Follow Your Curiosity: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Creativity.

Novelist Cindy Lynn Speer is one of my dearest writing friends. We met online years ago, and instantly bonded over our love of language and writing. We've never sat down and actually had a face-to-face conversation about writing, though—until now. Cindy Lynn is the author of five novels and a short story collection. We talk about how she got started with writing, what she's done in the publishing...

Darcy Wade is an expressive arts therapist who knows what it's like to be derailed from her creative dream. As you’ll hear, one simple incident in high school destroyed her artistic identity, leaving her adrift through college. A chance interaction brought her back to herself and got her on the expressive arts path. If you’ve never heard of expressive arts, don’t worry—she has you covered as we ta...

I couldn't resist this title for this episode, because it's true: Ryan Ward really did run away to join the circus. While that might sound silly, Ryan is wise beyond his years, having survived a deeply toxic relationship (which he discusses here), and reinvented himself, from changing his name to moving clear across the country to work as a circus performer and teacher. We talk not only about Ryan...

Zoha Abbas started her career as an advertising copywriter, and she’s here today to tell us how she got there, what it was like working for an ad agency (including the ups and downs of working with clients), and how she decided to take what she’d learned and help mere mortals figure out the best ways for them to market their businesses (as opposed to the ways everyone else says you have to do it)....

Alex Rudy started out drawing, and recording his own comic book audios, before taking a video production workshop in high school that led him to acting. While he took a few so-called detours along the way, everything he was curious about has factored into his creative life in one way or another, from being a wedding videographer to writing those childhood scripts, to using his drawing skills to br...

Desiree Argentina does a little bit of everything—in addition to being a school counselor, she's a writer, a travel blogger, a film production assistant, a podcaster, and even runs a cat rescue. Several of these are things she's learned by doing them, finding people to mentor her rather than studying up beforehand, which has given her experience and community right off the bat. Desiree has a lot t...

If you're like a lot of people, you'll see this headline and want to run screaming, but I want to promise you that this week's conversation is anything but terrifying. Curtis Honeycutt, award-winning author of the Grammar Guy column that appears in more than 30 newspapers nationwide, has made it his mission to make grammar accessible and meaningful, not the stuff of high school nightmares. His boo...

Kelly Abanda's journey sounds like a movie: a woman takes a risk, leaves her "good" job to travel the world for three months, and comes back three years later. Along the way, she makes unexpected connections, stumbles into opportunities, and oh, yeah—survives a few close scrapes. Kelly's a big believer in following the intuitive impulses that led her on this journey. Not only do we talk about her...

Alison Miller describes herself as an uncertain adventurer and determined warrior goddess, and as you'll hear in this interview, she's earned both titles. Alison has lived on the road on her own since the death of her husband six and a half years ago, following her own inner compass the entire way. She's crossed the country eight times, carrying the names of those loved by people around the world...

Sam Kimberle, the founder of Creative Life Scholars, joins me this week to talk about how she got started leading groups of women toward their creative goals. We talk about how the factory-inspired education system deprives us of creative energy, how denying our creative call can fuel anxiety and depression, the power of groups to keep us on track (including doing those exercises in the books we r...

Michael Smith is a software engineer turned musician—or is it the other way around? He's worked for Google, Swiftkey, and fuboTV, all while staying active as a musician and actor on the side. I wanted to talk to Michael about how he balances the two, and also about the creative side of coding, which sounds to so many of us like a highly uncreative activity. We also talk about just what an algorith...

Katy-Rose is a well-being teacher and reinvention mentor whose curiosity led her to earn degrees in psychology and neuroscience on her quest to understand everything she can about what makes people tick. She uses neuroscience, coaching and cognitive strategies to help her clients reinvent themselves without burning everything to the ground. We talk about everything from how awareness and willpower...

As a young child, Rupert Goodwins was equally fascinated by science and gadgetry, and by the English language. He followed both into a career as a tech journalist, both in print--his weekly diary was one of the first blogs--and on radio and TV. He now co-writes The Big Data Show, a play that educates kids about data and hacking, and his BBC Radio 4 essay series, "Let There Be Dark," chronicles the...

