The And She Looked Up Podcast

Canadian photographer, recipe developer and blogger Heidi Richter joins me to talk about her work as both a commercial and editorial food and nature photographer.  We discuss her early steps as a self-taught photographer who wanted to take better photos of her first child all the way through to earning a coveted spot on Nikon's annual creator team - as well as the challenges of being a small,...

No this is not a real estate episode! Today we're talking about the dangers of building your business on the backs of other businesses - namely social media platforms and marketplaces - like Etsy.  These are platforms where the customers and users are not yours, where you can be removed at any time and where algorithms are created to support the platform's goals - not yours. So what can...

Alexandra Newbould is an artist whose work you know. As a Toronto based freelance courtroom sketch artist and fashion and architecture illustrator, her work has appeared all across North America on newscasts, in newspapers and print, online and in brand marketing campaigns. She joins the show this week to talk about the challenges and rewards of being a freelance illustrator, tattoo artist and, he...

You’re an artist or a creative or a maker.  You’ve made or created the thing, you’re selling the creative services. You’ve put it on social media and your website or Etsy.  But nobody has bought it.  So how the heck are you supposed to find your customers??  Melissa and Heather do a deep dive into how to find your people - and how to sell to them without it being weird or uncomfortable - even if y...

I'm going back into the archives this week because it's been a bit of madness around here this month (in a good way!). This is a replay of EP 128 from last year where Heather and I asked past guests and audience member to share some words of wisdom that they've learned through being working creatives and/or running their own businesses. And they did not disappoint! It's an insp...

Best selling Canadian independent fantasy romance novelist Demi Winters joins us in this episode of the show to talk about all things relating to being a self-published fiction author - including the release of her new book, her writing process,  world building, Book Tok and building community around her work, seeking help to take her work to the next level, balancing a private life with a public...

Gail Taylor left behind a successful career as an investment advisor to go all in with music - in her 50s! Now, as a Canadian songwriter, author, keynote speaker and entrepreneur, she's a passionate advocate for the power of music to inspire change.  Her new book, Curve Balls , is coming to shelves soon thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $10K. In this episode, Gail shares...

This week, Melissa and Heather do a brief recap of what they did in their creative businesses in 2023 and what they are focusing on for 2024. But at the heart of the episode we get into the trends we're paying attention to in our creative businesses - including a very frank (and possibly surprising?) discussion about generative AI and how we feel about it. 2024 has the potential to be a huge...

Transformational Coach Geneviève Retzlaff joins the show this week as part of our short January series on staying optimistic and energized in a month that can be dull, cold and dreary.  In this episode, Gen is here to help us lean into change in order to have fulfilling creative careers and lives. Whether you're thinking of leaving a traditional career to start a creative business or, you wan...

Inspirational speaker and certified life coach Sara Fisher joins the show this week to talk about the Law of Vibration and how we can use it to foster both personal growth and growth in our creative practices. We all start January off with the best of intentions but when the winter blues set in, it can be easy to get sidetracked and and feel like nothing has changed and nothing is moving forward....

With so many of this season's guests asking me off air whether or not they should start a podcast and how to get started, I thought it might be time to do an episode on the ins and outs of podcasting for a creative business. So today, with 140+ episodes under my belt, I take a deep dive into the pros and cons of podcasting for creatives, and how to get started if 2024 is the year you give it...

We've all thought about how great it would be to have a piece of content go viral on social media. There's that whisper deep down that if we could just get a million eyeballs on our business, everything would change - for the better. But what really happens when you go viral? And are you - and your creative business - actually prepared for it if it happens? Melissa and Heather dive into...

This week, healthy aging advocate Zanna Reza joins the show to talk about shaking up the system so we can grow older on our own terms. In a world where getting older (at any age) can come with a lot of stereotyping and discrimination, we talk about why we, as women, need to own our age - and the wisdom we've earned every day. In this conversation we discuss the importance of staying passionat...

Creativity shows up in many forms and this week Jacqueline Nicosia, the co-owner of Ardo Hospitality Group, joins the podcast to chat about the creativity that goes into crafting the perfect guest experience - and the perfect cocktail! This busy mom of two who co-owns her business (which includes 3 Toronto restaurants and a food import company) with her chef husband talks with us about: fostering...

Toronto based registered social worker and psychotherapist, Yu Tong Hannah Lin , joins Melissa to explore how we, as working creatives, can manage and overcome the ongoing challenges perfectionism and burnout present to our work.  Hannah shares valuable insights that will help us understand and identify when perfectionism and/or burnout are creeping into our lives and businesses (and what to do wh...

Slow September sales and signs of a flagging economy have a lot of Canadian creatives worried about the upcoming holiday selling season. Even Etsy has made efforts to boost sales on behalf of shop owners! And, with no real relief in sight, what does 2024 have in store? Melissa and Heather tackle this head on with lots of practical strategies and tips to help you get focused and make a plan - both...

As working creatives, giving our audience, clients and supporters the opportunity to connect with us on a deeper level is so important to building a healthy business. But equally important, as women, we need to get past our fear of taking up space and instead, embrace being seen. Intimate portrait and personal branding photographer Michele Matues joins Melissa in this episode to share her journey...

Have you ever wondered what goes into planning and executing an your own art exhibition? This week Heather Travis joins Melissa to talk about the behind the scenes journey to her upcoming, 3 month solo exhibition at Ontario's Bruce County Museum and Cultural Center.  She shares how the opportunity arose, how she developed her very personal exhibit theme, secured  grant funding and was able to...

Toronto based sisters Katrina and Lexie von Hahn have known for years that they wanted to create a business that reflected their Latin American roots and that has resulted in Gallola - a fashion and lifestyle brand they recently launched with their first product: a shoe they designed that's inspired by the timeless Argentine carpincho style and handmade in Mexico.   In this episode we talk ab...

As a multi-passionate creative herself, creativity coach and  host of the Superfan Attraction Podcast, Diane Foy understands how difficult it is for multi-passionate creative entrepreneurs to present themselves to the world. In this summer replay episode we talk about the power of personal branding and showing the world all the wonderful things you do instead of trying to keep them under wraps! Th...

Alberta singer/songwriter Sharon Marie White joins Melissa to talk about her deep roots as a musician and performer and how she let her music move to the background as she  found other ways to contribute to her family. Now, after putting her music on hold for decades, she's back and she's just getting started - in an era where women are no longer willing to put up with ageism as working...

Do you get caught in the branding trap that many creative businesses find themselves falling into? The one where you get so wrapped up in the physical assets of your brand that you forget about what branding actually is? Your logo? Not your brand. Your website colours? Not your brand. They're physical assets OF your brand. So what is your brand? Melissa and Heather Travis dive into the less o...

Whether you sell paintings or photography sessions, hand poured candles or graphic design services, getting traffic to your website or even your Etsy shop is probably one of the biggest challenges you face.  No traffic, no sales! Enter the world of blogging... One thing professional bloggers know how to do is drive traffic - their income is directly tied to their website traffic!  So let's ta...

Award winning documentary filmmaker and former Canadian Olympian, Phyllis Ellis, joins me in this episode with the release of her latest film, Category: Woman. We dive into the big themes of the documentary (gender and gender equality, body autonomy racism) as well as the power and challenges of telling stories - whether they're your own or belong to someone else. Did you know you can now dir...

Food photographer and photography educator Darina Kopcok joins Melissa for this Creative Canadian Women episode where they discuss how to generate quality client leads for your creative services business OR your product business as well as how to grow your revenue streams by offering education resources to other creative service providers and makers in your niche. In just one year as a food photog...