The Ugly Podcast: Recent Episodes
Lauren Alexander and Emerson Lee
Emerson and Lauren talk about business things and living more openly and fully through willingness to make “ugly” things—including this podcast! We are entrepreneurs and long-time friends who strive to integrate creativity and authenticity into our businesses and our lives.
In this episode, I talk with fellow editor and book coach, Sabrina Estudillo Butler, about standing in our values and saying the quiet part loud. We discuss how it feels in our bodies when we step out of our comfort zones and speak up about injustice and the inner criticism that inevitably pops up when we are new or feel like an imposter. We touch on the issues in publishing as a white, cis, straight, able-body-centered industry, and why it’s so important to speak about these topics to effectuate change.
Whenever we dare to say something important and lean into our values, I firmly believe we make the world a little better. And it’s scary to do that! Which is why I wanted to have this conversation with Sabrina to talk about doing the scary thing anyway and how it feels in the moment, amid the transformation.
You can learn more about Sabrina’s work on her website unpolishedwords.com and follow her on social media for more: @unpolishedwords on Instagram and Sabrina Estudillo Butler on LinkedIn.
References:
Juno Creative
PEN America Report: Reading Between the Lines
Open Letter Criticising PEN America’s Stance on Israel-Gaza War Reaches 500 Signatures
Today’s episode is all about the importance of queering up the creativity process and I am lucky enough to be joined by M Eifler (they/them), a San Francisco-based artist who uses art and technology to explore disability as a hotbed of innovation.
M and I talk about the way their disability has helped them evolve their creative approaches, including their #ArtSchoolFromBed series, the importance of starting where their body is rather than a level of skill, and how their disability actually means they do not have the energy for perfectionism. M also shared how they use a scientific-method-type approach to creativity as a way to invite and welcome the messy and ugly (!) results.
You can find M’s work on their website blinkpopshift.com and you can support them on their Patreon and possibly host of their incredible pieces by becoming a patron.
References:
Art 21
Activist affordances
Ugly Laws
In this episode, I chat with Switzerland-based writer and fellow healing perfectionist Jo Bahdo about their recent season of writing project, defining what perfection even is, taking steps to heal distrust in ourselves after we haven’t shown up consistently for our craft, and the value in having a “no such thing as mistakes” mindset when it comes to practicing our art.
Jo Bahdo (they/them) is a writer, an avid reader, and a regular cinemagoer and is currently co-directing the Swiss Youth Film Festival in Zurich. They have published two poetry collections and also have two newsletters, one about their current projects and one for writers and creators, all of which you can check out on their website! You can also find Jo on Instagram.
References:
Art Attack
1000 Words of Summer
The Ugly Podcast is back from hiatus, and I couldn’t think of a better person for this episode than Emerson Lee, my creative partner and former co-host. Emerson and I both share big life events we’re currently grieving, how making art and having an expansive mindset is helping us process our grief, how weird time is, and the joy in allowing ourselves to explore what we want in this moment, no matter how messy or nonsensical it seems.
We also touch on the book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman which reminds us how insanely short our time here on earth is. My conversation with Emerson was an important reminder to prioritize figuring out what brings you joy.
If you haven’t already, go follow Emerson on Instagram @letsmakemoment for education around disability justice, dementia, and living fully.
References:
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
Welcome to Night Vale
Hi Jinkx! with Jinkx Monsoon
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
“We Can Do Hard Things” by Trish Melton
In this episode, I'm rejoined by my fellow editor and twin perfectionist, Erika Steeves! We're back to talk about perfectionism but through the lens of Katherine Morgan Schafler's book, The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control, the book that asks the question: What if your perfectionism is actually a superpower?
We were both deeply impacted by this book as it aligns so well with the path we'd already begun with our perfectionism and then adding another layer of shame-shedding by transforming what had been perceived as a weakness into a superpower. How cool is that? Be sure to check out our first episode on perfectionism, Tolerating Imperfection. And follow Erika on Instagram @erika.steeves.edits.
This episode launches me into a hiatus with the podcast so I can rest and focus on my own healing for the time being. The Ugly Podcast will return in either the fall or the winter depending on how said healing goes. 🤷🏻 In the meantime, you can follow me on Instagram @scribeandsunshine. Keep making ugly things and lean into that perfectionism in new ways. I can't wait to see what we all do next!
