Own Your Creativity

031 Creativity Really IS For Everybody with Kathryn Haydon, Creativity Consultant

Kathryn P. Haydon writes, speaks, and consults to support an educational paradigm based on student strengths and creative thinking. She is a keynote speaker and specialist for families, schools, and educational organizations nationwide.  Kathryn co-authored Creativity for Everybody (2015) and Discovering and Developing Talents in Spanish-Speaking Students (2012); writes for publications on education, creativity, and parenting highly creative and gifted children; and is a published poet.  As a former teacher, Kathryn founded Sparkitivity to engage “square peg” students and to support the parents and educators who want them to succeed. She holds a Master of Science in Creativity, Creative Problem Solving, and Change Leadership from the International Center for Studies in Creativity at State University of New York, and a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University. Learn more and find resources at http://www.sparkitivity.com or @sparkitivity

030 Memories, Memoirs & You with Elizabeth Johnston, Author, Professor, Podcaster

My name is Elizabeth, and I’m a writing coach for wonderful writers like you who don’t want to waste any more time. Through my coaching programs, I give you the tools, support and guidance you need to turn your idea into reality whether it’s a memoir or a screenplay.

Who Am I?

I didn’t know I was a writer. I had always written creatively, but it wasn’t until I went to university that the doors of my imagination were blown wide open.

I had found my calling!

I went on to take two degrees in writing then taught in the arts for over 20 years. Helping others own their creativity was (and is) very rewarding.

But over the years things began to change.

Even though while teaching I still wrote and published on a regular basis, I started feeling stressed at work and that eventually spilled over into my personal life. I was so caught up in the daily routine of teaching that I forgot about the importance of nurturing my creativity.

So, in 2013, I vowed to make my creativity a priority.

No longer would it be something I squeezed in here and there. The result? Not only did I accomplish more, I was less stressed at work and had an overall sense of well-being that had eluded me for years.

It was the best decision I had ever made.

From that moment on, I pledged to do all I could to help others own their creativity so they could lead happy, fulfilled lives and know, in their bones, that it truly is never too late to be who you were meant to be.

029 Sticking Your Neck Out with Kristen Joy, Author, Publisher, Book Ninja

Kristen Joy decided she was “unemployable” at the tender age of six when she started her first business making and selling pet rocks. She’s never been able to “hold down a real job…” ever. A serial entrepreneur, in 2003 she turned her life-long love of reading and writing into a full-time career she LOVES, teaching authors and entrepreneurs how to create books that bring them business and turning authors into successful authorpreneurs.

After discovering how to thrive through chronic illness, Kristen went on to write and publish 18 Kindle books in 18 weeks, start over 50 publishing companies for others, publish over 200 books and e-books, teach hundreds of webinars, coach thousands of authors from idea to published, build a livelihood from negative $300-a-month to a multi six-figure business, study martial arts, get her conceal-carry license and eat way too much chocolate.

She currently changes lives through her students… one published message at a time, encourages authors through free articles and videos at TheBookNinja.com, teaches a ton of courses and still studies martial arts, working toward her black belt in MMA karate… while maintaining a healthy daily dose of chocolate.

Besides on her website, she can also be found online at her second home in Facebookland and occasionally aimlessly roaming the Star Wars and pet supply aisles with her man at Target hunting down toys for themselves and their cat.

028 Going From Little to Large As A Writer with Elizabeth Johnston, Author, Professor, Writing Coach

Hello Everybody, and welcome to today’s show. I’m really excited to announce a new direction for the Own Your Creativity Podcast. Starting today, I’ll be alternating between solo episodes and interview episodes. Why am I doing this? Because there are a lot of things I want to share with you about creative writing, how to do it, why to do it, the science behind it, and how it can enrich your life and the world. I truly believe that art makes the world a better place, and I want to share my passion for writing directly with you.

So the title for today’s show is “Going From Little to Large as a Writer.” Specifically,  I’ll be talking about five ways that writing and reading can improve your life so that you own your creativity. I want you to feel empowered so that you go from hiding your light under a bushel to letting your voice ring out in the form of your books, poems, screenplays or whatever other type of writing that you do.

Today’s episode is for you if you want to write but haven’t started yet or if you are writing but haven’t since the results of which you know you’re capable or you’re already happily writing away but love all things related to discussion of the importance of writing.

The five things I’ll talk about today are

-       Chocolate for the brain

-       Making Lemonade

-       Living in the Stone Age

-       Trying on Different Shoes, and

-       Changing the world with your stories.

Afterwards, I’d love to hear from you which of the five topics resonated the most with you. 

ABOUT ELIZABETH JOHNSTON:

I'm a writing coach for people who have an important story to tell but don't have the right know-how to make it happen and aren’t sure how to make room in their busy lives.

I know how frustrating it can be to feel overwhelmed by work and family commitments, how there never seems to be time or energy left over for you to work on that story you’ve been dreaming about for years.

Truth be told, sometimes you secretly wonder if it's just not meant to be -- because you’ve spent countless hours reading books and trolling the Net, but that hasn’t taken you very far.

You’re at the point now where you don’t want to reinvent the wheel. You want concrete, efficient and professional guidance so that you can own your creativity and finally write that screenplay or memoir.