559 - Make Before Thinking, Switch to Sales Mode, Get Weird with It, The Opposite of Depression and MORE with Austin Kleon

This episode is for you if you need:

1 - Tactics for escaping overthinking.

2 - More fun in your creative practice.

3 - Insights on how to find your child like passion for creating again.

4 - Something unexpected to spark you!

This is a phenomenal chat with the great

The guy is full of creative wisdom and is BACK with another banger of book for creatives.

It’s called “Don’t Call it Art” and it is chock full of stuff to get you making stuff and having fun again doing it!

Watch It On YouTube:

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This episode is for you if you need:

1 - Tactics for escaping overthinking.

2 - More fun in your creative practice.

3 - Insights on how to find your child like passion for creating again.

4 - Something unexpected to spark you!

This is a phenomenal chat with the great …

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Listen Here: http://creativepeptalk.com/558

Most creative people don’t need help being creative.

You have the ideas. Where you trip up is the executive dysfunction. It’s getting yourself to start, middle, and finish the thing strong.

In this episode I want to share with you the number 1 things that’s helped me, a creative with MEGA ADHD, transform ideas into 10+ books, projects that lead to work with X-Box, Apple and Nickelodeon and more.

Stick around until the end for our “Creative Call to Adventure” it’s called “Out Block” and it will help you turn your current creative block into a starting block today!

Watch On YouTube:

Lots of Invisible Things Stuff in the Shop Right Now!

Love seeing it all together like this! AND Thank you for all the shop orders this week, you keep us going!!!!

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Most creative people don’t need help being creative.

You have the ideas. Where you trip up is the executive dysfunction. It’s getting yourself to start, middle, and finish the thing strong.

In this episode I want to share with you the number 1 things that’s helpe…

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557 - Finding Your Scene, IRL Creativity, the Hopeful Return of Indie / DIY with Hanif Abdurraqib

Your genius might be hiding in your backyard.

This episode is for you if:

1 - You need to find real people to collaborate with.

2 - You need to cultivate real creative connection in real life.

3 - You need hope for a more human creative future.

4 - You want to be inspired by a brilliant creative mind like Hanif!

I had a blast chatting face to face with the local AND worldwide creative legend, MacArthur “genius” grant winner and bestselling author, Hanif Abdurraqib.

Watch On YouTube:

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Your genius might be hiding in your backyard.

This episode is for you if:

1 - You need to find real people to collaborate with.

2 - You need to cultivate real creative connection in real life.

3 - You need hope of a more human future for creativity.

4 - You want to be…

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Sign up here: https://luma.com/cn18f8tu

I always love the change of pace of Summer Pep Rallies, they are usually a little bit smaller and it’s nice to have a little bit more of an intimate setting and conversation. I hope to see you there!

Let’s talk about these episodes:

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556 - Make This Shift to Reclaim Your Creative Spirit from Your Phone

Listen to this episode if:

1 - You are sick of trying to prove yourself on the internet.

2 - You need to find a way to shift away from pouring all your creativity into your phone.

3 - You need a grounding exercise to help you get more in the present, connect your now to your past self and open up new possibilities for your future!

Watch On YouTube:

Creative Pep Rally This Monday!

Monday, May 25 — 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EDT

If you love listening to Creative Pep Talk and want to turn this conversation into a two way street, come join supporters of the show for this month’s "Creative Pep Rally”!

What is Creative Pep Rally? It’s an hour and half virtual meetup with other Creative Pepperoni’s (AKA listener’s of Creative Pep Talk Podcast of course!).

This is the warmest, most encouraging group of creatives on the internet.

We share a few creative wins, dive into chats about this month’s episode and I present a few questions to get feedback and ideas from the group.

This meetup has evolved into an essential part of my podcast process and one of my favorite parts of each month. Hope to see you there!

Come chat with others about this past month’s episodes:

Register link below for supporters:

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Listen to this episode if:

1 - You are sick of trying to prove yourself on the internet.

2 - You need to find a way to shift away from pouring all your creativity into your phone.

3 - You need a grounding exercise to help you get more in the present, connect your no…

Read more

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This episode is for you if:

1 - You have hit a dead end and need to open up to totally new directions.

2 - You are stuck doing nothing and need a small place to start.

3 - You need to find new guidance from an outside perspective.

