Shows
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 105: Why Creativity Matters with Melinda Rothouse and Marcus McQuirterThis episode is a co-release, originally recorded and released in August of 2025 on the podcast Intermission: Conversations with Theater People about anything but Theater, hosted by Marcus McQuirter. A previous guest on The Syncreate Podcast (Episode 73), Marcus is the Chair of the Drama Department at Austin Community College, where he teaches Voice, Acting, and Introduction to Theater. A storyteller at heart, he’s also a director, novelist, and podcaster. Our wide-ranging conversation touches on everything from the philosophy of art and arts education to religion, spirituality, and braving the creative wilderness. Credits: The Syncreate podcast is c...
2025-10-3059 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 104: Creative Spark Series - Creativity Can Save Your Life with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickHave you ever used your creativity to navigate a difficult situation or make an important life decision? In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte describe how creativity can save your life, both literally and metaphorically, sharing stories from their own experience, including dislodging a boat that had run aground, to a hurricane rescue mission, to evading a water moccasin while kayaking. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our ...
2025-10-1615 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 103: Trauma, Creativity, and Mental Health with Tracy Sisk, LMHCThe experience of trauma, in whatever form, can block our creativity and hinder our full flourishing. Creativity can offer a potent pathway for healing and working through trauma. In this episode we talk with Tracy Sisk, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and PhD Candidate at Saybrook University. Tracy offers mental health counseling under the name Honor Your Way Therapy in Clearwater, Florida. She is also the founder of The Practitioner’s Place, a supportive space for emerging therapists, counselors, psychologists, and social workers to connect, consult, and navigate their professional identities. We discuss the relationships between creativity, trauma, anxiety, an...
2025-10-0240 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 102: Creative Spark Series - Creativity as a Path of Adventure with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte explore creativity as a path of adventure, sharing specific examples from their own lives and creative journeys. Embracing our creativity brings many benefits, including the unanticipated experiences and connections that follow when we say yes to our creative urges, impulses, and callings. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to say yes to the next...
2025-09-1818 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 101: Artificial Intelligence and Creativity - The End or Just the Beginning? with Douglas Eck, PhDWith the introduction of so many new AI tools for image, video, and music generation, is this the end of creativity as we know it, or the beginning of a new era? In this episode we explore the wild new world of creativity in the age of AI with Douglas Eck, PhD, Senior Research Director at Google DeepMind, and Research Co-Lead of Generative Media, which develops the AI tools Veo, Imagen and Lyria. He is the creator of Magenta, an open source research project exploring how machine learning can aid in music and art creation. His research focuses on...
2025-09-0459 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 100: Creative Spark Series - Celebrating and Reflecting with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, to celebrate our 100th episode, Charlotte interviews Melinda about her own creative process of experience of envisioning, creating, hosting, and producing the podcast over the past two years. We reflect on lessons learned, how the show has evolved, insightful guests and conversations, and where we’ll go from here, including moving back to a bi-weekly release schedule. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Cr...
2025-07-3124 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 99: Working with Self-Doubt in Our Creativity with Dreux Carpenter, MFAHow do we work with self-doubt and mental health in our creative process? Dreux Carpenter is a multi creative and communications professional; he's a graphic designer, writer, and offers proofreading and editing services. He holds both Masters and MFA degrees in Writing and Consciousness, one from the New College of California and the other from the California Institute of Integral Studies. He served on the board of the Writers’ League of Texas for several years, and he’s married to Syncreate Co-Founder, co-author, and podcast co-host Charlotte Gullick. In this episode, Dreux opens up about his own experiences of self...
2025-07-2434 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 98: Creative Spark Series - Creativity and Humor.In this episode of our Creative Spark series, we discuss the connections between humor, creativity, and health, specifically how we can use our creativity to find humor in difficult situations, including end-of-life medical situations. Melinda and Charlotte share their own experiences of medical challenges and sitting with dying parents who maintained their sense of humor to the end. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to...
2025-07-1712 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 97: The Art of Jewelry Design with Geoffrey GoodGeoffrey Good is a renowned fine jewelry designer based in Hudson, New York, internationally recognized for his elegant, minimalist designs. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, he has established himself as a master craftsman and artist, known for his attention to detail and exceptional skill in creating exquisite pieces of jewelry. Geoffrey discovered his passion for jewelry in college after designing a pair of earrings for his girlfriend out of glass-scrap. After earning a degree in jewelry design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Geoffrey apprenticed with master jeweler Klaus Wisskirchen, assisting in jewelry-works...
2025-07-1053 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 96: Creative Spark Series - Creativity Conference Reflections with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda shares insights and reflections from her recent experience attending and presenting at the Creativity Conference at Southern Oregon University, connecting and collaborating with friends and colleagues, and getting energized from being around others studying creativity. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to find and attend an event where you can connect with others around creativity, collaboration, a...
2025-07-0314 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 95: Poetry, Nature, and Beautiful Mistakes with Brian KirvenBrian Kirven is a poet, traveler, and teacher living in Point Reyes Station in Northern California. He's the author of Shorelines: A Traveler Comes Home to the Tide Zone. He's served as a California Poet in the Schools, as well as the Poetry Inside Out program, and hosted a radio show on KWMR in Point Reyes for many years. His poetry has been featured in numerous literary journals, including California Quarterly, Inverness Almanac, The Kerf, West Marin Review, and most recently, the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal. His work is rooted in a deep sense of place and connection to...
2025-06-2653 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 94: Creative Spark Series - The Joy in Collaboration with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, we explore the benefits of collaboration, including the synergy that arises when two or more people join together in a creative endeavor, which can yield fresh ideas and perspectives, camaraderie and teamwork, as well as joy, fun, and levity. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to find a person or group to collaborate with on some kind...
2025-06-1914 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 93: Creativity and Collaboration in Internal Family Systems (IFS) Work with Alisa Carr, LCSWHow do we work with the multiple energies, drives, and desires, sometimes conflicting, inside ourselves? Internal Family Sytems (IFS) is a therapeutic modality that focuses on healing the wounded and protective parts that we all carry within us, in service of internal connection and collaboration. Alisa Carr, LCSW, uses IFS in her therapeutic work to help clients find clarity, creativity, spiritual connection, and more satisfying relationships. Our conversation focuses on the IFS process and how it can enhance intra-personal, or inner, creativity and collaboration for a more joyful and vibrant life. For our Creativity Pro-Tip, w...
