#31 – How to Unleash Your Inner Creativity with Creative Life Coach Kate Maxwell | Empowerment & Career Advice

[00:00:00] Loree Philip: Hi, and welcome to the Daring to Leap podcast. I'm your host, Loree Phillip. I am so excited to dive into this week's episode with you. This week, we have a special guest on the podcast. Kate Maxwell is here. Kate and I discussed her career journey, starting in the film industry to corporate, and finally to creative coaching.

[00:00:21] Loree Philip: We went deep on all things, creativity and how you can tap into your creative self. Let's dive in.

[00:00:28] Loree Philip: Kate Maxwell is a certified creative life coach and speaker expLoreeng new ways of being and creating from a place of compassion, adventure, and curiosity. She works with organizations across the film and tech industries with workshops, panel discussions, and coaching.

[00:00:47] Loree Philip: In her private practice, She supports creative leaders who want to make sense of their multiple passions or find more time, motivation, and focus to amplify their [00:01:00] creative impact.

[00:01:01] Loree Philip: Welcome to the show, Kate. So glad to have you

[00:01:04] Kate Maxwell: here. Thank you so much for having me, Laurie. It's an absolute pleasure.

[00:01:08] Loree Philip: Gosh, we chatted like a few weeks ago. And so it's so great to see you and you're back from your vacation. You're in this role now doing , creative coaching. What were you doing before you decided to leap into this kind of work?

[00:01:27] Kate Maxwell: Sure. I was it's this role is an amalgamation of two very different kind of chapters in my life.

[00:01:36] Kate Maxwell: So immediately before. Starting, deciding to retrain as a coach, I was working in corporate, and I landed in corporate, it was a complete accident. I originally went to film school, trained as a filmmaker, worked in that world, and I left for various reasons. It wasn't great for my mental health, and landed in corporate because I just needed a job, needed to pay the [00:02:00] bills.

[00:02:00] Kate Maxwell: And I didn't have it in me anymore to try and break into the creative industries, even just that expression, like breaking into something. So I started on the floor of doing admin and I progressed in the, in that world into kind of projects and change working a lot with software engineers and tech and product.

[00:02:22] Kate Maxwell: And it was simultaneously. Brilliant and really great and I made so many friends like I met my best friends. I met my husband there. But also like soul destroying, yeah I can relate to that for sure. Yeah,

[00:02:40] Kate Maxwell: and I know obviously you have a background in that space as well. Yes, you definitely can relate.

[00:02:45] Kate Maxwell: And I just got to a point where I was like, I was fighting tooth and nail for a promotion. And I was like, I don't know, I just sat down one day and I just thought, Why? Why am I fighting so hard to get [00:03:00] this next step to become a senior person? Why am I agonizing over this? This is taking up so much energy and headspace and really what's it for?

[00:03:13] Kate Maxwell: I don't actually care. It really hit me suddenly. I don't actually care if I get this. Of course it meant something in terms of recognition and et cetera, et cetera. But really like, where was it going? What was there next on the other side of that position, that like senior Analyst type role.

[00:03:31] Kate Maxwell: And I just couldn't see it like I didn't know what was waiting for me. I didn't know what it was for. I didn't know what it would get me closer to. And it was like this thing unlocked inside me and I started to care a bit less and I started to think a bit more about really What do I really want to contribute to society?

[00:03:50] Kate Maxwell: And it felt like a big question. I've never really wanted to be like a teacher or a nurse. The jobs that we traditionally see is contribute so much. And they [00:04:00] do a hundred percent. And I never saw that for me. So it was very difficult to think if I want to make an impact.

[00:04:07] Kate Maxwell: What can I do? What am I good at? And in corporate, I had been coached and I had also been given coaching training and it felt so good and I had such a draw towards it and I just thought, what if? So I started playing around with what if I had a coaching business? What if I was a coach? Who would I want to work with?

[00:04:28] Kate Maxwell: And then I was sort of nostalgic about my days in film and being around storytellers and I had this idea of what if I coached writers? So that's how, that was the kind of leap, that was my daring to leap moment. And projected me into this space.

[00:04:50] Loree Philip: So from that moment where you were hitting your head against the wall trying to get this promotion and then you were like, wait a minute, what am I [00:05:00] doing this for?

