Meet Jo Davis

We recently connected with Jo Davis and have shared our conversation below.

Jo, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

My resilience comes from embracing creativity and the artistic process, which I discovered in the wake of profound loss and personal struggles.
When I was 26, my father piloted a plane that crashed into the mountains of North Carolina, instantly killing himself, my mother, and my sister, the writer, Amanda Davis. We had been close and I was a young 26. A day wouldn’t go by without speaking to them. As the baby of the family, I had been dependent on the guidance of my parents and sister, relying on them as holders of some grand playbook of life. It was a devastating loss and over the years, I have run from it, ignored it, and ultimately grown to love and respect it. Over time, I leaned into creating and the creative process to heal from the accident and its aftermath.
When the accident happened, I was living in San Francisco with my boyfriend, using my sister’s garage as my painting studio. After the accident, I moved back to the east coast to be near friends and family, married my boyfriend, and had three children. I always found jobs where I could use my creative talents in the art and design world. However, I was also avoiding facing my sorrow by suppressing it and becoming more and more medicated. I numbed myself with alcohol, weed, and increasingly high doses of antidepressants. Our brains can’t process a loss that complex all at once. The grief is too enormous. My work in the art world felt rewarding, but I was also detached from it in some ways.
Steadily upping my dosage as the years passed. I thought I was a champ at grieving. I was able to live a highly functional life and never thought too much about the accident. This ended abruptly when I was fired from my job as a public art manager. I had found myself burned out from my work in a bureaucratic job where I gave 110% of myself and took a mental health leave. I was passionate about the work, but started having trouble performing, while also experiencing mild suicidal ideation. During my leave, I was fired without explanation.
Even at that low point I knew it was for the best. I had contorted myself so drastically to become a person that I couldn’t even recognize, and I started to become curious about how I got there. I began to meditate, spend time in nature, time with my kids, and play with artmaking again. This time, instead of creating art as a product, like I had been taught in art school, I began to use art as a nourishing spiritual practice of awakening and self discovery.
As I weaned myself off of the medication and substances. I developed a relationship with my deepest self through the creative process. I paid attention to the voice that was telling me that something was wrong, that my marriage was not healthy, and that I was destined to create and help others create. Instead of silencing my true self, I started to see my uniqueness and creativity as beautiful and something innate in my true self I wanted to hang out with.
When my marriage ended the aftermath of grief nearly killed me. The cocoon of safety unraveled and exposed the truth that my family was gone. I lost friends and community through the separation and felt terrified and alone. Yet, every morning I woke up and forced myself to create.I started implementing art therapy techniques into my own work to develop a tolerance and eventually an appreciation for the pain. With every week I became stronger and gained more clarity about what I had been through. With every drawing I stripped away layer after layer of shame and sorrow.
My personal growth and self-discovery flood gates opened. I started to see myself as talented and capable. I created a new community with people who saw my shiny glorious self. I acknowledged my dreams, ones that had long ago been discarded, and decided to walk towards them. I started to prioritize my artwork and create spaces for others to make process-focused art and create community.
Beyond creating my own art and showing it locally, I now work as a creative consultant helping others find their true self through creative expression. The artistic process became my truest form of resilience. Now I can help others find theirs as well.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Profound loss and life’s challenges led me to discover the healing power of creativity. This personal journey has shaped my professional focus of guiding others to develop a creative practice for self-care and community building. Through my experiences, I’ve come to understand that the artistic process is a potent form of resilience. I’m passionate about sharing this transformative knowledge with others.
I firmly believe that we are all born creative geniuses. Unfortunately, many of us are conditioned to doubt this innate ability from a young age. My greatest joy comes from helping people reconnect with their inner artist—nurturing a relationship that can enrich every facet of life.
As an artist and creative consultant, I offer several services:
Creative Team Building: I work with HR managers and team leaders to provide engaging, stress-relieving activities that foster creativity, collaboration, and communication within teams. This can be great for team-building and creative problem solving.
Workshops: I host both in-person and online workshops for beginners looking to relax and develop a self-care practice through art.
Art Coaching: I guide individuals in their creative journeys, helping them discover and nurture their artistic voices.
Live Illustration: I bring your ideas to life through dynamic illustrations – whether live at your event or in custom animated videos – making your message more engaging and memorable.
In addition to these services, creating my own personal artwork is a significant part of my life and practice. My work is regularly featured in exhibitions, allowing me to share my artistic vision with a broader audience. This ongoing commitment to my personal art not only fuels my passion but also enhances my ability to guide others in their creative journeys.
For those interested in exploring my personal artwork, you can view my original pieces on my website. I also offer affordable prints for sale, making my art accessible to a wider range of art enthusiasts.
By maintaining an active personal art practice alongside my professional services, I stay connected to the creative process, continually refining my skills and insights. This dual approach allows me to offer authentic, experience-based guidance to my clients while pursuing my own artistic growth.
You can find information about my work at https://jodavis.art

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three most important qualities, skills, and areas of knowledge that have shaped my journey and inform my work are:
Curiosity
Curiosity is the driving force behind my personal growth and my approach to life and work. Cultivating a love for learning opens doors to understanding, leading to personal and relational evolution. This quality is essential in my personal creative practice and in guiding others to explore their artistic sides.
In my workshops and consultations, I encourage participants to create art in a playful experimental way. It’s about asking “I wonder what will happen next…” instead of making assumptions. This mindset not only enriches the creative process but also helps in navigating daily life with more openness and less judgment.
Courage
As a risk-taker who learns best by doing, courage plays a crucial role in my artistic journey and professional endeavors. It’s not about being fearless, but about making decisions led by curiosity rather than fear. This courage allows me to take creative risks and encourages my clients to do the same.
I help others develop courage by reframing the concept of failure. Failure is simply more information about what works and what doesn’t. This perspective opens up possibilities for discovery and unexpected delights in both art and life.
Compassion
My resilience and creativity are nourished by self compassion. Through my art practice, I find comfort, release, and insight into my inner life. This helps me develop a loving relationship with myself and grows my empathy towards others. Making art with a meditative approach helps us get quiet enough to hear what’s going on in our core. These are the first steps for listening and ultimately trusting your own voice.
These three qualities intertwine in my work, forming the foundation of my approach to creative facilitation and personal growth. By encouraging curiosity, fostering courage, and developing compassion through creative expression, I help individuals and teams tap into their innate creativity, build resilience, and foster healthy communities.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

Navigating through a painful separation and the financial devastation of a divorce while raising three teenage girls has been a struggle, but I am grateful for where I am. Probably my biggest current challenge I face is having the patience to let my business grow.
Though I’ve worked as a creative all of my life, I’m really just getting started with my business, Jo Davis Art. I have a vision of where I want things to be and sometimes get frustrated when I’m not there yet. Likewise, I have gathered so many skills along my professional journey that there are a lot of possibilities about how things could play out and that can get confusing at times!
As a doer who likes to dive headfirst into things, it’s hard to have the patience and faith needed as a small business owner. Often I get scared and think, “What am I doing? I should just get a 9-5.” But I always come back to a place of believing and not wanting to give up on my dreams. I am constantly reminding myself of the gains I’ve made and remember that although each success is getting me closer to my goals, it is a beautiful moment to celebrate and enjoy in its own right.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Josh Carrigan (headshot)

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