The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity
Welcome to Syncreate, where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology, and spirituality. Our goal is to demystify the creative process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative.
Creativity. It’s a word we throw around all the time, but what does it really mean? On the Syncreate Podcast, we share stories of the creative journey. We talk to changemakers, visionaries and everyday creatives working in a wide array of fields and disciplines. Our goal is to explore creativity in all its facets, and to gain a better understanding of the creative process – from imagination to innovation and everything in between.
The Syncreate Podcast is hosted by Melinda Rothouse, PhD. She helps individuals and organizations bring their creative dreams and visions to life through coaching, consulting, workshops, retreats, and now, this podcast. She's written two books on creativity, including Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities (winner of a Silver Nautilus Award for Creativity and Innovation), with Charlotte Gullick. She's also a musician (singer-songwriter and bass player) and photographer based in Austin, Texas.
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity
Episode 100: Creative Spark Series - Celebrating and Reflecting with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
In 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 Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to get out there and start a project you’ve been contemplating or dreaming about, but haven’t started yet. Take a risk, take a leap, follow your passion, and see where it takes you.
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 logo design by Dreux Carpenter.
If you enjoy this episode and want to learn more about the creative process, you might also like our conversations in Episode 1: Audio Storytelling with Podcaster and Environmentalist Michael Osborne, PhD, Episode 5: Creative Global Citizenship with Filmmaker and Screenwriter Shuja Uddin, and Episode 89: The Joy of Awakening with Drupon Lama Dorje & Carolina Putnam.
At Syncreate, we're here to support your creative endeavors. If you have an idea for a project or a new venture, and you’re not sure how to get it off the ground, find us at syncreate.org. Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching, including a monthly creativity coaching group, to help you bring your work to the world. You can find more information on our website, where you can also find all of our podcast episodes. Find and connect with us on social media and YouTube under Syncreate. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review! We’d love to hear your feedback as well, so drop us a line at info@syncreate.org.
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Melinda: Creativity and community are absolutely vital in challenging times. Welcome to Syncreate, a show where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology and spirituality. We believe everyone has the capacity to create. Our goal is to demystify the process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative. We talk with visionaries and change makers, and everyday creatives working in a wide range of fields and media - from the arts to science, technology and business.
We aim to illuminate the creative process from imagination to innovation and everything in between. I'm Melinda Rothouse, and I help individuals and organizations bring their dreams and visions to life.
Charlotte: I'm Charlotte Gullick and I'm a writer, educator, and writing coach. We are the co-author’s of a book on the creative process, also called Syncreate. At Syncreate, we’re here to support your creative endeavors. If you have an idea for a project or a new venture and you're not sure how to get it off the ground, find us at syncreate.org. Our book, now available in both print and audiobook format, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals.
We offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching to help you bring your work to the world, including our monthly Creativity Coaching group. We’d be delighted for you to join us. We'd also love to hear your feedback on the show. Please drop us a line at info@syncreate.org. We're looking for feedback on how we can improve the show, what's resonating for you, and what future topics you'd like us to cover.
Melinda: Alright. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Syncreate podcast. And we are very excited today because it's a milestone. This is our 100th episode, if you can believe that.
Charlotte: Woohoo!
Melinda: I've been doing this show for just about almost exactly two years now. Initially, it was releasing every other week. Then I moved at the beginning of last year to a weekly format. We might go back eventually to the bi-weekly format because it's a lot. It's a lot to put out a podcast every single week. But I'm really excited about this milestone. It's kind of incredible, really, to think about it, because when I first started doing the show, I didn't really know anything about podcasting, and I had to learn it as I went. And I had a great mentor, Mike Osborne, our producer.
I want to give a shout out to him and all the folks that helped kind of get this off the ground, including you, Charlotte. We’ve been doing this these Creative Spark episodes together for quite a while now. And they've been really fun to kind of do a shorter, short/sweet little tidbit of an episode every other week. So…
Charlotte: It’s so exciting. And I'm thrilled you invited me to talk to you about this today.
Melinda: Well, yes. Of course.
Charlotte: So, I remember when we were sitting in your guesthouse in downtown Austin and you and Dreux Carpenter, and John Best, and I, we would get together because we had a strong faith that we wanted to help people with their creativity.
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: And we discussed the possibilities of a podcast. We even did a couple of funky recordings. And because of life circumstances, that particular iteration of the podcast did not work out. But you, Miss Melinda Rothouse, you were like, “I believe in this.” And then, I also think there was something else happening at the same time that like, kind of pushed you to go through the discomfort of not knowing of how to do this. And you said, “My voice and this topic matters.” And so, what was that?
