The Creative Life Podcast

What do you do when the opportunities you receive only reveal one part of what you can create? In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast, Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons talk with actor, writer, producer, director, and improviser Rachel Williamson. Rachel shares how an early love of storytelling led her toward acting, why she stepped away before returning with greater readiness, and ho...

What becomes possible when artists stop waiting for perfect conditions and decide to begin? In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast, Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons talk with Bill Grennan and Ashley Kobza of Old School Shakespeare Omaha. The troupe brings Shakespeare into bookstores, breweries, coffee shops, and other community spaces using a stripped down performance model built aro...

What happens when writing becomes a way to understand your mind, preserve your legacy, and awaken new possibilities in the people around you? In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast, Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons sit down with WayofLife , a poet, author, performer, educator, and creative mentor whose journey with language began during incarceration. He shares how stillness helped h...

What if the part of your creative voice that feels strange, excessive, or unconventional is the part most worth expressing? In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast, Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons talk with Omaha fashion designer and multidisciplinary artist Ashton Page, creator of Boy in Rainbows. Ashton’s work brings together textiles, character, performance, personal history, sust...

What happens when two creatives stop waiting for the perfect opportunity and decide to build the space they wish existed? In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast, Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons talk with Rachel Ware and Tyrel Frazier, cofounders of Ware House Comedy Theater in Omaha. Rachel and Tyrel share the creative paths that led them to comedy, the partnership behind their new...

What does a writer do when the opportunities they need do not yet exist? In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast, Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons speak with poets, writers, performers, and community builders Rayni Wekluk and Rosine Selemani. Together, they help organize the Family Dinner reading series, a welcoming literary space that brings emerging and established writers into conv...

What happens when a creative passion becomes a business, and the business begins creating opportunities for other artists? In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast, Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons speak with Olivia Vogel, founder of False Digits and Live Creatively. Olivia traces her journey from fine art and handmade press on nails to salon ownership, education, and mentorship in the...

What happens when an artist stops waiting for opportunity and starts building it? Teresa Stastny is the founder of Sleekd Marketing and the host of the Becoming Obsessed Podcast. She has a background working with organizations to build brands and strategies that get people to stop the scroll and become clients. In this conversation with Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons, Teresa discusses th...

What happens when an artist stops waiting for opportunity and starts building it? Xavier Jackson is the founder and CEO of Local Art Plug, a platform connecting artists, art lovers, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and communities through events, education, promotion, and creative consulting. In this conversation with Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons, Xavier discusses the barriers emer...

What if getting better requires you to be willing to look bad first? In Episode 40 of The Creative Life Podcast, Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons talk with Dylan Rohde, founder of The Backline Comedy Theatre in Omaha. What began as one improv class in the basement of a small art gallery grew into a home for improv, sketch, stand-up, classes, performances, and the Omaha Comedy Fest. Dylan s...

What if entrepreneurship is something you do, but being an artist is who you are? For Obed Sanchez Liborio, creativity has never fit neatly into one medium or one career path. His work moves between ceramics, food, storytelling, gardening, entrepreneurship, and community building. But beneath all of those things is a consistent identity: artist. In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast, Dr. Je...

What does it take to develop an artistic voice—and to keep evolving once you find it? In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast , Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons sit down with artist Sarah Craw to talk about the process of becoming an artist, finding your own visual language, and allowing your work to change as you do. Sarah shares her perspective on experimentation, observation, and t...

There Is Always a Promise for Redemption: James Eagle Feather on Reinvention, Storytelling & Creative Identity What happens when you refuse to let your past define who you become? In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast , Jessica and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons sit down with writer, speaker, mentor, and creative community builder James Eagle Feather for a candid conversation about redemption, rein...

Everyone talks about growing an audience. Emilie Barnes believes the real goal is building a community. This week on The Creative Life Podcast , Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons sit down with Emilie Barnes, founder of IRL Marketing, to explore why authentic relationships outperform algorithms, how in-person experiences create lasting brands, and why creators often underestimate the value o...

What happens when you stop ignoring the creative voice inside you? For Curtis Reynolds, the answer began with a piano in the back room of a local Omaha bar. Curtis is the founder of Omaha Broadway Bar, a mobile piano bar and theatrical cabaret experience bringing performers and audiences together through music, connection, and shared moments of joy. What started as a creative outlet quickly became...

How do you keep creating when the world tells you that you don't belong? Award-winning photographer Nia Karmann joins The Creative Life Podcast to share the story behind her creative journey from discovering photography through 4-H to building an award-winning photography business while living with spina bifida. In this inspiring conversation, Nia discusses perseverance, accessibility in the arts,...

What makes great creative work possible? Talent is only part of the equation. The rest is trust. In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast , hosts Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons sit down with Omaha-based band Fission for a conversation that goes far beyond music. Together, they explore what it takes to collaborate creatively, embrace vulnerability, and build something meaningful along...

What happens when the questions you've carried your entire life become the story that helps someone else heal? In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast , Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons sit down with Omaha author and adoption advocate Wilson Munsterman to discuss identity, belonging, resilience, and the transformative power of storytelling. Found on a doorstep in China as an infant an...

Your environment is more than the backdrop of your life...it has the power to influence your health, creativity, mindset, and sense of purpose. In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast , hosts Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons sit down with interior designer and founder of Katie Noel Studio, Katie Breidenbach, to explore how intentional design can transform not only the spaces we live i...

In this follow-up episode of The Creative Life Podcast , Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons revisit their conversation with photographer, creative director, and Luli Creative House founder Ariel Panowicz to unpack the deeper lessons behind her creative journey. Ariel's story is about much more than opening a creative studio. It's a reflection on identity, belonging, community, and the courag...

In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast , hosts Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons sit down with photographer, creative director, and founder of Luli Creative House , Ariel Panowicz . Ariel shares her journey from Omaha to Los Angeles and back again, opening up about the pressure creatives often feel to follow a prescribed path even when it no longer fits. After questioning what success...

What can graffiti teach us about creativity? In this recap episode of The Creative Life Podcast , hosts Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons revisit their conversation with Alyssa Jade Baldridge, founder of Omaha Street Art, to unpack the powerful lessons hidden in plain sight on the walls of our cities. More than documenting murals and tags, Alyssa explores street art as a form of storytelling, r...

In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast, hosts Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons sit down with Alyssa Jade Baldridge, creator of Omaha Street Art, to explore the stories, voices, and creative resistance living on the walls of Omaha. Through her work documenting graffiti and street art across the city, Alyssa has become an archivist of a creative culture that often exists outside tradit...

In this recap episode of The Creative Life Podcast , hosts Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons revisit their conversation with Keyosha Atwater , founder of Chapters & Connections , to reflect on the power of literacy, intentional reading, and community connection. This episode explores how reading can unlock creativity, expand perspective, and create meaningful opportunities for growth an...

In this episode of The Creative Life Podcast , hosts Dr. Jessica Olsen and Dr. Jaclyn Gibbons sit down with Keyosha Atwater , founder of Chapters & Connections , to explore the transformative power of literacy, reading, and intentional community. Through her growing Omaha-based book club, Keyosha is creating spaces where books become more than entertainment—they become tools for reflection, gr...