If you’ve ever found yourself clambering up the creative career ladder - but the reality felt more like free-falling from a loop-di-loop, then I promise you - you’re not on your own.
Being creative - consistently creative - over many years takes stamina, guts and more than a smattering of resilience. Don’t panic, this isn’t another podcast telling you to hustle harder. I’ve been there and got the burnout badge to prove it.
I’m interested in finding the people who are taking small steps of courage and making the creative work that they care about. When things don’t always go to plan, I want to know, what does it take to keep being brave, make meaningful work and not lose your creative mojo (or mortgage) in the process?
Keep being courageous,
If you've enjoyed any of these episodes or think a conversation on courage would help a friend, I'd appreciate a review. It takes less than 30 seconds and can really boost the chances of Call On Courage being discovered by others. Thanks so much 🙏🏻
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Interested in developing your personal brand, story or ideas on social media? Clare Hooper embodies the "just have a go!" attitude with style and creative flair. She's a natural in front of the camera and loves kick starting social media newbies' confidence. Her art teacher creds are evident. She's a coach rather than a hard to reach influencer. I've learnt tons from her attitude. On the quiet, she's sharing her grombre (that's grey + ombre hair colour if you're not there yet) videos to nearly 3 million people monthly on Tik Tok.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Interested in developing your personal brand, story or ideas on social media? Clare Hooper embodies the "just have a go!" attitude with style and creative flair. She's a natural in front of the camera and loves kick starting social media newbies' confidence. Her art teacher creds are evident. She's a coach rather than a hard to reach influencer. I've learnt tons from her attitude. On the quiet, she's sharing her grombre (that's grey + ombre hair colour if you're not there yet) videos to nearly 3 million people monthly on Tik Tok.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Interested in developing your personal brand, story or ideas on social media? Clare Hooper embodies the "just have a go!" attitude with style and creative flair. She's a natural in front of the camera and loves kick starting social media newbies' confidence. Her art teacher creds are evident. She's a coach rather than a hard to reach influencer. I've learnt tons from her attitude. On the quiet, she's sharing her grombre (that's grey + ombre hair colour if you're not there yet) videos to nearly 3 million people monthly on Tik Tok.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Lockdown 3.0 here we go. What's it like when you're trying to build a creative business and nothing much is happening? Where do you find encouragement? What validates your creativity? What makes you uncomfortable before your audience has grown or shipping plenty of orders? I say you. I've been mainly asking these questions of myself in the last few months. I have no neat answers. But I am coming round to (slightly) appreciating the benefits of being hidden.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Lockdown 3.0 here we go. What's it like when you're trying to build a creative business and nothing much is happening? Where do you find encouragement? What validates your creativity? What makes you uncomfortable before your audience has grown or shipping plenty of orders? I say you. I've been mainly asking these questions of myself in the last few months. I have no neat answers. But I am coming round to (slightly) appreciating the benefits of being hidden.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Lockdown 3.0 here we go. What's it like when you're trying to build a creative business and nothing much is happening? Where do you find encouragement? What validates your creativity? What makes you uncomfortable before your audience has grown or shipping plenty of orders? I say you. I've been mainly asking these questions of myself in the last few months. I have no neat answers. But I am coming round to (slightly) appreciating the benefits of being hidden.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Ever wondered what might have happened if Emma Watson hadn't landed the role of Hermione Granger? In a parallel universe, JK Rowling had Hermione's backstory starting out in Croydon, rather than Oxfordshire. Yep. Little known fact. My sista from a different mister auditioned for Harry Potter. Hannah is someone who I've known to be consistently courageous. The knock back at 10 years old, set Hannah up well for choosing a fast paced career in law. In this episode we get into the tricky zone of courage in friendship and what challenges come with facing up or backing out of difficult conversations with friends.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Ever wondered what might have happened if Emma Watson hadn't landed the role of Hermione Granger? In a parallel universe, JK Rowling had Hermione's backstory starting out in Croydon, rather than Oxfordshire. Yep. Little known fact. My sista from a different mister auditioned for Harry Potter. Hannah is someone who I've known to be consistently courageous. The knock back at 10 years old, set Hannah up well for choosing a fast paced career in law. In this episode we get into the tricky zone of courage in friendship and what challenges come with facing up or backing out of difficult conversations with friends.