This is a chat with musician Hrishik…

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This episode is for you if:

1 - You have hit a dead end and need to open up to totally new directions.

2 - You are stuck doing nothing and need a small place to start.

3 - You need to find new guidance from an outside perspective.

This is a chat with musician Hrishikesh Hirway. You may know Hirway from his phenomenal podcast “Song Exploder” or his work as a composer for the film “Companion” or Netflix television series “Everything Sucks!”. Today we discuss the winding journey to his new album “In the Last Hour of Light” which features guests like Iron and Wine and Fenne Lily.

Watch On YouTube:

Creative Coaching - Only 3 Spots Left

CLAIM YOUR SPOT

If you’re in a transitory moment on your creative path and need some outside perspective, I have opened up limited spots for one-on-one creative coaching. We currently have 3 more spots left.

Looking forward to chatting with those that have already signed up!

Learn More Here.

CHECK 'EM OUT

I am absolutely GIDDY about these hats we made!!

I have been getting samples and testing hats for YEARS to get them just how I wanted them, and I couldn’t be more happy with how these turned out.

This “dad” hat is the same brand I wear all the time, and Apparel Graphics crushed the embroidery job!!

We Still Have Some Creative Coaching Spots Open!

CLAIM YOUR SPOT

If you need some personal creative direction, I still have some slots open for one-on-one video call creative coaching. We can discuss:

• Strategy to Get Around Creative Career Obstacles

• Breaking through Creative Block

• Outside Perspective on Creative Projects

• Portfolio Direction and Style

I think the last time I had these open publicly was in 2023, so it’s been a minute, but it’s one of my favorite things to do!

LISTEN HERE

Most of us start making things because on some level it feels good! It feels like a meditation. It brings flow. It helps us process.

But if you ever get serious about your work, you may also accidentally lose all these positives and replace them with negative side effects like pressure, anxiety, and even despair.

If you want to get back to the kind of creative practice that lifts you up instead of triggers you, this episode is for you!

is a world-renowned illustrator and cartoonist with one of the most personal and practical creative practices that I know of. She has been art journaling way before it was cool, and it’s turned into a cathartic experience that she now shares with the world through her online comics and now her phenomenal graphic memoir “Anxietyland”.

We discuss:

1 - How to access that energy of making just for yourself before you think about anyone else.

2 - The power and pitfalls of mixing creativity with your mental health.

3 - What type of creative community we hope to see evolve in a post-social media-centric world.

Watch On YouTube

Creative Coaching: 10 Spots Open Now

CLAIM YOUR SPOT

I am opening up 10 coaching call slots for anyone looking to get an outside perspective on their creative career strategy, the direction of a new project or getting over an obstacle that’s holding you back.

Learn more here. I will open up more when I can!

Creative Pro Talk May

Come discuss your creative career with other creative professionals!

The feedback from these virtual meetups has been EXCELLENT and they have been so energizing to me too!

What do we do in these meetups?

1 - We apply ideas from the podcast to YOUR creative practice

2 - One pre-selected attendee is put in the “hot seat” and we all help them with their current creative obstacles.

3 - We share a few career wins!

Register link for Creative Pro Talk below for supporters:

Read more

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Most of us start making things because on some level it feels good! It feels like a meditation. It brings flow. It helps us process.

But if you ever get serious about your work, you may also accidentally lose all these positives and replace them with negative side…

Read more

LISTEN

This episode is for you if:

1 - You have been pretending to be someone else for so long that you have forgotten who you are.

2 - You want to put more of your real self into your work and need help understanding how to do that.

3 - You need some fun and unexpected exercises to get back in touch with what you really care about and who you really are.

Check out the “Right Side Out” Series here: http://andyjpizza.com/rso

Watch on YouTube:

Watch

Tomorrow’s Virtual Meetup:
Creative Pep Rally!

Thursday, April 30
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM EDT

Let’s make this podcast a dialogue!

Join me and other Creative Pep Talk listeners as we apply the ideas from the show to your creative practice. Share struggles and wins with this very warm community! Feel free to join and chat along or leave off your camera and just check it out.

Here are the episodes we are exploring this week:

Register link below for supporters:

Read more

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This episode is for you if:

1 - You have been pretending to be someone else for so long that you have forgotten who you are.