2025-06-1245 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 92: Creative Spark Series - Self-Mentoring and Creativity with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, we discuss the inner mentor or inner coach as a counter-weight to the inner critic in our creativity, with inspiration from the book 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People by David Yeager, a professor of psychology at UT Austin. The ways we both challenge and support ourselves through our inner self-talk can make a big difference in our creative success. Are we beating ourselves up or empowering ourselves for success through our inner narrative? This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate...
2025-06-0512 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 91: Envisioning the Possible with Vlad Glaveanu, PhDHow do we use our creativity to envision possibility and bring it into reality? Vlad Glăveanu, PhD, has spent his career exploring this question. He is the founder and president of the Possibility Studies Network (PSN). His work focuses on creativity, imagination, culture, collaboration, wonder, possibility, and societal challenges. He is a professor of psychology in the School of Psychology and Director of the DCU Centre for Possibility Studies at Dublin City University, as well as a professor at the Centre for the Science of Learning and Technology, University of Bergen. He has written and edited numerous academic a...
2025-05-2935 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 90: Creative Spark Series - Creativity, Meaning, and Psychological Growth with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick,In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda shares insights from her new article in the academic journal Possibility Studies and Society on how we can use our creativity to make meaning of our experiences, particularly the difficult and challenging ones, in service of psychological growth. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to reflect on your life journey up to this point–the highs an...
2025-05-2211 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 89: The Joy of Awakening with Drupon Lama Dorje & Carolina PutnamThis episode features Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher Drupon Lama Dorje, and his assistant and translator Carolina Putnam, in an exploration of the Buddhist teachings on mindfulness and self-cultivation, as well as the role of art and creativity in Buddhism and everyday life. Lama Dorje became a Buddhist monk at the age of five, completed extensive training in Buddhist studies and meditation, and now teaches all over the world, primarily in Central and South America. Carolina Putnam is the Executive Director of the Lama Dorje Foundation and of Dewachen, Lama’s retreat center in Costa Rica. This episode is in bo...
2025-05-1552 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 88: Creative Spark Series - Practicing Courage in Our Creativity with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, we explore how practicing courage in our creative expression can build bravery in other areas of our lives, from speaking our truth to public speaking and performing. Honoring our creativity also honors our authenticity, so we can embrace who we truly are. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to build your courage muscle by doing something brave...
2025-05-0812 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 87: Dreams and Creativity with Musician, Poet & Psychotherapist Linus StreckfusHow do dreams and dreaming play a role in creativity? We explore this question with musician, poet, and psychotherapist Linus Streckfus, as Melinda and Linus share stories of how dreams fuel their songwriting, the unconscious processes at play in dreams, and the archetypal and metaphorical images that often result. We also discuss Linus’ new poetry release, A Little Book of Loteria Riddles, and his process of writing it, as he shares several selections from it. For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to pay attention to your dreams, and to record them if possible in a d...
2025-05-0157 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 86 - Creative Spark Series: Receiving Difficult Feedback with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, we share our own experience of receiving difficult feedback on one of our ideas, and how we dealt with it. It can be really vulnerable to receive critical or constructive feedback on our creative work, but if we can assume positive intent and digest it accordingly, it can result in a better quality final product. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip
2025-04-2411 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 85: Living a Spiritual Life with Wisdom Pathways Co-Founders Jenny Fairbank & Steven RossWhat does it mean to walk a spiritual path, to live a spiritual life, in the midst of our busy lives, as householders, in these complex and challenging times? Wisdom Pathways Co-Founders Jenny Fairbank and Steven Ross emphasize the importance of cultivating our intuition, opening our hearts, and connecting in community. Jenny and Steven work with individuals and groups to help clarify their deepest purpose and calling, and transcend the blocks and obstacles we all encounter along the way. We discuss the evolution of consciousness, the nature of personal and collective awakening at this particular time, and how we...
2025-04-1750 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 84: Creative Spark Series - From Surviving to Thriving with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, we reflect on how embracing creativity, community, and a bit of levity can help us move from surviving to thriving, especially in difficult times. Sometimes we think of creativity as a luxury, but what if it’s actually a necessity for getting through life and keeping our spirits up? Maybe it’s as simple as a quick reframe. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Cr...
2025-04-1011 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 83: Proprioception with Poet and Professor C. Prudence ArceneauxPoet C. Prudence Arceneaux is Chair of the Creative Writing Department at Austin Community College. Her work has appeared in various journals, including The Academy of American Poets’ Poem-A-Day, Limestone, New Texas, African Voices and Inkwell. She is the author of two chapbooks of poetry — Dirt (awarded the 2018 Jean Pedrick Prize) and Liberty. Her new full-length collection Proprioception is now available Texas Review Press. Fellow Texas poet Naomi Shihab Nye writes of Propriception: “How Arceneaux manages to be wry, sexy, contemplative, and rueful all at once, is a wonder.” Our conversation ranges from the earthy sensuality of Arceneaux’s poems to t...
2025-04-0256 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 82: Creative Spark Series - Healing the Creative Wound with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, we explore what it means to heal the creative wound so we can fully embrace our creative selves. Many of us received messages in our youth that we weren’t creative or artistic, and we’ve internalized these messages in a way that stifle our creative expression. It’s important to recognize that these stories we tell ourselves may not be accurate, and that we can create new, more empowering and inspiring stories about our creative capacities. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Sync...
2025-03-2711 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 81: Creativity and Innovation in Medicine with Drs. Behrooz Akbarnia, Greg Mundis, and Bahar ShahidiThis episode features three medical innovators working at the intersection of orthopedic surgery, medical technology, and orthopedic research at the San Diego Spine Foundation (SDSF), Scripps Clinic, and the University of California San Diego (UCSD). Dr. Akbarnia is the Founder of the SDSF and former president of the Scoliosis Research Society, as well as a retired clinical professor and orthopedic surgeon. He developed an innovative, minimally invasive magnetic device for the treatment for pediatric scoliosis, eliminating the need for multiple surgeries. Dr. Mundis is the current president of the SDSF, as well as an orthopedic sp...
2025-03-2044 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 80: Creative Spark Series - Narrating the Syncreate Audiobook with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, Charlotte and Melinda share the experience of narrating the audio version of our Syncreate book, including our flubs, insecurities, and humorous moments, the highs and the lows, warts and all. We think it’s important to share our own process, and how we all inevitably stumble along the way to a finished creative product. So if you’ve ever wanted to peer behind the veil of the creative process, this episode is for you. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guid...
