The Innovise Guys

Eva Niewiadomski is the founder and owner of Catalyst Ranch in Chicago. Catalyst Ranch is a highly successful and innovative venue for creative meetings of all kinds. It really has to be seen to be believed; it's possibly the most creative meeting space in the USA. Eva, formerly with Quaker, is a real creative environment expert and an inspiring entrepreneur. Here she talks with The Innovise Guys about how she got Catalyst off the ground and she shares her views and ideas about creative meetings and designing creative environments. For more about Eva and Catalyst Ranch, visit their web site: www.catalystranch.com.

Nika Quirk, AKA Princess Succulenta (don't ask) crossed the path of The Innovise Guys at the AIN conference in San Francisco (AIN is the Applied Improvisation Network, see: www.appliedimprov.net). Nika was a keynoter and did an amazing plenary session that involved a group of about 80 people in creating music. We were impressed with her facilitation skill and we had to get her thoughts on tape for our podcast. Nika is a lot of fun, and, a real expert at applied improvisation. She uses her tools and techniques with her coaching and corporate clients. Nika is a co-creator and co-leader of TelePlay, an innovative group coaching seminar utilizing the principles and tools of InterPlay, a philosophy and practice focused on creativity, community, and change (for more information see: http://www.thegreaterpossibility.com/). She's also doing some interesting work as part of her PhD. The Guys and Nika have a bit of fun in this interview, it might have been the wine, but this is a fun interview with great content for anyone interested in the connection of play and fun with business productivity. Stay tuned!

Pamela Meyer is a consultant, author, and teacher. In this fast moving and lighthearted interview with the Innovise Guys she talks about her deep dive into the idea of organizational improvisation and the related topics of creativity training and appreciative inquiry. Pam has a deep background in the theater arts and she discovered the value of improvisation when casting plays. She's learned over time the value that improv has to build responsiveness to changing conditions in the market place, and an ability to adapt quickly to change. She's also learned how to introduce improvisation to organizations in a way that takes the emphasis off performance and back to awareness, appreciation, and ultimately improved ability to interact and innovate. She teaches these things to her corporate clients and students at DePaul University. She's the author of Quantum Creativity. For more about Pam visit her web site: www.meyercreativity.com.

The Innovise Guys do an inspiring interview with creativity icon and author of "The Artists Way", Julia Cameron about her new memoir "Floor Sample". Julia is best known for her seminal book on unblocking creativity (The Artists Way) and Gregg and Doug talk with Julia about both books in this lively chat. The topics bounce around all things creativity. Julia talks about how her sobriety caused the invention of her creativity tools, and how her upbringing in a big family led to her teaching these tools and sharing with others. An overview of the "Artists Way" is given, including the concepts of Morning Pages and an Artist's Date. She also talks about how to train your inner critic and finally her current project with collaborator Emma Lively -- a Broadway musical (their third!). This is a fascinating talk with a very interesting person and all in less than 24 minutes!

Tama J. Kieves, Harvard Law School cum laude graduate abruptly left the legal profession to write. Her book "This Time I Dance!" is all about doing what you love and more generally Career Transitions. She talks with Gregg and Doug in front on a live audience at Transitions Bookplace in Chicago. It's an entertaining interview -- Tama has fun with Da Guys -- that gets to the heart of why 3 of 5 people are unhappy with what they do. She suggests practical remedies to that sad situation. For more information about Tama visit www.AwakeningArtistry.com.

Amy Lee, aka Segami (the word Images backwards) is that rare combination of scientist and artist. Segami literally paints on water -- she talks about that process here -- and gives dynamic keynote speeches about Seeing the Impossible. Segami is also involved in an international entrepreneurial business venture in the recycled waste for energy arena. Listen to this interesting interview with the Innovise Guys, the talk is about art, innovation, business, creativity, and more. For more information about Segami and her art, visit: www.segami.com

Ralph Kerle, of The Creative Leadership Forum of Asia Pacific and Australia is a leading creativity expert and a pioneer in the use of the arts in business leadership training. A former theater director, he has a lot of insight on the value of creative training at all levels of management. His wry sense of humor blends well with the Innovise Guys and they have a great discussion about...getting into the moment, acting and authenticity, status in business transactions, and much more. Tune in for an amusing interview! Check out Ralph at: www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com.

Linda Yaven is a communication designer and invention coach with a unique appraoch to creativity. The Innovise Guys interviewed her at the Creative Problem Solving Insitute -- and it's a light hearted and yet rich in content discussion. Linda provides clients with services and trainings, based on emerging methods from the design studio - for making thinking visible and qualitative assessment. Linda recently completed a project for The Department of Defense on creative thinking and assessment. She is on the Graduate Design Faculty of California College of the Arts, and is a public speaker on innovation design. She has been an advisor/documenter for The Making Learning Visible Institute at Harvard. She will present "Fast and Light: Making Thinking Visible" at The Innovation Immersion Conference for Fortune 500, San Diego, CA. in October. She is completing a one hour documentary "Teach Us Something in 7 Minutes". To subscribe to her newsletter, called work-in-progress, please visit www.lindayaven.com

Hear Jon Pearson and believe in yourself as an artist! Jon is a font of knowledge and inspiration on creative process. A former political cartoonist, and now an educator, consultant, and speaker, he's profound, funny, interesting, and full of content -- all at once. In this highly improvised and humorous interview Jon speaks about using drawing to explore challenges, how anybody can draw using his famous Moodgie technique, being in the present and "Not Knowing. He links Not Knowing to better learning, thinking, seeing, experiencing -- and gratitude. Take the time and listen to a creative master riffing his heart out. You won't be disappointed.

The Innovise Guys interview Transitions Bookplace owner, Gayle Seminara-Mandel. Gayle talks about how she came to start Chicago's premier bookstore and also about the context of her own spiritual transformation. Gayle's turning point came when she was involved in a near fatal car accident, and she tells that story here. She also relates how serendipity saved the store from financial disaster. Her real life stories of inspiration mark this podcast as one of the more serious and spiritually oriented programs the Guys have done to date, certainly the most inspirational. For more information on Transitions Bookplace, go to: http://www.transitionsbookplace.com/.