Melinda: Yeah. So, just to even backtrack a little bit on that. You know, when the four of us were working together, we tried to do an app around creativity. We worked pretty hard on it for quite a while, never got off the ground. And then we decided to channel all of that energy into the book, which was, you know, a success in terms of we wrote it and published it, and it's out there in the world.
Charlotte: And it’s award winning.
Melinda: It's award winning. It won a silver Nautilus Award for Creativity and Innovation. And we later recorded an audiobook version of it that we narrated ourselves, which we discussed in a previous episode, the process for that. And so, yeah, you know, it was during the pandemic that, first of all, we were like, doing everything on Zoom. I was having tons of meetings on Zoom. So, you know, you start to get used to seeing yourself on video and like, maybe becoming a little more comfortable with that. I wasn't really a big video person before that. But also, this desire to have the deeper conversations about things that matter around creativity, psychology, spirituality, and also, you know, like, to put some different voices out there into the podcast space.
You know, it tends to be a bit bro-y and male dominated, you know? So like, where's the women's voices? Where are the diverse voices? Where are the creative voices? And I felt like it was just kind of part of my personal mission to bring that into being and share what I had learned. You know, I did this PhD in the Psychology of Creativity. (Laughter) And I thought, “Well, you know, I know a thing or two. I've learned some things about creativity, and I know all these really interesting, amazing, creative people all over the world and like, let's make a show.” (Laughter)
Charlotte: Awesome. You know, it's fascinating to me that you were saying that you got more comfortable during the pandemic seeing yourself on camera, but don't you have a degree in performance studies?
Melinda: Yes, I do. (Laughter)
Charlotte: And like, that's an interesting thing. So, can you talk about that a little bit?
Melinda: Yeah. So, I mean, I've also mentioned on the show multiple times that when I was a kid, I had this strong desire to sing, but I was very shy. And when I first started performing, I would get up on stage and I would like, shake and my cheeks would turn bright red. And for some reason, I still wanted to do it. It wasn't about the fame and the glory. It was something deeper that was driving me to do that. And so, over many, many years, you know, I was in theater and music and all different types of performance through high school and college. And then, I started writing my own music and playing in bands and performing. But you're not necessarily on video.
You know, there's something about video that can be very self-conscious. And I went through a similar thing earlier in my life. I studied classical voice and opera for many years, and when I would sing and, you know, often part of the voice lessons were recording yourself, and then you had to listen back, and I hated it. I couldn't stand it. It made me cringe because what I was hearing on the tape at that time, did not match what I was hearing in my head, and it was so cringey. Eventually, over time, somehow, what I was hearing on the recordings and what I was hearing in my head came together.
And now, to the point where they're basically one and the same. I don't know exactly whether that was like, learning to control my voice or also getting just more comfortable with the experience of hearing myself. But you know, it can be very self-conscious. And I think video even more so. Like, seeing yourself. Like, there's many of us that don't even really like seeing ourselves in photographs, let alone on video. (Laughter)
Charlotte: Right. Right. It's so interesting. It sounds like with practice and exposure, like, you've gotten more comfortable with seeing yourself in this format, and that the discomfort that it evoked wasn't as large as your desire to share the message.
Melinda: Right. And that… I mean, we can get into a whole conversation about ego, right?
Charlotte: Right. (Laughter)
Melinda: Are we so focused on our self-consciousness that it inhibits us from doing the things we want to do? Or do we find ways to get through that and get past that because we do feel like we have something that's worth sharing and worth putting ourselves out there for, whatever that looks like?
Charlotte: And ego's role, right, is to protect us and keep us safe, but it can also keep us shut down. And they're very legit reasons why people don't have the support they need in order to move… like, the self-consciousness becomes paralyzing.
Melinda: Of course.
Charlotte: So let's say you meet a young woman who is like, “I might want to go into podcasting, but there's already so many voices and I don't even know what I'm doing.” Like, what advice would you give that young person… or old person?
Melinda: Yeah. Right. (Laughter) Yeah, I think it’s about taking the leap, taking the risk. You know, if you feel like you have something that you want to share with the world, you know, the world does need to hear all of our voices and not only the voices that happen to be dominant. In fact, that makes it even more important. Why we need the other voices. And, you know, if you have a desire and a drive to do that, you know, take the risk and ask for help.
You know, I think the only way I was able to get this podcast off the ground again is because of Mike's help and support. You and Dreux, of course, were very supportive as well from the beginning. And I didn't do it alone. Some people do. Some people just do a podcast from their closet and that's awesome, you know. But I had some guidance and some mentoring around that, that really helped me feel like, “Okay.” (Laughter) “I don't know what I'm doing, but I have someone who does, and they're helping me figure it out.”