2025-03-1312 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 79: The Magic of Improvisation with Improv Teacher, Performer, and Author Jessica ArjetAs our guest, Jessica Arjet, describes in the episode, “one of the fundamental promises of improv is that you’re collaborating and working together to create something." It’s about being in the moment, saying yes, collaborating with others, and having fun! Jessica is a veteran improv performer, teacher, and the author of Conducting Chaos: A Guide to Teaching Improv to Kids and Teens. She is co-owner of the Hideout Theater in Austin, which offers improv performances as well as classes, workshops, and summer camps for all ages. Our conversation focuses on the lessons and benefits of improv training for ki...
2025-03-0640 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 78: Creative Spark Series - The Art of Impermanence with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda shares insights from her recent Art of Impermanence Retreat, an annual contemplative arts retreats she leads each January in Patzcuaro, Mexico with her colleague Jake Lorfing. The Art of Impermanence explores the Buddhist teachings on impermanence, and their relationship to creativity and the arts. Essentially, it’s a mindful approach to creativity, grounded in present-moment experience. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Cr...
2025-02-2714 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 77: Collaborate, Innovate, Advocate with Beth Sundstrom, PhDBeth Sundstrom, PhD, MPH, is a professor of health communication at the College of Charleston, where she is the Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URCA) and the Founding Director of the Women’s Health Research Team (WHRT). She is a Fulbright Research Grant recipient and leading expert on health communication and reproductive health. Beth conducts applied research that informs the development of community-based public health interventions and nationally recognized communication campaigns. She is the author or co-author of three books and more than 80 scholarly articles on women’s health and health communication. Our conversation focu...
2025-02-2043 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 76: Creative Spark Series - Developing a Consistent Creative Practice with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickMany of us aspire to a consistent, even daily, creative practice, but other life priorities and distractions make it difficult. So how can we commit to a regular practice in a way that feels sustainable and fun? We can begin by setting longer-term goals and then breaking them down into monthly, weekly, and daily tasks to make consistent progress over time. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we...
2025-02-1311 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 75: Asheville's Story Parlor with Erin Hallagan ClareErin Hallagan Clare is the Founder and Artistic Director of Story Parlor, a narrative arts space in Asheville, NC. Erin studied film and theatre at Temple University, as well as psychology / creativity studies at Saybrook University, where she earned her master’s degree. She developed a creativity coaching practice called “Inward & Artward,” as well as an annual Creative Facilitator Training. She's also a writer, storyteller, and radio show host. Our conversation focuses on Erin’s creative journey, the history of Story Parlor, and the creative community in Asheville after Hurricane Helene. For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encour...
2025-02-0644 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 74: Creative Spark Series - Living a Creative Life with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickWhat does it mean to live a creative life? What meaningful steps can we take to infuse creativity into our day-to-day experience? We often tell ourselves stories about how we’re not creative, but the reality is that we’re all using our creativity on a daily basis just to get through life, whether that takes the form of “art,” or simply cooking a beautiful meal, tending a garden, or decorating our homes. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Comm...
2025-01-3009 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 73: Theatre, Storytelling, and The Labor of Creativity with Marcus McQuirter, PhDMarcus McQuirter, PhD, is the Chair of the Drama Department at Austin Community College, where he teaches Voice, Acting, and Introduction to Theater. A storyteller at heart, he’s also a director, novelist, and podcaster. Dr. McQuirter holds a BFA in Theatre from Howard University, an M.A. in Theatre from the University of North Texas, and a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of Texas, Austin. Our conversation ranges from the craft of audio storytelling to the labor of creativity, and theatre as an inclusive community space. For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we enc...
2025-01-2344 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 72: Creative Spark Series - Creative Community with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickHow do you cultivate a sense of creative community? We believe that community and connection are vital to the creative process, especially for those of us who tend to create in solitude. For the new year, our Creative Spark series focuses on setting creative intentions and bolstering our creative habits so we can move toward our goals with greater clarity and flow. This mini episode focuses on the power of community to nurture our creative selves, especially in challenging times. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to...
2025-01-1609 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 71: Acting Out of Character with John Cane, PhDHow can acting and improvisation training improve your interpersonal and communication skills? We explore this question with John Cane, PhD, actor and integrative wellness psychologist. John is the Founder of Acting Out of Character, a training program offering workshops for turning acting skills into people skills. John received his PhD in psychology with a specialization in creativity studies, along with Melinda. We discuss how acting and improvisation relates to authenticity and emotional intelligence, including how John works with organizations to help with team building and collaboration. We also demonstrate the improv exercise of “Yes, And,” which can facilitate creativity, open...
2025-01-0947 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 70: Creative Spark Series - New Year's Creative Intentions with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickHappy 2025, Everyone! To kick off the new year, we encourage you to consider your creative intentions and aspirations for the next 12 months. We focus on three main areas, including your creative practice, process, and products. Creative practice encompasses your creative routines and daily habits, while the creative process includes how you go about making work and bringing your ideas to life. Finally, creative products are the finished works that you may wish to release, publish, perform and otherwise share with the world. Focusing on these three areas helps to clarify not only your yearly creative goals, but also how...
2025-01-0211 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 69: Creative Spark Series - Reflecting on the Year with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, as we approach the new year, we discuss the benefits of taking time to reflect on our creative lives over the last year. It’s helpful to review the events of the year and projects we’ve engaged with, including highlights and accomplishments, as well as how we might want to approach things differently in the coming year. It’s a great way to consider where we’ve been creatively, how far we’ve come, and where we want to go next. Then we can begin to set our creative intentions for the ye...
2024-12-2610 min
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 67: Creative Spark Series - Moving Through the World with a Creative Eye with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we discuss what it means to move through the world with a creative eye, to be a creative traveler, as it were, and how this approach can help us stay connected to our creativity in every moment. It can also help us find the humor, the beauty, and the story in everyday situations, including the good, the bad, the ugly, and the bizarre, like when we got shaken down in the bayous of Louisiana while rescuing Melinda’s mom and her cat after a hurricane. This episode, like the mini-episodes that pr...
