The Creative Well

Today's special guest is Angela Mondloch of Saffron Avenue. Saffron Avenue is a design studio and online shop that is dedicated to crafting heartfelt brands, stylish websites, modern calligraphy, and creative resources that inspiring and intentional. Angela's motto:

To never stop creating, to constantly stay curious, and to always inspire others through honesty and art.

In today's episode I'm talking about how to have real influence, make decisions in your business that may seem unpopular but feel right and how to truly master your mental health and perspective in regards social media.

How? By sharing the story of how I deleted my Instagram account and about 10,000 followers back in 2015.

Not many people know this story because I haven't shared it publicly. So why am I sharing it now? I think we're at a point with Instagram where we are getting bored. In fact, I did some extensive research last year and found out that it's not the algorithms or constant updates that is really pushing people away from the platform. We're all just getting bored.

I think if I had shared this story a year or so ago people wouldn't have understood because I think we were all much more emotionally tied to the platform pre-algorithm shift from chronological to whatever the heck they're doing now.

Because we're not so emotionally attached, and I'll be talking about why that is a good thing, I think we're ready to come back to or consider the platform, all social media platforms, as what it was always meant to be—a tiny glimpse into our lives, our businesses our personality, not the definition of those things.

Today I'll be sharing my Instagram story, early truths about Instagram I fortunately learned that allowed me to have a less emotional approach to it all, why I deleted my account as opposed to just taking a break, why I think it was a good and bad idea, some best practices that you can use from my lessons learned and how to approach the platform in a positive and productive way.

So much to talk about, I cannot wait to get this conversation going with you!

Today's special guest is Ciarra Rouwhorst of Ciarra Claire. Ciarra is a self-taught artist and calligrapher who lives in Northern Michigan with her husband and studio pup. She spends her days illustrating custom invitations for weddings around the world. She loves handmade paper, wax seals, and chai lattes. Ciarra recently rebranded her business from Silver Fox Calligraphy to her namesake Ciarra Claire, embracing her role as an artist. She shares her wisdom on how to overcome imposter syndrome at any stage of your creative journey!

Jessica Zimmerman of Zimmerman Events is back with a great question on how to get inspired about your business during time off, and Laura Kashner of Whitespace Magazine asks how to stay 'sharp' (love that she used that word) while on maternity leave. I'm so excited to roll up my sleeves and walk through how I stay inspired daily, weekly, quarterly and some specific pointers for both of these ladies. This is a good one, folks!