Maverick Mind

🖤 Try Ember for 7 days free ⁠⁠⁠here ⁠⁠⁠ 🖤 In this episode of Maverick Mind , I’m joined by Jonathan Schüßler — a wedding photographer and videographer who built his career not through a perfectly mapped-out plan, but by committing to something and figuring it out as he went. Because at some point on a creative path, you realise… no one’s actually going to tell you you’re ready. Jonathan’s journe...

In this episode of Maverick Mind , I’m joined by Chris Nielsen — whose path spans classical ballet, cultural communication, and now the world of therapy and past life regression. This conversation starts with a question: What if some of the things we struggle with don’t just come from this lifetime? Chris’s journey began in the highly structured world of classical ballet, before reaching a point w...

If you’ve ever struggled to articulate what you do , explain your work clearly, or feel truly confident in your voice — this episode is for you. In this conversation, I’m joined by communication coach Sherry Fang, who helps creatives, founders, and experts translate their ideas into something that actually lands — whether that’s in their content, their brand, or their work. Because the truth is, c...

In this episode of Maverick Mind , I’m joined by author and illustrator Regina Linke — whose work sits at the intersection of art, storytelling, and ancient philosophy . Regina creates in the traditional Chinese gongbi painting style — a highly detailed form of brush painting that’s been used for storytelling for thousands of years. But her path into this world wasn’t conventional. After a career...

🔥 Try EMBER for 7 days free ⁠⁠⁠here ⁠⁠⁠ 🔥 What happens when creativity stops being something you feel … and becomes something you just do ? In this conversation, choreographer, director and somatic practitioner Alexandra Beller joins me to explore the difference between executing the work and actually being inside the creative process. Alexandra has spent decades working with movement — first as...

What does it actually take to share your work publicly — and keep sharing it? Author and poet Justin Marlowe didn’t ease into writing. He committed fully. After leaving a career in education, he wrote and published his memoir Perfect Strangers: Echoes of a Black Suburban Youth — and then did the part many creatives avoid: he showed up to promote it. Consistently. Publicly. Without shrinking. In th...

🧡 JOIN EMBER FREE FOR 7-DAYS ⁠⁠⁠here ⁠⁠⁠ 🧡 What happens when you stop waiting for certainty — and start living the experiment? Mongolian artist and entrepreneur Aisha Makara has built a life by testing dreams in real time. From engineering to Hollywood, from creating art that was sent to space to owning a hotel and preparing to sail across oceans — her path isn’t about impulsivity. It’s about fu...

Is creativity a talent you’re born with — or something you can train? Playwright and theatre director Stan Lai , one of the most influential figures in contemporary Asian theatre, shares his philosophy of creativity, discipline, and lifelong artistic growth. After studying directing at UC Berkeley, Stan returned to Taiwan in the early 1980s when there was almost no theatre infrastructure and helpe...

How do you pursue creative success without losing your values, burning out, or chasing approval? Musician, author, and creative coach Allen C. Paul shares what it means to build a sustainable creative career rooted in purpose, integrity, and clarity. As the founder of God and Gigs , he has spent years helping artists align their work with their beliefs, strengthen confidence in their calling, and...

How do you rebuild creative confidence after years of being silenced? How do you learn to trust your voice again after emotional abuse? In this conversation, author Teri M. Brown shares her journey of healing, writing, and reclaiming her identity after a 14-year emotionally abusive marriage that slowly eroded her self-belief. For years, Teri wrote quietly, unsure if she had the right to call herse...

This week, I’m joined by outdoor boudoir photographer Ren Morrow — someone who’s completely redefining what it means to be seen through the lens. Ren’s work takes women into wild, natural spaces and creates the kind of photoshoot that’s more like a self-return than a performance. It’s soft, powerful, intimate, and deeply connected to the land — and to the body. We talk about the moment that shaped...

In this episode of Maverick Mind , I’m joined by mindful living guide, educator, and boundaries mentor Cindy Brockway for a grounding conversation about burnout, courage, and what it really takes to reconnect with yourself in a world that asks for too much. Cindy spent more than 30 years working with children who had emotional and learning needs — a career that taught her the real meaning of self-...

