Create Out Loud With Jennifer Louden

29 | Navigating Creative Partnerships with Crystal Egli and Parker McMullen Bushman

Crystal and Parker are some of the most exciting voices in the world of female-founded tech startups, and their brilliance lies beyond their product. The two of them have sharply navigated the very white and very male world of tech by following their north star - business that focuses on diversity, ethics, and inclusivity. Like their own business philosophy, their company Inclusive Journeys is focusing on inclusivity by developing a digital green book to rate business on their ability to accommodate people of all races, genders, orientations, and abilities. Today, we also discuss
2:03 - Why Crystal Took Up Hunting
6:02 - How Crystal feels about being called a snowflake
12:32 - The nuts and bolts of how the app works
16:51 - Racial hurdles that Crystal and Parker faced as founders.
18:48 - Why shame is an ineffective motivator for moving forward.
28:29 - The mechanics of a creative partnership.
31:34 - The value of hiring an assistant.
To support their GoFundMe, check out: https://www.gofundme.com/f/digital-green-book-website
Visit https://jenniferlouden.com/podcastkit/ to get instant access to a collection of audios that will:
help you with some of the most common struggles we creatives have to manage including fear of choosing,
falling into compare and despair, managing the inner critic (s),
and feeling too exposed and vulnerable when you put yourself or your work into the world.
---
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jennifer-louden/support

Fulfilling Our Personal Responsibility To Create w/ Beth Pickens

Beth Pickens is one of the most practical and grounded creative coaches working today. Though she herself doesn't identify as particularly creative, Beth CHAMPIONS creative instincts and argues that when creative people don't fulfill their inner-need to create, their health, well-being, and general productivity will suffer. Need a boost? THIS is the episode for you. Jen and Beth also discuss...
1:00 - Taking a STAND for your art.
2:39 - Creating art isn't optional, it's essential for your health.
4:00 - Separating the practice from your profession.
12:36 - Avoiding burnout.
21:43 - Art CHANGES people.
Visit https://jenniferlouden.com/podcastkit/ to get instant access to a collection of audios that will:
help you with some of the most common struggles we creatives have to manage including fear of choosing,
falling into compare and despair, managing the inner critic (s),
and feeling too exposed and vulnerable when you put yourself or your work into the world.
---
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jennifer-louden/support

27 | How To Avoid Toxic Comparison In Our Creative Life w/ Keri Smith

Though her work centers on wild, uninhibited creative acts, Keri Smith is a self-proclaimed introvert. The hugely popular bestselling author Wreck This Journal is the first to admit that our creative needs to be a sacred choice, an intentional process that we commit to, despite the voices around us (and in our head), telling us not to. Keri and Jen get vulnerable as they discuss the gap between their public and private personas, and the very real looming specter of burnout that challenges every creative. They also discuss:
1:27 - Book as a sacred object
5:32 - The value of rituals and reptition.
9:47 - The myths around social media
16:53 - Random chance encounters with your creativity.
21:42 - Toxic comparisons with others.
27:46: How to remove the ego and focus on how JOHN CAGE influenced Keri’s work.
32:42: Why Keri doesn't read reviewsVisit https://jenniferlouden.com/podcastkit/ to get instant access to a collection of audios that will:
help you with some of the most common struggles we creatives have to manage including fear of choosing,
falling into compare and despair, managing the inner critic (s),
and feeling too exposed and vulnerable when you put yourself or your work into the world.
---
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jennifer-louden/support

🦃 Happy Thanksgiving From Create Out Loud! 🦃

If you're looking to find more gratitude in your creative life, today's episode is for you!
Visit https://jenniferlouden.com/podcastkit/ to get instant access to a collection of audios that will:
help you with some of the most common struggles we creatives have to manage including fear of choosing,
falling into compare and despair, managing the inner critic (s),
and feeling too exposed and vulnerable when you put yourself or your work into the world.
---
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jennifer-louden/support

26 | How To Market Yourself As A Creative w/ Toya Gavin

For better or worse, so much of the creative life relies on marketing, which can feel icky. But for Toya Gavin, who has brilliantly built her life coaching business through her own ingenious marketing strategies, it doesn't have to feel icky. Instead, it can feel social, constructive, and even beneficial for those who deserve to hear about your endeavors. Though Jen and Toya might both struggle with that instinct to want to be the invisible creative, today's creator economy just doesn't support that, and instead, we should CREATE OUT LOUD!
Toya and Jen Also Discuss:
:22 - Taking a stand for black and brown women in business.
9:16 - How language fails us when we seek to explain outsider status.
12:42 - Fostering intristic motivation for our work.
20:28 - How identity helps or hurts as creativity
24:50 - The Four essential benchmarks for running your own bussiness.
27:30 - How to market your creativity.
31:57 - Using our own network to sell our creativity.
36:42 - How To Trust Yourself in the room.
43:01 - The viability of creating your own business.
Visit https://jenniferlouden.com/podcastkit/ to get instant access to a collection of audios that will:
help you with some of the most common struggles we creatives have to manage including fear of choosing,
falling into compare and despair, managing the inner critic (s),
and feeling too exposed and vulnerable when you put yourself or your work into the world.
---
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jennifer-louden/support