2024-12-1912 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 66: Finding Ease Through Body Awareness with Jennifer Roig-FrancoliAs creatives, and as humans more broadly, we can find ourselves holding habitual tension and pain in our bodies by virtue of our work, whether it be playing a musical instrument, performing physical labor, or simply sitting at a desk all day. Jennifer Roig-Francoli, a violinist and coach specializing in the Primal Alexander Technique, helps people rediscover ease and joy through body awareness. We discuss her personal and spiritual journey from professional concert violinist to coach and teacher, and she leads listeners through a guided body awareness practice using the Primal Alexander Technique developed by her partner, Mio Morales.
2024-12-0550 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativitySyncreate Podcast Episode 65: Creative Spark Series - Creative Flow with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, Charlotte interviews Melinda about her creative habits and daily practices, including meditation and journaling. Melinda is a musician, writer, and photographer, as well as a leadership and creativity coach, and a professor of creativity, innovation, and leadership. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to exercise your creativity every single day in whatever ways you can. Even 5 minutes...
2024-11-2812 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 64: Synesthesia, Consciousness & Creativity with Zoe Martell and Archie FrinkSynesthesia is defined as a blending or mixing of the senses. It can take many forms, such as tasting colors, seeing visuals when hearing music, and s on. It’s said to be experienced by only about 3% of people, but it is highly correlated with creativity. Zoe Martell and Archie Frink are both psychology Ph.D. students at Saybrook University, where Melinda teaches, as well as talented artists. They both also experience synesthesia. Zoe is a painter and budding musician. She holds master's degrees in an clinical psychology and the history and theory of art, as well as...
2024-11-2148 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 63: Creative Spark Series - The Writing Life with Charlotte Gullick & Melinda RothouseIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, Melinda interviews Charlotte about her writing life, creative practices, and how creativity has made her a better person. Charlotte is a writer of both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a professor, Program Manager at Vassar College, and former Chair of the Creative Writing Department at Austin Community College. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to adopt...
2024-11-1409 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 61: Creative Spark Series - Isolation vs. Solitude with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we explore how isolation and solitude can show up in our creative process, how to distinguish between the two, and how to work with both. When we feel isolated, it’s important to reach out and connect with our communities. But sometimes we need to cultivate solitude in order to dig deep into our creative work. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Cr...
2024-10-3111 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 60: Intuition & Creativity with Intuitive Medium and Spiritual Director Steven RossSteven Ross is the Co-Founder of Wisdom Pathways, co-host of The Way to Go podcast, and host of the Intuition Radio podcast. He is a gifted intuitive medium, ordained interspiritual minister, wellness facilitator and teacher of traditional yoga and meditation. With 20 years on the yogic path, he is a devotee of Paramhansa Yogananda. Steven holds a masters in divinity from All Paths Divinity School. Our conversation focuses on the connections between intuition and creativity and how we can each cultivate our innate intuitive faculties. Steven also gives Melinda a live reading during the episode so people can get a...
2024-10-2449 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 59: Creative Spark Series - How Creativity Opens Doors with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we discuss how creativity opens doors, and how saying yes to our creativity also helps to build connection and community. We each share our own experiences of creative connection, and how expressing our creativity has led to new experiences and relationships. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to reflect on how creativity has opened doors in...
2024-10-1712 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 58: Creative Problem Solving with BEST Robitics Executive Director Michael SteinerMichael Steiner is the Executive Director of BEST Robotics, an annual student robotics competition for middle and high school students that facilitates experiential, complex creative problem solving within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Over 18,000 students across the US participate in the program each fall. Michael is also the co-founder of Your Global Strategy, a consulting agency that works with thought leaders and governments across the globe to manage projects and drive creativity towards growth. In our conversation, we discuss how the BEST Robotics competition fosters creative problem-solving skills among students, as well as Michael’s personal an...
2024-10-1051 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 57: Creative Spark Series - Accountability Partnerships with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we share our insights and best practices on accountability partnerships for our creative work. Accountability partners help us move more quickly and effectively toward our goals. We can form accountability partnerships with creative collaborators, peers, co-workers, coaches, family, friends, and so on. These are people with whom we can share our goals and milestones, and check in with on a regular basis about our progress. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals...
2024-10-0312 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 56: Asking the Questions with Broadway Stereophonic Cast Member Chris StackChris Stack plays the role of Simon in the current Broadway sensation Stereophonic, winner of a Tony award for best play, and the most Tony-nominated show of all time. Stereophonic follows a 70’s rock band in the process of recording their groundbreaking album, featuring original music by Will Butler of Arcade Fire. Chris and Melinda also happen to be high school classmates, so in this episode we catch up on Chris’ journey from his formative years in music and theater at Park Tudor School in Indianapolis all the way to Broadway. We also focus on his experiences with The Acto...
2024-09-2649 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 55: Creative Spark Series - Experimenting Across Media with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we explore the possibilities that can emerge from experimenting across media in our creative work. For example, if we’re writing a poem, what if we expressed it as a dance? Or if we’re composing a song, how would it translate into a painting? Exploring our ideas across media can open up new possibilities, which can inform and deepen our primary project. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Comm...
2024-09-1909 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 54: Creativity as a Spiritual Endeavor with Musician and Author Peter HimmelmanPeter Himmelman is a Grammy and Emmy nominated singer-songwriter, visual artist, best-selling author, film composer, entrepreneur, and rock and roll performer with over 20 critically acclaimed recordings to his credit. His new book, Suspended by No String, reflects on the spiritual elements that suffuse his life and creative work.In addition to his own creative work, Peter is the founder of Big Muse, a company, which helps organizations to leverage the power of their people’s innate creativity. We discuss Peter’s creative process in connection with his writing and music, and how his spiritual path and practice inform his work...
2024-09-1244 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 53: Creative Spark Series - Preparation vs. Spontaneity with Melinda Rothouse and Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we explore the delicate balance between preparation and spontaneity in our creative work. How do we invite structure and planning into our process, while also allowing for freshness, mystery, surprise, and improvisation? Maybe the thought of public speaking terrifies us, so we want to prepare meticulously. But no one wants to hear someone simply read from a prepared paper or script, so how do we prepare fully and then let go? This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to...
2024-09-0511 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 52: Texas Poet Laureate Amanda JohnstonAmanda Johnston is the 2024 Texas Poet Laureate, the first Black woman appointed to the role by the Texas State Legislature. She is also the recipient of a 2024 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship. She is the author of two chapbooks, GUAP and Lock & Key, and the full-length collection Another Way to Say Enter. Her work has appeared in numerous online and print publications. Named one of Blavity’s "13 Black Poets You Should Know," Amanda’s work has been featured on Bill Moyers, the Poetry Society of America’s series In Their Own Words, The Moth Radio Hour, and the...