References:The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control: A Path to Peace and Power by Katherine Morgan SchaflerGet Your Perfectionist Profile
Get ready for ugly-ception!!! In this episode, I'm joined by publisher, editor, author, and maker, Kim Werker, to discuss our parallel discoveries: that ugly art makes everything better! Kim made her discovery seventeen years ago at a fateful crafting party where, in a bout of intense imposter syndrome, she was inspired to make a hideous doll...on purpose. Ever since then, she's fallen in love with making ugly things and wants everyone else to join in on the euphoria. Sound familiar??
We talk about our shared love of ugly art, our original creative wounds, the immense consequences of having the courage to saying yes to new and scary things, and the ripple effect it has on the people in your life.
To keep in touch with Kim, you can follow her on Instagram @kpwerker, or head to her websites ninetenpublications.ca or digitsandthreads.ca. You can also buy her book, Make It Mighty Ugly, to learn more about her story and how you can integrate more ugly into your life!
References:Austin Kleon
On today's episode, I'm joined by Merle Saferstein, writer, journaler, and legacy work educator. Together we talk about the joys of journaling, how it's useful to get to know ourselves, process our messy feelings, and consider new perspectives as we navigate our relationships and worries. We also talk about Merle's work as a legacy educator and how she helps people live more intentionally by asking them to live out the legacy they want to leave behind. Merle has been journaling since 1974, and for fourteen years, she culled through her 359 journals taking excerpts according to approximately seventy topics. In June 2022, Living and Leaving My Legacy, Vol. 1, a book containing eleven of these topics, was released. The second volume will be published this month on June 20.
As the director of educational outreach at the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center for twenty-six years, Merle worked closely with hundreds of Holocaust survivors helping them to pass along their Legacy of Remembrance to hundreds of thousands of students and teachers. When she retired from the Holocaust Center, she developed a course entitled Living and Leaving Your Legacy® and teaches and speaks to audiences locally, nationally, and internationally.
You can get in touch with Merle at merlersaferstein.com and you can find her books on Amazon!
References:Gateless Writing
After a brief hiatus for my vacation, I’m so glad to bring this episode to you with my guest Gauri Yardi, a writer and multidisciplinary creative, naturopath, and creative wellbeing coach. She creates resources for tired and burnt out creatives to help regain the energy to make their incredible art through holistic nervous system care. Gauri noticed that when professionals would discuss burnout, they would talk about mindset and sleep, but rarely about the way stress impacts our body. She’s determined to change that.
We discuss why it’s so hard to rest, how it can be downright painful sometimes when we’re used to being flooded with stimuli, and the ways we can start to care for our nervous systems using what Gauri calls the Four Pillars. Gauri’s accessible approach to nervous system care sets us on the path to healing and finding a fulfilling creative practice that avoids burnout.
You can find out more about Gauri’s work through the links below!
Instagram: @gauri.yardi
Website: gauriyardi.com
Creative burnout quiz
Ebook/Audiobook: A Creative’s Guide to Burnout
Re.Creation Masterclass
References:
Pokey the Penguin
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Butterflies (feat. Aurora) by Tom Odell
Sophie Cannata-Bowman is an anti-perfectionist book editor and writing coach, a playwright, theatre performer, rock climber, and amateur herbalist. In today’s episode, she joined me to look at improvisation and the ways it can help us get unstuck and find a more joyful writing practice. We talk about Sophie’s experience growing up around creativity and storytelling, her study of plays and acting and the ways a writer’s words can be translated by actors.
In the writing world, there are a lot of rules that people want us to follow and a heavy focus on critique. But what if we focused more on opening the valves of our creativity and emotions? How far could we stretch ourselves if we allowed improvisation to lead the way rather than form and function? Maybe we’d have a little more freedom to find joy in our practice.
You can get in touch with Sophie to learn more about her coaching and editing services at sophiacbowman.com or on Instagram @the.antiperfectionist.editor.
