Follow Your Curiosity: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Creativity.

Today’s guest, Nick Morrison, is a guitarist, teacher, author, and composer whose work you’ve probably heard in productions from Warner Bros, Universal Studios, Sony, MTV, ABC, NBC, HGTV, and HBO. Nick talks with me about how musicians can make money making music beyond performing and teaching and how writing music for TV and movie productions works. We also talk about why structure and limitation...

Every so often, do something the old-fashioned way. I'll tell you why (and how I came to this discovery) in this short episode. Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks! Get the 6 Creative Beliefs that Are Screwing You Up , plus biweekly updates on what's going on in my world (including upcoming events) for free! I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and...

My guest today is Kate Powers, a lifelong theatre kid who became an off-Broadway and regional theatre director. Her list of credits is long, but I wanted to talk to Kate about the unusual home she’s found for her work: maximum security prisons. Kate is the founding artistic director of the Redeeming Time Project, which uses Shakespeare to effect positive change for the incarcerated and the formerl...

"Push through resistance" is absolutely terrible advice. Why? I'll tell you in this short episode. Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks! Get the 6 Creative Beliefs that Are Screwing You Up , plus biweekly updates on what's going on in my world (including upcoming events) for free! I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas!...

My guest this week, Stacey Smith? was one of my first guests in 2019, when we talked about the creative side of mathematics, and particularly about mathematical models of disease outbreaks—and the occasional zombie apocalypse. We also talked about how Doctor Who influenced her decision to become a mathematician in the first place. I asked Stacey to come back and talk about her own personal gender...

Our culture tells us we should be obsessed(!) with the thing we're meant to do, which can lead to judgment on our part—of our kids, our friends, and ourselves. There are lots of reasons not to be obsessed, and better ways to deal with them than judgment. I'll tell you more in this short episode.  If you suspect you're multi-passionate, I highly recommend the work of Barbara Sher ("Refuse to Choose...

My guest this week, Patrick Lombardi, was born and raised in New Jersey, where he still lives and writes for a variety of local and national sites like BestofNJ.com, NJ.com, and BuzzFeed. He’s collection of humorous stories and essays, Junk Sale, came out in 2018. He’s also the creator of DevourNJ.com, which highlights independent food businesses in New Jersey, and the companion New Jersey Food Tr...

It's easy to think we don't need to get to our creative work now. It's also wrong. I'll tell you why in this short episode. The episode I mention about being ready is Pep Talk #5: Ready. Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks! Get the 6 Creative Beliefs that Are Screwing You Up , plus biweekly updates on what's going on in my world (including upcoming event...

Novelist Michael McLaughlin trained as a doctor for more than a decade before deciding that medicine wasn’t where he wanted to be after all. He moved back into his first love—fiction writing—in stages, moving to medical communications before deciding it was time to write full-time. Michael tells me how and why he made that shift, including how he wrote his first book, on career change, before jump...

We often believe that the best way to do good work—of any kind—is to do it well. Seems obvious, right? What if I told you the opposite is often true? I explain in this short episode. Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks! Get the 6 Creative Beliefs that Are Screwing You Up , plus biweekly updates on what's going on in my world (including upcoming events) f...

Author Matt Leyshon spends his days as a software engineer before morphing into a fervent writer at night. He’s best known for his writing and research for his debut novel, Jack the Ripper: Live and Uncut, which has received the Jack the Ripper: Book of the Year award for fiction from the Ripperology community. He has also appeared as a Jack the Ripper expert at MegaCon and on the History Channel....

Building on last week's conversation with Nina Hart about Keith Johnstone's book, "Impro," here's why putting on a persona can be a valuable part of your creative process. Want more? Here's a handy playlist with all my Creative Pep Talk episodes. Get the 6 Creative Beliefs that Are Screwing You Up , plus biweekly updates on what's going on in my world (including upcoming events) for free! I'd love...

