No Time to be Timid

I open up about giving my own TEDx talk at TEDx Portsmouth in May — built around a question that's haunted me for 35 years: what if I'd said yes to a free demo reel offer from a major New York radio station back when I was 28? I walk through what it cost me to play it safe, the audacious move I made to finally set things right, and how you all responded.  Memorable Moment One of my fellow speakers...

Last week I was invited to a VIP tour of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, guided by their Chief Curator. What I found was a woman who turned grief into one of the most unconventional art collections in American history — and who once glued tea-box tinfoil to her dining room walls because she liked the way it looked. I even got to stand two feet from a Rembrandt that survived the larg...

What does Bruce Springsteen have to do with the No Time to Be Timid Manifesto? Everything. I recently caught Bruce live at TD Garden in Boston—from the second to last row—and couldn't stop thinking about how his 50-year career checks off principle after principle from the manifesto. From singing for three hours straight at 76 years old, to speaking truth to power since the 1980s, to calling an ent...

This week, we’re revisiting my 2023 conversation with Amy Grant, the Grammy-Award winning singer/songwriter and there’s a good reason why. At the time we talked, Amy hadn’t recorded anything in the studio that wasn’t holiday in nearly 10 years and she was just starting to record new music. Well, she kept that momentum going and on May 8, she’ll be releasing her first new album in 13 years, “The Me...

With more than 4 million podcasts available, why make another one? That was the question I was asked to answer in my talk at the Amos Fortune Forum in Jaffrey, NH. During my presentation — which you’ll hear in this episode — I talk about my unconventional journey from clueless amateur to an award-winning podcast producer. I also take the audience through the No Time to be Timid Manifesto with insp...

My guest is Aaron Calafato, an award-winning storyteller, narrative designer, and content strategist, for some of the world’s fastest growing companies. His podcast, 7 Minute Stories,  is autobiographical and extemporaneous — the man writes nothing down — and has achieved a cult following, reaching more than 30 million people worldwide. When he’s not telling seven-minute stories, he’s also the co-...

SC Perot is the perfect guest for these trying times. She’s the author of the USA Today bestselling book Styles of Joy , which prompts readers to examine joy in their own lives. And while the book is about joy, it sprang from a place of deep grief. After leaving her corporate law career, then enduring a divorce, which resulted in losing family, friends, and her dog, and reeling in a post-pandemic...

Our guest, Barry Dean, is a double threat. Not only is he a writer of No.1 country and pop songs but he's also the CEO of Luci, a company dedicated to creating smart wheelchair technology for individuals with disabilities, like his daughter Catherine. Our conversation is one of the most compelling we've had on the show -- he's a fantastic, funny, and wise storyteller. He talks about his journey fr...

In this episode, I talk with documentarian Abby Epstein about her creative journey becoming a theater and film director and women’s health advocate. A co-creator of the landmark film, The Business of Being Born , Abby tells honest women’s stories — from periods to menopause and everything in between. She shares her experiences in creating compelling documentaries, the importance of creative partne...

In this episode, I’ve invited three women on the show who also happen to be my dear friends — they don’t know each other, but I’ve known them for decades. And in this past year, I’ve watched each of them explode with creativity. Carolyn Blank Cary published a cookbook, which became a mini memoir; Beth Huddleston developed an app introducing infants and toddlers to the sounds of languages and music...

Vince Gill is a music icon, winning armloads of awards over his 50-year musical career, including 22 Grammys, 8 Academy of Country Music Awards, and 18 CMA awards. He’s collaborated with every possible country music great like Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire, but also music legends in other genres like Sting and Barbra Streisand. Along with his unforgettable tenor voice, Vince is an extraordinary g...

Devin Finigan, chef owner of Aragosta at Goose Cove in Maine, is an award-winning chef who never attended culinary school. In our conversation, she shares her unconventional journey into the culinary world, highlighting her passion for cooking, the artistic process behind plating a dish, and the importance of mentorship and travel in her growth as a chef. With unmatched enthusiasm, she discusses t...

Shannon Cason is a master storyteller -- seen on Snap Judgment, TEDx, and The Moth stages to name a few -- and is the host of the podcast Homemade Stories. In his words, he's also a late bloomer, and with his trademark wit, wisdom, and incredible sense of timing, he shares how the right perspective can turn life's rough patches into life-changing art.   Check out Shannon's website .  Watch his sto...