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Ever wondered what might have happened if Emma Watson hadn't landed the role of Hermione Granger? In a parallel universe, JK Rowling had Hermione's backstory starting out in Croydon, rather than Oxfordshire. Yep. Little known fact. My sista from a different mister auditioned for Harry Potter. Hannah is someone who I've known to be consistently courageous. The knock back at 10 years old, set Hannah up well for choosing a fast paced career in law. In this episode we get into the tricky zone of courage in friendship and what challenges come with facing up or backing out of difficult conversations with friends.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Alice is one of those brilliant women I bumped into at church and bonded with over music and many a night out. 10 years on I’ve seen her take on many challenges with her career and creativity. In this episode Alice opens up about a difficult year of unemployment. She’d been ace-ing it in a dream job and worked at a director level in an arts company. She felt the time was right to move on but things didn’t quite turn out as expected. Especially when you find yourself cleaning up toe nail clippings for cash in Didsbury. Alice talks from the rough edge of experience and finding a quiet, steely, day by day courage.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Alice is one of those brilliant women I bumped into at church and bonded with over music and many a night out. 10 years on I’ve seen her take on many challenges with her career and creativity. In this episode Alice opens up about a difficult year of unemployment. She’d been ace-ing it in a dream job and worked at a director level in an arts company. She felt the time was right to move on but things didn’t quite turn out as expected. Especially when you find yourself cleaning up toe nail clippings for cash in Didsbury. Alice talks from the rough edge of experience and finding a quiet, steely, day by day courage.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Alice is one of those brilliant women I bumped into at church and bonded with over music and many a night out. 10 years on I’ve seen her take on many challenges with her career and creativity. In this episode Alice opens up about a difficult year of unemployment. She’d been ace-ing it in a dream job and worked at a director level in an arts company. She felt the time was right to move on but things didn’t quite turn out as expected. Especially when you find yourself cleaning up toe nail clippings for cash in Didsbury. Alice talks from the rough edge of experience and finding a quiet, steely, day by day courage.
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I met Rebekah through Ladies who UX. She has drive, a natural knack for bringing people together and impeccable dress sense. Hmm, I knew we'd get on great. Rebekah has a beautiful intellect and incredibly humble with it. She pushes for better and got an ability to open, What if...? questions in other people. She's challenged her creativity to go from digital design into the the new realm (and often misunderstood) world of service design. Big companies are complex and service design offers problem solving across the breadth of a company. Rebekah also has a passion for leadership. She's keen to see more creatives step up. I asked her how much she'd charge to be my design mentor. She laughed and said she wanted to be my friend. So that's what happened. I'm massively grateful to call her that.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
I met Rebekah through Ladies who UX. She has drive, a natural knack for bringing people together and impeccable dress sense. Hmm, I knew we'd get on great. Rebekah has a beautiful intellect and incredibly humble with it. She pushes for better and got an ability to open, What if...? questions in other people. She's challenged her creativity to go from digital design into the the new realm (and often misunderstood) world of service design. Big companies are complex and service design offers problem solving across the breadth of a company. Rebekah also has a passion for leadership. She's keen to see more creatives step up. I asked her how much she'd charge to be my design mentor. She laughed and said she wanted to be my friend. So that's what happened. I'm massively grateful to call her that.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
I met Rebekah through Ladies who UX. She has drive, a natural knack for bringing people together and impeccable dress sense. Hmm, I knew we'd get on great. Rebekah has a beautiful intellect and incredibly humble with it. She pushes for better and got an ability to open, What if...? questions in other people. She's challenged her creativity to go from digital design into the the new realm (and often misunderstood) world of service design. Big companies are complex and service design offers problem solving across the breadth of a company. Rebekah also has a passion for leadership. She's keen to see more creatives step up. I asked her how much she'd charge to be my design mentor. She laughed and said she wanted to be my friend. So that's what happened. I'm massively grateful to call her that.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