Charlotte: So, mentorship, right? That's awesome. And it also seemed like part of your vision… and I think this aligns with what at Syncreate we want to do, is make a greater number of people feel empowered with their creativity. And I think one of the ways you've lived into that, is by showcasing a true variety of voices on your show. Like, I think sometimes people might be like, “What’s the through line?” And you're like, “They’re cool.” (Laughter)
Melinda: Right. They’re cool and creative and they can talk about their creative process. Yeah.
Charlotte: Yeah. So, like, it's important for you to amplify voices, not just your own.
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: And I think about, like, what's that word? Not the retrospective or the ‘oeuvre’, (laughter) of the show… not the oeuf, the oeuvre. (Laughter) But, like, you have some… do you know what I'm talking about?
Melinda: I think so.
Charlotte: What’s that, like -
Melinda: Yeah, like the French word, oeuvre. Of your body of work?
Charlotte: Yes! That’s what I’m trying to say.
Melinda: But it sounded like you said ‘oeuf’, which is egg. (Laughter)
Charlotte: That's why I was like, “Not oeuf… oeuvre”.
Melinda: Right. Love it. (Laughter)
Charlotte: So, when you think about the egg, I mean the 100 shows. That's a lot of work and it is a real milestone, like you said. But like, it's kind of like you had a few ideas about who you would have on the show and then also just trusting that life would lead you to the next guests. Can you talk a little bit about what it's like to only have a shaky sense of who you're interviewing, what the content of the show will be, and yet, still going forward.
Melinda: Yeah. For sure. Like, you know, I initially drew from people that, you know, are part of my sort of everyday circle. And then, you know, I do have like the blessing that I travel quite a bit. I go to these conferences. You know, I meet people working in creative fields and often, you know, invite them then to come on the show. So, it's been amazing just to broaden my own network of creatives and then people refer people to me. You've referred some wonderful people to me. And then, now as the show has gotten more established, I have more and more people reaching out asking to be on the show, which is really fun as well.
But like, you know, leading up to this hundredth episode, I'm going to be traveling for a good bit of the summer, and maybe we’ll touch on that. And so I'm trying to record, you know, a bunch of episodes before I leave because I won't be able to do it while I'm away. And so, it's been a little bit of a scramble of like, “Okay. Who do I want to have on the on the show leading up to this hundredth episode?” And actually, I've ended up with a wonderful slate of guests that I'm really excited about.
But, you know, sometimes it's a scramble, you know. And I do most everything myself, from the booking to, I use this wonderful studio Record ATX in Austin, for the recordings, which makes it really easy. But then there's all the post-production and editing and pulling clips and transcripts and show notes and website and publishing. And you know, I have some help with some of those things - social media - but I do a lot of it myself and it's a weekly process. It's part of my weekly schedule. And so to that end, I will note that that we are planning to take a little production pause later in the summer, like, at least for the month of August, maybe into September, just to kind of regroup and see where we're at. And, you know, where do we want to go from here? And then, we'll be back in the fall.
Charlotte: Excellent. Excellent.
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: I'm wondering if, are there any particular shows (which may not be fair because they're all your babies)… are there any particular shows you were like, “Oh, that one is really just… I'm so glad I did that one.” Or that’s a voice, I don't know, that other people might… it's not necessarily creative… or like, are there any particular shows that stand out to you that you're very proud of, and/or they taught you a lot.
Melinda: I mean, so many. And it is hard to name. One of the ones I did recently that I really enjoyed was this show with Lama Dorje, the Tibetan Buddhist teacher, and Carolina, his assistant and translator, and that one was both in English and Spanish. And we were going back and forth with Carolina translating, and then had to figure out the transcript in Spanish. And I got some help from my friend Mayra in Mexico with that. So that was a real collaboration. But that was a really fun one. But also, you know, it's been wonderful to highlight a lot of the creative community here in Austin. You know, folks from Austin Community College, Prudence Arceneaux, Marcus McQuirter, Shuja Uddin, and many other folks from Austin, as well as some of those folks that I've met from attending these different conferences around the country.
And, you know, again, and I love our Creative Sparks, too. You know, they're fun, they're quick. We have this very natural rapport because we've known each other for so long and work together now. And I love the idea of the Creative Sparks that people can just take a quick, you know, a quick like, shot of creativity and then go out and try something on their own. So, I like the variety between the shorter Creative Spark episodes and then the longer episodes with guests.
Charlotte: So, who was your first guest?
