Embracing Conscious Creativity with Dr. Minette Riordan

What does art and your business have in common? Join us as this guest shares how she created a successful and thriving business using creativity for more ease. And don't miss her fantastic strategies. Trapped by the belief that I'm not good enough, bound by the limitations and the lies that consumed my world, this was me.

It wasn't until I took the biggest leap in my life to know and trust the power within. And it was at that moment I made a choice. My past will not define me anymore. Hello, I am Terri Karadzula, and I know I am not alone in this.

Over the years, I have found that the number one mistake that we make is that we get in the way of our own success story. Yes, I said it. On this show, together we'll tackle limiting beliefs, self-sabotage, getting stuck, fear, doubt, overwhelm, and the imposter syndrome. Join us on this journey designed to transport you beyond your limitations to a world where anything is possible.

This is Talking With Terri. Welcome back to Talking With Terri, where we're having powerful conversations to transform your life and your business. And I am super excited for our guest today, Dr. Minette Riordan.

It's Minette. Minette Riordan. Okay. She is a modern day Renaissance woman, transformational artist, writer, award-winning entrepreneur, and advocate for creativity as essential to the wellbeing of all people on our planet.

I can't wait to dive in. She has appeared on TV, radio, and podcasts around the globe. She has built two successful businesses and worked with thousands of business owners and published three books. Welcome to the show.

Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. I am excited too. So for those that are just jumping on and just hearing your magnificence today, let's share the backstory for them to catch up to speed here.

How did you get to be where you're at today? Man, it's been a journey, right? Like, you know, when I think about- It's such a loaded question. It is such a loaded question.

In 35 seconds, share how you- In 35 seconds. And so from PhD at Stanford University in Latin American literature to business coach has been a journey of several decades, several businesses along the way. But about eight years ago, I sold my publishing company. I had a parenting magazine based in the Dallas, Texas area.

My family and I moved to Santa Barbara, California, where I'm still so excited to get to live every single day, even eight years later. And I knew I wanted to be a coach. And I had been selling advertising for eight years and I thought, how hard is it going to be? This is kind of my mantra.

How hard is it going to be? I love it. I think. And, you know, I saw I kind of jumped into coaching.

And I realized that the energetics of selling coaching was completely different than it had been selling advertising. Because advertising was a product, right? Like it was very tangible. And coaching was this very intimate, personal thing.

And I was promising these results for people. And it was such an adventure. And in the process, it took a lot of mindset work, a lot of clarity around who my ideal client was, and a lot of money work, right? A lot of money mindset around really befriending money, making it okay to charge money for my services, and just a lot of really letting go of the outcome, which is where the art comes in.

So part of my own practice of becoming an artist, so I am a creative mentor and business strategist for other creatives. I love teaching creatives how to make money. And I think we can all make money and that there's no such thing as the starving artist myth. We can just debunk.

Thank you. Yes. Thank you. Thank you.

I won't get on my soapbox right now. I like the selling art. I just put it on Facebook and it sells. It's not that hard.

You just have to ask, right? You just have to ask. But as part of my journey to really coming back to self as an artist and to claiming the word artist, which was a whole nother podcast journey, probably, what I recognized was this learning to sit in the process and let go of the outcome. And it had this masterful impact on my thinking and also my energy around selling that I learned to just settle in to deep listening in these conversations and to really enjoy being in the conversation and to really put the client first.

And there have been plenty of sales conversations where I didn't make an offer, where I recommended someone else, or I made a lower cost offer, not a high cost offer. So there's something for me around the connection between painting and sales it probably worth even digging into more for me personally but that it was a turning point for me and letting go of outcomes And when I was able to do that my income skyrocketed Well you think about that I mean you well, first of all, thank you for sharing this because this is really juicy information because I think sometimes we go into entrepreneurship and we're like, oh, it's going to be a walk, you know, an easy journey and like, oh yeah, how hard can it be?

And then you realize, and I said this the other day on a show that, you know, the best personal development is going and starting your own business because anything that you've been hiding from, anything that you've been avoiding, resisting is going to come up at some level in your business, some level of your relationship. And if it's not in your, your business relationship, it's going to be in your personal matters. It's going to be in your, you know, so everything gets like, I mean, we become like these, like, I mean, we're just so vulnerable on so many different levels, but it's such great work.

And I feel like it's the work that we get to do to really, you know, step into what our purpose and our passion and our, you know, really our, our, really our true calling in the world. Right. So you say this beautifully in that sense, in the sense that, you know, you let go of the process, right. Um, let go of the outcome or I'm sorry, let go of the process, let go of the outcome and enjoy the process.

And I think if you look at that parallel to business ownership, like that's like, for me, that's letting go of the how, right. Of letting go of, you know, what this is going to look like at the end. And, you know, I have kind of a similar background. I have a counseling background and I had, I got certified in art therapy as one of the modalities in expressive arts.

