Lesson 27: Retrain Your Mind and Unf*ck Your Brain with Kara Loewentheil

How to retrain your brain beyond just positive thinking

with Kara Loewentheil

How can we override our brains and stop our negative self talk, fear of failure, and perfectionism from getting in the way of making the awesome work we want to make?

On this week’s episode of Creativity School, I talk to Master Certified Coach Kara Loewentheil about how to unf*ck your brain, and step by step change your thought patterns beyond just positive thinking. Kara left a legal career behind and has grown her coaching business from zero to seven figures in just 3 years. She teaches cognitive psychology-based techniques and insights from feminist theory that lead to ridiculously rapid change. This is real, practical mindset work based on the way our brains work!

Kara talks about some of the biggest blocks to our creativity - negative self talk, fear of failure, perfectionism and anxiety - and how to start changing our thoughts about them. Kara also shares advice on what to do when you never get the external validation you want for your work and how thought work can help. Listen to find out why she says why your brain is like a German Shepherd puppy that needs training, and how you can start having your brain work FOR you instead of against you once and for all.

**Today’s episode is brought to you by Audible! If you want to get started with a free audiobook download and 30 day free trial head over to at www.creativityschoolpodcast.com/audible.

🌟 Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

🌟 Listen to this episode on Spotify.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Retraining your brain - why it’s important and how to do it

• The first step to changing your thought patterns

• The biggest blocks to creativity – how to start changing our thoughts about them

• Why we should really connect to WHY we are creating something

• What to do when you never get the external validation you want for your work

• Why doing what feels aligned and safe is the worst advice

• Kara’s free Confidence Challenge

CONNECT WITH KARA:

Website | Instagram | Podcast

CONNECT WITH CREATIVITY SCHOOL:

Thank you so much for listening!

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me online!

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

If you have any questions or comments for the show, click here

Lesson 26: Create Work That Has Purpose and Meaning with Von Wong

How to craft epic stories that are impactful and meaningful

with Von Wong

On this week’s episode of Creativity School, I talk to legendary viral photographer, artist and visual engineer Von Wong. Von has been hugely influential in the photography industry for over a decade with his massive online following and work seen all over the world, and he drops so much knowledge and insight about the creative life in this illuminating conversation about success, failure and everything in between.

Von Wong is a former mining engineer turned self taught photographer, and we learn how he transitioned from engineering to traveling all over the globe as a social impact artist and viral photographer. We also talk about his pivot into creating work that has purpose and meaning, and how uses his work to tell impactful stories about environmental issues like plastic pollution, fast fashion, and electronic waste. Von also explains the importance of using strategy to build your creative career rather than sheer impulse.

**Today’s episode is brought to you by Audible! If you want to get started with a free audiobook download and 30 day free trial head over to at www.creativityschoolpodcast.com/audible.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Why it’s important to know yourself – know what makes you tick, know what you enjoy, and leverage that to the best of your ability in order to make things work

• Why failure is actually multidimensional – how failure can also be successful

• Why other people’s templates for success are totally irrelevant

• The recent struggles Von’s had while pivoting into new things, and how keeps going

• Building through calculated, new steps to get to where you want to go instead of being impulse driven

• How to collaborate with others and the importance of thinking how you can benefit others instead of yourself

CONNECT WITH VON:

Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook

CONNECT WITH CREATIVITY SCHOOL:

Thank you so much for listening!

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me online!

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

If you have any questions or comments for the show, click here

Lesson 25: Simple Social Media Strategies to Grow Your Following

How to make social media less overwhelming and GROW An engaged following

with Andrea Jones

Whether you love it or hate it, social media is one of the best ways for getting our creative work out into the world. But it can be so overwhelming, time consuming, and yet another thing to do when we’re already so busy! How can we make social media simple and fun and use it to actually grow our following?

On this week’s episode of Creativity School, I talk to social media strategist Andrea Jones. Andrea loves to help people build profitable communities online through simple solutions, and she’s also the host of the Savvy Social Podcast. She’s here to answer ALL THE QUESTIONS, and do I mean all the questions. We talk about it all - like what kinds of posts perform best (photos of ourselves? product shots? graphics? personal posts?), how much time we *actually* need to spend on our accounts to be effective, and how to make this whole thing simple and easy. Andrea also shares how to beat Instagram’s algorithms and authentically increase engagement, and she also answers a ton of listener questions. This episode is packed full of great information and you won’t want to miss it if you want to build your social platforms.