[00:05:01] Loree Philip: And we've all been there. It's so interesting because I think. What happens when you have that kind of a traditional job is you see the next step is just the path you're supposed to take. And when you start to try to do it, not because it's do I really want this? What does it mean? But just because, hey, that's the next step because we also don't feel good being just staying put, right?

[00:05:28] Loree Philip: We like to learn. We like to grow. We'd like to expand. So in, in a corporate environment, that's how you do it. You go get the next position you get. That senior title, that manager, that leadership role. And for you, when you started to reflect about that and decide, you know what, maybe this isn't it.

[00:05:46] Loree Philip: And I love the asking the what if questions, those are so fun. And from that moment where you were playing around with what if, until you decided to do [00:06:00] it, how long was that process for you? Was it quick? Was it slow? How

[00:06:05] Kate Maxwell: did that go? Such a great question. It happened quickly. It was like slow then quick.

[00:06:13] Kate Maxwell: And I'm really curious. I don't know if that was your experience as well. But it was like, I started to talk about it with people close to me, like floating it almost to gauge other people's reactions. I guess at that time as well that other people's opinions felt very important. And Just floating it, floating the idea. And then I... through a kind of chance conversation at work, found out that someone who was working on my team was actually writing they're having a stab at writing their first novel. And I was like can I coach you like just as an experiment? Can we just see? And so from that point, then things started to happen quite quickly.

[00:06:52] Kate Maxwell: And then I invested in my first coach around that time. And then it was really just all [00:07:00] happening and I was coaching outside of work, I would coach, I'd leave the house, I'd be coaching someone for free, all of this was like pretty much pro bono just to see what was going to happen. 7am I'd be coaching in a coffee shop, I'd then go and do my day in corporate and then I would stay late in the meeting room coaching someone else and it was a really exciting time.

[00:07:20] Kate Maxwell: And then it was difficult and I think it's. Probably quite a common story when you're setting out on your own, is when do you actually make that cut off between the safety of that full time permanent salaried position and I'm going to chance it. And I was, I had planned initially to go down decrease my hours and do like a nice structured, slowly weaning myself off.

[00:07:50] Kate Maxwell: Before launching myself, but ultimately it just was taking too much of a toll, like it had got, it had become too much, that corporate job, I, my boundaries were just [00:08:00] terrible. And I didn't know how to stand my ground and it was just like, it was just, it was not working. So I had to, in the end, I made the decision that I'm not gonna wait to see if this can become part time.

[00:08:14] Kate Maxwell: I just have to leave. And that's just such a wild experience to I chose my outfit so carefully for the day I handed in my notice. It was just such a crazy experience. And then things happen really slowly then on the other side of that, it felt like it happened quite quickly that point of deciding and testing and then leaving, but then to be self employed and to be building a business that on the other hand is slow.

[00:08:38] Loree Philip: Yes. Yes. It's so interesting because I've talked to so many people about this lately on this podcast and just on this side and there are a variety of experiences for people. It could be like yours at the end. It was like the job itself was pushing you out. And a lot of [00:09:00] people experienced that.

[00:09:01] Loree Philip: It was like just feeling burnt out and everything coming up. That made you decide, okay, I just have to let this go. Yeah. And so that, that is. Very common. And on the other side of it, obviously building a business starting from scratch, that's where you're starting, right? Yeah. And that's a scary part.

[00:09:24] Loree Philip: Yeah. And those types of things contrary to popular belief, do not happen overnight for sure. Oh my gosh, . Just congratulations on your courage and doing it because, At the end of the day, that piece is more fulfilling, whether or not the salaries. There yet, whether or not it's it just feels better.

[00:09:52] Loree Philip: At least that's my experience.

[00:09:54] Kate Maxwell: Oh, I completely agree. Yeah.

[00:09:56] Loree Philip: What I really wanted to shift gears with you now [00:10:00] is I want to pluck out all the gems I can pluck on. Creativity because you come from a creative background. And now your primary focus in coaching is around creativity. I would love to hear you share with.

[00:10:20] Loree Philip: Listeners, how can we become more creative because I, I've actually come around on the topic of creativity over the years. When I was younger, I didn't see myself as a creative person. And part of that had to do with. Right brain, left brain, and I was very analytical and good with numbers and I couldn't draw things, these types of things.

