Creative License

Erin Reifler went to college as an accomplished trombonist with a focus on cognitive science, but quickly shifted gears, realizing her true calling was in musical theatre.  After graduating and then obtaining a Masters in Musical Theatre Writing, Erin sent out dozens of emails looking to learn from those she admired. One of those responses would change her life. As composer and music director Jaso...

Basil Lee took quite the circuitous route to co-founding a craft brewery. He attended art school on the road to becoming an architect, working for a large firm for almost 10 years. As so often happens, Basil came to a crossroads. Does he keep progressing with his current company? Does he try to open his own firm? Or is it time for a new challenge altogether? Basil chose to dive into the craft beer...

Isaac Zablocki has always had a passion for film - from watching movies at an early age to studying them to helping make and curate them as a professional.  Throughout his career, he's wondered...what are people not seeing in the industry right now? Since Isaac dealt with a learning disability earlier in life, the answer was evident and brought about the creation of the ReelAbilities Film Fes...

Asher Perlman has spent his entire professional life in comedy - from the famed Second City in Chicago to writing for the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, but his foundation came from cartoons. His dad taught him the basics from a young age growing up in Madison, Wisconsin and he's carried on that legacy as one of the few cartoonists to publish in The New Yorker regularly. That's no surpr...

Maurizio Leo's considered one of the country's top sourdough experts. You'd think that means he's been a professional baker his entire adult life, right? Not so much. The Albuquerque, New Mexico native grew up in his father's Italian restaurant but actually became a software engineer. Maurizio never stopped baking for fun and started his website The Perfect Loaf a little m...

Michael Goldwasser has done just about everything in the music industry - from performing to production - and across all different genres. He also founded Easy Star Records in 1996, which has become a leading independent reggae label. Recently Michael teamed with Jason Mraz to produce his album Look For The Good , a collection of songs that not only entertain, but deliver an important message abou...

Jeff Chen has published 138 crossword puzzles in the New York Times. That's already tied for 22nd all-time and he's only been doing this for 12 years. Why the late start? Jeff's background is actually in mechanical engineering and technology. He was immensely successful in the pharmaceutical industry but felt like it was time for a new adventure. Enter wordplay and writing. Jeff now...

Amber Share had always been passionate about design, but never pursued it as a career, instead opting for a life in marketing. That wasn't enough - she never felt completely fulfilled and still had the urge to create. Then Amber began the venture that would change her life - Subpar Parks. Simply put, she takes a 1-star online review of a national park or monument, draws an image from it and t...

Sam Rosenthal is the founder and CEO of The Game Band, an award-winning studio that aims to inspire hearts and minds by pushing the boundaries of interactive storytelling. Their latest endeavor, Blaseball, has become a viral sensation, drawing a diverse group of "fans" in an incredibly unique format. Learn all about why Blaseball is so innovative, how Sam fell in love with gaming and muc...

Samantha Bowers - you might know her as Sammy Rae - learned she could sing and write music at an early age, immersing herself in the greats from years ago...masters at connecting with their audiences. With her 7-piece band, Sammy Rae and the Friends do just that - fostering a safe space filled with light, joy and acceptance. They're currently out on a massive tour across America and their aud...

Ever since Chef JJ Johnson graduated from the world-renowned Culinary Institute of America, he seemed destined to work in the world of fine dining and that’s exactly what he did. JJ cultivated his path from storied eateries like Tribeca Grill, Jane and the Morgan Stanley Executive Dining Room and eventually became the executive chef at the Cecil, which was named the Best New Restaurant in America...

If you’re a fan of the band Phish (a phan), you probably know Don Hart or at least have heard the fruits of his labor. He's lead guitarist Trey Anastasio's composer and arranger and Don's transformed some of Trey and Phish's most beloved and well-known tunes into orchestral masterpieces. All of that work culminated in the Beacon Jams - a pandemic-inspired eight-show live stream...

Adam Farber has always been interested in building things, which led him to a thriving career behind the scenes in theatre. As head carpenter on the first national tour of Broadway's highly acclaimed (and soon to be Tony-nominated) musical SIX, he's responsible for making sure the show looks the same in Chicago as it does in Omaha - basically what's drawn on paper is what the audien...

Ari Brand never imagined he would one day write a play and have it performed on stage, but that's exactly what happened when he put pen to paper (so to speak) and told his father's story in Scenes from Childhood. His father Natan was a concert pianist who died from AIDS at the height of the epidemic at just 46 years old, raising a family but also living a secret life. In this conversatio...

Annette Insdorf is a renowned film historian, professor, and moderator of the Reel Pieces series at New York City's 92nd Street Y, where she talks with the biggest names in Hollywood from Meryl Streep to Andrew Garfield to Jason Reitman and beyond. Learn how she prepares to interview these masters of their craft in front of a live audience, which star has actually audited her film classes at...

Zach Swartz produces multimedia content with the top athletes in the world for WME Sports, but this wasn't always his passion. Learn how Zach found his creative path and why his willingness to take advantage of every opportunity helped him stand out in a now-crowded field. -Follow Alex on Instagram

LJ Rader started the Art But Make It Sports meme account not expecting much, but it's grown to 12.5K followers on Instagram and now almost 10K on Twitter. How does he create these viral posts? What makes them unique? Where does his inspiration come from? Find the answers to those questions and much more in this week's episode. -Follow Alex on Instagram

Play-by-play broadcaster Mike Couzens shares his journey to ESPN, how he prepares for a game and what drives his thirst for storytelling in this enlightening and inspiring conversation. -Follow Alex on Instagram