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The Couragemakers Podcast | Encouragement, Inspiration & Rebel Rousing for Mission Driven Doers, Makers & Shakers |

Couragemakers is the weekly podcast for creative and multi-passionate women. Because building the life you want and putting stuff in the world takes a boatload of courage, but you don’t have to do it alone. Couragemakers is designed to encourage and rebel-rouse mission-driven doers, makers and world-shakers to spark a movement of women who are choosing themselves. Meg chats to unconventional couragemakers all over the world who share their stories, their advice and their dreams as we have honest conversations about everyday courage, living a wholehearted life and dream chasing. We’ve figured out what we don’t want in life, now we’re figuring out what we do want. And we talk about the things that make us feel on fire as well as the monsters that hide under our beds. Couragemakers is brought to you by Meg Kissack of The Rebel Rousers. Because everything changes when you believe you matter. Let’s shake things up together. Warning: This podcast contains courage, vulnerability and a desire to leave the world a brighter place than how we found it.
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Now displaying: 2017
Oct 9, 2017

 

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 72 of The Couragemakers Podcast!

This week I’m chatting to the wonderful mental health blogger Melissa Boyle. Melissa, or Mel as she likes to be known, is a social media executive, the blogger behind Geek Magnifique and the creator of Honey Bee cards - a card range specifically designed to give comfort and reassurance to people who struggle with their mental health.  Mel is based in Bournemouth UK and is an unstoppable cat-cuddler who is also partial to the occasional dog.

Mel strongly believes that mental health needs to be an honest and open conversation. She is all about breaking down those walls and stamping out stigma, which is why Mel blogs about her own struggles and the experiences she’s had. Mel hope that by sharing her journey she can help others to feel less alone.

In this episode, Mel and I really dive headfirst into our own mental health experiences. We have a really open discussion about what it’s like to struggle with OCD from a young age and Mel shares her journey of seeking support and how it has helped her.

Mel shares fantastic advice about reaching out and asking for help, how to maintain friendships when you struggle with your mental health and how to share your struggles and your experiences with others.

We talk about the importance of mental health online communities, sharing your good and your bad days honestly and authentically online and and how being a passive observe in supportive online communities can make you feel less alone.

We also dive into the importance of looking after ourselves and re-fuelling, setting boundaries and how it only takes one person to open up and create a safe environment.

One of the many things I love about this episode, is hearing all about how Mel started sharing about her mental health. The idea of sharing our experiences with others can feel terrifying and overwhelming and we really dive into how you don’t need to go from zero to a hundred, how you get to choose who you share with and who to walk away from, and how to make mental health part of the conversation.

If you struggle with your mental health, I know you’re going to get so much out of this conversation. There aren’t enough really honest conversations about mental health and I love what Mel is doing to end the stigma and create an environment where we feel safe to share instead of ashamed and like we have to keep our experiences hidden.

Here’s to doing things our own way, looking after ourselves and knowing that we’re not alone. 

Enjoy the show!

 

About Mel

 

Melissa Boyle or Mel as she likes to be known, is a social media executive, the blogger behind Geek Magnifique and the creator of Honey Bee cards - a card range specifically designed to give comfort and reassurance to people who struggle with their mental health.  Mel is based in Bournemouth UK and is an unstoppable cat-cuddler who is also partial to the occasional dog.

Mel strongly believes that mental health needs to be an honest and open conversation. She is all about breaking down those walls and stamping out stigma, which is why Mel blogs about her own struggles and the experiences she’s had. Mel hope that by sharing her journey she can help others to feel less alone.

Blog | Twitter | Honey Bee Cards | 

 

Things We Talked About

 

Our shared experience of struggling with OCD from a young age

Sharing openly about mental health - going against the grain and being public about it

Advice for people who struggle with their mental health and maintaining friendships

Resources

 

Mental Health First Aid

Samaritans 

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

 

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers  or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Oct 2, 2017

Hello Courgemakers and welcome to episode 71 of The Couragemakers Podcast.

Before we dive into this week’s episode, I want to share with you something pretty epic I’ve been working on lately.

So, as you might know from previous episodes where I’ve shared parts of my story, a big catalyst in my story has been burning out and leaving the nonprofit and activist world.

Since leaving that world, I feel like I’ve been on a huge journey of finding work that sustains me, brings me joy and changes the world at the same time. While I’ve learned so much during that journey, the biggest [something] that I’ve come to believe is that we’re all capable of finding work we love, that aligns with our values and makes the world a brighter place. And the most important part of that lesson? We each have work that only we can do.

In the past couple of years, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting. My background is in community development work, activism, one to one client work and working to develop world-changing projects. And I absolutely loved the foundations of that work. I loved working on a grassroots level, I loved bringing projects to life and working with the people behind them, and I loved seeing dreams become reality.

But somewhere along the line, the depth of my frustrations specifically with the sector and the internal structures completely blinded me to the parts I loved.

And the strangest part was, that the work that I loved? It’s never stopped. Whether it’s the work I do here on Couragemakers to encourage and rebel-rouse you to do the work you love and find a life you love, the back and forth emails with lovely listeners who are trying to find a way to do the work only they can do, or the massive reams of blog posts, weekly newsletters and heart warming conversations I have - it’s become all too clear to see that that work never ended. And I don’t think the activist in me will ever go away, even if it is now different than marching on the front lines!

So, there’s been a question floating around in my head. I wondered: is there a way of properly combining the parts of the work I loved and excelled at, with That Hummingbird Life and Couragemakers? But the base of my question was this: What is the work only I can do, that really sets me on fire?

The answer came a couple of years ago, sat in a coffee shop. And it was a pretty bloody obvious answer: how about helping multi-passionate, creatives and fellow dreamers to do the work that only they can do? And that work only they can do? Well, that’s their epic shit.

Since being in that coffee shop, sketching out the basics of what would become The Epic Shit Sessions, they’ve developed into a series of sessions designed to help you on every stage of your dream chasing journey. They are now four standalone mentoring/coaching sessions for multi-passionate doers, makers and world shakers who want to want to get their shit rolling, make it happen and generally just get shit done. 

Basically, taking you from from Ahh I'm drowning under post-it notes, to holy shit I can do it

They include a 90 minute brainstorming session to develop and refine your ideas and take you from overwhelmed to shut-the-front-door excitement (aptly named Get Shit Rolling) a 1:1 month long experience for turning your project into an action plan so you can walk away with your creative roadmap called Make Shit Happen and an email accountability service, which will give you the gentle kick up the arse you need to get your show on the road ,which helps you, as the name suggests, Get Shit Done! Oh, and also possibly my favouritely named one ‘Fuck This Shit’, a 90 minute session designed for creatives with no fucks left to give, to drag your enthusiasm back from its gap year and focus on what really matters and how you can do your work in a way that lights you up as well.

Think part coaching, part mentoring and part cheerleading without the cheesy pom-poms, but with the music. 

Behind the scenes I’ve been working with clients on these sessions since May and now I’m so excited to officially bring them out into the world!

So, just wanted to let you know the latest in my mission to stop dreamshitters and get you doing the work that matters! You can find out more about the sessions by going to thathummingbirdlife.com/epicshit. Now onto today’s show!

This week I’m thrilled to share with you my conversation with Lara Heacock. I was introduced to Lara by the lovely Jo Casey who’s been a previous guest on Couragemakers. I’ve long been a fan of Lara’s work over on the online magazine Kind Over Matter and it’s fair to say that we bonded not only over our aligned values but also our shared love of goats!

Lara Heacock is an Executive Life Coach based in suburban Philadelphia and   She brings a 15 year background in recruiting and leadership, an MBA and a life coaching certification, as well as her experience running an online business. Lara is passionate about empowering professionals to feel more confident, achieve goals and enjoy the lives they work so hard to build. Lara is an INFJ Myers Briggs personality type and is a travel lover and self confessed total animal nut.

