Natural Born Thinkers

Audiobooks are a wonderful way to develop children's creativity as they have to imagine the scenes that are being described. They are also a great way to get reluctant readers into storytelling and also help to develop children's emotional intelligence as they listen to how words are used. For each of the children's books I have written, I have created an audio component working with stage and scr...

As the founder of the Natural Born Thinkers Podcast, I try to live my most creative lifestyle daily. In addition to my problem-solving workshop business and podcast, I also write children's books where I can exercise my creativity freely. This very short episode of the podcast is a recording of a lullaby for my upcoming children's book of the same title, "Lily's Lullaby". The lullaby is about the...

In this episode I am speaking with David Pearl, founder of the social venture Street Wisdom and author of the book, "Wanderful; Find wonder in the everyday, everyday!" This conversation is a gentle stroll through the idea and impact of wandering, that is to say, to go outside and wander with no other ambition than to let our feet take our brains for a walk. David discusses how we are built to wand...

We are said to be creative geniuses by the time we are 5 years old, yet this level of creativity has declined greatly by the time we are an adult.  As we consider how to live our most creative life, it is important to reflect on why our creativity may wane throughout childhood and if there is anything we can do to stop it? In this podcast I am speaking with American psychology researcher and...

When it comes to creativity, we often praise the idea that sparked the change, rather than the question that inspired it all! During this podcast, I am speaking with Warren Berger, journalist, author and questionologist, about the art of asking questions and how curiosity can unlock our creativity. In today’s modern world, our tendency is to rush to an answer rather than find a more beautiful ques...

In this podcast I am speaking with Ruth Churchill Dower, renowned author, advisor, educator and media commentator in the field of creative early years practice.  I was inspired to reach out to Ruth to understand if we truly are born to be creative and how our childhood may or may not influence our creative confidence in adult life. Ruth highlights how engaging in creative practice helps child...

In this podcast I am chatting with Chris Barez-Brown and Jim Lusty from "Upping Your Elvis", an organization designed to help businesses and professionals get their energy right to unleash more creativity, performance and well-being! Through our conversation, we explore how our ancient make-up as humans is not necessarily geared to thrive in a modern world and we consider how we can navigate this...

In this podcast I am speaking with Monica Parker about her wonderful book, The Power of Wonder. The chances are that we have all experienced wonder at some time in our life, but have we ever stopped to think about it's impact? Ultimately, wonder has the potential to make us kinder, more empathetic, more open, humbler and can even help us to improve both our mental and physical health.  Throug...

This podcast reveals the power of art and it's potential to help us live a more creative, connected and healthy lifestyle. Katherine Templar Lewis, (cognitive scientist, science communicator and founder of Kinda Studios), discusses neuroaesthetics, the science behind how humans respond to art. We explore what happens in our brains and bodies when we engage with art and the impact these reactions c...

In this podcast I explore the “Art of Creative Rebellion” with John S. Couch and JC Caldwell. We discuss creativity from a spiritual, physical, emotional and intellectual point of view to help define what is a creative rebel and how can we unleash ours. Ultimately, we consider that a “creative rebellion” is a gentle movement that can be stirred where we dare to awaken our innate creativity and cur...

This podcast explores how art, storytelling and nature can help both adults and children "rewild" their nascent creativity. In a world where we are "always on", are we necessarily creating the space we need to just be and allow our thoughts to wonder? The neural networks in our mind are a "secret garden" of creative opportunity as they create the potential for random connections to spark across ou...

In this podcast I am chatting with the team from Architecting Curiosity, an organization designed to help businesses and individuals live their most curious lives! The friends behind Architecting Curiosity include, Pim Schachtschabel, Monica Canfield-Lenfest and Anthony Rocco. During our conversation, we deep dive into Monica and Pim’s curious life journeys so far, as well as explore the principle...

In this podcast I am chatting with experience designer, management consultant and entrepreneur, Anthony Rocco.  The focus of our conversation is exploring the practice of curiosity and the value that living a more curious lifestyle can bring. We explore the ideas and impacts of living a more curious lifestyle including how curiosity can help us discover more about ourselves, connect more deep...

In this episode I talk to Shelley Carson, psychologist and lecturer at Harvard University and author of, “Your Creative Brain, Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life.” Shelley's research centres around creativity neuroscience. Her book outlines the key network, processes and geography of the brain that are involved in creative thinking and also explains 7 ke...

In this episode I talk to Cliff Goldmacher a songwriter, producer, educator and author based in the USA. Cliff has recently released his first printed book, "The Reason for the Rhymes" , which explores how the art and practice of song-writing can help enhance our innovation capabilities Cliff has over 20 years of experience in the music industry and has written over 1000 songs including a number 1...

There is a natural tendency to associate the word “creativity” more readily with art than science, but actually, creativity is equally relevant and critical to the scientific world!  In this conversation, I talk with Dr Parmvir Bahia. We explore the key techniques used by scientists to unlock new discoveries, for example, the importance of asking questions, embracing failure and collabor...

What if you could use the stories of your past to better understand your creative thinking potential?  This podcast explores the idea of "inheritance" with co-founder of Inheritance Project, Mallory Combemale. Mallory shares how we can use insights from our past experiences to better understand our current identities, including our approach to creativity. She also discusses the power of...

It is not often that you meet a successful scientist, author and Hollywood movie maker all in one person and when you do, you wonder, how on earth did they do it! In this podcast I talk to professor Clive Oppenheimer who has successfully navigated both the scientific and artistic world. Clive shares the key tools in his tool kit to unlock creative thinking including an insatiable curiosity, a...

How often have you participated in a meeting with far too many people in it, an agenda as long as your arm and no break in sight? In these environments, the chances of having your best ideas are slim.  But what if meetings didn’t always have to be this way? In this conversation, I chat with management consultant and author, Chris Ertel. Chris talks about his book, “Moments of Impact” and...

Our body can be unconsciously wired to perform the way we have trained it to, but hours of hard work can be undone where we are not able to conquer the thoughts and emotions that flood our conscious mind. Olympic and National swimming coach, Chris Martin, provides insights into how the mind works in elite athletic performance and what lessons we can draw from this to help ourselves think more crea...

What if laughing more could increase your creative capacity? In this podcast I talk to Naomi Bagdonas, co-author of the immediate US national best-seller, Humor, Seriously: Why humor is a superpower at work and in life.  Naomi discusses the neuroscience, mindset and techniques that enable humour and how humour can increase power, resilience, human connection and creativity.  References:...