David Nichtern is a Emmy-winning songwriter and composer, serial entrepreneur, and one of the world's leading teachers of Buddhism. So what does it really mean to bring together creative spark, practical business-building and a profound spiritual practice? And what do you do when you have to choose one at a time?

David Nichtern joins me to answer some of those questions, and we also get to meditation - how *do* you fit it in? - starting vs completing things, harmony and dissonance, and the power of habits to create focus.

This is a wonderful, inspiring conversation from a man who has spent his lifetime teaching and inspiring others to fulfil their spiritual, financial and creative goals.

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'I took myself right out of this life and started again - basically putting myself back together'.

What do you do when your brilliant life goes off the rails? Kay Hutchison had the high-powered TV career and the lifestyle to match, when she realised it was all wrong. 

Kay launched into a journey of personal discovery that went from from sound-baths to yoga, writing to silent retreats, as well as facing some difficult truths about her past. One result was writing her first book, while another was setting up her own small publishing and media business where she can be 'herself' rather than return to the corporate world that was her home for so long. 

This is a great listen if you ever feel that life is running you, and that you need some kind of a change.

I've worked with so many bright, creative people who've found themselves trapped in a corner that they never expected. The way out for you may not be yoga, voodoo or writing, but you'll come away believing that deep within you is a creative power that you can use to get your life back on track, and more determined to go and find it. 

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From the outside, Marianne Cantwell looks like a classic 'laptop lifestyle' entrepreneur, travelling the world with her business. But it's her much less common approach of embracing empathy, sensitivity and an inner voice that has made her the founder of a loyal and enthusiastic tribe - Free Range Humans - a sought-after speaker and bestselling author.

Marianne shares the story of how, after her first book was a huge, unexpected success, she expected to find herself thrilled and energised. But she found herself sinking into brain fog and apathy, with nothing to say and nothing to write. She talks about the journey to rediscover herself, to recognise 'depression' for what it was, and how it transformed her business and life

Marianne is - like me - an ENFP and HSP, highly sensitive person. That means we have sensory systems that take in a huge amount, whether in our environment or other people's emotions, but need to manage our energy with care and mindfulness. We have a terrific conversation about what this has meant for Marianne, and in particular, during a bout of depression.

We also talk about the joy of being HSP, how we handle big events, enthusiasm, collaborative working, and Marianne's 'work-arounds': finding a way of doing something that isn't the usual, but brings so many more rewards.

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21 years ago Harriet Kelsall was making jewellery on the side of her day job in IT. Today she’s founder of her highly successful bespoke jewellery company (where she still finds time to design), as well as in-demand creative business mentor and Chairman of the British National Association of Jewellers. She’s been a driving force behind Fairtrade gold, and is the author of an award-winning book on How To Start A Creative Business.

I adored talking to Harriet. She’s fun, bright and endlessly positive. She’s also dyslexic, which, she says has been a big advantage in her journey.

We talk about:

* The early days of her company (and why her first ring had a rabbit on it), and how she found a niche which no-one else was in.

* The most important question to ask if you want to launch or grow your creative business

* How dyslexia has given her a huge advantage in her life and business

* Finding a vision that’s inspiring and realistic

* Harriet’s ‘embarrassing’ writing process (my tip: I suspect a lot of creatives will relate to this!) and her unorthodox route to getting her book published.

Sign up for updates for every episode at joannapieters.com

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Judy Apps is a successful consultant and writer, helping people to communicate, and I wasn't expecting her story of years of what felt like failure and lack of direction. She tells the tale of her early career studying opera, and how an audition in Italy sent everything off the rails. We explore how nothing in your life is ever wasted - and how the directions you thought you'd given up on can provide the threads for you to weave something more magical and effective than you ever thought possible.

As creatives, we HAVE to be able to communicate with people around us to get our work known. But the very idea can fill us with horror. Judy dispels myths about networking, meeting people, and shares how we can communicate more authentically and effectively.

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This is for you if you have way more interests, skills and things you want to do that the rest of the world can really get their head round. Waqās Ahmed spent five years researching extraordinary people to write The Polymath, a book that flies the flag for living a life of multiple areas of skill and interest.

Being a polymath, he says, may be the single best way to personal fulfillment. What's more, in a world of AI, the ability to see and join links between apparently unrelated fields will become ever more important.

Waqās shares his own journey of turning his career upside down, rejecting the traditional job he'd found himself in to follow his passion for painting. That in turn opened up opportunities that took him around the world as a political journalist, art curator and now book author.

Find the full transcript at creativelifeshow.com

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Can you really become an award-winning, million-selling novelist without a publisher or an agent? Yes! Mel Sherratt tells me how she went from redundancy to selling over a million copies of her novels, and building the life that she'd dreamt of since childhood.

But we also talk about what happens when your success isn't quite lined up with what you TRULY want to do. I wasn't expecting Mel to tell me what she did about what she REALLY wants to write about - and why she's finally got the confidence to go for it.

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If there’s one thing that stops creative people releasing their full talents, it’s anxiety.

When anxiety takes over, you say NO to things. You stop having great ideas. You don't do the things that allow other people to experience your work.

Anxiety isn't easy to cure - but one of the best things to do is find ways around it.

That's exactly what my guest Matthew Barley has done. An anxious child, teenager and adult, he's become one of Britain's leading solo musicians, in demand around the world for his boundary-less, innovative, generous collaborations.

We talk about:

* The time 16 doctors told him his career was over

* The flash of insight that turned his life around from his lowest point

* The one thing that Matthew *isn't* afraid of, even when everything else is terrifying

* Why he was the shortest-serving principal cellist in the history of the London Symphony Orchestra

* The biggest lesson he took from The Beatles, that's allowed him to continue to develop his work in ever-new directions

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The Times called Alan Rosenthal 'one of Britain's top foodies' for his food columns and recipe books, his brand Stewed! and his work developing food and restaurants for big UK companies. Alan joins Joanna Pieters to talk about creating a life in food that isn't about being either in an office or a fine-dining kitchen, and about what makes his own life either rewarding or frustrating. He also shares how the sudden shock of losing his father took him away from his own creativity, and how it's taken several years to have the courage and the commitment to follow his passion again.

Click to view: show page on Awesound

Click to view: show page on Awesound