s next — a gymnasium that would serve as a hub for student life;  theatre, gatherings, sports, and pep rallies. Lindsay is up to ongoing big things for the next generation to experience a space where students love learning, think for themselves and understand big questions — not just the right answers. 

In this conversation you’ll hear:

• How to build a team for a classical school
• What differs in a classical education teacher
• What a classical education’s impact has on the student
• What’s next for Cornerstone Classical Academy — a gymnasium!
• How you can support classical education and our future

Resources:

• One Creative Act’s Instagram: @onecreativeact
• Mary Lyn Jenkin’s Instagram: @marylynhjenkins
• entreYOU Instagram: @entreyoubymlj
• entreYOU Website: entreyou.com
• Cornerstone Classical Academy’s Website: cornerstoneclassical.org
• Cornerstone Classical Academy’s Instagram: @cornerstoneclassicalacademy
• Lindsay Hoyt’s Instagram: @lindsayrhoyt

Ask Lindsay Hoyt what it takes to start a school and she’ll tell you — the good, the bad, the intensities and the joys. (and everything else!) She's not afraid. And she's got quite a story to share. 

Making a difference — for her own kids, but also for all children — was her calling. And she stopped at nothing. Her vision — a tuition-free, classical education for children providing a school for deep learning and an option that didn’t exist became a reality in 2020. In this first episode of our two-part series, Lindsay shares the start, laying the foundation, the challenges, and the miracles that brought Cornerstone Classical Academy into existence. 

In this conversation you’ll hear:

• How to start a school
• Why a classical education matters
• What makes a classical education distinct from other types of education
• What results from hard work, commitment and vision
• How miracles happen — do the work. Expect a miracle.

Resources:

• One Creative Act’s Instagram: @onecreativeact
• Mary Lyn Jenkin’s Instagram: @marylynhjenkins
• entreYOU Instagram: @entreyoubymlj
• entreYOU Website: entreyou.com
• Cornerstone Classical Academy’s Website: cornerstoneclassical.org
• Cornerstone Classical Academy’s Instagram: @cornerstoneclassicalacademy
• Lindsay Hoyt’s Instagram: @lindsayrhoyt

The Season One Finale episode is here! It has been an amazing beginning and this first season has been full of inspiration featuring extraordinary, creative heroes from the city of Jacksonville, Florida who have taken risks, stepped into their dreams, and claimed their creativity — they each tried something new without knowing the journey that would result from their choice. Challenges and triumphs, their stories are here in Season One to inspire us each into creative action. 

In this solo episode, I share my favorite insights and what I learned through Season One. I give my top five take-aways of the season. These learnings are both what I learned from my amazing guests and also through my personal creative act of taking this new step  — creating the podcast, One Creative Act! You’ll hear why I took this step, the process I experienced and how I found an increased sense of relatedness in taking a risk and  trying something new. 

We will take a short break to prepare for Season Two that begins Thursday, November 4, 2021. During the break, I would love for you to enjoy the 15 episodes of Season One and stay connected with me through my website livebigfishco.com and @onecreativeact 

Thank you for listening!! I am inspired by YOU and can't wait for Season Two! 

In this conversation you’ll hear:

• Why I created One Creative Act
• The top 5 things I learned through developing this podcast and my Season One guests
• How we are related, similar, & connected
• What we gain from listening & trying something new
• What to expect! A short break & Season Two begins November 4th!

Resources:

• One Creative Act’s Instagram: @onecreativeact
• Mary Lyn Jenkin’s Instagram: @marylynhjenkins
• entreYOU Instagram: @entreyoubymlj
• entreYOU Website: entreyou.com
• Baptiste Yoga’s Website: baptisteyoga.com 
• Lightyear Leadership’s Website: lightyear.co

Ask Bri O’Shea what it takes to create beauty sustainably. She knows how. 

Fashion was her calling. Her dreams of being a fashion designer started as a little girl.Today, as the designer and founder of Label B swimwear, she’s creating what is appropriately described as swimwear that doesn’t suck for the planet. In the US alone, 99% of clothing thrown away can be recycled and 85% ends up in landfills. 

Since 2018, Bri’s Label B has been committed to thoughtful design, ethical sourcing from dead stock material (other people’s leftovers) and material made from recycled plastic bottles causing a powerful ripple effect for sustainability. 

