When disaster hits, Leadership doesn't look polished. It looks like showing up.

In this episode of The Maker's Moment, we share a recent radio interview about Western North Carolina's experience and recovery through Hurricane Helene. Prepping for this conversation pulled me back into those early days and reminded me how much our community continues to carry us through.

You'll hear 5 ways to lead with heart in the hardest moments, including:

1. How to prepare for tough conversations.

2. Why community is the backbone for recovery.

3. How art tells the story of resilience and hope

This episode is raw, honest, and rooted in the belief that hope is a practice. Leadership means walking straight into the mess.

Vulnerability is not a weakness. It's the leadership superpower most people are afraid to use.

In today's episode, we share 3 ways to make vulnerability your greatest strength as a leader. Inspired by a recent radio interview and the dreaded "vulnerability hangover" that followed, we'll talk about how to:

1. Recognize and recover from the emotional weight of sharing your story.

2. Give more in conversation while staying grounded.

3. Hold space for hard moments without necessarily reliving the pain.

I also share behind-the-scenes throughs I recorded right after the interview, plus why this experience has me saying yes to more guesting opportunities in the future.

Listen in for practical tools, real-life stories, and an honest conversation about leading with an open heart.

Episode 2: Land & Identity: How Sense of Place Shapes Who We Are 🌿In this solo episode of The Maker’s Moment, host Leigh Shultis explores how the mountains of Western North Carolina influence not just the art we create, but also who we become.

From the aftermath of Hurricane Helene to the daily rhythms of shop life at Wilderness Muse, this is a personal look at how land, resilience, and creative identity are deeply intertwined.

Discover how the artists in Leigh’s shop echo the values of Appalachia through their work, how place becomes part of personal transformation, and why understanding our relationship with the land might just help us better understand ourselves.

Topics include:

• Appalachian identity and creative labor • Art as a response to place • Surviving and rebuilding after natural disaster • Community resilience and memory • The role of handmade goods in storytelling

Whether you’re a maker, a small business owner, or someone searching for deeper connection, this episode invites you to reflect on how your landscape is shaping your life.

What Hurricane Helene Taught Me About Rebuilding a Dream:I opened my dream shop one week before a hurricane.What followed was months of survival, a donation center built from chaos, and the kind of help I never thought I’d need to ask for.In this solo bonus episode of The Maker’s Moment, I’m sharing the real story behind Wilderness Muse: how we turned emergency pallets into a thriving garden, how a national community kept the dream alive, and why I still believe in helping others build creative lives they don’t need to escape from.Takeaways from this episode: 1. You don’t have to be ready to begin 2. Asking for help is part of the work 3. Chaos can still grow beauty4. Holding space is hard... and worth it5. The real magic is in continuing with intentionIf you’re standing at the edge of your next big move, I hope this gives you the courage to leap - messy, brave, and fully human.

Follow Amy at instagram at @amyrose_ashevillehair @lovewolfandrose and check out her website : https://amyrose.glossgenius.com/

Key Takeaways:

1. Pay attention to the "magic moments' that only the unexpected can bring.

2. Respect YOUR pace: You don't always have to "say something." Sometimes your message is as simple as doing what makes you happy.

3. Nurturing your creative process leads to clarity. Through clarity, we find focus. Through focus, we find intuitive action & authentic results!

4. There is so much beauty in realizing your relationship between art and yourself.

5. We don't always have create art out of pain. Art adds to our life!

Find Amanda's work online at www.amandacookcreative.com or on instagram at @amanda_cook_art

Key Takeaways:

To donate, www.veteranshealingfarm.org Look around and see what you're donating to!

To see the gallery over the last few years, check out www.veteranshealingfarm.org/about-2 . A picture is worth a thousand words!

Megan + Al have a podcast! Check out The Island of Misfit Toys Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/7be9GjpTAwfUf0Q6CvAB1s

What do you want? Is your art a business or a hobby? How are you treating your business or hobby?

These are all questions we dive into in Part 2 with Gina of Kai Leia Clay. Gina talks about what it means to be a "hands on" mother who is there for every moment.

Key Takeaways:

1. Know your boundaries! Create in your own time and your own way. Remember: boundaries don’t always mean you keep people out of your life; sometimes its a healthy way to let them in.

2. Prioritize people. How many people in your friends and followers listst on social media have you really met? Out of those, how many have you really impacted and built a relationship with?

3. Take steps back to evaluate yourself! There is extreme value in a pause. Who are you? What do you want? Is making a business, a hobby? Doing the deep work now will help you prioritize in the future. Once you know what you want, you can begin to see what you need to do to achieve those goals, and get better. 

4. Finding your identity as an artist and maker is a lifelong process. Choosing what to make, how to make it, etc., will be ongoing… and subject to change!

5. Consistency and slow growth can often lead you to lasting success, and it’s okay NOT to want that over overnight success! There’s not one path to success, because there are different definitions of success. What you want matters. Go get it!