Melinda: So my very first guest was Mike Osborne, the producer. You know, and he's a veteran podcaster. He has quite a popular show right now called Famous and Gravy, which is all about kind of examining the lives of dead celebrities. But he also produced several shows for Stanford when he was there. He did his PhD there. More kind of scientific shows, generation Anthropocene and raw data. And so, he was like… what we kind of agreed to do in the beginning was like, a series of five pilot episodes. And again, those were mostly with people here in Austin that I already knew that, you know, were willing to come and take a chance on this little experiment I was doing.
And I think they turned out great, you know. And of course, it's evolved and changed over time, you know, since that time. And I've learned so much about being a host and the kinds of questions to ask. And again, just getting comfortable with talking on camera and, you know, on audio in this way and relating with guests. And thinking about, you know, the kinds of questions that help draw people out to talk about their creative process and so forth.
Charlotte: I think one of your knacks is the ability to go deep in a platform that can stay pretty shallow sometimes. (Laughter)
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah.
Charlotte: I admire that. And so, asking good questions seems like one of the lessons learned.
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah. For sure. And, you know, I wasn't necessarily a huge podcast consumer before I started doing this show. Of course, I listened to some podcasts here and there, but I was always a big fan of people like Terry Gross from Fresh Air and Krista Tippett from On Being on NPR, and just the depths that they would get to with guests. Often creative people are people involved in some aspect of sort of the spiritual journey. So, those were some of my kind of role models, I guess.
Charlotte: Cool. Thinking about people creating their advisory board. You got Terry Gross there, you got Krista.
Melinda: Yeah. Totally. (Laughter)
Charlotte: So, at Syncreate, we believe in celebrating in milestones. So, how are you marking this milestone for yourself?
Melinda: Yes. Well, part of it is that it's coinciding with this trip I have coming up, which I have mentioned before. I applied and was accepted to an artist residency in the north of Iceland. So I'll be there for the month of June, working on my own music. And so, you know, the podcast has also, you know, informed my own creative work in various ways and inspired me to, you know, walk the walk. I'm here talking about creativity, and I have a lot of my own creative projects, but there's a synergy there between the show and my own work. So, that's one way I'm celebrating. I guess just doing this episode with you today is a celebration of sorts. And then, taking a well needed break for a little bit.
Charlotte: So important, right? To like, regroup, get some objectivity on things, be restored so that you come back to it with a fresh eye on what it is that you enjoy the most, and what can you leave behind that doesn't, “Oh, it feels like I had to do that, but now I can choose whether I want to continue to that particular part of it or not.”
Melinda: Absolutely. Absolutely. So, I think that kind of leads into our Pro Tip, which is like, go out there and do a thing that you've been dreaming of, you know. Start a project. Maybe you've had something, just like a little seed percolating in your mind and like, “Maybe one day, I could do this.” And that's how it happened for me. You know, I marinated on this project. I had the idea for it, but I held it close for quite a while. And then finally, at a certain moment, I was ready to like, “Okay. I'm going to do this. I'm going to try it and see what happens. I don't know if it will succeed. If it will fail. I'm sure I'll learn something from the process.” But just taking that leap and taking that risk to start a project.
Charlotte: I think it's so key because it's one of the ways we learned to trust ourself in the world, is listening to what our dreams are, and taking a small step in that direction and, you know, self-trust is hard.
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: Particularly when there are a lot of voices saying ‘no’, or your voice doesn't matter. Or “What do you have to bring to the conversation?” And that I trust myself enough to say, “I have an idea that I want to share, and I want to amplify other voices. And I'm going to do this.”
Melinda: Yeah. And I think also, you know, seeing other people doing it, hopefully that's an inspiration. You know, like, “I don't know if I could ever do that, but like, if this person's doing it over there, maybe I can.” You know? So...
Charlotte: Or how do I brush up against that? Could I be a guest on the show?
Melinda: Absolutely. Baby steps. Yeah.
Melinda: Cool. Well, congratulations on your 100th episode, and thank you for doing what you're doing. It's important.
Melinda: Thank you. Yeah. I still love it. So that's a good sign. (Laughter)
Charlotte: “The 100th episode. I still love it.” That’s your tagline.
Melinda: Exactly. (Laughter)
Charlotte: Find and connect with us on YouTube and social media under @syncreate. And we're now on Patreon as well. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review.
Melinda: And again, we'd love to hear from you, so drop us a line any time at info@syncreate.org. We'd love to hear your feedback, if you tried some of our Creative Sparks out and you want to let us know how it went or have ideas for potential topics or guests you'd like us to cover.
We're recording today at Record ATX Studios in Austin, with Charlotte joining us from the Hudson Valley. The podcast is produced in collaboration with Mike Osborne at 14th Street Studios here in Austin. Thanks so much for being with us, and see you next time.