2024-08-2944 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 51: Creative Spark Series - Curiosity & Exploration with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we discuss the role of curiosity, exploration, openness to experience, and the spirit of adventure in the creative process. Following our curiosity opens up new ideas, connections, and inspirations, which then enhance our creative work. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we challenge you to go out and do something different, outside of your normal routine, maybe even something...
2024-08-2210 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 50: Life Review: The Hospice Musical with Benjamin KintischBenjamin Kintisch is a cantor, chaplain, and music teacher. He created a musical based on his experiences as a chaplain working with patients and families involved in hospice care, called Life Review: The Hospice Musical. We discuss his inspiration for the musical, his songwriting collaborations, and his pandemic pivots, as well as his involvement with songwriting retreats and teaching music to children. The conversation includes many gems of insight into the creative process. For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we suggest playing with a different medium, specifically a visual art or non-verbal medium, as a warm-up to a...
2024-08-1544 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 49: Creative Spark Series - Creativity in Challenging Times with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, Charlotte and Melinda discuss the importance of exercising our creativity in challenging times, not only for personal fulfillment and joy, but also to build community and be of benefit to the world. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to inventory your joy, and think about how creativity can contribute to your general happiness. Then, take intentional...
2024-08-0810 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 48: Can You Learn Creativity? with Creative Director Chris McKennaIs creativity something you’re born with, or can you learn it? In this episode, we talk with creative director and writer Chris McKenna about creativity as a skill that we can learn and practice. Chris is the founder of Wee Beastie, a creative agency based in Los Angeles. Part of his work with clients and organizations involves teaching people about the creative process. We discuss his journey from technician to creative director, and his mission to help illuminate the creative process. For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to print out a picture of a l...
2024-08-0140 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 47: Creative Spark Series - Creativity & Meaning Making with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark series, Melinda shares the connection between creativity and meaning making. We can use our creativity in service of healing, integration and wholeness. This may involve paying attention to our dreams, and to messages from our unconscious, and then conveying them through a variety of creative media. This episode includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to start keeping a journal or picking up some other kind...
2024-07-2510 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 46: Sharing Stories - Creativity & Podcasting with Reena Friedman WattsReena Friedman Watts is the host of the Better Call Daddy podcast, which features guests from all walks of life with stories to share. She got her start chasing stories at the Jerry Springer Show, and worked for Court TV before starting her own show. We discuss storytelling, creativity, and the art of podcasting, as well as religion and spirituality, our relationships with our fathers, and more! For our Creativity Pro-Tip, if you see someone doing something creative that you love, reach out to them and see if you can be a part of it. F...
2024-07-1846 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 45: Creative Spark Series - Giving and Receiving Feedback with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we discuss the art of giving and receiving feedback in the context of our creative work. It’s so important to ask for and receive feedback to polish our work into its final form. But sometimes this feedback can be hard to receive in the moment, or we may need to take some time to digest it before we can incorporate the feedback. Similarly, when giving feedback to others, it’s important to be constructive and productive. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book...
2024-07-1115 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 43: Creative Spark Series - Time Management & Prioritizing Your Work with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we emphasize the importance of time management and prioritizing our creative work. Though we have a vision for a project, we may struggle with how to begin, or it may feel overwhelming. But if we break the process down into manageable goals, milestones, and tasks, we can move from start to finish with more ease. We may also have trouble prioritizing our work, but this is so important for completion and our sense of creative efficacy. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book,
2024-06-2708 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 42: Creativity and Depth Psychology - The Underworld Journey with Jennifer Leigh SeligOur guest today is Jennifer Leigh Selig, author of the new book Deep Memoir, and founder of Mandorla Books, an award-winning boutique publisher. Our conversation explores creativity and depth psychology, which examines the deeper questions of life, meaning, and purpose. We discuss the proverbial underworld journey, or dark night of the soul, and how we can make meaning of pain and suffering for the sake of our own growth and development, as well as to benefit others. For our Creativity Pro-Tip, pay attention to what stories, myths, and archetypes resonate most for you at this t...
2024-06-2038 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 41: Creative Spark Series - Creative Practice, Process & Product with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark series of bite-size, mini-episodes, Melinda & Charlotte explore the distinctions between our creative practice, process, and products, and how this can help us in bringing our creative work into the world. When working with clients, we find it helpful to look at our creative work through each of these lenses. Our creative practice includes our workspace, the time we put into our creative work, and our habits and routines around it. Our creative process is how we go about bringing our ideas into concrete form, and our creative products are our creations themselves...
2024-06-1308 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 40: Creating a Culture of Innovation with Stephanie Crain and Shaniqua BrownThis episode is a co-release with From Illumination to Innovation Podcast (Episode 4) with Stephanie Crain and Shaniqua Brown, where I was a guest discussing creativity and leadership in organizational contexts, and how best to foster cultures of innovation. We discuss the Syncreate model of Play, Plan & Produce, as well as how companies that value creativity can truly nurture and support creative thinkers, processes, and solutions. Credits: The Syncreate podcast is created and hosted by Melinda Rothouse, and produced at Record ATX studios with in collaboration Michael Osborne and 14th Street Studios in Austin, Texas. Syncreate l...
2024-06-0642 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 39: Creative Spark Series - The Vulnerability of Sharing Works in Progress with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark series of bite-size, mini-episodes, Melinda & Charlotte discuss the vulnerability of sharing work we know is not finished, but for which we need feedback in order to improve it. Sharing work before it feels complete can be a little scary, so it’s important to consider who we can trust for feedback to get the work where it needs to be. Then we can feel confident sharing it with the wider world. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Cr...
2024-05-3008 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 38: Leadership for Creativity and Innovation with Jamie GallagherWith a 40-year career in the toy and art supply industry, most recently as CEO at Faber-Castell USA, Jamie Gallagher brings a wealth of insight into how creative companies function. He is the founder of 4 the Win, which fosters creativity and innovation among individuals, teams, organizations and communities through four pillars of success: Purpose, Culture, Creativity, and Clarity. Drawing upon Jamie’s experiences leading teams at Lego, Playmobil, and Faber-Castell, we discuss both barriers and accelerants to innovation, which have everything to do with mindset, trust, and culture. For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to...