In this episode we’re really diving into kindness, reclaiming the world selfish and the standards we hold ourselves and others to.


Lara shares her journey to running online magazine Kind Over Matter and becoming an executive life coach, the year that changed everything for her and fantastic advice for saying no and setting boundaries.


We have so many great conversations about holding our truths and other people’s truths simultaneously, how self kindness doesn’t always look like self kindness and also the power of making gutteral, intuitive decisions.

This is such a wonderful, practical episode, and the And/Or method Lara mentions in this episode is seriously changing my life! In a world full of so much confrontation, angst and polite conversations over dinner with family avoiding politics, I know you’re really going to love what Lara has to say about parallel truths and being able to hear each other without denying your own truth.

You might need a notepad and pen for this one!

Enjoy the show!

 

About Lara

 

Things we talked about

 

  • Lara shares her journey to running online magazine Kind Over Matter and becoming an executive life coach, the year that changed everything for her and fantastic advice for saying no and setting boundaries.

  • Looking after yourself not being selfish

  • The power of making gutteral, intuitive decisions.

 

Mentioned

Kate Swaboda

The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle

Women, Food & God – Geneen Roth

Pemra Chodron

The Gifts Of Imperfection – Brene Brown

Byron Katie – Loving What Is

The Desire Map – Danielle La Porte

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers  or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Sep 25, 2017

Hello and welcome to the last Couragemakers episode of September! I don’t know about you, but for me, September is a real back to school kind of month and I love planning and putting things in motion. Behind the scenes I’ve been working on The Epic Shit Sessions: a series of four stand alone coaching and mentoring sessions for creatives and multi-passionates. They’re designed to help you put the work only you can do in the world,  and to help you along every stage of the creative journey. I’ll be sharing more about them next week, but just wanted to share what I’ve been up to! What about you? What have you been working on this September? Email me: meg@thathummingbirdlife.com and let me know!

Now, onto this week’s episode! This week, I’m chatting with the lovely Kaite Welsh. Kaite is an author, critic and journalist. Her work has appeared in various publications from The Times Literary Supplement to Cosmopolitan and she covers LGBT issues for the Daily Telegraph. She is also Books Editor of DIVA. Her short fiction, featuring roller derby, Greek myths and ghosts, has been published in several anthologies and she guest lectures on Creative Writing at universities around the UK. 

Kaite lives in Edinburgh with her wife, three cats and a lot of books. Kaite is a a devoted aunt, would-be mother, amateur gardener and someone who is trying to define herself by things other than her job and her bylines.

In this episode we’re diving into how Kaite created her own multi-strand multipassionate career, the process of writing her debut novel and lots and lots of practical things you can do right now to help make decisions, get organised and chase your dreams.

We have great conversations about future tripping, the value of self reflection and the friction between who you want to be versus who you actually are. We also chat about spoon theory, mental health, the creative process and arranging your priorities when you have a multi-passionate career.

This episode as Kaite would say, is the perfect combination of strategy and woo and I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to really get behind the scenes with someone who has intentionally designed a multi-passionate career that fulfils and sustains her.

If you’re a multi-passionate person who dreams of finding a way to combine your loves to create a life you love, this is the perfect episode for you.

Here’s to multi-strand careers, relieving the pressure of needing to be a shinier version of ourselves and getting clear on what success means to you!

 

About Kaite

Kaite Welsh is an author, critic and journalist. Her work has appeared in various publications from The Times Literary Supplement to Cosmopolitan and she covers LGBT issues for the Daily Telegraph. She is also Books Editor of DIVA. Her short fiction, featuring roller derby, Greek myths and ghosts, has been published in several anthologies and she guest lectures on Creative Writing at universities around the UK. 

Kaite lives in Edinburgh with her wife, three cats and a lot of books. Kaite is a a devoted aunt, would-be mother, amateur gardener and someone who is trying to define herself by things other than her job and her bylines.

 Website | The Wages of Sin |  Twitter | | Facebook

 

Things We Talked About

 

  • Kaite’s multi-strand career of creativity, supporting other creatives and promoting other people’s art
  • Not needing or feeling you need to be a shiny polished version of yourself

  • Becoming aware of your work cycles and energy cycles

 

Mentioned 

 

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Sep 18, 2017

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 69 of The Couragemakers Podcast!

It is so good to be back to our weekly rhythm, and I have so many wonderful episodes I can't wait to share with you!

This week I’m delighted to share with you my wonderful conversation with Zoë Dearborn.

Zoë is a creativity teacher, art coach, expressive arts therapist, writer, performer & artist. She holds a Master's in Counseling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy and her life’s work is developing and teaching her Life As Art philosophy and methodology through her classroom laboratories, writing, songs, drawing, dance, video & design. She is deeply committed to helping humans awaken to their deepest potential and highest purpose and inspiring artists to make their most meaningful and authentic work. Brooklyn born and bred, she now lives off the grid in a homemade desert homestead in Baja, Mexico with her husband and 8 year old son.

Zoë's greatest loves include: quirky art rock, dance of all varieties, comedy, improvisation, social practice art, fashion & graphic design, true deep stories, sad songs, mythology & Jungian psychology, children’s books, Fisher Price toys, tarot, embracing duality, inspiring documentaries, the open sky, wildflowers, hugs, creative collaborations and elegant theories that connect everything in the universe.

In this week’s episode, Zoë is sharing her many stories, from growing up wanting to be an actress, starting a rock band, living off the grid and a really important Excel spreadsheet that brought everything full circle.

We’re talking all about having grit and using rejection as fuel to keep going, how dream chasing happens in cycles and how our dreams grow, develop and change over time, and the importance of connecting to yourself.

We’re also diving into the power of pursuing secret dreams, replacing passive habits with creative actions and the different phases of creativity.

Zoë is a great storyteller, and her open-ness to talk about every stage of her journey is so refreshing and inspiring.

This is a great episode to encourage you on your own dream chasing journey, to help you remember your own values and who you are, and to remind you that you get to define yourself as who you want and you don’t have to put yourself in a box that society dictates.

Enjoy the show!

About Zoë

Zoë Dearborn is a creativity teacher, art coach, expressive arts therapist, writer, performer & artist. She holds a Master’s in Counseling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy and her life’s work is developing and teaching her Life As Art philosophy and methodology through her classroom laboratories, writing, songs, drawing, dance, video & design. She is deeply committed to helping humans awaken to their deepest potential and highest purpose and inspiring artists to make their most meaningful and authentic work. Brooklyn born and bred, she now lives off the grid in a homemade desert homestead in Baja, Mexico with her husband and 8 year old son.

Zoë’s greatest loves include: quirky art rock, dance of all varieties, comedy, improvisation, social practice art, fashion & graphic design, true deep stories, sad songs, mythology & Jungian psychology, children’s books, Fisher Price toys, tarot, embracing duality, inspiring documentaries, the open sky, wildflowers, hugs, creative collaborations and elegant theories that connect everything in the universe.

 Website | Online Creative Intensive – October |  Instagram |  Twitter |

 

Things We Talked About

Remembering our own values and who we are

The tools of our arts is about communication of human expression

Why we need to have an ego - a way of negotiating with the world

Being all of ourselves and not cramming ourselves into one identity

 

Resources Mentioned

 


About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Sep 11, 2017

Hello Couragemakers and welcome back to The Couragemakers Podcast! It’s so good to be back after a summer break! If you’ve missed Couragemakers during the break, rest assured that the podcast is back and I’ll be bringing you ridiculously honest conversations with couragemakers all over the world every Monday. And if you’re new here – welcome! If you want a good dose of encouragement and rebel-rousing, real conversations with real people and you want to spend some time in the company of bullshit-free women and great storytelling, you’re in the right place!

