In this special episode, I share how the pandemic prompted me to create, fund and launch my new poetry podcast, A Mouthful of Air.

First, I reflect on my own journey through Covid disruptions – from coaching creatives to writing poetry – and then my friend Joanna Penn interviews me about the inspiration, funding and production behind the show.

UPDATE, 2025: A Mouthful of Air is still going, and has been selected by The Guardian in a list of ‘five of the best’ poetry podcasts, and by Podcast Review for three years running as one of the 11 best podcasts for poetry lovers. So it feels like it was worth the effort to get it started, back in the tense days of the pandemic.

‘For me personally, poetry is the bedrock – it’s the foundation of who I am in everything that I do.’ – listen to my story and Joanna Penn’s interview about launching a podcast amid global upheaval.

Mark McGuinness is an award-winning poet and creative coach whose podcast The 21st Century Creative has guided thousands of creatives. In this episode he unveils how he launched his new poetry show, A Mouthful of Air, against the backdrop of the pandemic.

Listen to A Mouthful of Air at amouthfulofair.fm to hear how classic and contemporary poems are made.

Hosted by creative coach and award-winning poet Mark McGuinness, The 21st Century Creative podcast helps you succeed as a creative professional amid the demands, distractions and opportunities of the 21st century.

Each episode features insights from Mark and interviews with outstanding creators – including artists, writers, performers, commercial creatives, directors, producers, entrepreneurs and other creative thought-leaders.

Make sure you receive every episode by subscribing in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Join the mailing list to have every episode delivered to your inbox, along with the free 21st Century Creative Foundation Course.

The post How I Created, Funded and Launched My New Podcast (while the World Was in Meltdown) appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness.

• Creative Disruption: How 12 Creatives on 5 Continents Rose to the Challenge of the Pandemic
• Thoughtful Ways to Use AI in Your Creative Process
• AI vs Artists: What Would Bowie Do?

When Covid closed his bustling Tokyo studio, Ichi Hatano turned to his ink wash paintings and digital art to stay inspired.

From crowdfunding a sumi dragon book to renovating a countryside house and launching NFT art, he reinvented his creative practice.

‘Challenging yourself is very important’ – discover how Ichi reinvented his art across mediums.

Ichi Hatano is a Tokyo-based tattoo artist and Suiboku-ga painter whose work honours centuries-old Japanese traditions. When the pandemic emptied his studio, he published a Kickstarter-funded dragon painting book, restored a rural house via YouTube, and exhibited his digital art at CrypTOKYO, Japan’s first in-person NFT show.

Explore Ichi’s sumi ink paintings, digital art and his crowdfunded book at ichihatano.com, and follow his studio on Instagram at @ichi_hatano.

Hosted by creative coach and award-winning poet Mark McGuinness, The 21st Century Creative podcast helps you succeed as a creative professional amid the demands, distractions and opportunities of the 21st century.

Each episode features insights from Mark and interviews with outstanding creators – including artists, writers, performers, commercial creatives, directors, producers, entrepreneurs and other creative thought-leaders.

Make sure you receive every episode by subscribing in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Join the mailing list to have every episode delivered to your inbox, along with the free 21st Century Creative Foundation Course.

The post From Tattoos to NFT Art with Ichi Hatano appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness.

• AI vs Artists: What Would Bowie Do?
• Thoughtful Ways to Use AI in Your Creative Process
• Creative Disruption: How 12 Creatives on 5 Continents Rose to the Challenge of the Pandemic

Have you ever had a creative project you never quite found time for?

That was voiceover artist Nicky Mondellini’s dilemma until the pandemic cancelled her film work – and suddenly she had the time to launch her long-planned podcast.

‘If you don’t start now, you’ll never do it’ – tune in to Nicky’s story of seizing her moment in lockdown.

Nicky Mondellini is a multilingual actor and award-winning voiceover artist whose work spans stage, screen and commercials for brands such as Ford, Google Pixel and Ikea. When the pandemic upended her acting projects in early 2020, she chose to deepen her voiceover skills and launch La Pizarra, her Spanish-language podcast interviewing entertainment professionals.