Today I was joined by my kindred perfectionism buddy and editor of speculative fiction, Erika Steeves. We talk about our instant connection over perfectionism when we met last year, and you might hear some familiar descriptions of your own perfectionism and self-doubt that echo in your head each day just as it does ours. We discuss how ugly art has helped us build up a tolerance for imperfection–because what is perfectionism but having zero tolerance for imperfection?–and slowly, over time, we’ve been able to do scary things even when our bodies scream at us to cancel recording a certain podcast episode (ahem).
Erika has found comfort in focusing on the process of art rather than the product, and we discuss the irony in waiting until you CAN do something before you’ll actually do it. How exactly are we supposed to get to that point if we won’t start somewhere?? Perfectionists, this one is for you. I mean, this whole podcast is for you, but this episode especially.
You can get in touch with Erika through Instagram @erika.steeves.edits or through her website erikasteeves.com.
References:Creating Through Perfectionism Workshop: ko-fi.com/scribesunshine/shop
Can you believe it? One whole year of The Ugly Podcast! I’m so proud of my little bundle of joy, and to celebrate, my original co-host and lifetime creative partner, Emerson Lee, joins me for a vulnerable conversation about coming to terms with the messy middle. We’re both painfully honest about where we’re at with our businesses, and I had to come down from a monster vulnerability hangover afterward, which I’m sure will rear its head again as I officially release this episode. But I think it’s important to share with you all how things are going and how I’m truly filled with so much self-doubt these days. But the important thing is that I’m not letting it stop me from looking ahead and celebrating what I’ve accomplished in one year of podcasting.
We talk about the limitations we place on ourselves, coming to terms with our art when it doesn’t yield fame and fortune, and the futures of our businesses and exciting things to come. If you haven’t already, go follow Emerson on Instagram at @letsmakemoments for education around disability justice, dementia, and living fully. You can also purchase their MoMoMaps and Treasure Hunt sessions at makinghappymemories.com/services.
References:
Medora Frei’s memoir, These Are My Flowers: My Story of Composting Trauma Into Colorful Art
This week I’m joined by Cami Ostman, the founder of The Narrative Project. She’s written for Adventures Northwest and the Psychology Today blogger series as well as her own blog: 7marathons7continents.com. Cami has been profiled in O Magazine, Fitness Magazine, The Atlantic, and the Washington Post. Cami believes words are powerful and that we CREATE our identities with words—as we write, we become! We chat about Cami’s original creative wound, how she came to write her memoir, Second Wind: One Woman’s Midlife Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents, and her four pillars of successful completion—the ingredients necessary to finish writing your book (or tackling any big challenge in life!).
Cami runs The Narrative Project, which offers programs and resources for writers to get their books done. Cami’s nine-month program provides the four pillars we talk about in this episode so that you can finish your story. At The Narrative Project, they believe that writers are the change agents and movement makers in the world, and that everyone deserves to share their story. If you’d like to get involved with them, go to thenarrativeproject.net and sign up for their free monthly Mastermind Your Book meeting, complete their Inner Critic quiz, or apply to the nine-month program!
References:Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Today I’m joined by Mae Wagner, an author, speaker, advocate, trauma mentor, and community builder. We discuss what it means to use creativity to process trauma by helping identify harmful coping mechanisms, find agency, and listen to our intuition. Mae says that creativity allows us to shed light on parts of ourselves that thrive in darkness, paving the way for healing and self-discovery.
We also talk about Mae’s own relationship to creativity and the freedom that came with taking her own advice she’d been giving to clients for years: Yes, she too was creative and was allowed to delve into her messy creativity without the pressure of perfection. 🤯 To learn more about Mae’s work or to purchase her memoir, head to rainydayinmay.com or find her on Instagram @rainydayinmay.
References
We Can Do Hard Things Podcast w/ Glennon Doyle
Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy
In today’s episode, I chatted with artist, writer, and accidental astrologer, Heather Buchanan. You know her from her distinctive, goofy, watercolors and oil paintings with noseless faces as well as her weekly, totally real, horoscopes, Horror Scoops. We discussed her days of painting portraits and when she realized that she wanted to find her own style rather than relying on what other people wanted to see and what would make her money. Along with that process came putting in hours of work that no one would ever see, dealing with the fear of showing work that’s completely different than people were used to seeing, and learning to trust her inner weirdo.