This week I’m so excited to be sharing my conversation with Lea Rice.

Lea Rice is the siren-haired, stiletto-clad lady behind Lea Rice Communications. Based in London, Lea is a Digital Marketing Specialist dedicated to changing lives in big and small ways through digital media. Lea does this through working with organisations and individuals to unleash their offerings and find their voice online. Lea spends her time mostly working at her business but also planning how to make her way back into burlesque dancing, wandering around Hampstead in a daydream and watching endless episodes of only Fools and Horses.

In this episode, we really getting into the nitty gritty of the hard choices we have to make when chasing our dreams and looking after ourselves and the importance of the stories we don’t hear about all the time.

Lea shares her journey, from working in a youth charity, co-founding an online magazine and podcast, Unsorry, with an editorial team of thirty women, performing burlesque and starting her own digital marketing business.

During our conversation, we’re really diving into the trenches and opening the discussion of workplace bullying, and the real behind the scenes of making really difficult decisions.

We discuss the pain of having to make a leap in order to save your own life, learning to trust the process, and the importance of sharing the hard bits. We also dive into the importance of seemingly crazy ideas, we flip the normal self care narrative and how ultimately sometimes it takes the hardest days of your life to get to the best ones.

When I first discovered podcasts, I was feeling really stuck. I listened on my way to work, and gradually by surrounding myself with people who were living life on their own terms, I came to see that there was more to life and I had options. In all honesty, I wish I’d had this episode when I was going through some shit, to see that you have more power than you know, and life can really change.

This episode is going to be food for your soul if you’re stuck in a situation that is sucking the soul out of you and you want to know you’re not alone.

Heads up that in this episode there is a passing reference to suicidal thoughts and assault, so look after yourself.

My wish is that this episode gives you hope and helps you to start taking those seemingly batshit ideas  and pipe dreams seriously.

Enjoy the show!

 

About Lea

Lea is a Digital Marketing Specialist dedicated to changing lives in big and small ways through digital media. Lea does this through working with organisations and individuals to unleash their offerings and find their voice online. Lea spends her time mostly working at her business but also planning how to make her way back into burlesque dancing, wandering around Hampstead in a daydream and watching endless episodes of only Fools and Horses.

 Website | Instagram |  Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook

Things We Talked About

 

  • The long term impacts of being in a bad workplace environment

  • We’re really diving into the trenches and opening the discussion of workplace bullying, and the real behind the scenes of making really difficult decisions.

  • The importance of seemingly crazy ideas

 

Resources Mentioned

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

 

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers  or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Jul 17, 2017

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 67 of The Couragemakers Podcast!


Before we dive into this week’s episode, I wanted to let you know that Couragemakers is going to be taking a short break over the summer. Couragemakers will be back on September 4th, and I’m already excited to share the amazing episodes that are lined up! There might be some spontaneous solo shows released over the summer, so keep your eyes peeled! Over the summer, I’ll taking a break, sorting out various health issues which have really been draining me and spending lots of time with Mr. Meg! Rest assured, that Couragemakers is absolutely going nowhere!

Now, onto today’s show!

This week, I’m happy to share my conversation with Lily Calfee. Lily describes herself as a foodie, health nut, and journal scribbler who lives in Denver, Colorado. Lily is a baker-turned-nutritionist, a control freak-turned-intuitive eater, and manages her own private practice coaching women who want to experience more freedom and ease with food and their bodies.

In this episode, Lily shares her journey, from being a creative and going to art school to opening a bakery and later becoming a nutritionist and using creativity to redirect self criticism and as a way to help people with their health.

We really dive into the relationship between creativity and self respect, setting intentions instead of goals and the importance of how we speak to ourselves in our head.

We have a great conversation about the problem with the word deserving and really explore how our economy runs off of women believing they are not enough, so it is an act of radical bravery to claim your own worth AND want to make a bigger impact.

Just to give a quick heads up that a very brief reference to sexual assault is mentioned during this episode around the six minute mark.

I love how Lily blends art, creativity, food and health and I loved hearing her own creative journey and how it has led her to where she is today. Creativity can be such a tool for change and this conversation is a great reminder to explore ways to use your creativity to heal yourself.

Enjoy the show and see you in September!

 

About Lily

Lily is a creative health coach and describes herself as  a foodie, health nut, and journal scribbler who lives in Denver, Colorado. Lily is a baker-turned-nutritionist, a control freak-turned-intuitive eater, and manages her own private practice coaching women who want to experience more freedom and ease with food and their bodies.

 Website | Instagram |  Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook

 

Things We Talked About

 

  • Lily’s journey, from being an artist to creative a bakery in rural Vermont, then finding nutrition and working as a women’s creative health coach
  • The importance of how we speak to ourselves
  • The problem with the word deserving
  • How looking after yourself is radical

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

 

Jul 3, 2017

Hello lovely Couragemakers, and welcome to episode 66 of The Couragemakers Podcast!

This week I’m excited to be sharing my conversation with Mary Ann Clements. Mary Ann is founder of Jijaze: a community supporting women to replenish and take care of themselves as they work to change the world. She is also the co-host of the Change Making Women podcast with Ziada Abeid; A Tanzanian broadcaster. Originally trained as an anthropologist she has many years experience in International Development as a leader and grant maker. She’s also a storyteller, podcaster, writer, connector, #nia teacher, action learning facilitator and shadow work coach. She co-founded both The Story Party and the Red Tent Directory. Her work is all about bringing women together to make big change happen in the world. 

In this episode, Mary Ann shares her journey as a change making woman, from her background in the international development and women’s sector, to burning out and creating a community for change making women.

We really dive into how self care and self replenishment needs to be sustainable, how working harder doesn’t mean working better, and how you can change the world without exhausting yourself, and how in fact, that’s counter-productive.

We debunk a lot of myths win the episode, including taking your self worth out of your usefulness and productivity, giving yourself permission to spend your resources on yourself and flipping this narrative that self care has to be earned.

We also have a great conversation about the change-making world, systemic inequality and patriarchy and how we don’t all have the same starting line.

I love Mary Ann’s mission, and I find her views on making a difference and playing the long game so refreshing in a world that glorifies burnout and working to exhaustion as a badge of honour, and that success comes quickly.

This episode is a great reminder that it’s okay to use some of your resources on you, in fact, the world would be a better place if you did. It’s also a much needed reminder that building things that have a very real impact and have a sustainable structure take time to build, and that’s okay.

I know you’re going to love this one!

Enjoy the show!

 

About

Mary Ann is founder of Jijaze: a community supporting women to replenish and take care of themselves as they work to change the world and co-host of the Change Making Women podcast with Ziada Abeid a Tanzanian broadcaster. Originally trained as an anthropologist she has many years experience in International Development as a leader and grant maker. She’s also a storyteller, podcaster, writer, connector, #nia teacher, action learning facilitator and shadow work coach. She co-founded both The Story Party and the Red Tent Directory. Her work is all about bringing women together to make big change happen in the world. 

 Website | Podcast |  Twitter | | Facebook Group

 

Things We Talked About

 

  • What Mary Ann does to light herself up

  • Taking your self worth out of your usefulness and productivity, and giving yourself permission to spend your resources on yourself 

  • How sometimes we need more resilience and commitment to ourselves than we ever thought possible
 
 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

 
Jun 26, 2017

Hello Couragemakers!

This week I’m chatting to the joy that is Rachel Shillcock. Rachel is an award-winning designer + photographer hailing from Manchester, UK. Rachel runs Rachilli, an online creative studio dedicated to helping creative entrepreneurs build more powerful brands + businesses, aligned with their values + purpose. Rachel is a fellow INFJ and a proud geek, obsessed with all things designy, patterns, and her two dogs, Storm and Jasper.

