The Anxious Creative

Okay, I’m going to go out on a limb here:

I bet a lot of you don’t have boundaries.

That’s exactly how I used to be. I lived most of my life not even knowing what boundaries were. If someone asked something of me, I had to say yes. I didn’t even know “no” was an option, and I doubt I’m on the only one.

In this episode, I’m chatting with Pamela Adam. She’s a hair stylist, mom, and one of the sweetest people I know.

I met Pamela about two years ago when I taught a class at the salon where she works, and we just hit it off!

In this very special episode, I chat with my very own therapist, McKenzie!

I’ve been seeing McKenzie for 2-3 years (neither of us can quite remember, lol). I started seeing her after ending up in the hospital with a panic attack. McKenzie specializes in treating anxiety and trauma with talk therapy and other methods like EMDR.

I met Nina in person at a class she taught shortly after I moved to Calgary. Her story moved me and resonated so much that I had a minor emotional meltdown in the middle of the class. That was a big deal, because trust me, I do not usually cry in front of people. It was that powerful.

I met Shirley on Instagram of all places when she commented on one of my posts. I creeped on her profile and immediately started noticing similarities: we both have nose piercings, similar tattoos (we both have a heart on our wrists!), and we have the same anxiety necklace.

Whaaaaat?!

*cue Twilight Zone theme.

This week on the podcast, I had an awesome conversation with Alicia Soulier, owner of Capelli Salon Studio and founder of the incredible SalonScale app. Alicia is an entrepreneur and award winning hair stylist, and I had a blast talking with her.

A year ago, Alicia’s life changed.

I absolutely loved talking with my fellow anxious creative, Gina, way back in episode 13. So of course, I had to have her back for an encore!

This time, our conversation is all about dealing with social anxiety when you’re an entrepreneur, a stylist, and when your livelihood depends on talking to people.

We're getting back to the Overshare! Do you remember my first episode of my podcast? Back when it was called "Overshared in the Salon Chair"?! I'm bringing Becky back to chat!

A decade ago, blogging was in its infancy. Not many people were doing it, and no one was doing it to make money. It seems like everyone wants to become a professional blogger these days, but that ambition was completely unheard of when Mike got started.

This episode is all about the week I did the unthinkable: I turned my phone OFF, put it in the glovebox of my car, and unplugged for a whole week.

Seven whole days, sans phone and internet. I know, nuts right?

I even took the week off work so Nick, Leroy and I could spend the week at my parents’ cabin in Saskatchewan. At the height of my anxiety, I realized I needed balance, so we started doing this twice per year to give ourselves a break.

It’s like switching your brain off and on again.

You know how when your phone starts glitching out, you can solve the problem 99% of the time with a simple reboot? A break is like that for your brain.

That’s what my unplugged week was meant to do. Unplug, reboot, refresh.

In this episode, I talk about what I learned during my unplugged week.

I learned how addicted I am to my phone, how much time I waste (So. Much. Time.), the effect that constant connection has on my anxiety, and that the world doesn’t actually end if I unplug for a week. Who knew?

I also answer your questions from my first Instagram post after turning my phone back on.

Your questions about my unplugged week:

How did my clients handle it?

What do I do for my friends and family to still get a hold of me?

Do I have a home phone to take calls if someone really needs to get a hold of me?

Did I take any photos?

How did I listen to music?

My unplugged week was amazing, and I hope this episode inspires to you give unplugging a try!