The Creative Collective

In this episode we chat about creative nostalgia - the craft supplies we wish we still had, the ones we still use, and those that can stay in the past. We go back to what we made as kids: giant poster-board birthday cards, clothes for American Girl dolls, slip-cast ceramic swans, and a whole bedroom wall of magazine collage. Beyond the fun creative supplies, we talk about why time felt so differen...

What if the most creative thing you did this year was grow something? Dominique Begnaud is an art therapist in St. Louis who works with art, play, and gardening — and it's the gardening that we couldn't stop thinking about. She runs art and garden groups in community nonprofits and schools, and her practice is built on a simple idea: that tending something is a creative act. In this conver...

Here's the listener requested episode where we chat about all your Art Therapy FAQs! Emily and Allie answer the questions they get asked at parties, on airplanes, in comment sections, and occasionally by other mental health professionals who should probably know better. They cover what art therapy actually is, what it takes to become an art therapist in the US, and what those two letters after...

Rukmini Poddar didn't initially set out to teach anyone about drawing their emotions. In 2015, burnt out at the end of a graphic design degree and convinced she was the least consistent person alive, she started The 100 Day Project with no plan beyond touching the page every day. Ten years later she's the author of Draw Your Feelings , she leads workshops for individuals, schools, retreats...

You bake the cake, finish the sweater, frame the painting — and someone asks when you're going to start selling it. They mean it as a compliment, and it usually is one. But when did, "someone would pay for that" become the main way we tell people their creativity has value? On this art therapy podcast, Emily and Allie get into what that does to the making itself, and why the pressure...

What happens when you stop trying so hard to be creative? This week, we’re joined by therapist and ceramic artist Melissa Grisi to talk about creativity, clay, imposter syndrome, and what it actually looks like to find your way back to making when you feel stuck. Melissa shares how clay has followed her through different chapters of her life, why it took her years to fully claim the word “artist,”...

Whimsy is having a moment. Searches are up, whimsymaxxing is everywhere, brands are bedazzling their products, and what started as people sharing the tiny, weird things they do to make ordinary life more fun has somehow turned into… a shopping list. So, did we accidentally lose the point? This week, we’re talking about what whimsy actually means, why we think so many adults are craving more play,...

Somewhere along the way, most of us picked up the idea that creativity is something you have to earn — that you need the right studio space, the right technical skills, and a long stretch of free time before you're allowed to make anything. Our conversation today our our creativity podcast takes all of that apart. Leah Guzman is a board-certified art therapist with twenty years in the field, an ar...

Being a beginner sounds fun until you are staring at a blank page, comparing yourself to a version of you from ten years ago, or thinking, “I do not have time for this.” In this episode, Allie and Emily talk about what it really feels like to begin. Sometimes that means trying something completely new, like learning mahjong. Sometimes it means returning to an old creative practice and discovering...

The fastest way to turn a room of strangers into a room full of friends isn't a good icebreaker question — it's giving them something to make, share, and taste. In this episode of The Creative Collective, our art therapy podcast and creativity podcast, we sit down with Kiki Canuto, the chef and founder behind Getaway Plate — a traveling culinary studio that thoughtfully builds creative community....

What if the creative friendships that actually last aren't built on grand gestures, but instead, on your average Wednesday afternoon standing-date? In this episode of The Creative Collective, our art therapy podcast and creativity podcast, Emily and Allie talk about creative friendships — the specific kind of connection that forms when you make things alongside someone else. They get into why shar...

What happens when the career you were promised doesn't show up as promised — and you have to build one from scratch? In this episode of The Creative Collective, our art therapy podcast and creativity podcast, we talk with Cheryl Walpole Tiku, a licensed art therapist who started her career in product development at Ralph Lauren before training at Pratt Institute and spending nearly two decades acr...

What if coming back to creativity didn't have to look like a commitment — what if it could look like one small, imperfect thing you did on a Tuesday afternoon and never showed anyone? In this Creative Check-In episode of The Creative Collective Podcast, Emily and Allie get into the real reasons people drift away from creativity — and more importantly, what it actually looks like to find your way b...

What if the secret to a creative life isn't waiting until you're ready — it's deciding that ready is overrated? In this episode of The Creative Collective Podcast, Emily and Allie sit down with Gabrielle Siegel — founder of The Aura Creative design agency, writer published in Teen Vogue and beyond, fiddle player, and competitive Irish dancer who walked into her first class in her twent...

What if the most restorative thing you can do while traveling isn't simply relaxing, but making something — surrounded by people, in creative community, seeing the world (and yourself) a little differently than when you arrived? In this Creative Check-In episode of The Creative Collective Podcast, Emily and Allie recap their recent trip to Folegandros, Greece — a Creative Club retreat Emily co...

What if the thing standing between you and a creative life isn't talent — it's the belief that you need it? In this episode of The Creative Collective Podcast, Emily and Allie sit down with Meagan Mahaffy, founder of Art Gurl — a global creative wellness community that has reached people in over twenty countries and is built on one foundational belief: that creativity is not a skill reserv...

Are you craving creative community — but not quite sure where to find it, how to build it, or why it feels harder to hold onto as an adult? In this Creative Check-In episode of The Creative Collective Podcast, Emily and Allie get into one of the topics closest to both of their hearts: creative community. What it actually looks like, why so many people are craving it right now, and what gets in the...

What if the path to your creative life was never supposed to be a straight line? In this episode of The Creative Collective Podcast, Allie interviews co-host Emily Sharp — licensed art therapist, author, retreat host, and someone who has built an entire life and career around making things in unexpected places. You've already heard Emily on the show. This episode is where you find out how she got...

What if the only thing standing between you and a more creative life was a bag you haven't packed yet? In this first Creative Check-In episode of The Creative Collective Podcast, Emily and Allie open up their creative bags and share what's inside. They talk through what they each carry, reasons behind those specific supplies, and what it actually means to keep creativity accessible. Not as a produ...

What happens when creativity isn't just something you do — but something that shaped who you became? In this episode of The Creative Collective Podcast , co-host Emily turns the mic towards co-host Allie Joy to hear the creative story behind the person. Allie is a licensed art therapist, content creator, and community builder — and while you've already heard her voice on the show, this episode is...

What if creativity didn’t have to be productive, polished, or even shared to matter? In this opening episode of The Creative Collective Podcast , hosts and licensed art therapists Emily and Allie invite you into a softer, more expansive way of thinking about creativity. This podcast is rooted in the belief that creativity belongs to everyone — and that it becomes even more meaningful when experien...

Welcome to a little preview of  The Creative Collective Podcast! In this short introduction, we’re sharing a glimpse of what’s ahead and inviting you into the creative community we’re building together. We talk about creativity as something that belongs in everyday life, and the belief that you don’t need to be an artist or “good at art” to benefit from creating, just curiosity and a willingness t...