[00:10:50] Loree Philip: And then as I evolved over my life, I started to realize that I was creative in my own unique way. And [00:11:00] I, I think people. We have innately within us so much creativity, and I don't care who you are, , if you're like me, if you just came back from an analytical one brain perspective, it's in there, and as you're stepping forward, helping others draw this out of them, like, where can a person start with starting to, to tap into that create, creative self?

[00:11:27] Kate Maxwell: The first thing I would recommend is to throw away any preconceived notions about what creativity does and doesn't look like. And I love you, you mentioned I don't draw, I can't draw so I'm not creative. Like we have these images that we're given of this is what it looks like to be a creative person maybe you've got to be messy or you've got to be very Or one of the, my, least favorite this is what an artist is images is you've got to suffer for your art [00:12:00] you've got to be poor, you've got to I don't know, you've got to bear your whole heart on your sleeve.

[00:12:06] Kate Maxwell: Yeah,

[00:12:06] Loree Philip: very emotional. Yes, exactly. Ups and downs type of image.

[00:12:11] Kate Maxwell: And I would just encourage anyone who's listening, who wants to be more creative if, Whatever that is you're picturing that you feel like you're not is to just put it in the bin because it's just a pack of lies it's this conditioning that we have, and it really doesn't serve anyone.

[00:12:27] Kate Maxwell: And I feel quite strongly about creating much like a much more diversified idea of what it means to live a creative life. And. How creativity can manifest in your day to day and I guarantee you are creating things like it is an absolute to to be a human being is to create things we literally cannot help ourselves and I just think.

[00:12:55] Kate Maxwell: Finding those moments in your day when you're making something [00:13:00] and it gives you pleasure, whether that's making your bed, and I'm not saying that as a joke like we make our homes, that's a creative action to make our spaces nice, making ourselves dinner if you hate to cook, maybe this doesn't apply.

[00:13:13] Kate Maxwell: But for people that take joy in cooking, like that's a creative action. So to find more creativity, I would invite this process of expLoreeng the actions that are already giving that sense of joy and expression, because I think that's what it is to be creative is to express ourselves and to put our stamp on the world.

[00:13:37] Loree Philip: Yeah. What came to mind too is the act of choosing what you want to wear the act of if you love to take pictures, if you love to the creativity that I noticed coming out through me was interesting. I noticed I would like to. In the corporate world design PowerPoint slides [00:14:00] it's so dumb, but I really cared more about how they looked than a lot of people did and making it look visually appealing and yeah things like that what is your experience with people?

[00:14:15] Loree Philip: So if we start to notice. as a first step where we're being creative in our lives today. What is the progression of that? So that's an opening in my mind. That's where you start to notice creativity when you notice something, it expands, right? So what, where do we go from there?

[00:14:36] Kate Maxwell: First of all, that's just such a beautiful phrase.

[00:14:39] Kate Maxwell: When we notice something, it expands. I love that. It's so true. And I guess that The trap I think we fall in when we're thinking about wanting to be more creative, and this is. fully a capitalist society's doing is we, I feel like the end goal that people see [00:15:00] for their creativity is I've got to monetize it somehow.

[00:15:02] Kate Maxwell: Like I've got to turn it into a side hustle. I've got to find the thing I love and I don't know, or share it via social media or whatever. Like it has to have this end, the end of our creativity has to be consumption. And so that's what I would say is try to resist those stories and those urges, unless that feels really good and natural, in which case.

[00:15:21] Kate Maxwell: Go for your life, go nuts, but it doesn't have to be that way. We can allow our creativity to expand in a very private way and in a way that, that is that has at its core joy and just bringing us joy and richness and So to answer your question, after the noticing of where that creativity is happening organically is to ask that question, what if, right?

[00:15:49] Kate Maxwell: Okay, so maybe it's loving getting dressed to go with your example. So what if you allowed yourself more [00:16:00] space to get dressed? What if you allowed yourself to be more playful and just I think that idea of experimenting and what would be fun, like what would be a really fun way to do that, to keep doing that, to do it in a truer way and keep coming back to your core and how can you express yourself in a truer and truer way is what I would invite.

[00:16:26] Kate Maxwell: And after that noticing moving into the expansion, because I think creativity is always about having fun in a way that feels really true to ourselves.