Talking to Heather gave me so much hope in the creative process. Particularly in the hours of work that no one will see–those scribbles and doodles, those tiny poetry blurbs and short stories and first drafts–it’s all flexing the creative muscles and getting to know who you are and what you want to bring into the world. And when we bring our authentic weirdness into our art and share it with others, we give everyone permission to show up in their weirdness too. What a gift!
You can follow Heather on Instagram @heatherbuchanan and @horror.scoops, and you can purchase some of her incredible art at heatherbuchanan.ca.
References:
Heather’s interview with CBC
Hanni’s Kim Kardashian sculpture
Leisa Greene, the founder of Indie It Press, spent the first forty-one years of her life completely unaware that she had anything creative to offer the world. Coming into her creativity later in life, Leisa immediately felt the imposter syndrome. “Who do I think I am?” “I haven’t been dreaming of this since I was a kid, so I must not be a real writer.” In learning to navigate the creative process, she began learning more about imposter syndrome and how all artists of every medium and every level experience imposter syndrome. And in fact, the antidote–if there is any–is to simply realize that we’re not alone. We talk about the origins of Indie It Press, a platform for indie artists who struggle with imposter syndrome, which aims to rip down the gates that prevent so many new writers from pursuing their dreams by giving them a place to share their work, get published, and improve their craft.
When Leisa joined me for this episode, I thought we’d be talking about the imposter experience–and we did, don’t get me wrong–but what we ended up connecting over the most was our deep gratitude for this creative life we get to explore. Our conversation turned into a joyful celebration of why we keep going even though we feel like we’re frauds. And that’s what you deserve too! Because even though we might always feel like imposters, expressing our creativity is also where we find the most belonging.
You can connect with Leisa on Instagram @indieitpress or indieitpress.com or follow her personal Instagram page @leisa_greene. This year with Indie It Press is the Year of Creativity, and they’re offering new membership packages and courses for writers to advance their skills and join a community of creatives. Head to their website to learn more!
My guest today is changing how I see myself as a writer. Meg is a developmental editor, writer, journalist, and certified Gateless Writing teacher, and her new Gateless Writing salons aim to take down the inner critic and get writers more deeply in touch with themselves and their creativity. Gateless Writing is a framework developed by acclaimed author and Fulbright Scholar Suzanne Kingsbury and is based in neuroscience and Zen principles. In a communal space, it removes the fear of rejection from the creative process, allowing you to quiet your inner critic and encourage your creativity to thrive. The emphasis on critique and harsh feedback that permeates writing culture can make us feel like we just can’t “hack it” or that we have nothing to say that’s worth hearing. But the beauty of Gateless Writing is in moving away from what is “good” or “bad” and instead finding what resonates and what is powerful, and then letting it go by speaking it aloud to each other.
I joined her first Gateless Writing salon a week before recording this and was electrified by the experience. It was humbling and bolstering all at once. We talk about how using this method helped Meg realize that she has more to say and has inspired her to get back to writing for the sake of writing, and she is now working on her first novel. You can try out this method with Meg by signing up for her upcoming Gateless Writing salons in January, February, and March. Be sure to sign up for her newsletter as well to stay in the know about future salons and offers, and follow her on Instagram @bymegmcintyre for more delightful writing content.
In today’s episode, I’m joined by another Lauren who is basically my twin. Lauren Henderson is a self-proclaimed creative dabbler. She’s been an engineer for consulting firms for twelve years and is specialized in technical editing and quality control. Throughout most of those years, she’s had creative side hustles, including book review blogging, selling used books, making pottery, and freelance editing. After deciding to pursue freelance editing about two and a half years ago, she ran into roadblocks around mindset and childhood trauma and since then has been leaning into her creativity as a way back to herself and her purpose. Her current creative hobbies include watercolor, writing, energy work practices, and most recently, performing in a musical.
We talk about how easy it is to get stuck in our heads about creative pursuits, either holding ourselves back entirely or fixating on things to save us from how we’re feeling. It’s so easy to let our minds run the show and get stuck on a hamster wheel of perfectionism and inaction. What Lauren has come to learn is that getting back into our bodies and learning to recognize our own creative spirits can help us break the cycle. And you just might find that it’s not as scary as you thought it would be! To stay in touch with Lauren, you can follow her on Instagram @laurehender.