25 | How To Make Personal Experiences Universal For Your Audience

Laura Davis is the author of six non-fiction books, which have been translated into 11 languages and sold more than 1.8 million copies, that focus primarily on healing, recovery, and the beautiful scars that the challenges of our lives leave behind. In the course of her long career as a communicator, she has been a columnist, a talk show host, and a radio news reporter.
Laura’ new book and first memoir, new book, and first memoir, The Burning Light of Two Stars, tells the story of her dramatic and tumultuous relationship with her mother from the time of my birth until her death from a much more dramatic, intimate, and personal point of view.
On today’s show, Jen and Laura discuss
5:08 - Why Laura had to return to therapy to write this book.
10:13 - How to learn NEW creative skills: “our learning edge.”
13:33 - How to write about our family members.
19:17 - How to write about what we can’t remember
28:45 - How to make a living as a creative
29:53 - Finding the right publisher for your material
35:11 - How to face the (sometimes grueling) importance of marketing
39:59 - How to market to your “ideal audience.”
How To Make Personal Experiences Universal For Your Audience
READ THE FIRST FIVE CHAPTERS HERE!: https://lauradavis.net/the-burning-light-of-two-stars/
Visit https://jenniferlouden.com/podcastkit/ to get instant access to a collection of audios that will:
help you with some of the most common struggles we creatives have to manage including fear of choosing,
falling into compare and despair, managing the inner critic (s),
and feeling too exposed and vulnerable when you put yourself or your work into the world.
---
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jennifer-louden/support

24 | Why Bother To Create At All?

"Why Bother" was the central question of Jen's last book, and so of course, it had to show up on the podcast! But today we go deep: why bother to create, at all? If you've faced creative failure, despair, or you feel like you're facing insurmountable cynicism, it may feel exhausting and impossible to create. Or even worse, it may feel pointless. And trust me, we get it.
BUT, there are still a million reasons why the beautiful act of creation is often our way out, and we discuss those reasons today.
Visit https://jenniferlouden.com/podcastkit/ to get instant access to a collection of audios that will:
help you with some of the most common struggles we creatives have to manage including fear of choosing,
falling into compare and despair, managing the inner critic (s),
and feeling too exposed and vulnerable when you put yourself or your work into the world.
---
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jennifer-louden/support

23 | Optimizing Your Creativity By Creating A Safe Space

It's hard enough to feel like "our best selves" when we're creating, but here's a little secret no one tells you: we won't, unless we foster a safe space and sacred space around our work! What does that REALLY mean? Tune in to find out.
Visit https://jenniferlouden.com/podcastkit/ to get instant access to a collection of audios that will:
help you with some of the most common struggles we creatives have to manage including fear of choosing,
falling into compare and despair, managing the inner critic (s),
and feeling too exposed and vulnerable when you put yourself or your work into the world.
---
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jennifer-louden/support

22 | The Essential Need For Wonder In Our Creativity w/ Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of the New York Times best-selling illustrated collection of nature essays and Kirkus Prize finalist, WORLD OF WONDERS: IN PRAISE OF FIREFLIES, WHALE SHARKS, & OTHER ASTONISHMENTS (2020, Milkweed Editions), which was chosen as Barnes and Noble’s Book of the Year. She has four previous poetry collections, and her writing appears twice in the Best American Poetry Series, The New York Times Magazine, ESPN, Ploughshares, American Poetry Review, and Tin House.
On today's show, Jen and Aimee connect over their passion for the natural world, and the unavoidable truth the clock is ticking on that environment. But for both Jen and Aimee, creativity, open-heartedness, and WONDER provide a foundation of hope and could truly change they way we see our own lives, and more importantly, the whole world. In addition, they also discuss:
4:14 - Aimee's experiences with a lack of representation in pop culture and art growing up.
11:14 - Confronting the all-common question of: "How dare you want this?"
13:51 - Aimee's decision to abandon pre-med in favor of the arts.
18:07 - How to avoid becoming a brand.
22:16 - Aimee's turbulent publishing journey.
24:02 - Aimee on "negotiating the line between the color of my skin and the outdoors."
29:13 - Making wonder a habit.
32:11 - The difference between writing poems and essays.
40:34 - Why a lack of wonder makes the world more dangerous.
Visit https://jenniferlouden.com/podcastkit/ to get instant access to a collection of audios that will:
help you with some of the most common struggles we creatives have to manage including fear of choosing,
falling into compare and despair, managing the inner critic (s),
and feeling too exposed and vulnerable when you put yourself or your work into the world.
---
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jennifer-louden/support

21 | Oliver Burkeman On Accepting and Embracing Creative Limitations

Oliver Burkeman is an award-winning thought leader and the author of 4 bestselling books about time, happiness, and strategies for living our best lives. His new book, Four Thousand Weeks, is about making the most of our radically finite lives in a world of impossible demands, relentless distraction and political insanity (and 'productivity techniques' that mainly just make everyone feel busier).
On today's show, Jen and Oliver connect over their complicated relationship with the term "self-help," discuss how we can maximize our creative time, and explore how understanding our own limits can make us feel limitless in our creativity. They also discuss:
2:47 - How Oliver avoids nihilism in his approach to time management.
6:15 - How to settle into our work and our creativity.
7:18 - How to give ourselves permission to evolve as creatives.
11:02 - How to establish creative parameters around our material
16:48 - How do we accept ourselves as creatives?
21:08 - How to avoid boxing ourselves into a creative identity.
27:31 - How actively being present helps our creativity.
Visit https://jenniferlouden.com/podcastkit/ to get instant access to a collection of audios that will:
help you with some of the most common struggles we creatives have to manage including fear of choosing,
falling into compare and despair, managing the inner critic (s),
and feeling too exposed and vulnerable when you put yourself or your work into the world.
---
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jennifer-louden/support