2 - You want to put more of your real self into your work and need help understanding how to do that.

3 - You need some fun and unexpected ex…

Read more

Hey y’all! Creative Pep Rally is NEXT THURSDAY. Had to move it from Monday because of an event. But very excited to chat with you all about these episodes!!

Register Here:

https://luma.com/tbimv0th

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If you need help remembering who you are. This post is for you.

Maybe you’re neurodivergent and have been masking your whole life and can’t tell where the mask ends and where you begin.

Maybe you are an artist but you feel you don’t know yourself enough to make authentic work.

Maybe you’re a corporate accountant (btw how did you get here?) that just needs to feel something you-ish again.

This post is for you.

2 years ago I shared my 6 part audio memoir series Right Side Out on my podcast Creative Pep Talk.

The fifth episode of the series features the first conversation I had had with my mother in years. Today I re-released the series as a standalone podcast on its own feed. You can find links to it on the big podcast apps here.

So, I thought now was a good time to share how I feel about this decision 2 years on.

But first, here’s what this article is not:

1 Me encouraging you to reconnect with your estranged parent. I don’t know your situation, and I’m no therapist, but it seems to me that sometimes staying estranged is for the best.

2 Me telling you to make your personal life and story into a podcast and spill your guts all over the internet like I did.

However. In my particular case, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. That’s why I’m writing this. Not to tell you to do exactly what I did, but to encourage you to do something like I did, namely, work out who you are in your creative work. You don’t need to be as literal or specific as I was. You don’t need to share it with anyone. But whoever you are, “artist” or not, I hope you start making things for this purpose.

Two years on and I can pretty safely say that making this project dramatically changed how I carry the burden of growing up without a mother around and the shame of being told I was "just like her” by many of my relatives.

But even more, looking back, I see something else. I feel like I can see what this project was really all about.

On the surface, it’s about realizing I was ADHD, making peace with being “just like my mother”, and the journey of building my creative practice. But with a little time and distance from the project, I can now see that ultimately this project is about how making creative work is the best tool we have for remembering who you are and learning to love that person.

This project wasn’t about reconnecting with my estranged mother. I love my mom, but I have only seen her once since this project aired, and our relationship remains mostly just texted each other on holidays.

This project is about how making creative work is an amazing tool for reconnecting with the estranged parts of yourself.

No art skills required.

This isn’t about impressing someone else or even yourself.

It’s about how creating something is the act of putting a part of yourself out into the outer world and how that allows you to get an outside perspective on your inner world.

Kind trippy, right? And it’s true.

But no.

I don’t necessarily recommend creating a podcast about your biggest personal wounds, but I do highly recommend creating something that’s really really you.

Every piece you make is another chance to get to know, and maybe even learn to love, another part of yourself. And when you start to know and love yourself, you might be more inclined to put more of you out there in your world through your work. In this way, making things can be such a virtuous cycle.

So would I do it all again?

Absolutely. And I will. Again and again. I will continue to create things that help me live Right Side Out and I hope you do too!

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By the way, Right Side Out is an audio memoir, but it’s also one part creative self help.

Every episode ends with a creative prompt for getting to know yourself by making something. You don’t even need to be an artist. But if you are an artist, and you’re not sure you’ve ever created anything just for your own good, this is a great chance to pause trying to create for others and get more in tune and aligned with who you are first.

Check out the Right Side Out podcast here. Or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Thanks y’all.

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It’s been 2 years since we originally aired this episode.

This is part 1 of our 6 part audio memoir series “Right Side Out”.

On the surface it’s about my journey with ADHD and making peace with being “just like my mom”. But underneath, what it’s really ab…

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This episode is for you if:

1 - You’re feeling like you’ve lost the thread and your point of view as a creative.

2 - You’re fed up with consuming so much junk online and need tactics to start consuming better creative stuff that inspires you again.

3 - Need to dive deeper into the science of why your relationship with art can make all the difference to your creative practice and general wellbeing.

This episode features a chat with scientist and science communicator Daisy Fancourt about her new Sunday Times Bestselling book “Art Cure - The Science of How the Arts Save Lives”.

Learn more about Daisy Fancourt here:
https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/44526-daisy-fancourt

Check out “Art Cure” here:
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250364531/artcure/

Watch On YouTube

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