In this week’s episode of Maverick Mind , I’m joined by spoken word poet, TEDx speaker, and confidence coach Tricia Veldman — a creative whose work explores identity, self-expression, public speaking, and what it really means to live fully alive in the face of uncertainty. For ten years, Tricia worked as a speech coach helping people overcome fear, build confidence, and find their voice. But her l...

In this week’s episode of Maverick Mind , I sit down with artist and illustrator Jessie James for a deeply honest conversation about what it really looks like to return to creativity after life hands you something you didn’t choose. Jessie shares how a profound personal loss connected to 9/11 led her to step away from art for years — not out of lack of passion, but because creativity sometimes goe...

What if the real blocks to your creative expression aren’t in your mind — but in your subconscious? This week on Maverick Mind , I sit down with Stepanka Kurlová , a clinical hypnotherapist, published writer, and coach for creatives, entrepreneurs, artists, and lightworkers. Stepanka specialises in helping people break free from visibility fears, creative blocks, procrastination, self-sabotage, an...

What does it mean to take the hardest parts of your story and turn them into art? This week on Maverick Mind , I sit down with author, ghostwriter, and radio host Kimberly Love: a woman who transformed a traumatic childhood into a life built on creativity, storytelling, and courage. Kimberly began writing as a way to survive her early years. Journaling became her therapy, then her memoir, and even...

In this episode of Maverick Mind , I’m joined by desire coach and storyteller Milica Grjic for a deeply grounded conversation on returning to your body, your truth, and the wild intelligence of your desires. We explore what happens when you stop performing, stop packaging, and start listening. To your signals. To your softness. To the truth beneath the noise. Milica shares her perspective on self-...

What does it take to keep creating when the odds — and the world — are stacked against you? In this episode of Maverick Mind , I sit down with Tom Kwiat , the founder of Live and Amplified , a platform that helps promote and share the stories of independent musicians. Born with cerebral palsy , Tom has lived many lifetimes in one — from filmmaker to storyteller to creative entrepreneur. Over the p...

So many creatives spend their lives filtering their truth—polishing, perfecting, and performing—hoping it will make their work land. But the very thing you’re avoiding…the part that feels too messy, too raw, too real…is often the key to the connection, success, and deeper purpose you’ve been craving. In this solo episode, Ellie explores why your honesty, not your polish, is what makes your work ma...

What if the odds don’t apply to you? In this soul-led solo episode, I’m exploring what it means to defy the narratives, labels, and statistics that creatives are often handed—and instead, live and create from your own truth. We’ll talk about: Why so many visionary creatives unknowingly live from borrowed beliefs The subtle self-sabotage of trusting logic over instinct A story about a house sale du...

What if the clarity, success, and recognition you’re waiting for—are actually waiting for you ? In this solo episode, Ellie explores the quiet truth behind creative transformation: your desires aren’t random, and your next level isn’t something you chase—it’s something you become. If you’ve been craving momentum, deeper self-belief, or a creative breakthrough, this is your reminder that the things...

🔥 Join Studio Ember for 7-days FREE 🔥 - https://www.studio-ember.co/orders/customer_info?o=208164 In a world where everyone has an opinion on who you should be, how you should work, and what success should look like—it’s easy to lose the sound of your own voice. In this solo episode, Ellie explores the real meaning of self-leadership as a creative. Not the polished version we see online —but the...

Somatic Healing is a tool I use with people in a 1-1 coaching container, in order to help them better understand, process and release both present and past emotions. However, over the past 1-2 years I've developed into an experience aiming to, hopefully, help more of you in the moments you need it. You'll be taken on a journey through a deep somatic body scan and a visualisation to help pr...

This isn’t a retrospective. It’s a real-time glimpse into what it means to create something personal—before the world sees it. In this episode, I sit down with Apneet Sandhu, the founder of AURRA London—a fragrance line rooted in tradition, designed like art, and released just days before this conversation aired. We recorded this weeks before launch, when the vision was fully formed but the outcom...

In creative industries, gatekeepers are everywhere—curators, labels, mentors, influencers. We’re taught that to succeed, we need to be chosen. Co-signed. Allowed in. This episode explores what happens when you hand over your power in the name of access—and what it means to reclaim it. We’ll talk about: The myth of being chosen The spell of proximity Why chasing influence costs more than it gives A...