MENTORS & INFLUENCERS
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
One of the very best parts of our work is lifting the veils of mystery about the creative process and cultivating welcoming spaces and experiences that support our team and clients to connect with their creativity. Our process is based on collaboration, and our role is much like a creative midwife, where we aim for anyone we work with to feel safe to explore and share their creative expression and are appreciated for their contribution. For years we’ve been refining the dance steps the Wholehearted Team does together in creating beautiful and meaningful work, and yet we delight in how each new project provides an opportunity to approach our work from a fresh perspective and to explore something new.
READ MORE
When we’re asked where we get our inspiration from, we often respond with — we notice what is happening in the moment, what we can offer that will breathe life into our work, and what will amplify the vision and elevate the message we’re developing. So often, the inspiration we’re seeking is right there, just beyond our gaze, or right outside the window, or on an afternoon walk — and when we can’t quite get to it, we appreciate the following resources that reconnect us to our creative nature and remind us that we create beauty, meaning, and impact when we’re willing to not play it safe, to take risks, and to stir things up a bit.
Seth Godin
Author & Speaker | The Practice & Anything Else He’s Written
This book so aligns with what we believe and practice in our work. We love the way Seth talks and writes about pretty much anything. He’s been labeled the ‘ultimate entrepreneur’ and knows a thing about the role the creative process plays in building brands and messaging that connects us with our people. One of our favorite Seth Godin quotes is, “All the creativity books in the world aren’t going to help you if you’re unwilling to have lousy, lame, and even dangerously bad ideas.” We love the spirit and wisdom in this quote because it speaks to showing up for the creative process and not having to get it ‘right.’
And from his latest book, ‘The Practice,’ Seth captures something that is so foundational to the way we see our work, “Along the way, we’ve also been brainwashed into believing that creativity is a gift, something mysterious that the muse hands to a few select people. We’re not to look at it too closely, or it might disappear. Nonsense.”
If you need a muse or a little extra fuel in your creativity tank, check out Seth’s work!
The magic of the creative process is that there is no magic. Start where you are. Don’t stop.
– Seth Godin
Creativity itself doesn’t care at all about results — the only thing it craves is the process. Learn to love the process and let whatever happens next … happen.
– Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth Gilbert
Author & Speaker | ‘Big Magic’ & TED Talk, ‘Success, Failure, and the Drive to Keep Creating’
Elizabeth Gilbert’s books, speaking, and online presence have awakened us to a greater sense of freedom and ignited the idea that with determination and consistent effort, we can create a life on our terms, for our good. She has also been an example of bravery and courage in her willingness to share tender and vulnerable stories of her path from being an aspiring professional writer for many years to becoming one of the most recognized and successful authors of our time — and then what the other side of all the fame and recognition was like for her.
Through Elizabeth’s books and TED Talks, lectures, programs, and social media posts, she offers endless inspiring stories and potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration and creativity and about how what we create can survive failures and lack of receptivity when we can stay tethered to what it is about our work that we most love and cherish. When we stay diligent, devoted, and honor the work that is ours to do — when we commit ourselves to attitudes, approaches, and habits that support us in living and working from our creativity, there will always be more … more inspiration, more sparks, more innovation, more life-giving opportunities to express our unique gifts.
Elizabeth Gilbert
‘Big Magic’ & TED Talk, ‘Success, Failure, and the Drive to Keep Creating’
Elizabeth Gilbert’s books, speaking, and online presence have awakened us to a greater sense of freedom and ignited the idea that with determination and consistent effort, we can create a life on our terms, for our good. She has also been an example of bravery and courage in her willingness to share tender and vulnerable stories of her path from being an aspiring professional writer for many years to becoming one of the most recognized and successful authors of our time — and then what the other side of all the fame and recognition was like for her.
Through Elizabeth’s books and TED Talks, lectures, programs, and social media posts, she offers endless inspiring stories and potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration and creativity and about how what we create can survive failures and lack of receptivity when we can stay tethered to what it is about our work that we most love and cherish. When we stay diligent, devoted, and honor the work that is ours to do — when we commit ourselves to attitudes, approaches, and habits that support us in living and working from our creativity, there will always be more … more inspiration, more sparks, more innovation, more life-giving opportunities to express our unique gifts.
Creativity itself doesn’t care at all about results — the only thing it craves is the process. Learn to love the process and let whatever happens next … happen.
– Elizabeth Gilbert
The Creative Process
Podcast & Exhibitions
Quite simply, the creative process is discovering something new within ourselves and embarking on a quest toward expression. Whether we’re naming a business, creating the visual identity for a brand, designing a webpage, or writing blog posts, we have found the alchemical process is very much the same that brings an idea to life and a vision into form. The unfolding nature of creativity is a dance between our inner and outer worlds and is rarely linear. The experience tends to be more like moving along a spiral path and includes four main stages; preparation and information gathering, incubation and space to marinate, illumination and revelation, and finally, commitment to form and sharing the value.
Understanding the framework for the creative process reminds us we can lean into the messy middle, roadmap in hand, knowing that chaos proceeds beauty and order and that the AHA! moment is just around the next bend in the spiral.
And in times when we get stuck, tuning into The Creative Process Podcasts often helps to unlock the block and reopen the flow. There are currently 16 different podcast series covering topics across arts, culture, and society — all through the lens of creativity.
“Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.”
– Oprah Winfrey
Explore our other mentors and influencers
who have helped shaped our work and
doing business the wholehearted way.
HUMAN-
CENTERED
BUSINESS
VALUES-ALIGNED BUSINESS, LEADERSHIP, & ACTIVISM
DIVERSITY,
EQUITY, & INCLUSIVITY
STAGES OF BUSINESS &
LEGAL
MONEY &
FINANCE
STORYTELLING BRANDING
DESIGN,
COLOR, & TYPOGRAPHY
HUMAN-
CENTERED
BUSINESS
VALUES-ALIGNED BUSINESS, LEADERSHIP, & ACTIVISM
DIVERSITY,
EQUITY, & INCLUSIVITY
STAGES OF BUSINESS &
LEGAL
MONEY &
FINANCE
STORYTELLING BRANDING
DESIGN,
COLOR, & TYPOGRAPHY
HUMAN-
CENTERED
BUSINESS
VALUES-ALIGNED BUSINESS, LEADERSHIP, & ACTIVISM
DIVERSITY,
EQUITY, & INCLUSIVITY
STAGES OF BUSINESS &
LEGAL
MONEY &
FINANCE
STORYTELLING BRANDING
DESIGN,
COLOR, & TYPOGRAPHY