In this episode, we’re really diving into the topic of stepping out as your authentic self. Rachel shares her journey from starting her own web design business to using her values to make decisions and create a life that works for her.

We discuss the power of focusing on our strengths, how we can create our own self validation and our own ideas of success, as well as how we can stop comparing ourselves to others and own what makes us unique.

Rachel shares how her life has changed since opening up about her chronic illness and taking her mask off, her definition of what changing the world means and how authenticity and excitement are huge parts of her journey.

In this episode we really focus on living and working in accordance to your values. Rachel shares how she found her values, uses them as lens to make decisions, and fantastic advice on how to find your own values.

This is such a fun, practical episode, and I love how Rachel shares her behind the scenes and her process of finding things that work for her. This is a great episode for anyone who is tempted to take their own mask off and needs a bit of courage, for anyone who struggles with self doubt and wants a new way of viewing their work, and for anyone who strives to be more authentic in all that they do.

I had so much fun chatting to Rachel, we seriously got the giggles before the show, and I’m just really excited to share our conversation!

Enjoy the sho

About

Rachel is an award-winning designer + photographer hailing from Manchester, UK. Rachel runs Rachilli, an online creative studio dedicated to helping creative entrepreneurs build more powerful brands + businesses, aligned with their values + purpose. She helps entrepreneurs find flow + consistency in their creative business, through visual branding, purposeful web design, and powerful brand strategy. Rachel is a fellow INFJ and a proud geek, obsessed with all things designy, patterns, and her two dogs, Storm and Jasper.

Website | TwitterInstagram  | Creative MarketProducts

Things We Talked About

  • How Rachel’s life started to change when she started to be more open
  • How Rachel integrates her values with her everyday life and uses them as a decision making tool
  • Rachel’s experience of opening up about her chronic illness and taking off her mask
  • Changing the world and the ripple effect

Resources

  • Calm app
  • Macklemore – “Freedom is acknowledging the mask you have on and possessing the strength to take it off”
  • Mary Ann Radmacher  – “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Jun 19, 2017

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 64 of The Couragemakers Podcast!

I am so excited about this week’s podcast episode and I’m so happy to share with you my conversation with Deb Dane.

Deb is a New York City girl who married an English man and settled in Australia. Along with 14 house moves they have found their way to life with two teen daughters and two female rescue dogs.

 After 20 years away from creative pursuits Deb started dipping her toes back in, and had a creative reawakening and reconnected to her creativity.

Deb writes on her blog Inner Compass Designs about following your own path in life, taking care of your own needs and living an authentic life. She is passionate about helping women give themselves permission to follow their heart and intuition, know their own power and self-worth, and know that they are never alone.

Her art, wall hangings and jewelry all bring these ideas to life so you have reminders of your story and your journey to where you want to go and who you want to be.

In this episode, Deb shares her journey of reconnecting to her creativity after twenty years and many sliding door moments that have led her to where she is now.

We dive into so many great topics in this episode. We debunk a lot of creative myths, from doing what gives you pleasure vs what you’re good at, the myth that anything you do has to have a return in financial investment, and this idea that we alone struggle with feeling like a fraud.

Deb shares the really great community art challenges that brought her back to her creativity, why we should take care of ourselves first as opposed to doing it only if we have some extra time, and the psychological elements of owning a creative business.

We have great conversations about future tripping, the links between creativity and expectations and how we probably all need to plan a little less!

I am so happy to be sharing this conversation, because I think it touches on so many of the struggles so many of us face as creative women who want to leave their mark. I absolutely love Deb’s approach to creativity, her honesty in what behind the scenes often looks like for creatives and I love how her passion and compassion shines through all she does.

I know you’re going to love this episode!

Enjoy the show!

 

About

Deb Dane is a New York City girl who married an English man and settled in Australia. Along with 14 house moves they have found their way to life with two teen daughters and two female rescue dogs.

She writes on her blog Inner Compass Designs about following your own path in life, taking care of your own needs and living an authentic life.

She is passionate about helping women give themselves permission to follow their heart and intuition, know their own power and self-worth, and know that they are never alone.

Her art, wall hangings and jewelry all bring these ideas to life so you have reminders of your story and your journey to where you want to go and who you want to be,

 Website | Instagram | Newsletter

 

Things We Talked About

 

  • Deb’s journey to reawaken her creativity after twenty years
  • Creating for the sake of enjoyment and pleasure
  • The time it takes to make a creative business profitable and taking the pressure off your art
  • Giving yourself permission to walk your own path

 

Resources Mentioned

 

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

 

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Jun 11, 2017

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 63 of The Couragemakers Podcast!

This week, I am so overjoyed to share with you my conversation with Zee Southcombe.

Zee is a children’s author, illustrator & fine artist who approaches all her work with vigour and imagination. Zee works to promote other artists, especially young creatives, through collaboration, workshops, encouragement, and publishing opportunities. When not making stuff, Zee can be found with a cup of tea and a good book, planning her next creative adventure, or out for a walk in the beautiful forests of Aotearoa.

In this episode, Zee shares her journey, from teaching, to making a huge personal decision to start writing and choose her creativity.

We talk about the importance of giving yourself permission, how fear and self doubt affects every creative, even the ones you couldn't imagine struggling with self doubt, how creativity can help your mental health and the power of making your work deep and personal.

We have great discussions about creativity and making a difference in the world, the importance of little big moments and taking a more strengths based approach to life.

Zee shares how she takes the pressure off her work, how she's learned to deal with comparing herself to others, and the importance of boundaries when putting yourself out there.

Zee has fantastic advice for anyone wanting to put themselves out there, and great practical wisdom for anyone who has creative dreams but feels held back by fear and self doubt.

This episode is fantastic for all creatives, no matter where you are on your creative journey. I think there is such a need in the world for really honest discussions about putting yourself out there and overcoming self doubt, and I'm so happy to add this one to the mix!

Enjoy the show!

 

About Zee

 Zee is a children’s author, illustrator & fine artist who approaches all her work with vigour and imagination. Zee works to promote other artists, especially young creatives, through collaboration, workshops, encouragement, and publishing opportunities.

When not making stuff, Zee can be found with a cup of tea and a good book, planning her next creative adventure, or out for a walk in the beautiful forests of Aotearoa.

 Website | Instagram |  Twitter | Facebook | Shop

 

Things We Talked About

 

  • Zee’s decision to become a writer and be creative
  • The importance of feeling like you’re making a difference
  • How being open about her creativity has helped Zee’s mental health
  • What gives Zee the courage to put herself out there
  • Zee's advice for anyone who has creative dreams but feel held back by fear and self doubt.

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

 

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

 
 
Jun 5, 2017

Hello Couragemakers! It’s so good to be back after a week’s break, and I know you’re going to love this episode!

This week I’m chatting with Nikki Sinay Torres. Nikki  is a certified Kaizen Muse Creativity Coach, US Army Master Resilience Trainer, Army wife and former FRG leader, mom of two teenage girls with Cystic Fibrosis, self-employed mural artist, and Main Muse at Serendipity Creative Coaching Services. Nikki describes herself as a blend of Lucille Ball, Frida Khalo, a Mermaid and Mr. Bean, which I think you’ll agree, is very accurate.

Nikki runs creative resilience workshops and retreats, and The Unsinkable Creative Society Art Camp for teen girls in North Carolina, as well as working one to one online with creatives.

During this episode, Nikki shares her journey from being the weird girl in school,  to the mother of two daughters with cystic fibrosis, a self employed mural artist and creative resilience coach.