**Today’s episode is brought to you by Audible! If you want to get started with a free audiobook download and 30 day free trial head over to at www.creativityschoolpodcast.com/audible.

Mentioned in this episode:

• How much time you REALLY need to spend on social media to make it work for you

• Which social platform to start with

• Why social media is like dating and how to use Instagram to meet new people to connect with using hashtags and using Gary Vee’s $1.80 strategy

• How to increase engagement and beat Instagram’s algorithms

  Resources:

• Canva

• Social Report

CONNECT WITH ANDREA:

Website | Podcast | Instagram

CONNECT WITH CREATIVITY SCHOOL:

Thank you so much for listening!

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me online!

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

If you have any questions or comments for the show, click here

Lesson 24: Creativity + Imposter Syndrome

How to overcome self doubt when you feel like a fraud and failure

with Grace Chon

“Your creativity needs to be the place where you show up
fully and completely yourself. You are NOT AN IMPOSTER.
You are incredibly unique and your work deserves
a place in this world. The world needs your work. ”

— Grace Chon

This week’s episode of Creativity School is all about imposter syndrome, and it’s a deeply personal one because it’s something I’ve struggled with EVERY step of the way on my creative journey from studying biology to becoming an art director in the ad industry, to commercial photography, and now as a podcaster.

We talk a lot on the show about how we need to do our best work on the inside, so we can create our best work on the outside. And imposter syndrome is a major one to tackle because no matter how long you’ve been a creative it never goes away. So how can we move past this huge block to our creativity when everything inside of us is screaming about how inadequate we are? This week I share 3 ways to help overcome the dreaded imposter syndrome when you feel crippling self doubt and think you’re a total fraud and a failure.

**Today’s episode is brought to you by Audible! Support Creativity School and get a free audiobook download and 30 day free trial at www.creativityschoolpodcast.com/audible.

CONNECT WITH CREATIVITY SCHOOL:

Thank you so much for listening!

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me online!

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

If you have any questions or comments for the show, click here

Lesson 23: Change Your Money Story and Make More Doing What You Love

How to heal your money story and make money doing what you love

with Sarah Li-Cain

“How you handle money and the decision making process around money is an emotional thing. Even though money itself is a neutral source, how we feel about it, how we handle it, what we say about it, is so emotional.”

— Sarah Li-Cain

If you’re like me and were told you can never make money being creative, (or countless other limiting beliefs about money!) starting the process of uncovering your money story is an essential step on your creative journey. I didn’t even know what a money mindset was back in 2008 when I started my side hustle, and I had NO IDEA how deep my unconscious beliefs about money went and how much that was impacting my income.

Today’s guest Sarah Li-Cain is a finance writer and host of the Beyond The Dollar podcast, where she has deep and honest conversations about how money affects our well being. Her work blends practical tips and mindset strategies so that money becomes a tool to enhance people’s lives. On today’s episode of Creativity School, we talk about all things money mindset - how we’ve absorbed messages about money and how that affects our day to day life and the way we interact with it, make it, spend it, and our relationship with it. We also discuss how to begin the process of changing our beliefs about money to ultimately make more money doing what we love.

**Today’s episode is brought to you by Audible! If you want to get started with a free audiobook download and 30 day free trial head over to at www.creativityschoolpodcast.com/audible.

Mentioned in this episode:

• How personal and emotional issues affect the way we interact with money

• Why we feel the need to hoard money

• How our behaviors around money and the decision process around money fills an emotional need

• Techniques to help you move through your negative emotions about money and begin the process of changing your money story

  Resources:

• Overcoming, Underearning

• The Soul of Money

• You Are a Badass at Making Money

• Get Rich Lucky Btch

CONNECT WITH SARAH:

Website | Podcast | Instagram

CONNECT WITH CREATIVITY SCHOOL:

Thank you so much for listening!

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me online!