2024-05-2342 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 37: Creative Spark Series - Giving Back to the Community with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this installment of our Creative Spark series of bite-size, mini-episodes, Melinda & Charlotte discuss the importance of giving back to our creative communities. This could take the form of mentoring or guiding others, or just simply lending a helping hand with someone’s creative work or process. Helping others can also help us out of our own creative ruts. We might not think we have anything insightful to share, but we probably have more wisdom than we realize; what might seem obvious or second-nature to us, could actually be a revelation to someone else. This episode, like the mini-episodes th...
2024-05-1607 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 36: Creativity and Transpersonal Psychology Part 2 with Marina Smirnova, PhDPicking up where we left off in Part 1 (Episode 34), we continue the conversation about creativity and transpersonal psychology with Marina Smirnova, Ph.D., head of the Consciousness, Spirituality, and Integrative Health specialization within the Humanistic Psychology program at Saybrook University, and a professor of transpersonal psychology, or the psychology of spirituality. We explore questions of meaning-making, integration, and expanded states of consciousness, as well as learning to trust ourselves and to honor our own intuitive guidance with respect to our creative and professional work. Credits: The Syncreate podcast is created and hosted by Melinda Rothouse, a...
2024-05-0943 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 35: Creative Spark Series - Navigating the Creative Wilderness with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, we explore the creative call to adventure and subsequent journey through the wilderness. We often start our creative projects with a sense of inspiration and excitement, only to flounder along the way, or plunge into self-doubt. Never fear - this is actually part of the process, and if we can learn to navigate this wilderness, our work can actually benefit from it. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.
2024-05-0213 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 34: Creativity and Transpersonal Psychology Part 1 with Marina Smirnova, PhDWhere do our creative ideas and inspirations come from? For many of us, our creativity is deeply intertwined with questions of meaning, consciousness, and spirituality. Our guest today is Marina Smirnova, Ph.D., head of the Consciousness, Spirituality, and Integrative Health specialization within the Humanistic Psychology program at Saybrook University, and a professor of transpersonal psychology, or the psychology of spirituality. Our conversation explores our own early childhood experiences of the transpersonal, as well as how landscape and environment affect our lives, and how we understand creativity as a meaning-making process. Credits: The Syncreate podcast i...
2024-04-2543 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 33: Creative Spark Series - Incubation & Time Away with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte emphasize the importance of creative incubation, and of stepping away from our work at key moments in order to gain the perspective to move forward in a productive way. This is not the same as procrastination or avoidance; it is a strategic move in the creative process that allows us to return to the work with fresh eyes. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.F...
2024-04-1808 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 32: Creativity and Synchronicity with Dr. Steven PritzkerHow does synchronicity shape a creative life? In this episode, we explore how a shared connection, a chance meeting, or a risk taken can lead to opportunities we may never have imagined possible. Our guest is Dr. Steven Pritzker, Co-Editor of the The Encyclopedia of Creativity, Professor of Creativity Studies at Saybrook University, and a renowned television writer for Emmy-winning shows Room 222 and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, as well as writer/producer on a number of shows including Breaking Away, The Partridge Family, The Loveboat, and many more. We also discuss what it means to live a creative...
2024-04-1153 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 31: Creative Spark Series - The Power of Collaboration with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte discuss the power of collaboration. It’s in our name, Syncreate: synergy and co-creation. We can accomplish so much more through collaboration than we can on our own. We describe own experiences of collaboration, and how you can harness the power of collaboration in your own creative work. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to go...
2024-04-0410 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 30: Creative Mornings Austin with Ben Thoma & Brian ThompsonBen Thoma and Brian Thompson are the Co-Founders of Creative Mornings Austin, a local chapter of Creative Mornings, a monthly creative gathering in cities around the world. Described as “church for creatives,” Creative Mornings includes coffee and breakfast, a musical guest, and a presentation by a member of the local community, in a different location each month. The mantra of Creative Mornings Austin is “Everyone is creative, and everyone is welcome.” Our conversation explores the nature of creativity, the importance of creative community, the notion of “genius,” and tips for sparking your own creativity. For our Creativity Pr...
2024-03-2847 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 29: Creative Spark Series - Iteration with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte describe the process of iteration, where we revise, refine, rehearse, and otherwise fine-tune and polish up our creative work to bring it to completion. Sometimes iteration requires radical cutting, editing, and reworking. We liken this process to pruning, which actually allows a tree or bush to grow and thrive more fully. It can be painful, but it’s often necessary to bring a piece of work to its final form. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to...
2024-03-2110 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 28: From Healing to Wholeness with Eben BrittonHow do we move from healing to wholeness in body, mind, and spirit? How can we communicate and create from a place of deep integrity? We explore these questions with podcaster, workshop facilitator & former NFL player Eben Britton. After 7 years in the NFL, Eben has embarked on a journey of healing and wellness, which he shares via his podcast, workshops, and retreats. His work includes restorative practices such as yoga, meditation, and breath work, as well as practices to enhance communication, relationships, and authenticity. We discuss Eben’s journey from healing to wholeness, as well as the psychology of we...
2024-03-1446 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 27: The Spirit of Collaboration with Attorney & Musician Randy LangfordCollaboration is vital for getting things done, for innovation, and for solving complex problems. But do we really understand collaboration, and what distinguishes it from coordination, cooperation, and even teamwork? According to our current guest, Randy Langford, collaboration involves people in community using communication to express their needs, and offer resources to support one another, for a common purpose. It’s basically the opposite of competition.Randy is an Austin-based attorney, professor, and musician with a focus on collaboration and restorative justice. He worked as a criminal defense attorney before turning his attention to more collaborative legal pr...
2024-03-0755 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 26: Creative Spark Series - Produce! with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte describe the final phase of the creative process: Produce. In this phase, according to our Syncreate model, we move toward completion of our creative work. This is where we refine, iterate, polish, get feedback, and ultimately share our creative efforts with the world. It’s also where we celebrate and give back to our creative communities. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, includes insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our ...
2024-02-2912 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 25: Between Order & Chaos - Creativity, Neuroscience & Psychedelics with Bradley Cooke, Ph.D.What distinguishes creativity from other modes of thinking and being? How do we understand creativity from a neuroscientific perspective, and how do psychedelics affect creativity? We explore these questions with Bradley Cooke, Ph.D., a neuroscientist and Program Director at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Cooke oversees the nation's portfolio of research into the neurobiology of obesity and diabetes. He’s also a visual artist with an interest in psychedelics research. We explore how creativity lives on a spectrum between order and chaos, between predictability and surprise, as exemplified by the Italian term sprezzatura, a sense of ca...