This is Tony, he's my brother from another mother. We grew up in Preston together. We started hanging out in a big group of friends at 17. It was obvious he was destined for a life focused on joy, people and connection. One of life's brilliant storytellers. Tony started out in law, then did a media agency and then went into comedy. He met his wife Clare, at a gig. They have two children and live in Manchester. He lives a life that's honest, real and with some audiences, a bit white knuckle. He's full of stories and has a ton of courage.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
This is Tony, he's my brother from another mother. We grew up in Preston together. We started hanging out in a big group of friends at 17. It was obvious he was destined for a life focused on joy, people and connection. One of life's brilliant storytellers. Tony started out in law, then did a media agency and then went into comedy. He met his wife Clare, at a gig. They have two children and live in Manchester. He lives a life that's honest, real and with some audiences, a bit white knuckle. He's full of stories and has a ton of courage.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
This is Tony, he's my brother from another mother. We grew up in Preston together. We started hanging out in a big group of friends at 17. It was obvious he was destined for a life focused on joy, people and connection. One of life's brilliant storytellers. Tony started out in law, then did a media agency and then went into comedy. He met his wife Clare, at a gig. They have two children and live in Manchester. He lives a life that's honest, real and with some audiences, a bit white knuckle. He's full of stories and has a ton of courage.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
What happens when you go for a hard to reach dream; make it happen; and then change your mind? Anna knew from elementary school she had her sights set on computer science. Not just dabbling in it as a hobby, but diving in and skilling up in her teens. She held a question that focused her, What do I do to get to Facebook? She leaned into that dream and went for it. And achieved it. In a world of choice overwhelm, choosing to develop a sharp focus to become an expert at something, especially early on, can really make you stand out. But then came the moment of realising there was something else after all the study, dedication and late nights. Something that was missing. And couldn't be ignored. Anna's U turn was a sharp one.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
What happens when you go for a hard to reach dream; make it happen; and then change your mind? Anna knew from elementary school she had her sights set on computer science. Not just dabbling in it as a hobby, but diving in and skilling up in her teens. She held a question that focused her, What do I do to get to Facebook? She leaned into that dream and went for it. And achieved it. In a world of choice overwhelm, choosing to develop a sharp focus to become an expert at something, especially early on, can really make you stand out. But then came the moment of realising there was something else after all the study, dedication and late nights. Something that was missing. And couldn't be ignored. Anna's U turn was a sharp one.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
What happens when you go for a hard to reach dream; make it happen; and then change your mind? Anna knew from elementary school she had her sights set on computer science. Not just dabbling in it as a hobby, but diving in and skilling up in her teens. She held a question that focused her, What do I do to get to Facebook? She leaned into that dream and went for it. And achieved it. In a world of choice overwhelm, choosing to develop a sharp focus to become an expert at something, especially early on, can really make you stand out. But then came the moment of realising there was something else after all the study, dedication and late nights. Something that was missing. And couldn't be ignored. Anna's U turn was a sharp one.
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Here's a voice you might recognise... from Rochdale, a comedy foil to Radcliffe and Maconie and bridging the music gap between classical and the avant garde. It's Elizabeth Alker. Affectionately known as Alkerpops by most. (Or Alker-traz and Alker-stezer by Guy Garvey). I met Elizabeth a few years ago and had a friend's view of what it takes to do a career in the music industry. She's reported from Glastonbury, The NME Awards, The Proms and The Brits. She's brave, curious and possesses a wealth of music knowledge.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Here's a voice you might recognise... from Rochdale, a comedy foil to Radcliffe and Maconie and bridging the music gap between classical and the avant garde. It's Elizabeth Alker. Affectionately known as Alkerpops by most. (Or Alker-traz and Alker-stezer by Guy Garvey). I met Elizabeth a few years ago and had a friend's view of what it takes to do a career in the music industry. She's reported from Glastonbury, The NME Awards, The Proms and The Brits. She's brave, curious and possesses a wealth of music knowledge.
Go to episodeThe Latest episode
Here's a voice you might recognise... from Rochdale, a comedy foil to Radcliffe and Maconie and bridging the music gap between classical and the avant garde. It's Elizabeth Alker. Affectionately known as Alkerpops by most. (Or Alker-traz and Alker-stezer by Guy Garvey). I met Elizabeth a few years ago and had a friend's view of what it takes to do a career in the music industry. She's reported from Glastonbury, The NME Awards, The Proms and The Brits. She's brave, curious and possesses a wealth of music knowledge.
Go to episode