and here are some thoughts on creativity.

 

In my personal life as an artist, my best work has come from one of two things: gut-wrenching heartbreak or.... boredom. In contrast, as Creative Director, one would hope that heartbreak comes from lost proposals or a broken computer screen—not your place of employment. So what does that leave?

 

Boredom. Professionally that presents a problem.

Who has the luxury to get bored at work these days?

(In this economy?!)

 

Another way to approach this conundrum is perhaps the idea of creating space.

Creativity flows when there is space for it.

 

Oftentimes when beginning a new creative endeavor, the question of “Where do we even begin?" can feel hard to tackle. Early on in my career I thought I needed the producer, the project manager, the requisite Type-A cohort to help keep my creative on the tracks. I convinced myself that without them, I'd get lost. Just a sparkly little tumbleweed—full of ideas, cascading around the open desert of possibility. It wasn't until the sun was setting on this desert (deadline) and I was on my last drop of water (brain cell) that I’d embrace (understand) the goal and scramble to the finish. 

 

It was exhausting.

 

That was until I discovered *process.*
(Please don’t leave.)

 

The funny thing about creativity is that sometimes in order to dream big, you still need parameters. Creativity in a vacuum. You need a path, guidance, structure. Process is a word almost every creative I know hates. However. Process isn't inhibiting—it's sort of like needing to know the rules so that you know how to break them. 

 

(I said rule breaking, are you back in yet?) 

 

Through my many years at "VIVA University," working closely with President, CCO and visionary, Emily Greene, and the Institute of General Life Experiences That Build Character, I have learned that not only do I flourish within creative structure, that creating my own in which to thrive in has helped me build my own personal brand of creative delivery.

 

Creative does not exist without strategy and the most cohesive experiences cannot exist without epic storytelling. Through workshops, brainstorms, creative jolts and strategy sessions, I lead teams to discover what they want their audiences to think, feel and do. I’ll share trends from fashion to entertainment to the avante garde to create a mental playing field to operate in. I dare clients who are allergic to the creative process to give me their worst ideas first to prove that even bad ideas can help pave the path to success. A playful mind is a creative one, after all. I’ll make you dance, laugh, sing and sometimes even cry to get the energy moving. If we’re two hours into a four-hour messaging analysis, you’re gonna do the hokey pokey and I’ll show you what it’s all about. Song and dance jokes aside, we’ll develop a strategy, a message and if necessary, a battle cry. We’ll weave the golden thread of a new story through every touch point of your experience from start to finish. We’ll razzle dazzle them with things you didn’t even know you could dream up.

 

Building experiences should be fun. Adventurous. And reliable. 

 

Let’s make something (f@%&*) awesome, together.