And so we'd always say like, it's not, it's not the end results that we're looking at. It's the process in that, who you're becoming. So it's, oh, I see that such parallels to that. And so, so a big shout out and thank you to Megan Conter for connecting us because there's a lot of parallels and art therapy is a perfect analogy.

And, you know, so I do a lot of creative mentoring and helping women connect to their creativity, get unblocked and figure out what's stopping them. And the thing for me that I have to keep reminding people is I'm not an art teacher. I'm not going to teach you techniques and tools. I'm going to teach you how to fall in love with the process and the journey and to bring play back into our lives.

Like I think the thing that's missing in entrepreneurship is play because it's hard work and we got to balance that out. You know, I remember my stepdad saying to me when I was a kid, right, all work and no play makes Jane a dull girl. And those old cliches are so true. And I realized that I am freely admitting I am a workaholic, a total overachiever.

I am a lifelong learner. I love, I love this is my soul sister from another mother. And I love what I do. And it's very easy for the hours and the days and the weeks and the months to go by.

And I'm not quite seeing the results that I want. And yet I find that my mantra for the last two years has been the more I play, the more money I make, the more I play, the more money I make. Love it. Or time off I take, the more money I make.

Well, we're talking about the brain now. We're talking about opening and unleashing this, the right, you know, hemisphere of the brain, which is all creativity. I mean, I think about innovation. I think about, you know, possibility all lives, you know, within that space.

And we start to open that up and we start to peer inside I feel like, and I'm right there with you. We have a craft room down in our basement. Some days, like today, it has seen better days. But we go down there and it's always interesting because I've been teaching my daughter about experiment, like life's an experiment.

And so she'll come down and she'll like, mom, I was throwing something away the other day. And she's like, don't throw this away. It's like these little pieces of plastic that I was using for something else in this little craft project. And she's like, don't use this away.

You know what I'm do. She's like, I'm going to dip those in pain and do that. And I was like, she's like, I'm going to experiment. Right.

But I just think that like when I'm looking back, I'm like, wow, I'm starting to have her start to think about stuff, how to use things in different ways. Right. And so that I believe carries over into that kind of innovative thinking outside the box kind of mentality. It does.

And you know, it's, so creativity as a concept is so fascinating to me. We were, you know, talking about that ahead of time. So when you think about creativity and innovation in the workplace, it's all about problem solving. And it's not about beauty, which for me, so much of creativity is about personal self-expression.

It's about curiosity and wonder. It's about creating beauty in the world. And I think that gets left out of corporate creative thinking. And it's one of the things I love about design thinking processes or bringing art therapy tools into innovative process because it's expansive.

And I don't even want to think outside the box There is no box What do you do when there no box What other constraints can we create for people And my daughter the same way And boohoo I officially an empty nester as of two weeks Congratulations It a celebration and grieving all mixed up together But same thing. She would come into my studio and play or paint. I have so many canvases that she started. And it's just okay.

It's okay for them to come in, to play, to experiment, to use the tools that are available and not to make a total mess though. So I hear you. Yes. That's why we have carpet in our downstairs that we don't care about.

So we have in my studio too, because I'm the one who gets paint all over everything, not her. Yeah. You know, but again, it's about, and I, I watched my kids and they, they have that, that same, it's all about the result. And I think it's the biggest wound and damage that we've created in people from the get-go, every generation for the last, since the industrial revolution, that we've made it all about the result and not about the process.

And when it's about the result, it also isn't about human connection. It's not about the people. And it's so important to pull all that back and look at how can we make this, bring this back to pouring our hearts, our most authentic selves into what it is that we're creating and then building relationships with the people who really need it. I just had an email conversation with one of my creative business coaching clients today.

I don't know who my ideal client is. You know, they get so frustrated. I'm like, just pick, it really doesn't matter. Just pick a place to start building relationships.

Like who are you passionate about showing up in service to? And we get so worked up in the details that we forget. And so my email back simply said, breathe, pick one. Right.

And we forget about that tweaking process. I like to share, like, it's like a tweaking, like we can start somewhere and then like, we have all good intentions that that might be the place we end up. And then if we need to, if it doesn't work out and you're like, Oh, that, no, that was a little off. Okay.

Let's, let's, let's go 10 degrees to the left. And then, okay, that feels better. And okay. There's something still a little off and let's just move it another 10% and we'll target like lunch.

And it doesn't require much effort if we're willing to kind of go through that process, process of exploring that process of, you know, sometimes it's a process of elimination and seeing that contrast of going, yes, this is what I like. And this is what I don't like. And okay. And you're right.

It is about all about, about the process and you're right. Coming like, I'm a type a, like get stuff done kind of girl. Like, I think you and I are like seriously right there. But I, I agree.

Like, I think sometimes we've been forced into or told or shown or taught that this is the way it has to be instead of allowing ourselves, you know, that more of that creative space of, you know, exploring and, you know, kind of figuring things out, you know, and allow them to come to us. Right. You know, I think of, you know, early on, I think of oftentimes if we have that creative ability early on, we utilize it and people go into schools and, you know, you know, they have a specialty, right?