Starting Over with a Creative Life featuring Nell Painter In this episode, we talk to the renowned historian and bestselling author Nell Painter, who left her wildly successful academic career to enter art school at the age of 65 — an experience she documented in her book, Old in Art School, A Memoir of Starting Over, which was named a National Book Critics Circle finalist. We talk about working w...

Depending on where you were in 2018, you may or may not remember former Nashville mayor Megan Barry’s story. The Washington Post’s headline said, “Megan Barry Resigns as Nashville Mayor, Weeks After Admitting Affair with the Security Chief” and The New York Times declared, “Megan Barry, Nashville Mayor, Pleads Guilty to Theft and Agrees to Resign.” It was a monumental lapse in judgment that played...

We all first met Kim as the glowing young bride in the movie “Father of the Bride” with Steve Martin. She’s acted ever since, adding NYTimes bestselling author to her credits with her book “Where The Light Gets In," which chronicles her mother’s battle with dementia. In this episode, we dive into Kim’s own health struggle — losing her voice for nearly two years, an experience that Kim says saved h...

We’re launching Season Four this Thursday! To kick it off, I share the unforeseen complications that happened on the way to NYC to celebrate our Signal Award win. Exploding transformers, train trauma bonding, shouting expletives in a public setting, free peanut M&Ms, the love of friends, and the kindness of strangers all make an appearance. As always, what we don’t expect often leads to the most m...

In this bonus edition, we share some thrilling news! No Time to be Timid is one of eight finalists in the Arts and Culture category of the Signal Awards -- alongside notable shows like Oprah's Super Soul! Please vote for us for the Listener’s Choice award ! Voting ends October 17. I also share thoughts on my recent pilgrimage walking a portion of the Camino, particularly how walking and the creati...

Bonus Episode: Eric Masterson Tells his Story of Hawks, Near-Death, and the Best of Humanity   During this season in the United States, we’re repeatedly told about how divided we are as a nation, so I thought it was important to tell a few stories about how wonderful people can be. To illustrate the point, I interviewed my husband, Eric Masterson, who is an expert birder, author, and survivor of a...

I don't talk about politics on my show. I talk about creativity and I interview guests who can help all of us step into our creative selves. But then J.D. Vance started talking about "childless cat ladies," and as a woman without children, I have a problem with that. So I thought it was important to air a story I told on the StoryCollider stage some years ago about my ambivalence towards motherhoo...

R. Eric Thomas is a creative powerhouse. First, he’s masterful on stage not only as a storyteller, but also as the long running host of The Moth StorySlams in Philadelphia. Second, he writes for every possible medium — he’s a television writer for shows airing on Apple TV and FX; an award-winning playwright; and the author of  several books, including the national bestsellers Here For It, or How t...

My neighbors, the NYTimes bestselling author Sy Montgomery and acclaimed author Howard Mansfield, have been married for 37 years. In that time, they’ve built and sustained a writing life that’s produced about 40 books between them. And even though they’re a unit, they’ve dedicated their lives to separate creative interests. Sy writes on behalf of animals — she’s best known for her books The Good,...

You know the saying, "bloom where you're planted"? My guest, Nora Fiffer, embodies it. She’s an actor, director, and producer in both theater and film and like me, she lives in rural New Hampshire. She moved here from Chicago about eight years ago, and since she's arrived, she's co-founded the award-winning Firelight Theatre Workshop, which is now in its seventh season; produced two short films us...

There are few individuals in the world who can convince people to get out of bed and start dancing at 6:00 am completely sober. Radha Agrawal, the co-founder, CEO and Chief Community architect of Daybreaker, the global morning sober dance and wellness movement, is one of them. And for the past 10 years, a half a million people across 33 cities and five continents have joined her. And here’s the th...

At 84 years old, Laura Wilson could run circles around most of us. She throws herself into her creative projects — which often take years to complete — with high energy and optimism. She moves quickly, never dallying when pursuing her creative work (a missed opportunity to photograph John Updike still stings). And her work reveals the humanity and stories behind individuals, communities, and event...