We really dive into how creativity has helped Nikki deal with everything life throws her, how she gives herself permission to react to situations and how creativity helps us to slow down and problem solve.

We talk about how important it is to find your strengths and focus on them, dealing with the reality of things versus our expectations and how getting creative is one of the five scientifically proven things you can do to calm yourself.

At the end of the episode, Nikki shares a fantastic exercise you can use to help build you creative resilience and I know it’s one I’m going to be using time and time again!

This episode is a fantastic and much needed reminder for all of us creatives, that creativity is important, that it’s anything but frivolous and essential to both our wellbeing and the world.

I know you’re going to love Nikky’s storytelling and sense of humour!

Enjoy the show!

 

About Nikki

Nikki Sinay Torres. is a certified Kaizen Muse Creativity Coach, US Army Master Resilience Trainer, Army wife and former FRG leader, mom of two teenage girls with Cystic Fibrosis, self-employed mural artist, and Main Muse at Serendipity Creative Coaching Services. Nikki runs creative resilience workshops and retreats, and The Unsinkable Creative Society Art Camp for teen girls in North Carolina, as well as working one to one online with creatives. 

Nikki describes herself as a blend of Lucille Ball, Frida Khalo, a Mermaid and Mr. Bean, which I think you'll agree, is very accurate.

Nikki has a very exclusive offer of a 30 minute coaching session for Couragemakers, for $25. To take advantage of her offer, you can find Nikki's email below:

 EmailFacebook |

 

Things We Talked About

 

  • Nikki’s journey, from being the weird girl in school, to the mother of two daughters with cystic fibrosis, self employed mural artist and creative resilience coach
  • The importance of art in the healing process
  • How creativity can help us slow down and problem solve
  • A fantastic exercise to help you build your creative resilience.

 

Resources Mentioned

 

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

 

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

May 22, 2017

Hello and welcome to episode 61 of The Couragemakers Podcast! This week I’m chatting to Michelle Madrid-Branch and we’re really diving into claiming our own identities and owning our stories.

Michelle is an author, speaker, life wellness coach, and global advocate for women and children, living in Santa Barbara, CA, with her husband, children , three dogs and a bunny. Michelle advocates on behalf of women and children who are marginalized and left feeling isolated in our society. Michelle is happiest when using her life journey in an effort to serve others and help others rise up from their pain. She is currently in the process of writing her fourth book.


In this episode, Michelle shares her journey, from being born in the UK and placed in the foster care system to being adopted by an American family and learning to untangle labels she had been given and finding her own identity.


We really explore the power of owning your story, moving beyond past stories that keep us stuck and changing our lens so we can start to reclaim our lives.


Michelle shares what inspires her to work with and advocate on behalf of children without families and the lessons she has learned along the way. She also shares how she has found that every one of us is uniquely qualified to bring something positive into the world, and invites listeners to explore their own unique strengths and gifts.

We also have a great conversation about how forgiveness can free us and take us out of our own prisons and how sustainability is key when it comes to building a life you love.

This episode is a great reminder that you do have the courage to find your own identity, and to own that identity because no one can give it to you. I loved hearing Michelle’s story and how openly she shares about how she found the courage to find the magic in the mess and be who she is.

I know you’re going to love this episode.

Enjoy the show!

 

About Michelle

 

Michelle is an author, speaker, life wellness coach, and global advocate for women and children. She is the author of Adoption Means Love: Triumph of the HeartThe Tummy Mummy, and Mascara Moments: Embracing the Woman in the Mirror.  Michelle lives in Santa Barbara, CA, with her husband, children , three dogs and a bunny. Michelle advocates on behalf of women and children who are marginalized and left feeling isolated in our society. Michelle is happiest when using her life journey in an effort to serve others and help others rise up from their pain. She is currently in the process of writing her fourth book.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

 

Things We Talked About

 

  • What Michelle has learned since she has realised her unique strengths and has started to bring them to the world

  • How Michele found the courage to own who she is

  • The beauty of imperfection and the miracles from the mess

 

Resources Mentioned

 

 

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

 

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

May 15, 2017

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to another wonderful episode of The Couragemakers Podcast!

This week I’m so happy to share with you my conversation with Rebecca Thering.

Originally from Wisconsin, USA, Rebecca has lived in Spain, South Korea, and most recently France. She’s a fan of snail mailing, writing, taking wander walks, slow travel, creating, unplugging, minimalism, and enjoying everyday moments. Taking life a moment at a time, she’s following her personal compass and the light of Alexandra Franzen and Candace Rose Rardon to see where she ends up next!

In this episode, Rebecca shares her story, from living abroad teaching english to her personal sabbatical and creating a personal compass.

In this episode were really dive into what it means to live by your values, how to leave your mark and the importance of thanking people who have made an impact on you.

We have great conversations about bringing more humanity to the internet, disconnecting and taking time to reflect as well as the power of following your curiosity.

It’s also full of much needed reminders to all of us – to take the time to thank people who have made a difference to our lives, to catch the small moments and to remember that we will never know the full extent of the impact that we make or who we’re inspiring.

I had so much fun chatting to Rebecca and I know you’re going to get so much out of this episode.

Rebecca has so many stories and so much practical advice and I know her real life examples will help you add more intention and courage into your own life.

Be sure to check out Rebecca’s free printable How To Make A Personal Compass zine to make your own personal compass! (Link is in the show notes) We’d love to see what’s on yours!

Here’s to being messy, imperfect and complicated humans!

Enjoy the show!

 

About Rebecca

 

Originally from Wisconsin, USA, Rebecca Thering has lived in Spain, South Korea, and most recently France. She’s a fan of snail mailing, writing, taking wander walks, slow travel, creating, unplugging, minimalism, and enjoying everyday moments. Taking life a moment at a time, she’s following her personal compass and the light of Alexandra Franzen and Candace Rose Rardon to see where she ends up next!

Blog | Medium | Twitter

 

Things We Talked About

 

  • The importance of thanking people, and how being thanked can make a huge difference
  • Disconnecting and giving yourself more head space
  • Living with intention and capturing the small moments
  • Rebecca’s take on changing the world and leaving your mark – it’s all in the small things!

 

Resources Mentioned

 

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life  

 
I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

May 8, 2017

Hello there and welcome to episode 59 of The Couragemakers Podcast!

This week, I’m excited to share my conversation with Eva Jannotta.

Eva is a social media marketing entrepreneur in Washington, DC and founder of Simply Put Strategies. Her mission is to use social media to create and nurture relationships between brands and their fans by telling the brand story and featuring new products – with an emphasis on supporting sustainable clothing brands. Eva loves to read novels, listen to oldies music, cook, and organize stuff. She is an aspiring minimalist and zero-waste-er.

In this episode, Eva shares her entrepreneurial journey, how she deals with uncertainty and the paradox of both striving for newness and adventure as well as a routine.

We really dive into what it means to work online, how we sometimes wish we could be card-carrying adults and how we can start turning our shoulds into coulds. We have a great discussion about how we ‘perform’ work and the pressure we put on ourselves, how moving forwards and often feel like we’re moving backwards and how to turn down the noise online.

This is a great episode if you struggle to deal with the busy-ness and noise of the online world, if you need a reminder that you have all the answers you need inside you and if you want to find a way to enjoy your work more.

I love the theme of self compassion that runs through Eva’s work and her general approach to life. Eva has great advice for anyone starting to put themselves out there, and how intuition can pay a huge part in doing that.

I know you’re going to love this one!

Enjoy the show!

 

About Eva

Eva Jannotta is a social media marketing entrepreneur in Washington, DC and founder of Simply Put Strategies. Her mission is to use social media to create and nurture relationships between brands and their fans by telling the brand story and featuring new products – with an emphasis on supporting sustainable clothing brands. Eva loves to read novels, listen to oldies music, cook, and organize stuff. She is an aspiring minimalist and zero-waste-er.

WebsiteTwitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Instagram

 

Things We Talked About

 

  • Listening to your intuition and the importance of having time to think

  • The power of turning your shoulds instead of coulds

  • How moving forwards can sometimes feeling like you’re moving backwards

  • How we don’t need advice, we know what to do

 

Resources Mentioned

 

 

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

May 2, 2017

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 58 of The Couragemakers Podcast!

This week I’m thrilled to share with you my wonderfully honest conversation with Jo Casey. 

Jo Casey is a certified coach, speaker, trainer and coach mentor. In addition to being British, Jo is slightly nerdy and allergic to the marketing bullshit in the coaching industry. 

Jo specializes in helping coaches do the self-development work needed to thrive in the online world, get more clients and build sustainable, honest businesses - all without resorting to the darks arts or sleazy marketing tactics.

Jo’s patronus would be Lesley Knope and Maya Angelou, Stephen Fry, Trevor Noah, Caitlin Moran and Tina Fey are among the many guests Jo would invite to her fantasy dinner party.

This episode is all about undoing the messy reality of being a woman and all the challenges that come with being visible and putting yourself out there.  

Jo shares her journey from being the first in her family to go to university, burning out in the workplace, being a coach for the past 17 year and bringing politics and feminism into her business.

We really dive into what it means to show up as a woman, and how we can break free from what Jo calls feminine conditioning - this notion that we have to keep ourselves small and play the part of the good woman.

We have so many great discussions about digging your heels in and demanding better as women, the courage it takes to bring your big picture and politics into the work you do and how we are all creating ripples without even knowing it.

We also talk about what it means to be genuinely authentic online and how sharing your struggles can be a source of inspiration.

This episode is essential listening for every woman looking to stop apologising for the fact she exists, for every woman who wants to embrace the messier, complicated bits of life and for every woman who is sick of the bullshit.

Jo is a huge source of inspiration to me - she has been a great mentor to me and it was so good to sit down and really put the world to rights. 

Enjoy the show!

 

About Jo

Jo Casey is a certified coach, speaker, trainer and coach mentor.  In addition to being British, slightly nerdy and allergic to the marketing bullsh*t in the coaching industry, she’s certain that succeeding as female entrepreneurs means violating every single message that’s been poured into us about what it means to be a ‘good’ woman.
Jo specializes in helping coaches do that self-development and unlearning work, get more clients and build sustainable, honest businesses without resorting to the darks arts or sleazy marketing tactics.

Jo’s patronus would be Lesley Knope and  Maya Angelou, Stephen Fry, Trevor Noah, Caitlin Moran and Tina Fey are among the many guests Jo would invite to her fantasy dinner party.

 Website | Podcast |  Twitter | 

 

 

Things We Talked About

 

  • Jo's journey of becoming a coach
  • How we can all advocate for showing the messier sides of bit of human
  • The 4 things you need for a sustainable business
  • Bringing feminism and politics into your work and your message

 

Resources Mentioned

 

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life 

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

 

Apr 24, 2017

Hello and welcome to Episode 57 of The Couragemakers Podcast!

This week, it is my pleasure to have a good chat with Emily Scott. Emily is a storyteller and artist. She writes paranormal fantasy fiction featuring rebellious protagonists dedicated to knocking down their boundaries. Like any good California girl, she loves the beach and believes she should have been born a mermaid.

In this episode, Emily shares her creative process, from how she began writing as a child purely as a way to communicate and be understood, to how she writes, finding inspiration and plots her novel.

We really dive into coming to terms with your own natural process, honouring the way you do things and turning down the noise of what everyone else thinks you should be doing.

We have a great chat about the relationship between money and art, and how we can view art as something we need to support instead of expecting it to support us.

We also dive into what Emily calls re-writing her realities -  examining different parts of your life and what you think you should be doing, compared to what would work for you and how important this is. Emily shares an excellent practical exercise for anyone who struggles with people pleasing and saying yes to themselves.

This is a wonderfully honest and practical episode and essential listening for any creative struggling to give themselves permission to do it their own way, and for anyone who needs to say a huge yes to themselves for once. Emily is a joy to chat to and I’m so excited to share our conversation.


Enjoy the show!

 

About Emily

 

Emily Scott is a storyteller and artist. She writes paranormal fantasy fiction featuring rebellious protagonists dedicated to knocking down their boundaries. Like any good California girl, she loves the beach and believes she should have been born a mermaid.

WebsiteTwitter Facebook | Instagram

 

Things we talked about

 

  • Emily's journey of becoming an author
  • The issue of passion vs money and being willing to support art instead of asking art to support you
  • Saying yes to yourself and putting boundaries in place
  • A great exercise to start seeing what saying yes to you would look like

 

Things mentioned during today's show

Big Magic - Elizabeth Gilbert

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Apr 20, 2017

Hello and welcome to episode 56 of The Couragemakers Podcast. I'm so happy to be back with another solo episode of Couragemakers!

I'm in the process of planning how these episodes can become a regular thing alongside the regular interviews, so stay tuned! As for now, they're going to be pretty spontaneous and on the fly!

This week, I'm diving into the myth of reinventing yourself. I'm sharing my own stories of falling into the trap and what I learned along the way. It can be so tempting, and it's so understandable to want at times to be a whole new version of you, but in this episode, I'm diving into why you're enough just the way you are.

 

Things Talked About During This Episode:

 

  • How I completely missed the irony of Mean Girls aged 13
  • Why you can't just take yourself out of your story
  • The problem with chasing mythical versions of yourself

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

 

I'm Meg and I'm the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I'm an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I'm not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Apr 17, 2017

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 55 of The Couragemakers Podcast!

This week, I couldn’t be more excited to share with you this episode with Monica Wisdom Tyson

Monica is a St Louis woman and describes herself as an analog girl in a digital world. She is a Chief Storyteller and Visibility Strategist, teaching the elements of a great story and ways to amplify a story to communities and believes that your story is power. Generation X and a self confessed Trekkie, Monica loves live music, long conversations and travelling around the world meeting people where they are.

During this episode, Monica really honestly shares her story, from dealing with a difficult childhood, struggling with depression, going on a spiritual journey, travelling the world and her various different careers including being a cosmetologist, interviewing celebrities and director of operations for several magazines.

We really dive into the genius of imagination, being careful about what you feel your soul and how naps are seriously underrated.

We talk about embracing the darkness as well as the light, being still and just how important our dreams are.

This episode is great source of inspiration if you’re dealing with dreamshitters, if you’re struggling to engage in a positive way in a space of chaos and if you need the courage to own and share your story. It’s also a great episode if you need reminding of just how much power you do have.

Monica is the living definition of what it means to really own your story and release yourself from shame and start living your life. There will be laughter and there will be tears, and I know you’re going to get so much from this beautiful episode.

Enjoy the show!

About Monica

Monica is a St Louis woman and describes herself as an analog girl in a digital world. She is a Chief Storyteller and Visibility Strategist, teaching the elements of a great story and ways to amplify a story to communities and believes that your story is power.

Monica believes storytelling is as essential to our lives as breathing. It is how we learn, grow and evolve. Stories have shaped every part of our growth whether it is a song, book or the wisdom of our elders. We are cultivated by stories through our listening and our learning.  Stories not only connect us with our audience but release the vulnerability within ourselves.

Generation X and a self confessed Trekkie, Monica loves live music, long conversations and travelling around the world meeting people where they are.