Discover Nicky’s voiceover demos and coaching at nickymondellini.com and listen to her podcast La Pizarra at lapizarrapodcast.com.

Hosted by creative coach and award-winning poet Mark McGuinness, The 21st Century Creative podcast helps you succeed as a creative professional amid the demands, distractions and opportunities of the 21st century.

Each episode features insights from Mark and interviews with outstanding creators – including artists, writers, performers, commercial creatives, directors, producers, entrepreneurs and other creative thought-leaders.

Make sure you receive every episode by subscribing in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Join the mailing list to have every episode delivered to your inbox, along with the free 21st Century Creative Foundation Course.

The post Using Lockdown to Launch a Dream Project with Nicky Mondellini appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness.

• Thoughtful Ways to Use AI in Your Creative Process
• Creative Disruption: How 12 Creatives on 5 Continents Rose to the Challenge of the Pandemic
• Helping Musicians Through Lockdown with Charlotte Abroms

When lockdown cancelled her in-person writing retreats, bestselling author Laura Davis faced a choice: let her teaching career stall or reinvent it online.

Laura, famed for The Courage to Heal and her new memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars, challenged her own beliefs about digital learning – and discovered it could be just as transformative.

‘I didn’t think online teaching could match an in-person retreat – but I was pleasantly surprised’ – listen to Laura’s story of creative reinvention.

Laura Davis is the co-author of the classic guide The Courage to Heal and author of the memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars. Her work has sold millions of copies in eleven languages and pioneered a pathway to healing for survivors of trauma.

For the past 25 years she has taught writing and personal transformation at retreats worldwide. When the pandemic struck, Laura boldly took her deep, intimate workshops online – proving that virtual spaces can host genuine healing.

You can read the opening chapters of The Burning Light of Two Stars here.

And you can find out more about the book and where to buy it here.

Laura is now back to teaching in-person retreats again, as well as online classes – you can learn about all of thes at her website LauraDavis.net.

Hosted by creative coach and award-winning poet Mark McGuinness, The 21st Century Creative podcast helps you succeed as a creative professional amid the demands, distractions and opportunities of the 21st century.

Each episode features insights from Mark and interviews with outstanding creators – including artists, writers, performers, commercial creatives, directors, producers, entrepreneurs and other creative thought-leaders.

Make sure you receive every episode by subscribing in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Join the mailing list to have every episode delivered to your inbox, along with the free 21st Century Creative Foundation Course.

The post Taking Deep Work Online with Laura Davis appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness.

• My Creative Process (on the Podcast that Produces Jewelry)
• Creative Disruption: How 12 Creatives on 5 Continents Rose to the Challenge of the Pandemic
• Thoughtful Ways to Use AI in Your Creative Process

When the pandemic brought live music to a halt, artists lost their gigs, their incomes and the vital connection with fans.

Charlotte Abroms, a Melbourne-based music manager, used the enforced shutdown to pioneer new ways to help her roster thrive – from virtual gigs to mentoring emerging talent.

‘If an artist doesn’t have cash flow, the manager usually works on a commission basis – so the manager doesn’t have cash flow either.’ – hear how Charlotte innovated to keep musicians afloat.

Charlotte Abroms is a Melbourne-based music manager whose roster includes Ainslie Wills, Haarlo and producers Jonathan Steer and John Castle. With a background in digital strategy and as co-founder of the live-music blog Large Noises, she has won the Lighthouse Award, Fast Track Fellowship and Outstanding Woman in Music Award.

When COVID-19 cancelled tours and cut off artist incomes, Charlotte responded by creating virtual gigs, fundraising campaigns and bespoke mentoring for emerging musicians and young managers – showing how resourceful creativity can sustain an entire industry.

Discover Charlotte’s mentoring and music-management services at hearheargroup.com and follow her insights on Instagram at @charlotteabroms.