[00:16:36] Loree Philip: Yeah what came to mind and this is a little bit random from where we were just talking on the expansion and having fun is what I noticed, especially in a professional career incorporate in your work.

[00:16:50] Loree Philip: The, I think what is one of the biggest things to brought blocking creativity is this idea, like this resistance to putting an [00:17:00] idea out there. That's not fully formed. So you're worried about it not being perfect and not aligning with maybe how ideas or whatever are currently looking.

[00:17:13] Loree Philip: And there's this Yeah. Messiness, right? That we have to be okay with. So it's a bit about question around how do we, because ideally, and this podcast is supporting both women in their lives and career, but ideally you can, we can expand our creativity personally in our own safe environments, but it's so powerful to be able to bring that part of yourself.

[00:17:43] Loree Philip: To your work and how do we step across that? It might feel like a canyon, but to get across to the other side and feel comfortable to start bringing some of this forward.

[00:17:56] Kate Maxwell: Yeah, it's a great question. I think it has a lot [00:18:00] to do with our ability to take a risk. And I always invite clients like what's the smallest, because I think it's about safety.

[00:18:10] Kate Maxwell: Because if we're talking about creativity as an expression of our true selves. So if we want to be more creative at work or bring more of ourselves where that's could be quite vulnerable really opening ourselves up. So I would. recommend thinking about what is the smallest creative action I guess you could take or the smallest risk you could take in that space to just start taking those baby steps of bringing more of yourself into your work life and whether that's wear the fun earrings.

[00:18:42] Kate Maxwell: which I would always encourage people to do, or the bold lipstick, or to own spending more time on your PowerPoint and just be like, actually, no I do want this matters to me, how this looks, and what's that kind of small first step, and what could be an [00:19:00] exciting first step as well, it doesn't have to feel scary, although the physical sensation of Fear and excitement.

[00:19:07] Kate Maxwell: They're very close how that feels in our body. So

[00:19:10] Loree Philip: Yeah, definitely. . It's like the matter of how you frame it. So if we're coming in and we're starting to take small steps forward to bring in our creativity into our work, and I appreciate this idea of vulnerability because.

[00:19:28] Loree Philip: If creativity is self expression when you're invested in something or some kind of off idea or some, you spent more time on something than you you're just doing it your own way. There is that fear of a little bit of rejection or Hey let's do something else. And you're like, I just spent all day on this or whatever it is.

[00:19:51] Loree Philip: And there is that vulnerability we have to get past in order to even get take a step [00:20:00] forward for, we talked a bit about on the last episode that aired about failure and taking risks and things like that. And what's interesting is that. We always see the success, the shiny polished and version, and we don't see usually all the steps it took for a person to get there.

[00:20:27] Loree Philip: And so those steps took courage, right? And so I guess my question is, because I know you work with writers and you work with creative people. There's this thing called. Writer's block. Sure. And so even creative people feel stuck, right? And I say that people that identify themselves as creative because we're all creative, so I didn't mean to say only creative people.

[00:20:54] Loree Philip: But you know what I mean? people that identify and have professions in the art of [00:21:00] creativity get to these places of block. How do you, what are the, some of the tips that you help people with to get out of that? blocking stage.

[00:21:11] Kate Maxwell: I'm always curious to get behind what the block is because it's never as simple as I'll always be like, maybe that's just right.

[00:21:22] Kate Maxwell: Let's set a time of 10 minutes and just do something. And that does help, like just literally take, just take action and get out of your own head. I think, cause you just spoke earlier as well about perfectionism and there's it goes so deep, that fear of all my ideas on any good so I can't use any of them.

[00:21:41] Kate Maxwell: They're not good enough. I'll wait for a better idea. And I will, I mean, that's just nonsense, right? Like just always go with what you've got. It will evolve into the best version of itself as you work. And that's what we were talking about before around the process and the messiness in the process.

[00:21:57] Kate Maxwell: And. Writer's block, [00:22:00] creative block. It's a horrible feeling feeling like you've been, your imaginations abandoned you. But in reality maybe there isn't space for our imaginations to speak to us. Maybe actually what is needed is to sit quietly. And just listen and wait. Maybe that's okay.

[00:22:18] Kate Maxwell: Sometimes we can work ourselves to the point of taking all the joy out of it, all the pleasure out of it, and then some subconsciously, perhaps we don't want to even do the work anymore. And the block is a way of us realizing that we've turned it into toil instead of something that feels more expansive.