But if we're not using it, we lose it, right? And I don't know if that's the thing. So how can, what's your greatest advice or greatest tip on helping people tap back into? Making time to, for creative play and making it not be another project because as entrepreneurial professional women raising kids often, we don't need more projects, right?

We have a long list of projects. What we need is more play, more exploration, more process. And so setting aside as little as 10 minutes a day to just put color on paper. There's two things about tapping back into our creativity.

One is committing to practice a few times a week. And that means sitting down, just doodling like you and I were talking about before the interview, putting color on paper with markers crayons oil pastels watercolor and not having it be about making something we don't need another project we need play time and the second thing is is to use what i call creative constraints i have a seven steps system that i teach people to access their creativity and the favorite one is constraints pick two supplies or pick a piece of paper and three colors and because we can oftentimes get overwhelmed by the plethora of supplies in our art cabinet.

We love buying all the supplies, but I've also had clients who got terrified walking into an art supply store. Where do you start? What do you pick? So you pick one thing, pick watercolors, and then today paint with yellow And so I think the more that we simplify the process again detach it from the outcome we not trying to draw Da Vinci style photos or be Picasso The impact of a regular creative practice is that it calming It soothing For women it's a form of meditation and mindfulness without actually having to sit still.

But the more we give ourselves the opportunity to sit and just play creatively. For some people, it could be dance, gardening, cooking, just allowing ourselves the time, which we don't ever do because we're busy women, but creating time to give voice to the things that make us feel good. That is creative expression. And I want to be really clear that I think we're all creative and that for me, creativity is not about art.

Art is one tiny expression of creativity, music, dance, writing. My husband's an incredible software engineer. He's a programmer. He's super creative at programming.

Science is uber creative. Yeah. How, you know, it's amazing the experimentation and the level of creative thinking that happens in every industry. So if you're assuming that you're not creative, I will prove you wrong.

Yes. I love that. And I think you're right. Like using that muscle, I think it's like, it's using that creativity muscle.

and my daughter and I, we started this little, I don't know what you would call it, where we would take an object. I don't even have a random object right now with me. Oh, you know, like this, like those that can't see it, but it's like, it's a little, it's like a, it's an eyeglass case, right? But it's cool because it folds down into like nothing, but we would say, okay, and go.

And when we say go, that triggers both of us. And we're like, oh, what could it be? Well, if I hold it like this, it could be a cell phone. Like, and you know, like we go through and then she says one, I say one, I, and we keep going back and forth and we keep using the device back and forth until we're like exhausted.

And so sometimes it will go for like a half an hour. We're like, oh, it could be a boat float. It could be this, you know, and it just is one of those things that it just becomes because we're starting to see an object in a different way. Right.

And so, you know, sometimes she'll, I just feel like that helps us, especially in business, tying this back to business. Like everyone's like, how does this tie back to the business? Like it ties back in every single way, but it also ties back to like, when we get stuck in our business of making choices or having, you know, a certain way, it's like, Oh, my brain's already trained to start looking outside of that possibility. It's like, oh, you know what?

I, you know, it could be X, Y, and Z, you know? So I think it's just, it's really fun to start like incorporating somehow, somewhere that creativity in our lives. And one of the other things that I like to do is license plates. When you're driving, I will like come up with like acronyms or like sayings.

It's like, you know, I don't know. It's like HTY and it's like, oh, ha, you know, like, you know, whatever it is, like I'll come up with it, but it's coming up really fast with it. And it's just silly. It's silly stuff.

It's nonsensical, nonsensical stuff. But still it's creative thinking and it stretches your brain outside the norm, which brings so much value back into your business because then you're never stuck, right? And you're literally doing it while you're driving at the stop sign, you know, or your stoplight and you're like just entertaining your brain. You know, so I love that.

I love it. so this has been delightful so how do people connect with you how do they reach out to you and just fill up on your brilliance if you will thank you for asking so the easiest way is to go to my website which is just my name manette riordan.com and i am a facebook junkie i'm also on instagram and everything is just my name manette riordan i had my aunt one time trying to find my phone number and she looked me up online she says you're really easy to find i'm like good That's kind of the point.

That's kind of the point. Yes. Now saying it might be a whole different other story. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. I love it. Well, this has been absolutely delightful.

You are just a brilliant light. Thank you for bringing creativity. And I'm saying this because I just think that this is what we, the work that you're doing is such a gift. So thank you for being the light and sharing your gifts with the world.

Thanks. It makes me happy every day. Awesome. Thanks for having me.

Well, check out her website. And until then, thank you so much. I am so grateful that you joined me for this episode. If you've enjoyed this, then there's just one thing that I would like you to do.

Click to subscribe and leave me a rating and review. As my way to thank you, let's connect for a free consultation. Just reach out to me at TalkingWithTerry, that's T-E-R-I.com to book your time.

Utilizing creativity in your business can unlock innovation, game-changing thoughts and ideas to help you move your business forward. And I invite you to play with this concept a bit and see what you discover.