My friend and fellow Kaizen-Muse creativity coach, Nina Hart, was one of my first guests, and she comes back to the podcast today. Nina is an author and performer—including being an original member of San Francisco’s experimental dance troupe, Contraband, and, playing a purple electric bass, recording and performing with numerous bands—and I invited her to dig into Keith Johnstone’s groundbreaking...

It's the 50th pep talk! And it's time to give ourselves credit. Why? And How? I'll tell you in this short episode. Want more? Here's a handy playlist with all my Creative Pep Talk episodes. Get the 6 Creative Beliefs that Are Screwing You Up , plus biweekly updates on what's going on in my world (including upcoming events) for free! I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with th...

Jodi Krangle is a Toronto-based voice actor who works with major brands all over the world including Dell, BBVA, HGTV, Nespresso & Kraft. She's been heard in thousands of your favorite commercials and websites, so odds are very good that you’ve already heard her voice. She also hosts the Audio Branding podcast, which delves into how to make an impact with sound, and how sound influences us. We tal...

Our concept of "normal" can be one of the biggest creative obstacles we face (and the same is often true outside the creative process). And in one particular case, it's just plain wrong anyway. I'll tell you why in this short episode. The link I promised: Writing Begins with Forgiveness . Want more? Here's a handy playlist with all my Creative Pep Talk episodes. Get the 6 Creative Beliefs that Are...

My guest today is Michael Hearns, a veteran law enforcement officer whose experience includes working undercover with Miami’s vice, intelligence, and narcotics unit—yes, like Miami Vice—and has also worked as a technical consultant on a variety of movies and tv shows. These days, Michael is the author of the Cade Taylor police thrillers, including Trust No One. We talk about his law enforcement ca...

We all know resolutions don't work, or at best, don't work for long. So what does? I'll tell you in this short episode. Want more? Here's a handy playlist with all my Creative Pep Talk episodes Get the 6 Creative Beliefs that Are Screwing You Up , plus biweekly updates on what's going on in my world (including upcoming events) for free! I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience wit...

Award-winning poet, performer, playwright, and educator Maria James-Thiaw has published several books of poetry and founded the Reclaim Artist Collective, which seeks to to raise consciousness about social justice issues impacting marginalized communities through its arts-based, anti-racist curriculum. Her latest collection, Count Each Breath, examines her experiences as a Black woman in the Ameri...

Who's your best creative rival? The answer might be closer than you think. Inspired by Simon Sinek's video called "Worthy Rivals." Want more? Here's a handy playlist with all my Creative Pep Talk episodes I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com , or contact me on Facebook , Instagram ,  Twitter , or TikTok .

It's absolutely critical for all of us to find our people—especially the people who share and understand our creative calling. In this short-but-sweet episode, I'll tell you why. Want more? Here's a handy playlist with all my Creative Pep Talk episodes I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com , or contact me on Facebook , Instagr...

Lowry Olafson knew from a young age that he wanted to be a musician, and like so many other aspiring musicians, had to figure out how to make it work—and he did: he has released nine albums and performed around the world. He is also the founder and creator of PowerSongs—deeply meaningful, personal songs for a wide range of individuals and groups—and PowerSongs Pro, for businesses and other organiz...

Last week, Dr. Kelly Flanagan and I talked about getting back to what's wild in us. Here's how doing that can help your creative process (and your whole life). Please leave a review for this episode, and in it, tell us about a time when you let your wild come out to play.  Want more? Here's a handy playlist with all my Creative Pep Talk episodes.

So how do you keep yourself "doing it anyway"? It helps to talk back to the naysaying voices in your head. It helps even more if you know what you're going to say in advance. Please leave a review for this episode, and in it, tell us what your favorite comeback is.  If you're working on a writing project, for NaNoWriMo or not, you're invited to join me for the NaNoWriMo Power Hour on November 13th...

Not quite two years ago, writer John Roedel, author of the Hey God, Hey John poems that have gone viral online (and the collection of the same name) joined me to talk about how he ended up “talking to God” and what he’s learned from that experience. (If you haven’t heard it, you’ll want to check it out.) I asked John to come back and tell us how he’s shifted into helping people discover their true...