Hosted by creative coach and award-winning poet Mark McGuinness, The 21st Century Creative podcast helps you succeed as a creative professional amid the demands, distractions and opportunities of the 21st century.

Each episode features insights from Mark and interviews with outstanding creators – including artists, writers, performers, commercial creatives, directors, producers, entrepreneurs and other creative thought-leaders.

Make sure you receive every episode by subscribing in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Join the mailing list to have every episode delivered to your inbox, along with the free 21st Century Creative Foundation Course.

The post Helping Musicians Through Lockdown with Charlotte Abroms appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness.

• Creative Disruption: How 12 Creatives on 5 Continents Rose to the Challenge of the Pandemic
• Launching a New Business in the Pandemic with Amrita Kumar
• Thoughtful Ways to Use AI in Your Creative Process

Lockdown threw parents into a frenzy of juggling childcare, homeschooling and work – with creativity often sidelined.

Kay Lock Kolp shows how even in crisis you can nurture your artistic spark alongside parenting demands.

‘Each of the next seven nights, take a few moments to look at yourself in the mirror.’ – hear Kay’s nightly ritual for nourishing creativity as a parent.

Kay Lock Kolp is a coach, podcaster and author who helps creatives balance parenting and their inner lives. Through her Practical Intuition podcast and one-to-one coaching she guides parents to reclaim self-care, preserve creativity and thrive under pressure.

Connect with Kay at kaylockkolp.com and subscribe to her weekly insights at kaylockkolp.com/weekly.

Hosted by creative coach and award-winning poet Mark McGuinness, The 21st Century Creative podcast helps you succeed as a creative professional amid the demands, distractions and opportunities of the 21st century.

Each episode features insights from Mark and interviews with outstanding creators – including artists, writers, performers, commercial creatives, directors, producers, entrepreneurs and other creative thought-leaders.

Make sure you receive every episode by subscribing in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Join the mailing list to have every episode delivered to your inbox, along with the free 21st Century Creative Foundation Course.

The post Parenting for Creatives with Kay Lock Kolp appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness.

• Thoughtful Ways to Use AI in Your Creative Process
• AI vs Artists: What Would Bowie Do?
• Why Your Taste Matters More than Ever in an AI World

The experiential marketing world in India was shattered overnight when lockdown forbade face-to-face campaigns.

Amrita Kumar turned the crisis into opportunity by launching Mojo Box – a subscription discovery platform that kept her business alive and engaged 240,000 consumers.

‘Going slow is okay’ – learn how patience became Amrita’s secret weapon.

Amrita Kumar is co-founder and CEO of Candid Marketing, one of India’s most awarded experiential agencies. When in-person activations ground to a halt in 2020, she launched Mojo Box – a home-delivery sampling service that now reaches over 240,000 registered consumers across India.

Explore sample boxes and join Mojo Box via @iwantamojobox.

Hosted by creative coach and award-winning poet Mark McGuinness, The 21st Century Creative podcast helps you succeed as a creative professional amid the demands, distractions and opportunities of the 21st century.

Each episode features insights from Mark and interviews with outstanding creators – including artists, writers, performers, commercial creatives, directors, producers, entrepreneurs and other creative thought-leaders.

Make sure you receive every episode by subscribing in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Join the mailing list to have every episode delivered to your inbox, along with the free 21st Century Creative Foundation Course.

The post Launching a New Business in the Pandemic with Amrita Kumar appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness.

• Thoughtful Ways to Use AI in Your Creative Process
• Creative Disruption: How 12 Creatives on 5 Continents Rose to the Challenge of the Pandemic
• From Tattoos to NFTs with Ichi Hatano

The world of film and TV production ground to a halt in early 2020, leaving studios, agencies and freelancers stranded by travel bans and lockdowns.

Hometeam Productions turned that crisis into opportunity by tapping a global network of local filmmakers to keep content flowing for brands and broadcasters.

‘When the rest of the industry went dark, we already had the solution’ – tune in to discover how Hometeam rewrote the rules of production.