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

If you have any questions or comments for the show, click here

Lesson 22: Loving Yourself Even When People Say You Suck

How to withstand the sting of rejection, stand up for yourself, and stop the need to make people like you and your work

with Laurenne Sala

“It’s just all about standing up for myself every single time, which is so hard to do, but it’s worth it. We do so many thing because we want people to like us.
We put people on pedestals, and they’re just people. ”

— Laurenne Sala

I’ll be the first to tell you that I used to think “loving yourself” sounded like the cheesiest, most cliché mantra, and totally irrelevant to creativity. But what I’ve learned over the last 11 years as a creative entrepreneur and artist is that loving yourself is the superpower we need to stay the course on a journey that can oftentimes get really, really hard.

On this week’s episode of Creativity School, I talk to my good friend, essay writer and children’s book author Laurenne Sala all about what loving yourself actually means, what that looks like in practice, and how it allows us to withstand the sting of rejection and stop our constant need to make people like us and our work.

We dig into ALL the things in this episode, from the secret formula to writing a successful children’s book, to dealing with rejection after Laurenne submitted hundreds of manuscripts, and to feeling like a total failure when you don’t make 100% of your income from your creative work. We also discuss the 3 essential parts of the creative process that highly creative people embrace.

**Today’s episode is brought to you by Audible! If you want to get started with a free audiobook download and 30 day free trial head over to at www.creativityschoolpodcast.com/audible.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Laurenne’s amazing new book You Made Me a Dad

• How a commercial Laurenne wrote for a baby brand went viral and turned into her first children’s book You Made Me a Mother

• How her entire children’s book career started with overcoming her lack of self-esteem and learning to stand up for herself

• Learning how to deal with rejection

• All the steps to become a children’s book author and write a great children’s book

• 3 essential parts of the creative process that highly creative people embrace

• How to know what critiques to take from people and know what to ignore

• Thinking you’re a failure because you can’t make a living full time with your creative work

CONNECT WITH LAURENNE:

Website | Instagram | You Made Me a Dad

CONNECT WITH CREATIVITY SCHOOL:

Thank you so much for listening!

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me online!

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

If you have any questions or comments for the show, click here

Lesson 21: The Power of Redefining How You Measure Success

How to reimagine the meaning of success

with Anna S. E. Lundberg

“What does success mean to you?
You can define what that aim or purpose is for yourself and go about doing it.
Explore what’s important to you, listen to it and trust it.”

— Anna S. E. Lundberg

The dictionary defines success as “attaining wealth, prosperity and fame”. Oftentimes, the more achievements we can accomplish and the more money we make, the more successful we feel. But being on this never ending hamster wheel of chasing external validation and accomplishment can leave us burned out and feeling unfulfilled. Is our creativity only meaningful when it receives attention and accolades? Of course not! So how do we begin to reimagine what success really is, so we can live a life of more meaning and purpose?

Today’s guest Anna S. E. Lundberg is a success coach, business strategist and founder of One Step Outside. Anna is passionate about inspiring and supporting others to reimagine what personal success means so we can have businesses we love and live with more freedom and fulfillment. We talk about how to overcome fear and take “one step outside” to start the process of redefining success, and how to discover what personal success is to us so we can find more meaning in the lives we live and the work we make.

**Today’s episode is brought to you by Audible! If you want to get started with a free audiobook download and 30 day free trial head over to at www.creativityschoolpodcast.com/audible.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Overcoming fear and taking just one step outside your comfort zone to begin to redefine success

• The importance of reimagining success beyond external validation, achievement and accomplishment

• How to discover and redefine what personal success means to us

• How to find work life integration through the 5 L’s – Live, Love, Learn, Lead and Laugh

CONNECT WITH ANNA:

Website | Podcast | Instagram

CONNECT WITH CREATIVITY SCHOOL:

Thank you so much for listening!

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me online!

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

If you have any questions or comments for the show, click here

Lesson 20: Creativity and the Brain

How to be more creative according to a neuroscientist

“It’s always easier to be a critic than a creator.”

— Nathan Myhrvold

Want to learn how to be more creative by hacking the way your brain naturally works?

On this week’s episode of Creativity School, I watch and recap my favorite takeaways from Netflix’s new documentary The Creative Brain with neuroscientist Dr. David Eagleman. Dr. Eagleman has been a neuroscientist for over 20 years and shares the various ways our brain naturally works for and against our creativity. The movie features creative minds like architect Bjarke Ingels, musician Grimes, actor Tim Robbins, and more. It’s a fascinating documentary that looks into the creative process of innovators across multiple disciplines while exploring brain-bending, risk-taking ways to spark our own creativity.