References:
Puttylike
My guest today is Rey Ward, a youth development professional who uses art and creativity as part of a trauma-informed practice when serving young clients. Working with kids has taught them infinite lessons on seeing beauty in imperfection and finding healing in the process rather than the result. We talk about how creativity gives us space to run free and get our brain zoomies out—because we’re just a bunch of weird little animals after all—and how kids need that unstructured space to let go of the perfectionism that’s already ingrained in them at such a young age.
There is this compulsion to treat art like an assignment—How do I do it? What are the rules?—and we talk about the freedom that comes along with reframing your worldview to see that there are no rules in creativity (or in life). We have the freedom to make this life what we want it to be. So how can we connect to those parts of ourselves that want to roam? How can we center those parts of ourselves that are often pushed to the wayside? What do you really want and how do you want to express yourself? We discuss how ugly art has helped us start to find these answers for ourselves.
References:
Favianna Rodriguez on Instagram @favianna1
In this episode, I’m joined by Alex the Undercover Novelist. She is the host of the Novel Marathon podcast and a lifelong writer and learner. She started the Novel Marathon podcast after years of writing classes and a failed NaNoWriMo attempt as a way to hold herself accountable and help other writers through their book writing journey. We talk about exchanging a fixed mindset for a growth mindset and realizing that it’s never too late to start allowing yourself to grow and change.
Alex has made it a point to insist that this first novel she’s writing is BAD. Doing so allows her to continue moving forward and remember that the next draft can and will be better because we’re always learning. If you’re interested in joining Alex on her current marathon or want to join her on next year’s marathon, be sure to subscribe to Novel Marathon at novelmarathon.com/newsletter. You can also follow her on Twitter, Substack, and Instagram.
References:
Mindset by Carol S Dweck
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
On Writing by Stephen King
The Artist’s Way Morning Pages Journal by Julia Cameron
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
The Gap by Ira Glass
The One-Year Novelist by L. M. Lilly
Story Genius by Lisa Cron
This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley
Twitter #smorewords
In this episode, I talk with Anni, an author, developmental editor, and writing coach, about the creative process in all its forms and rhythms. There are those times when you’re in the groove and you feel aligned with everything that’s on the page, and—maybe more often than not—there are those other times when you aren’t sure you could use a keyboard if your life depended on it. We discuss honoring your feelings in the moment AND taking the next step forward.
For the past 15 years, Anni has developed her relationship with the creative process through a dance-based meditation practice, finding commonalities between words and movement. She is a lifelong creative who uses somatics to connect her mind and body toward her creative goals and shares about the roles perfectionism, procrastination, and cold showers have in helping her to keep moving forward when things get stuck.
Recommendations:
Blokus (puzzle game)
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
The Gap by Ira Glass
Get in touch with Anni:
Sign up for her mailing list and get “20 Tips for Writing Through Those BIG FEELS!” at www.anneliesekamola.com
Instagram: @anneliese_kamola_author
My guest today is Kharysa Watt, a horticulturalist turned freelance editor and a pencil artist. We chat about the journey to making art for yourself and all the stumbling blocks therein--from fearing what your parents and peers think to learning that it's ok to leave things unfinished and to take breaks when we get frustrated.
On today's episode, I talked with my friend and fellow editor, Gabrielle (Gabby) Goodloe, about the importance of creating community in the writing world. At the end of the episode, we introduce our new writing community, The Writer's Helm. Yo ho!
Content warning: mental health, self-harm, and other health-related traumas.
My guest in this episode is an intuitive abstract artist based in the Midwest. Art has always been Medora's way of composting pain so that something new can thrive from it. Experiences, in all their diversity of intensity and meaning, are what she most portrays with paint. She started creating abstract work in 2018 after a traumatic event, and her passion is to help others heal using art. She creates art in her spare time and loves being able to give back to her community through donated works and classes.
We talk about using art to help us through disease, chronic pain, and mental health. We can't control what happens to us or our loved ones, but we can let our frustrations and our emotions out on a canvas or a page and start to find beauty amid the chaos.
You can connect with Medora and see her work on Instagram (@medorafrei.art) or through her website (medorafrei.com).