She shares what led her to do things differently; how to be in the process of shifting from corporate to personalized and enjoy it all and the importance of leaving past employers on good terms. (They may be the very ones who circle back around and hire you!) Her courage to act on her talent, do the thing she felt called to do and acknowledge where she came from are keys in her process and growth of Label B. 

In this conversation you’ll hear:

• Why there’s great value in acknowledging where you came from
• The importance of leaving employers on good terms
• Why you need to cold call and use google
• What every designer must do — personally test your product to ensure quality
• Why customers are first and a following is just a number

Resources:

• One Creative Act’s Instagram: @onecreativeact
• Mary Lyn Jenkin’s Instagram: @marylynhjenkins
• entreYOU Instagram: @entreyoubymlj
• entreYOU Website: entreyou.com
• Label B’s Website: labelb.com 
• Label B’s Instagram: @_labelb 
• Bri O’Shea’s Instagram: @brioshea 
• Sunrise Surf Shop’s Instagram: @sunrisesurfshop 
• Penelope T’s Instagram: @penelopetboutique
• Stone Cold Fox’s Instagram:  @stone_cold_fox 

When Leslie’s youngest daughter, Lanier, was almost two years old, she noticed distinct developmental and emotional changes. Lanier drastically shifted from normal function and growth into a space where Leslie knew something wasn’t right. After months of chasing doctors, experiencing severe emotions and breakdowns in Lanier, and finally getting the attention needed, Lanier was diagnosed with autism — a diagnosis at the time that didn’t have a lot of research or clarity behind it. So, Leslie became the woman who found it. She used her voice, her hands, her feet, her heart and her faith to be guided into something bigger. 

The HEAL Foundation was created as a result of Leslie knowing that all families of autism needed support. She knew she had received the Light; and she wanted to give it to others. First, she put her attention on camps and classroom financial support for autistic kids. And then incredible fundraisers and galas, inviting celebrities like Jenny McCarthy and thousands of guests through the years. Fundraising has allowed the purchase of hundreds of iPads to support autistic children in unlocking their voices.  Now, Lanier at age 23,  is capable of ‘speaking’ through her iPad and does so with profound intelligence and wisdom. The documentary, Unlocked by Henry Corra, will feature Lanier's story and will be released next year. This is Leslie’s extraordinary story of faith and perseverance — and her greatest joy of creating and serving through HEAL. 

In this conversation, you’ll hear:

• How to persevere, pray and play
• How deep and wide is a momma’s love
• What choice we have in the midst of chaos
• Why creatively giving is fully living
• How intentionally serving directs the next step
• What matters is serving and sharing all you have

Resources:

• One Creative Act’s Instagram: @onecreativeact
• Mary Lyn Jenkin’s Instagram: @marylynhjenkins
• entreYOU Instagram: @entreyoubymlj
• entreYOU Website: entreyou.com
• Leslie’s Instagram: @leslieweed
• Leslie’s Facebook: Leslie Hale Weed 
• HEAL Foundation’s Instagram: @heal_foundation 
• HEAL Foundation’s Website: healautismnow.org 

Full of life and full of vision when most would consider wrapping up a career, Katherine Way was just getting started. In her mid-fifties, she needed a dress and couldn’t find anything. The challenge came from her husband to make it herself; and thus began the quest for every woman to have a Katherine Way dress in her closet. 

Imagine a dress that fits (and looks great!) for all sized-women. Simplicity of care, made-in-the-USA, and SPF sun protection built into the fabric increase the feel-good factor. Colors and patterns that enliven and brighten every face. And a confidence that washes over the minute the woman and dress meet. The beauty that is seen in Katherine’s designs is inspiring — but saying yes to adventure, building something to make women feel and look great, and doing so while remaining poised and trusting the process is the real story. Katherine’s  flagship shop is in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, and her fashion treasures can be found online and throughout golfing and specialty boutiques nationwide. 

What you’ll hear in this conversation: 

• How to say yes and go for it
• Why to say yes and go for it
• How to trust that it all works together
• Why now is the right time
• How everything is important in how your story comes together

Resources:

• One Creative Act’s Instagram: @onecreativeact
• Mary Lyn Jenkin’s Instagram: @marylynhjenkins
• entreYOU Instagram: @entreyoubymlj
• entreYOU Website: entreyou.com
• Katherine Way’s Instagram: @katherine.way 
• Katherine Way’s Website:  katherineway.com 
• First Coast Women’s Service’s Website: fcws.org 
• Casa Marina’s Website:  casamarinahotel.com