**Today’s episode is brought to you by Audible! If you want to get started with a free audiobook download and 30 day free trial head over to at www.creativityschoolpodcast.com/audible.

CONNECT WITH CREATIVITY SCHOOL:

Thank you so much for listening!

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me online!

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

If you have any questions or comments for the show, click here

Lesson 19: Create Work that Connects with Your Audience Using the 5 C's with Hommy Diaz

How to create an emotional connection with your product

With Hommy Diaz

“Some people might think their story is not interesting or impressive but it’s quite the opposite. It will be compelling and interesting to someone else. Think about how your life can help change someone else’s life and put it into whatever you’re trying to create.

”

— Hommy Diaz

We’re back with more wisdom from Hommy Diaz on this week’s episode of Creativity School! If you haven’t already, be sure to back and listen to last week’s episode where he shares his origin story and how he navigates the unknown of his creative journey without stress or fear.

This week Hommy’s talking to us about the formula he’s come up with to create work that connects with people called “The 5 C’s.” Hommy has used this formula successfully for his projects working on collaborations for brands like DC Shoes and K-Swiss. You’ll find out why he says some people get the formula backwards when creating, and when they do, it inevitably fails.

Hommy also shares how he uses the 5 C’s to create products with meaning and depth, and how he utilized his formula for building his own brand, Magnus Alpha. We also talk about how to execute ideas to make them awesome, and how to build a great brand from the ground up.

**Today’s episode is brought to you by Audible! If you want to get started with a free audiobook download and 30 day free trial head over to at www.creativityschoolpodcast.com/audible.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Why you should align your work with the 5 C’s and then create

• How he tells stories through footwear design

• Why he says the context around your product is the most important thing to consider

• Why you shouldn’t be in a rush to develop an idea and get it out

• How appreciating what he has helps his mindset and creative journey

CONNECT WITH HOMMY:

Website | Instagram

CONNECT WITH CREATIVITY SCHOOL:

Thank you so much for listening!

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me online!

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

If you have any questions or comments for the show, click here

Lesson 18: Don't Stress About the Unknown of Your Creative Path with Hommy Diaz

How to stop dwelling on things you can’t control

With Hommy Diaz

“If there’s anything I’ve learned in life, it’s that stressing about the unknown is so detrimental to your health. It doesn’t help you, it wont make things happen any faster, and it wont put you in a position of clear thinking. I’ve always practiced not dwelling or stressing out about something I simply can’t control. ”

— Hommy Diaz

We all know the unknown and uncertainty of forging ahead on your own creative path can be terrifying! So how can we overcome all the fears and move forward?

On this week’s episode of Creativity School, I’m talking to Hommy Diaz. Hommy is an influential designer in sneaker culture with over 15 years of experience working with with top brands like KSWISS, Palladium Boots and DC SHOES. He is also the cofounder of MAGNUS ALPHA, his own designer sneaker, accessories and apparel company.

Hommy is a proud child of immigrants from the Dominican Republic and his family told him he couldn’t make money being an artist. Despite this, he went to Parsons art school, graduated, and then took a part time job at the Apple Store, much to the confusion and disappointment of his family. Somehow, Hommy leveraged that experience to end up as the global product line manager at DC Shoes... with zero shoe design experience! We talk about how he navigated this journey, his particular way of thinking that allows him to stay open to possibilities without trying to control the outcome of the unknown, and how this has consistently opened doors for him on his creative path.

Stay tuned for Part 2 with Hommy next week, where we talk about how to create work that's meaningful to consumers and more.

**Today’s episode is brought to you by Audible! If you want to get started with a free audiobook download and 30 day free trial head over to at www.creativityschoolpodcast.com/audible.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Being open to opportunity even if it’s not exactly what you expect

• Why its so important to create your own opportunities

• Why Hommy says setting expectations is self sabotage

• How to release the impulse to control things and enjoy the process

• Why Hommy says to rack up as many small failures as possible

CONNECT WITH HOMMY:

Website | Instagram

CONNECT WITH CREATIVITY SCHOOL:

Thank you so much for listening!

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me online!

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

If you have any questions or comments for the show, click here