References from this episode:The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der KolkWhat Happened to You? by Bruce D Perry and Oprah Winfrey
A change is coming to the podcast, and we thought it was time to finally record part II of our Growth episode. The Ugly Podcast is both growing and shrinking! Growing in that guests will be joining in the following episodes to explore various topics on creativity and mindset in an explosion of creative genius (if I do say so myself). And shrinking in that our beloved Emerson is stepping away from the podcast. We chat about the reasonings behind this change and celebrate our wins and how far we've come together as creatives and entrepreneurs. Growth doesn't happen in a vacuum, we grow when we're supported and feel empowered to play and change. Be sure to thank the people in your life who've helped you grow, just like Emerson has helped me.
Do you have a message or story to share about creativity? If you're interested in being a guest on The Ugly Podcast, message me on Instagram!
Be sure to stay connected with Emerson's work. You can find them at @letsmakemoments on Instagram or at makinghappymemories.com.
In this episode, Lauren and Emerson discuss fun and creativity and how we can merge those two things. We don't always associate creativity with fun, and we want to change that. We get into what kinds of things we find to be really fun and try to figure out how we can incorporate our preferred genre of fun into creativity to break up some of that "homework energy." The consensus? Creating is magic. And we should all be more silly.
Recommendations:Power of Fun by Catherine PriceOlogies with Alie WardMaria Bowler Instagram
Get to know us:Lauren @scribeandsunshineEmerson @letsmakemoments
In this episode of The Ugly Podcast, Lauren is overwhelmed. That's it. That's the show. No, I'm kidding. Lauren and Emerson chat about what overwhelm feels like in our bodies and how it comes up in our businesses--which is a lot, to be honest. But there's hope! We discuss our strategies for dealing with overwhelm and how we view breaks and crying and naps as tiny moments of resistance and how it's ok to let go of false timelines and ideas that are no longer serving our pursuit of "whelm." Take a breather and have a listen!
Keep up with the hosts at @letsmakemoments and @scribeandsunshine.
In a difficult world, Lauren and Emerson cling to small joys to make it through our days. In this episode, we talk about what brings us joy, why we focus on these things, and how we intentionally integrate them into our days.
How do you handle rejection? In this episode we explore how to reframe rejection to be something more playful to help us move forward.
In this episode, Emerson and Lauren take a look at personal growth and ways we've changed since starting our businesses. While we grow, we feel so many feelings, from excitement to fear, and it's tempting to numb those feelings or stand still to avoid growth, but we've learned that it's worth it to lean into growth and trust in what we will discover.
Lauren and Emerson talk about their frustrations with ebb and flow, and they find new ways to find gratitude in it as well.
Emerson and Lauren do a deep dive into perfectionism--the thing that's been controlling our lives for the past thirty years! We talk about how it's affected us throughout our lives and how we've begun to navigate it by addressing our fears, remembering that we're safe, changing what we can, and reframing what we can't. You'll be introduced to the concept of a "bug graveyard," and your life will never be the same--well, it will, but you're gonna laugh more often.
In this episode of The Ugly Podcast, Emerson and Lauren talk about using improvisation in our businesses and personal lives. This could also be known as the Episode of a Thousand Analogies, because that's the only way we could conceptualize how improvising makes us feel: skydiving, playing Dance Dance Revolution, riding rollercoasters. We discuss that horrible feeling called uncertainty and how both of us used to use certainty as a way to help us feel safe. It can be so scary to take action and improvise through uncertainty, but doing so has helped us take huge steps in our businesses and come into our authentic selves.
In this episode, Emerson and Lauren ask ourselves "How do we want to do this?" It's a question that's often forgotten in place of "How should I do this?" and we appreciate that we get to change it up and make the decision for ourselves. We talk about how building a business is a bit like a treasure hunt--scouring our creativity and our desires to figure out how we want to work and what methods work best. Especially in heart-centered businesses, there is so much room for fluid business models, and sometimes that means you're not sure what you're doing! So ask yourself, how do you want to do this?
In this episode of The Ugly Podcast, Emerson and Lauren discuss the power of authenticity.
This is the first episode of The Ugly Podcast! Emerson and I introduce our businesses, where we were before becoming entrepreneurs, and how we integrate creativity into our lives.