Hometeam is a global content-production network founded by Harrison Winter, Brandon Bloch and Lagan Sebert. They leverage over 500 filmmakers in more than 150 countries to deliver remote shoots for clients such as NBC’s The Voice, HBO Max’s Legendary and Google’s No Easy Answers, keeping projects rolling when travel was impossible.

Discover how Hometeam can reboot your productions at wearehometeam.com, and explore their case studies of global shoots.

Hosted by creative coach and award-winning poet Mark McGuinness, The 21st Century Creative podcast helps you succeed as a creative professional amid the demands, distractions and opportunities of the 21st century.

Each episode features insights from Mark and interviews with outstanding creators – including artists, writers, performers, commercial creatives, directors, producers, entrepreneurs and other creative thought-leaders.

Make sure you receive every episode by subscribing in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Join the mailing list to have every episode delivered to your inbox, along with the free 21st Century Creative Foundation Course.

The post Rebooting Global Filming with Hometeam appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness.

• Thoughtful Ways to Use AI in Your Creative Process
• AI vs Artists: What Would Bowie Do?
• Creative Disruption: How 12 Creatives on 5 Continents Rose to the Challenge of the Pandemic

Earl Abrahams is a Johannesburg-based lens-based artist whose films and photographs animate the city’s streets until lockdown confined him to his apartment block.

Under strict restrictions he turned his camera into a window on the world, creating his Lockdown Series to reimagine confinement as a source of solace and invention.

‘Photography became my place of solace and kept me grounded at a time of uncertainty’ – listen to Earl’s inspiring story.

Earl Abrahams is a South African photographer and filmmaker whose practice investigates race, identity and social mobility through dynamic, movement-based imagery. His Lockdown Series documented life from his apartment block, earning global recognition and new income streams.

Explore Earl’s Lockdown Series and other work at his website – Lockdown Series and more at earl-abrahams.com.

Hosted by creative coach and award-winning poet Mark McGuinness, The 21st Century Creative podcast helps you succeed as a creative professional amid the demands, distractions and opportunities of the 21st century.

Each episode features insights from Mark and interviews with outstanding creators – including artists, writers, performers, commercial creatives, directors, producers, entrepreneurs and other creative thought-leaders.

Make sure you receive every episode by subscribing in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Join the mailing list to have every episode delivered to your inbox, along with the free 21st Century Creative Foundation Course.

The post Lockdown Series: Windows on a Changed World with Earl Abrahams appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness.

• Thoughtful Ways to Use AI in Your Creative Process
• AI vs Artists: What Would Bowie Do?
• Why Your Taste Matters More than Ever in an AI World

Steven Kunis is a Greek-American theatre director based in London who founded Panorama Productions to create international collaborations in theatre and music.

When his acclaimed production of Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men was halted by the pandemic, he responded by inventing Rocky Road, a hybrid theatrical-cinematic thriller that reimagined live performance for the Covid era.

‘I aim to make theatre that allows us to feel closer to one another and to collectively imagine better possibilities for how we might all get along.’

Steven Kunis is the founding artistic director of Panorama Productions. His work spans theatre, opera and experimental performance, and his UK premiere of Straight White Men earned multiple award nominations and rave reviews.

For more on Steven Kunis’s work and to stay updated on upcoming projects, visit his LinkedIn page.

Hosted by creative coach and award-winning poet Mark McGuinness, The 21st Century Creative podcast helps you succeed as a creative professional amid the demands, distractions and opportunities of the 21st century.

Each episode features insights from Mark and interviews with outstanding creators – including artists, writers, performers, commercial creatives, directors, producers, entrepreneurs and other creative thought-leaders.

Make sure you receive every episode by subscribing in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Join the mailing list to have every episode delivered to your inbox, along with the free 21st Century Creative Foundation Course.

The post The Rocky Road for Theatre through the Pandemic with Steven Kunis appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness.

• AI vs Artists: What Would Bowie Do?
• Thoughtful Ways to Use AI in Your Creative Process
• Why Your Taste Matters More than Ever in an AI World