The Creative Shift with Dan Blank

How do you forge your own path to success with your creative work? Today, I talk to Elise Blaha Cripe, who tells us how she turned a blog into platform, a podcast, and a series of products that has helped her thrive. But more than that, I was blown away by her reflection on what … Continue reading "Finding fulfillment and success as a creative professional — an interview with Elise Blaha Cripe"

There was a moment in illustrator and cartoonist Jake Parker’s career, where this is what he, his wife and five children faced: “There was a summer there where we had no money. We went through savings. We had some food storage we saved for when times get hard, and we were like, “Let’s break out … Continue reading "“Whatever you are doing, be fully engaged in it.” – an interview with Jake Parker"

If you are a writer hoping to craft a career as an author, you are going to LOVE today’s story. I recently chatted with novelist Tammy Greenwood, who shared with me the harrowing journey to getting her 12th novel published. She and I last spoke a couple years back, in an interview titled “The “Terrifying … Continue reading "“Risk is terrifying, but it is critical to finding success as an artist.” An interview with Tammy Greenwood"

How do you earn a full-time living as an artist, while raising three kids, and navigating through a failed business venture? Today we find out. Jay Alders is a professional artist, whose paintings, design work, and photography embodies the surf culture. But that alone is not what inspired me to interview him for the podcast. … Continue reading "Making a living, while keeping the creative process pure – an interview with Jay Alders"

KJ Dell’Antonia made a huge shift in her career, giving up her career as a lawyer and New York City prosecutor to becoming a full-time writer. She became a columnist and contributing editor for the New York Times‘ Well Family page, amongst many other writing credentials. In this interview, we dig into the specific ways … Continue reading "“Do you want to read a book, or do you want to have written a book?” – an interview with KJ Dell’Antonia"

Colby Sharp is a teacher and advocate for the power of reading. In this interview, you will hear my incredulity Colby’s amazing enthusiasm and his many collaborations. In this discussion, we talk about: How a sense of celebration seems to permeate everything he does. How me manages being so public with his work, even though … Continue reading "“I want to celebrate what we are doing” – an interview with Colby Sharp"

In this podcast, I speak with Lori Richmond who made a huge shift in her career — leaving a corporate job in order to pursue her dream of becoming a children’s book author-illustrator. In this interview, we go through the specific steps she took to pursue her creative vision. You can find Lori at the … Continue reading "“I saw this as a reinvestment in myself” – an interview with author-illustrator Lori Richmond"

A few hours after I interviewed artist Eric Wert, he emailed this to me: “Since we spoke, I’ve been hit with anxiety in a way that I haven’t felt for quite a while. I think I realized that one of the ways the I deal with anxiety is just to stay too busy to think […]

Today I am excited to share my interview with sound artist Margaret Noble. I am inspired by Margaret’s habits as a creative professional, especially the intentional choices she makes to improve her craft, grow as an artist, and ensure she makes time to create. Some of what we cover in our chat: How she views […]

Today I’m excited to share my conversation with writer, director and producer Angela Tucker. In this interview, talk about the realities of crossing that gap from one’s creative vision to making it a reality. What jumped out at me was two things: How many disparate projects and goals she juggles at any one time. How […]