2024-02-2247 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 24: Creative Spark Series - Creative Planning with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte describe the Plan, or organizational, phase of the creative process. The word “plan” might not immediately come to mind when we think about creativity, but planning and organization are actually vital to bringing a creative idea to the world. We discuss how convergent and divergent thinking figure into the creative process, as well as the importance of setting creative goals and milestones. We also share personal examples of how planning allows us to move forward with our creative work in a productive way, along with insights and prompts from...
2024-02-1513 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 23: The Corporate Mystic - Archetypes of Leadership & Creativity with Stephanie CrainJust in time for Valentine’s Day, this episode explores the archetypes, personas, and roles we embody in our work life and beyond, beginning with the archetype of The Lovers. My guest is The Corporate Mystic, Stephanie Crain, an Austin-based leadership/ ethos coach and innovation consultant. She’s the founder of Tapas Innovation, and a Certified Master Jungian Coach with a Success Mindset specialization. Stephanie works with executives, creators, and entrepreneurs to realize their full authentic expression and value activation. Our conversation focuses on the Corporate Persona Archetype Test she developed to help people bette...
2024-02-0851 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 22 - Creative Spark Series: Creative Play with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte describe the Play, or ideation, phase of the creative process. In our view of the creative process, we begin with play. This is where we dream, fantasize, imagine, and envision the work we want to create. It’s where we play with ideas, build our skills, and experiment with different ways of bringing our ideas to life. We share insights and prompts from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we focus on...
2024-02-0108 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 20: Creative Spark Series - The Syncreate Model of Play, Plan & Produce with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte GullickIn this episode of our new Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte give an overview of the Syncreate model of Play, Plan & Produce to help you move from ideation to completion with your creative work. Do you have an idea for a creative project but can’t seem to move it forward? Or maybe you’ve stalled out along the way, or can’t figure out how to bring it to completion? We share insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities to help you move through the creative process with g...
2024-01-1813 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 19: Creativity, Sexuality & The Sacred Feminine with Leah Shadwick, Marie Commisso and Thais Bicalho SilvaFor our first full-length episode of 2024, we’re taking things in a more personal direction, as Melinda shares the story of her recent hysterectomy journey, along with her team of women healers, Leah Shadwick, Marie Commisso, and Thais Bicalho Silva. We discuss the connections between creativity, sexuality, the body, and the sacred feminine, as well as womens’ health and healing through creativity, community, and the arts. Many women deal with a range of reproductive health issues like endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids, and menopause symptoms, often in isolation. Even in the 21st Century, women’s health often still feels like a...
2024-01-1143 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 18: Creative Spark Series - 2024 Creative Intentions with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick For our very first episode of the new year, we’re doing something new! A couple of things, actually. We’re moving to a weekly release schedule, and introducing a new series we’re calling Creative Sparks to help stimulate your creativity. Every other week, Syncreate Co-Founders Melinda and Charlotte will co-host a mini-episode focusing on a specific aspect of the creative process to help stimulate your creativity. As with our longer episodes, we’ll end with a Creativity Pro-Tip that you can immediately put to use to enhance your creative work. For this first Creative Spark episode an...
2024-01-0410 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 17: Creative Collaboration - The Joy and The Pain with Syncreate Podcast Producer Mike OsborneIn our final episode of 2023, Melinda and Mike reflect on our collaboration in developing and producing The Syncreate Podcast over the last year, from its ideation phase to the present. We talk about Melinda’s inspiration for the show, some of the myths and stereotypes she wants to dispel about creativity, and (now that we can laugh about it) our creative friction in bringing the show to life. We’ve landed in a good place, so it’s all good. But collaboration isn’t always easy, and this episode offers a view behind the curtain into our own creative process...
2023-12-2834 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 16: Creativity, Innovation & Leadership with Robert Cleve, PhDWhat is creativity and how do we study it? If you’re curious to learn more about the study of creativity and innovation, this episode is for you. My guest today is Dr. Robert Cleve, head of the Creativity, Innovation, and Leadership Specialization at Saybrook University. We talk about how Robert recently updated the curriculum to better address the complex problems we face as a global community. We also discuss everyday creativity, and how we can use our innate creativity not only to survive, but heal ourselves and to enrich our lives.For our Cr...
2023-12-1425 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 15: Leadership, Burnout & Personal Sustainability with Dr. Katherine SemlerWe’ve all likely experienced some degree of burnout or overwhelm in the course of our lives, especially since the pandemic. But what exactly is burnout? How can we recognize the signs of it, prevent it from overtaking us, and heal from it once we’ve experienced it? My guest on the show today is Dr. Katherine Semler. Katherine has worked for 25 years in the field of leadership development. She is a senior partner at Korn Ferry and an adjunct faculty member at Ashridge Hult Business School. She is the co-author of Running On Empty, a book about burnout and...
2023-11-3025 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 14: Anatomy of a Song with Singer/Songwriter George McCormackSongwriting, like many creative pursuits, can be a mysterious process. There’s no set formula for writing a song, and each songwriter approaches it in their own unique way. My guest today is George McCormack, a British singer-songwriter who performs as Son of Cormack. George and I were introduced by a mutual friend last year and started collaborating musically. You’ll hear us playing together during the episode, with George on guitar and lead vocals, and me on bass and backing vocals. Our focus in the conversation today is his songwriting process, with a focus on the song, ”Accelerate to a S...
2023-11-1634 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 13: Creativity as a Foundation of Resilience with Cyrus Gray IIIThis episode, featuring Cyrus Gray III, demonstrates how creativity can support resilience, even under extremely difficult circumstances. In Episode 11, I talked with Dylan Hayre about the creativity in his criminal justice reform work. In this episode, we hear about the criminal justice system from the perspective of someone who found himself behind bars for nearly five years, four of those awaiting trial for murder, all the while maintaining his innocence. This episode is very personal to me, as you’ll hear. I served as a juror on Cyrus’ trial, which gave me a troubling window into the crimi...