 Website | Instagram  | Periscope | Facebook

 

Things We Talked About 

  • Monica’s story and how she has learned to accept and share her story
  • The importance of being careful about how we feed our soul
  • How we forget to dream because we are living other people’s versions of us and how we were told how to live our life
  • What happened when Monica shared her story – even the parts she felt shame about –  with a close friend

 

Resources Mentioned

 

 

 

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Apr 7, 2017

Hello and welcome to episode 54 of The Couragemakers Podcast. This week I'm so excited to be sharing with you the very first solo episode of The Couragemakers Podcast!

I'm looking forward to releasing them on a regular basis but rest assured - the Monday interviews aren't going anywhere!

On that note, Couragemakers is taking a very short break next week and will be back on 17th with a beautiful episode I know you're going to love!

This week I'm diving into one of my favourite topics: creative resistance. I'm going to be sharing what obsessing over successful creative's routines taught me (spoiler alert - not a lot!) and how you already have so much of what you need inside you!

I hope you enjoy this solo episode of Couragemakers! I'd love to know what you think of this format and any questions/topics you'd like me to cover! Let me know on Twitter or via email: meg [at] thathummingbirdlife.com

Have a wonderfully creative and inspiring week and see you soon!

 

Questions Asked During Today's Show

  • What time of the day do you feel more inspired?
  • What do you feel the urge to do? It doesn’t have to make sense
  • What motivates you?
  • Why do you want to do the work/create what you want?
  • Do you like typing or handwriting ideas?
  • Do you work better with music?
  • Does the environment make a difference to you? If so, what helps?
  • What's one thing you can do this week to turn down the noise and do the work?

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

I'm Meg and I'm the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I'm an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I'm not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers  or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

 

Apr 3, 2017

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 53 of The Couragemakers Podcast!

This week I'm so excited to share such a practical episode with the joy that is Melissa Steginus.

Melissa is a self-care advocate and coach with a lifelong desire to promote self-empowerment.

A woman of many curiosities, she's constantly seeking new ways to blend her background in social work with her interest in entrepreneurship and teaching. 

She’s spent the past five years exploring roles in counseling, behavioural therapy, business operations, teaching yoga, network facilitation, magazine coordination, and more

Melissa is working on her first book, Self-Care Action Plan: A Practical Guide to Personal Growth, and when she’s not at her keyboard, you can find Melissa hiking, climbing, daydreaming of dogs, and exploring her home on the Canadian west coast.

In this episode, we're really getting down to the nitty gritty of self care - why we need it, how to make it consistent and how self care and courage overlap.

Melissa shares how a question someone asked her while in South Africa changed everything, what she has learned about self care while travelling and how routines are the backbone to a life of intention.

We have a really great discussion about how routines can be something that we want to turn away from and rebel against as multipassionates and creatives but ultimately how they help us really chase our dreams.

We also talk about consuming content online, turning down the bullshit and focusing on action instead.

This is such a fantastic, practical episode and I find Melissa's take on self care so refreshing. Self care can often be a pretty fluffy topic, leaving you with no idea how to start working on yourself, but this episode proves the opposite of that can definitely be true!

You're going to want to take notes on this one!

Enjoy the show!

 

About Melissa

Melissa Steginus is a self-care advocate and coach with a lifelong desire to promote self-empowerment.

A woman of many curiosities, she's constantly seeking new ways to blend her background in social work with her interest in entrepreneurship and teaching. 

She’s spent the past five years exploring roles in counseling, behavioural therapy, business operations, teaching yoga, network facilitation, magazine coordination, and more!

Throughout this constant ebb and flow, her purpose has remained the same: help others live fulfilling lives rooted in self-care and meaningful growth.

She's thrilled to be working on her first book, Self-Care Action Plan: A Practical Guide to Personal Growth, which centers on breaking down buzzwords and cliches to create purposeful, long-lasting action.

When she’s not at her keyboard, you can find Melissa hiking, climbing, daydreaming of dogs, and exploring her home on the Canadian west coast

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Things We Talked About

  • Melissa's journey to becoming more creative and how self care came to be a huge part of her life
  • The importance of taking action when you consume content online
  • How important routines are for creatives and multipassionates, even though we like to resist them
  • Taking the world off your shoulders and becoming human

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

 

I'm Meg and I'm the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I'm an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I'm not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Mar 27, 2017

Hello lovely Couragemakers and welcome to episode 52 of The Couragemakers Podcast!

This week I have a fantastic episode for you, but before we get started, I just wanted to share a bit of Couragemakers news!

Next week I'm going to be releasing the first ever Couragemakers solo episode. I've been wanting to do solo episodes for a while now, and I'm so excited to be bringing them to the world. They're going to be short and sweet 10-15 minute practical episodes that I know you're going to really love. If you have any topic ideas of questions you'd like me to answer, send me an email: meg@thathummingbirdlife.com and you may well see a solo show come out on that very thing very soon!

Now, onto today's show.

This week I'm interviewing the lovely Fran Day.

Fran is a theoretical physicist at Oxford and a stand-up comedian. Her research involves using X-ray telescope observations to search for signals from new particles. Fran's comedy tackles topics ranging from science to feminism. She performs around the UK and last August took her solo show, Physics Fan Fiction, to the Edinburgh Fringe. Fran loves creativity and communication in all forms - from the lab to the stage.

I mean, wow.

In this episode, Fran shares her journey of combining science and comedy, how and why she started stand up comedy and the lessons she's learned along the way. 

We really dive deep into how Fran has combined two seemingly polar opposite passions, the logistics of how she makes time for both and how to mange being a multi-passionate person.

We have so many great conversations in this episode, from how Fran uses a pretty scientific approach to overcoming setbacks, how she has come to own all of the different aspects of herself and recognise how they fit together, to how Fran embraces uninstagrammable self care. Oh and we also talk about making money from passions as well!

I know you're going to love this episode - Fran is so honest and practical and this is the perfect episode for multi-passionates who are wondering how on earth to make time for their passions, wondering how they can creatively combine them, and for anyone needing a reminder that life is pretty fucking exciting because you get to choose how you present yourself and do things only you can do.

 I know you're going to love this one, so enjoy the show!

 

About Fran

Fran Day is a theoretical physicist at Oxford and a stand-up comedian. Her research involves using X-ray telescope observations to search for signals from new particles. Fran's comedy tackles topics ranging from science to feminism. She performs around the UK and last August took her solo show, Physics Fan Fiction, to the Edinburgh Fringe. Fran loves creativity and communication in all forms - from the lab to the stage.

Website | Twitter

 

Things We Talked About

 

  • How Fran made the decision to become a stand up comedian
  • How you can make time for your passions, and how you can combine then
  • The relationship between passions and money
  • Fran's screen-free Sundays

 

Resources

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Mar 20, 2017

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 51 of The Couragemakers Podcast! This week I am delighted to share with you my conversation with Katie Snyder.

Katie is a unconventional creative who is based in Atlanta. She  oversees and runs her photography business she started at 18, while on the road, tour managing indie electronic band, Paper Lights. Katie is the owner of Wildfire Company, which was created to help musicians and other artists in a variety of facets, including management, booking, and social media. She enjoys teaching and mentoring about creativity and is currently working on her first book on this topic.

In this episode, Katie shares her journey from starting her photography business at the age of 18 and how she decided to start over and pursue different passions as a thirty something.

Katie gets really vulnerable about her creative adventures and how she keeps herself inspired, how lonely the experience of being a trailblazer can be, and taking creative leaps of faith.

I absolutely loved hearing all about Katie's life, how she finds time to write her book on the road, and how much honesty she has in sharing her journey. I really enjoyed chatting about the non-glamorous side of things that sound very glamorous and how much guts it takes to go against the status quo even when no one around you gets it.

If you often feel alone in creating your own path, if you want to feel really inspired to take your own risks and if you want to hear the very real adventures of a trailblazer, this is absolutely the episode for you!