This week, I'm talking to Jennifer Nasta Zefutie, who has accomplished what many people think is impossible: she's a working actress, and the co-founder and co-producing artistic director of the Pegasus Theatre Company in Bordentown, New Jersey. Jennifer has one of the most interesting (and unlikely) creative journeys you're likely to hear, and our wide-ranging conversation also covered loss avers...

At the beginning of a new year, many of us think about new projects we want to pursue before the calendar flips 12 months later—so I wanted to talk to someone who can help us make those projects happen more efficiently than they might otherwise. Kate Hutcheson, project manager and virtual assistant, is here to tell you how planning can be your friend rather than your creative enemy, with insights...

Anthony Wilson's varied pursuits almost all came to him accidentally: he is a teacher, composer, and writer—in fact, he co-authored the Doctor Who-related book BOOKWYRM with previous guest Robert Smith?. In this conversation, he shares his accidental path to teaching and writing, how he dealt with the worst criticism he's ever encountered as a musician, and what we can learn from kids. We also tal...

Tracy Friedlander is a classical musician and host of the Crushing Classical podcast. Tracy and I talk about how she came to play the French Horn, what it's really like to audition for and perform in an orchestra, the largely untaught art of listening, and what happens when your musical dream turns out not to be quite what you wanted...and how musicians have started to make their own new paths out...

My guest this week is Tara Sroka, a creative end of life planner who helps make this often taboo topic more welcoming and even fun. We talk about how her mother's passing continues to inspire Tara, ways to remember and honor those who've gone before us, taking fear out of the process, and how to use the idea of your own death to make your life more meaningful. Check out the show notes and links fo...

My guest this week is Kristen Good, a graphic designer, branding expert, and life coach. We talk about perfectionism, self-worth, vulnerability, self-care, and the willingness to get out there and do what you love without getting hung up on the nit-picky, irrelevant details that often stop us from doing our creative work. As always, check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com , and join the conver...

Michelle Ward, aka the When I Grow Up Coach, has literally made a career out of staying true to herself, and helping others do the same. Michelle's dream from childhood was to be on Broadway, but after graduating from NYU's Tisch School and going to audition after audition, she realized to her dismay that it was not likely to happen for her. She decided she needed to find something that worked for...

Cat Kessler wants to bring more ritual and reflection to your life, and she's started a business called Opt Inward to help you do just that. She joins me this week to talk about how she discovered the importance of ritual in her own life, what modern ritual can look like and how we can fit it into our lives, where ritual and self-care intersect, the writing of Madeleine L'Engle, and what we can le...

My guest today is a highly acclaimed mezzo-soprano who has sung a wide variety of music and operatic roles. She has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall and Tanglewood, with conductors including Leonard Bernstein. I met D'Anna Fortunato when I was a junior at Bucknell; she joined us to perform Aaron Copland's "In the Beginning," which I also discussed with Dr. William Payn in our last episo...

Today’s guest has been an important part of my life, and a big influence. A composer of music for choir and handbells, a respected festival conductor, and a former professor of music and director of choral studies at Bucknell University, he’s my college choir director, Dr. William Payn. I spent four years singing for him in Bucknell’s Rooke Chapel Choir, where I learned more than just great choral...

As you know, I'm a big fan of following your curiosity, so you can imagine how excited I was to come across someone else who finds it as key as I do. That someone is Vicky Cook, a coach who focuses on helping woman 40-ish and above get through midlife doubts (dare we say crises?) and finally do the things they're really here to do. We talk about identity, especially when it comes to women who are...

Amber Petty attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, taught musical improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade, and starred in an off-Broadway show based on the 50 Shades books. She also discovered that the life she’d imagined and the one she was living weren’t the same, and shifted into writing. She also helps ordinary people build confidence about singing at SingADifferentTune.com...