2023-11-0229 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 12: Creativity, Inclusivity and Community Theater with Sharanya RaoSharanya Rao is a leadership, team, and career coach with an emphasis on equity and inclusion. She’s also the Artistic Director of Leela - An Indian Community Theatre in Austin, Texas. Her current project, Anklets in the Boardroom, gives voice to South Asian women’s experiences in the workplace. Her project is a living example of creating in community, in service of positive social change, which is one of Syncreate’s core principles. Our conversation in this episode focuses on how she’s brought together a “confluence of passions” with her work in coaching, DEI, and theater, culminating in Anklets i...
2023-10-1929 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 11: Leadership, Values, and Criminal Justice Reform with Dylan HayreDylan Hayre is a leader in criminal justice reform focusing on supervision in probation and parole. We connected through his work and leadership, and from the start I was struck by his passion and drive, not only for criminal justice work, but in his striving for self-cultivation in leading from his core values and principles. Dylan is a highly creative thinker, bringing an innovative approach to solving the problems of a complex and highly entrenched institutional system. Our conversation in this episode focuses on the creativity in Dylan’s work, as well as the values and principles he brings to...
2023-10-0526 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 9: Music and Psychology - "The Pocket" Experience with Dr. Jeff MimsDr. Jeff Mims is a psychologist, creativity expert, musician, and researcher. His work focuses on the relationships between music, health and well-being. He holds a doctorate in humanistic psychology with a specialization in creativity studies, as well as a master's in rehabilitation counseling, and a bachelor's in film and cinema studies. Currently he’s the operations lead at the Music and Expressive Arts Center of Oklahoma. For his doctoral research, Jeff focused on the musical experience of “the pocket.” This term comes out of the jazz world, when a group of musicians performing together come into a collective flow state...
2023-09-0726 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 8: Grief, Healing, and the Artist’s Life with Anne Myers ClearyAnne Myers Cleary is a visual artist, as well as a writer and musician, based in Indianapolis. Anne majored in art at Kenyon College, and studied vocal performance and opera at Longy School of Music in Boston and the Jacob's School of Music at Indiana University. Her work has been featured as part of the Encore Sotheby’s Visiting Artist Series, The Harrison Center for the Arts, Kuaba Gallery, the Carmel Clay Library, and the St. Margaret’s Guild Decorator’s Showhouse. Anne shares in her Artist’s Statement: I believe in the importance of imagination, make believe...
2023-08-2424 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 7: The Syncreate Story with Syncreate Co-Founder Charlotte GullickOne of our primary areas of focus at Syncreate involves honoring the power of collaboration and community in the creative process. So I’m thrilled to bring you my conversation with Charlotte Gullick, my Syncreate Co-Founder. Charlotte is an author, novelist, memoirist, and educator. Her first novel, By Way of Water, was chosen by Jayne Anne Phillips as the Grand Prize winner of the Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Awards Program. Her nonfiction has appeared in a number of prestigious literary journals, including The Rumpus, The Best of Brevity, The Los Angeles Review, and Hippocampus. Charlotte and Mel...
2023-08-1026 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 6: Gratitude, Gentleness, and Generosity with Mayela Padilla ManasjanOne of the most powerfully creative things we can do as leaders and changemakers in this complex world is to identify and live from our core values. As a creativity and leadership coach and consultant, I always encourage my clients to articulate their core values and utilize them as compass points in their work. My guest in this episode, Mayela Padilla Manasjan, exemplifies this values-driven creative leadership. Mayela is an environmental scientist as well as a poet and photographer. She’s also the Executive Director of Casa Werma, a Buddhist retreat center in Patzcuaro, Mexico. She leads from what sh...
2023-07-2726 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 5: Creative Global Citizenship with Filmmaker and Screenwriter Shuja UddinCreativity benefits from a diverse array of perspectives and experiences. The more creative inputs we have, the more we experience life and the world around us, the more stories and ideas we can observe, live, and share. In this episode, we talk with Austin, Texas-based Shuja Uddin, a screenwriter, filmmaker, and professor of media studies originally from Karachi, Pakistan. We discuss the diverse influences on his storytelling and creative process, from growing up in the bustling metropolis of Karachi, to traveling the world, to studying at Boston University, as well as moments of comedic impersonation. Credits:
2023-07-1323 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 4: Stewarding Change with Wellness Coach & Personal Trainer Reem KhashouChange is hard. Our natural tendency is often to resist it, even if we know it’s good for us. Change represents the unknown, and so we often fear it. That’s why we need people like Reem Khashou, a Wellness Coach and Personal Trainer, to help us implement lasting change in our lives. In this episode, we discuss the mind-body-spirit connection, Reem’s own health and wellness journey, and her approach to stewarding change in her clients. We also examine the transtheoretical model of change, transpersonal psychology, and the importance of daily practices like meditation on the path to wel...
2023-06-2920 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 3: Creative Polymathy with Musician, Photographer, and Podcaster Michael WalkerMelinda came across the term “creative polymathy,” meaning interest and skill in multiple creative fields or disciplines, a few years ago at a creativity conference, and it really resonated. The nature of creativity is to make associations between disparate ideas and inspirations, so it makes sense that creative people often have talent and ability in more than one area. Michael Walker is one of these people; he’s a musician and songwriter, as well as a photographer, podcaster, and the Director of Many Things at Positive Energy, a building science consulting firm based in Austin, Texas. Michael recently released a coup...
2023-06-1524 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 2: Embodiment and Creativity with Physical Therapist Thais Bicalho SilvaWe often talk about the mind-body connection, but how does this relate to creativity? Embodiment refers to the state of fully inhabiting our physical selves, as well as our internal, phenomenological experience of living as a physical being. Many of us have complicated relationships with our bodies, especially those of us who have experienced trauma in some form or another (which is most of us). Yet, the body is also a fundamental source of creativity, as we explore in this episode with physical therapist, dancer, and Feldenkrais practitioner Thais Bicalho Silva. Our conversation explores the healing power of movement...
2023-06-0121 minThe Syncreate Podcast: Empowering CreativityEpisode 1: Audio Storytelling with Podcaster and Environmental Scientist Michael OsbornePodcasting has become such an important medium of creativity, carrying on a long tradition of oral storytelling that stretches back to the beginnings of human history and culture. But what makes a successful podcast and how do you create one? Today’s guest, Michael Osborne, PhD, stumbled into podcasting while working on a PhD in environmental science at Stanford, and never looked back. Over the last 12 years, he’s hosted and produced several very popular and critically acclaimed shows with themes ranging from humans’ impact on the environment and big data to dead celebrities and how to live a meanin...
2023-05-1821 min