[00:22:38] Loree Philip: Yeah, I love the idea of. Making something enjoyable and fun and joyful. And just when we talk about creativity, but it's almost like in problem solving and like anything where you are. Wanting to be open and find [00:23:00] creative solutions, ideas, thoughts, inspiration, intuition. It comes from an openness, expansion of, from your heart, from joy, from, so when you're in this.

[00:23:13] Loree Philip: Pressure resistance fear. Oh my gosh. I'm not doing this very well anymore. Everything I wrote was terrible that shuts down. Like you go from expansion to Shuts yourself down and it's that connection and the it's just how our bodies are wired. And so the joy piece makes a lot of sense. That's no matter what you're working on.

[00:23:39] Loree Philip: If you find it to be hard, if you don't want to do it, if you're not loving it, it's gonna continue to be hard. Yeah. And the trick is to finding the little pieces that you can enjoy to work your way out of that.

[00:23:54] Kate Maxwell: And I think as well sometimes, just walk away from it. And. [00:24:00] It sounds quite controversial and this applies as much to jobs as it does to like creative hobbies or projects and like actually sometimes maybe it's okay to just walk away from it and maybe there isn't any more joy to be found and that's okay too.

[00:24:17] Kate Maxwell: And it's time to make space for the next thing. And there's no shame in that. And maybe you got everything you needed to get out of that job, that chapter in your life, that hobby, and now it's time to go and do something else and make room for the new. Yes. And I think what comes up for me around this is the evolution.

[00:24:40] Loree Philip: So depending on where we are in our own personal journey, some things are more we need now. And in 10 years we won't, and we'll have other things that we're interested in like the process. And it's similar with. Creative work, and just work in [00:25:00] general I'm guessing, and I want to get your opinion on this, it's almost 0% chance that the initial idea or thought or were sentence That somebody starts with and at the end of the process and whatever they created is so different From where they started right?

[00:25:25] Loree Philip: And so is that your experience too? It's you know The starting point and then it evolves and at the end it's something you know, not so different, but it's not the same. It's not like you have to be perfect out of the gate, right?

[00:25:41] Kate Maxwell: One of my favorite metaphors for creating things is there are two versions of this, but this is what I like the most is your first go, your first attempt at whatever It's like you're stood in front of a mountain and you're just hacking away at it.

[00:25:57] Kate Maxwell: You're just hacking away and [00:26:00] you're just generating this like massive pile of rubble and you just have to keep going. And then your next go is you can actually start to look at the rocks and think Okay, maybe this one's got a nice texture or this has something about it. And then slowly but surely you assemble the pieces you like and then the next go, you can actually start to carve them and mold them into this kind of like beautiful sculpture.

[00:26:23] Kate Maxwell: And you slowly refine it and sand it until you've made this piece, whatever it is. And I love coming back to that because I love to start new things. I'm always like up for starting or learning a new thing. And it's so hard, like starting something, cause you're just, you are just bad at it, that's what it means.

[00:26:42] Kate Maxwell: Being a beginner is you're learning. You're just, you suck. And you need to keep going in order to find improvement. And I love to bring myself back to that and say, do you know what, Kate? Right now you're just. You're just hacking away and it's fine but it's just maybe a bit rubbish and it's unpolished and it's unfinished and it's just a [00:27:00] pile of debris because that's part of the process.

[00:27:03] Kate Maxwell: And the fact that you even have a pile of rubble shows that you're up for it and you're in it and you're giving it a go. Other people talk about it like you're building sandcastles and your first go is just putting all the sand in the sandbox. It's the same idea, right? Your first attempt is to just amass material in whatever shape that takes.

[00:27:23] Kate Maxwell: Amass experience.

[00:27:24] Loree Philip: Yeah. In my experience too. I love that, that example. And I think it's so useful. What I've realized lately for me is that when you start something, you don't know what you don't know. You take three steps forward and all of a sudden you see something you didn't see three steps back.

[00:27:43] Loree Philip: It wasn't even there even was because we're always learning, growing, seeing things as different perspectives. So it's you have to start. And learn a few things to see then the next thing that you need to see [00:28:00] and uncover it. That's come up for me quite a bit lately.