Enjoy the show!

 

About Katie

Katie Snyder has owned & operated a photography business since she was 18 years old. During this time, she has been responsible for documenting hundreds of events and humanitarian projects around the world. She now oversees and runs this business from the road, while tour managing indie electronic band, Paper Lights. She also owns The Wildfire Company, which was created to help musicians and other artists in a variety of facets, including management, booking, and social media. She enjoys teaching and mentoring about creativity and is currently working on her first book on this topic. Follow her journey on the road in #RudolphtheRedAdventureVan

 Email | Instagram |  Twitter  | Facebook

 

Things We Talked About

  • How Katie started a photography business when she was 18 and how she made it her livelihood
  • What Katie's life looks like out on the road, managing and touring with Paper Lights
  • How Katie keeps herself inspired and keeps self doubt away
  • Katie's beliefs about creativity

 

Resources

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

 

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Mar 13, 2017

Hello there and welcome to episode 50 of Couragemakers!

This week I’m chatting to the lovely Nicki Rochead.

Nicki is the founder of The Magpie Maker, is a a Blue Peter Girl, Craftaholic & Creative Magpie who lives just outside of Winchester in the UK.

She believes that creativity is essential to living a whole-hearted, healthy life, but for many adults it’s a much-neglected and intimidating skill. The Magpie Maker provides craft activities for adults that generate confident creativity in easy and inspirational steps

This week we’re really diving deep into creativity, which is one of my favourite topics and I know you’ll be itching to make something by the end of the show!

In this episode, Nicki shares her creative journey, from working as a teacher to starting her own business; creating wonderful spaces for people to practice craft and learn new skills.

Nicki shares how creativity has played such a huge role in helping her manage her depression and anxiety, the insecurities we often face when putting our work online and how to create a space in your life for creative daily practice.

We really debunk the myth that creativity is only for certain people, dive into how our own self doubt plays a part in making us doubt our own creativity, and Nicki shares some great practical advice for anyone wanting to add more creativity into their life.

I absolutely love what Nicki is doing, and how open she is about the links between creativity and mental health. Nicki shares some really practical stuff for anyone who also struggles with their mental health and wants to start making space for creativity to help them.

This is a great episode if you’re creatively blocked or thinking about starting a creative project but can’t drum up the courage, if you’re also a maker and want a behind the scenes look at the life of a creative business owner, and is fantastic inspiration for just giving it a go and showing up.

I know you’re going to love this episode just as much as I do!

Enjoy the show!

 

About 


Nicki believes that creativity is essential to living a whole-hearted, healthy life, but for many adults it’s a much-neglected and intimidating skill. The Magpie Maker provides craft activities for adults that generate confident creativity in easy and inspirational steps. Customers then take this approach and apply it to their own situations.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |

Things We Talked About

  • The renaissance inspiration behind Magpie Maker
  • Nicki’s journey from being a burnt out teacher to living a life of creativity
  • How creativity has helped Nicki with her depression and anxiety
  • Nicki’s advice for creating space for daily creativity

Resources 

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

 

Mar 6, 2017

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 49 of The Couragemakers Podcast!

This week I'm talking to the wonderful, inspiring and hilarious Vana Feliciano.

Vana Feliciano a pint size poet, painter, podcaster and planeteer. Deeply obsessed with alliteration and all things cerulean blue, she is the founder of The Quiet Brave, a lifestyle community for the consciously courageous and Quiet Brave Radio a podcast that explores the practice of being a conscious woman. Vana believes in community over criticism and that fumbles and fuck ups are essential to building a fairy tale life.

In this episode, Vana shares pivotal moments in her journey which led her to creating a movement for conscious women making courageous journeys called The Quiet Brave.

She shares how getting in a car crash led her to question how she wanted to live her life and do something more, and how her life changed as a result.

We really dive into how the most powerful thing we have is this moment right now, the importance of slowing down and using your experiences not to lecture, but to give people an alternative.

This is a fantastic episode for anyone wanting to make the world a brighter place, for creative business owners or aspiring creative business owners who want to find an alternative to hustling and appearing perfect, and for anyone who struggles with future tripping and wants to start living more in the moment.

Vana is a fantastic storyteller and I know you won't help but get caught up in her life story and feel like you're right there with her. One thing in particular Vana said has stuck with me ever since we recorded this episode, which is: who do you show up as when no one is watching.

I know you're going to feel seriously inspired by the end of this episode. Be sure to check out her podcast The Quiet Brave Radio which launches next week - her pre-launch episode already gives me the tingles!

Enjoy the show!

About Vana

Vana Feliciano a pint size poet, painter, podcaster and planeteer. Deeply obsessed with alliteration and all things cerulean blue, she is the founder of The Quiet Brave, a lifestyle community for the consciously courageous and Quiet Brave Radio a podcast that explores the practice of being a conscious woman.

She believes in community over criticism and that fumbles and fuck ups are essential to building a fairy tale life.

Website | Podcast | Instagram

Things we talked about

  • Vana's multipassionate journey from ballerina, public relations, health coach and time management coach.
  • How being in huge car crash changed everything for Vana in an instant
  • How learning about climate change led to a huge shift in Vana's life
  • Vana's advice for anyone wanting to live more in the moment

Resources

 

About Meg & That Hummingbird Life

’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

Feb 27, 2017

Hello Couragemakers!

It is SO good to be back, I’ve missed you all! So much has happened in the last 3 weeks - That Hummingbird Life has been completely relaunched as the online home for creatives, multi-passionates and couragemakers who want to own, live and share their stories. I’m so excited with this direction - it’s something I’ve been feeling for the past couple of years but have only been able to really put into words since starting Couragemakers! Be sure to check out the new site - it’s full of bullshit-free resources, a really fun blog archive where I may or may not have got a bit carried away with gifs and just loads of really cool shit I think you’re going to love.

But focusing now on this week’s episode. For the anniversary episode, I wanted to do something a bit different and go a bit more behind the scenes, so the tables have been turned and Mr. Meg is interviewing me for my own episode.

So without further ado, I’m going to pass you over to Mr. Meg!

Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of Couragemakers. I’m Mr Meg, aka Jack. This week things have been shaken up a bit, and the special guest is none other than Meg herself. During this episode I sit down with Meg and dive more into her story, the journey of Couragemakers and That Hummingbird Life so far and the reality of owning, sharing and living your story.

 

We discuss the importance of sharing your story, everyday courage, reclaiming the word selfish and much more. I also ask Meg who she’d like to play her in a documentary of her life!

 

As for me, I’ve learnt that it’s a lot more difficult to interview someone than you may think, especially when it’s your own bloody fiance. But on a more serious note, I remember when Meg pitched the idea of her podcast to me, with the idea of telling stories of everyday courage, I felt like she’d struck gold. The stories of people that may not yet have been told, that need to be heard was one that struck a chord with us. It’s bizarre and fantastic to be here a year on, in a strange meta situation, me interviewing her for her own podcast. I hope you enjoy the interview, and learn a lot more about Meg and the way that brain of hers thinks. Meg always likes to suggest you grab a tea or a hot chocolate, but I’m more of a coffee man myself, so go with whatever takes your fancy today, and enjoy the show!

 

Things we talked about during the show:

 

  • A behind the scenes look at Couragemakers so far and the inspiration behind the podcast
  • The importance of sharing your story and practical advice on starting to share your story
  • Why everyday courage is so important and resonates so much
  • Reclaiming the word selfish and standing up for yourself as a woman
  • Who Meg would like to play her in the documentary of her life

 

About Meg & The Couragemakers Podcast

Meg is the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I'm an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.

I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.

When I'm not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!

That Hummingbird Life | Twitter

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