[00:28:05] Kate Maxwell: Oh, I love that.

[00:28:06] Kate Maxwell: You're in the journey. You're in the process. Yeah.

[00:28:09] Loree Philip: Yeah. And just because this also came up, I was looking at some quotes this week cause I do this wisdom Wednesday and I didn't pick this quote, but I was really like staring at it for a while. And it was a Thomas Edison quote. And he said, I have not failed.

[00:28:30] Loree Philip: I have found 10, 000 ways that have not worked.

[00:28:34] Kate Maxwell: Yeah, I love that. I love that quote so much.

[00:28:37] Loree Philip: It's just Exactly. Like you're expLoreeng and when it doesn't work out, it's not failure. It's information, important information that, that you're uncovering.

[00:28:54] Kate Maxwell: Yeah, absolutely. Like failure. I was in a workshop the other day and someone was, [00:29:00] I was, we were talking about we were doing some like reflective work and one of the participants said one of my goals is I want to.

[00:29:09] Kate Maxwell: Be prepared so that I don't fail. And I was like, nope, stop everything. If I can guarantee you one thing, you're going to fail. Like it is an absolute, it is an absolute guarantee. And the thing that we do with that is to stop seeing failure as final. The full stop at the end of the sentence.

[00:29:30] Kate Maxwell: Failure is just R and par for the course. And you look at it and you say, Wow, that did not go to plan. That is not the result I was expecting. Okay, cool. But I learned something. What am I going to do next?

[00:29:45] Loree Philip: Yeah, and I like to I try not to use the word failure as much because it has such a negative connotation around it because and people see it differently, right?

[00:29:55] Loree Philip: Maybe that presentation or whatever that you're preparing for [00:30:00] wasn't an A plus plus it was a C or B or whatever. It's not an F. You'll have setbacks, you'll have. Changes you need to make, but as long as you don't quit. You didn't fail.

[00:30:16] Loree Philip: So if you get up and you keep trying, so we've talked about that before on the podcast and I love that. It's okay, I can't fail if I don't quit because you're not giving up. Yeah.

[00:30:29] Kate Maxwell: Yeah, absolutely. And I think the other thing to remember is like your version of not good enough or failed for someone else that might be like.

[00:30:39] Kate Maxwell: smashed it. Yeah, right. and we hold ourselves to such a high standard. Yes, exactly. Oh god, it went so terribly. And then you watch a colleague present and you're like, I'm sorry, what? This is so basic. And then you realize that you're holding yourself to this ludicrous expectation of what you should do to be You know, for it to be [00:31:00] good enough and actually sometimes if we relax our own standards a little bit for ourselves and show ourselves a bit more grace, then we might not feel like we failed in the first place.

[00:31:08] Loree Philip: Yes. Showing ourselves a bit more grace is recommended all the time. Especially when we set out to do so much as women with our careers, with our families, with our selves, with our friends, and we've grace, grace, grace for yourself. Don't just give it to others. Bring it in for yourself.

[00:31:34] Loree Philip: Kate, we're going to start wrapping up this conversation. I am curious. For our listeners that are embarking on tapping more into their creativity, any last closing thoughts for them?

[00:31:45] Kate Maxwell: I believe in you.

[00:31:46] Kate Maxwell: You got this. You can do it. And. It might feel uncomfortable, but it's worth it on the other side. Yes.

[00:31:56] Loree Philip: Yes. Thank you for that. And if you could [00:32:00] share with our listeners how they might get a hold of you, learn about your work, connect with you on social media, could you share that with

[00:32:06] Kate Maxwell: us? Absolutely. So I'm on Instagram at it's Kate Maxwell.

[00:32:10] Kate Maxwell: I'm also wherever you're listening to this. I am also in that place. I have a podcast. It's called this podcast is a work in progress. You can join me there as well. It'd be lovely to have

[00:32:21] Loree Philip: you. Thank you Kate so much.

[00:32:23] Loree Philip: And I really appreciate you taking the time to be here with us.

[00:32:26] Kate Maxwell: Thank you so much for having me. I've loved it.

[00:32:28] Loree Philip: Thank you so much for listening to this episode. If you've enjoyed it, I would love for you to subscribe. If you're already a subscriber, don't forget to share the podcast with a friend. Hope you all have an amazing week. Until next time. Bye.