We’re beyond fortunate to have built a community of some of the most creative artists, professionals, and entrepreneurs in the world and one of the most important questions we ask them is around keeping one’s creativity alive. Below, we’ve highlighted some of those responses.
Misty Johnson
One way I keep my creativity going is trying new patterns from crazy quilt ideas to new purse patterns. With doing new patterns it makes me think outside the box a lot in styles and colors. My children are always helping on coming up with new ideas with keeping me updated on what young adults are into at the time. Read more>>
Holliann Schrantz
As a mom of two very young kids, it can be challenging to attend fun events or workout classes with my busy schedule. This inspires my event planning, as I love having an outlet for my creativity. I always strive to plan events that I would personally love to attend! Read more>>
Nicole Chiclete
I have always been a pretty creative person. There’s three main things I focus on, in order to keep my creativity alive. One is exposing to new things, during Covid, I learned out to cook, make jewelry and create a small business. Second, is brainstorming. I have wrote a short novel during my free time when I was in high school. Brainstorming random ideas was always happening when I was daydreaming. Thinking about topics and ideas of new content creations is always fun. I started making creations on instagram to creative thinking on twitch. Such as ideas for emotes, titles, themes, outfits and more! And finally third, changing your environment. I like going on hikes and traveling. I see new things around me and my brain starts thinking of ideas and creative ways I can make my content. Read more>>
Libre Jones
Growing up in NYC, Brooklyn specifically, offered views of many distinct cultures & artistic scenes. New York is a goldmine for street style, art & diversity of cultures. For me the energy is palpable. I grew up in hip-hop’s golden era, street style wasn’t always accepted but it was always inspiring to me. I worked in the fashion industry after attending FIT (2 yrs), that was a wonderful time for me. I eventually got a job in luxury fashion houses specifically (Versace, D&G, Loro Piana) & that blended with an edgy street style honed my unique style perspective. Read more>>
Cécile Dumetier
To keep my creativity alive, I ensure my working days are well-balanced. Taking breaks and experiencing a change of scenery, such as walking my dog in the park, along with engaging in other activities like pottery, provides a refreshing escape from my design work. This shift in focus helps clear my mind and brings fresh ideas to my projects. Read more>>
J.C. Fuller
Like most people, my creativity comes from within…I call it my “imagination well”. This well, hopefully brimming with plot ideas, atmospheric descriptions, and witty dialogue, can start to lower after a day of work, followed by a tedious writing or marketing session. If I am not quick to fill my free time with friends and family, things that I enjoy, such as a comfort read or movie, snuggling with my pups… my “imagination well” will start to drain, the flow of good ideas running dry. Self-care is essential! Spending time with people you enjoy and doing things that bring you happiness will, in turn, fill your spirit with joy, which, ultimately, you’ll want to share with others. Read more>>
Dave Schy
Creativity drew me to my profession as a chef 50 years ago and it still gets me out of bed every morning. So many ingredients at our hands and endless combinations with still so much to learn after all this time. One of the best jobs I ever had was working for a restaurant group that had a number of different concepts. My job was to visit the concepts and create new menu items using existing ingredients, labor and equipment. This job was a perfect match for me. A few years later when I opened my own restaurant, I realize that my creativity was suffering because I had so many more responsibilities and my mind was always on other things. Read more>>
Sharleen Shayan
This is pretty difficult to me, but having an outlet to be creative has been super helpful. I keep my creativity alive by just thinking about sharing it and how it can make someone smile. My favorite is when I post something and someone reaches out and lets me know that they are sharing it with someone that either needed it, or they were that someone that needed it and it made their day that much better. Read more>>
Ryan Weeks
My creativity thrives when I challenge myself to add that bit of flare that my customers have come to love, I’m always looking to wow our patrons. Whether simply by taste, or with some uniqueness or both! My goal is usually to create something that is comprised of the following traits: unique, beautiful, tasty and wow factor. I find that I’ll have an idea to create a dish, or menu item, and then the fun begins. Initially I may have a generic recipe. Then comes the fun part, as I ask myself: “how can I make this unexpected?” So I begin to come up with ways to make it unique or interesting. Read more>>
Maria Stanford
Taking it one day at a time and step by step! Everyday is not the same. Some days creativity and ideas flow, other days not so much. However everyday I get up and turn up even if I don’t have the inclination nor the courage to face the day. Motivation comes from being a single mom. Read more>>
Dillon Amir
Things that keep my creativity flowing are traveling and changing my environment. I like to go outside on walks in nature and exploring art and culture. I pull inspiration from visiting galleries, museums, libraries and international travel. Whenever I need to get inspiration I watch videos on overseas real estate investment property. These things not only help me brainstorm but also fuel me to put more work into manifesting my dreams to receive these rewards. Read more>>
Danielle Nicole
I’m inspired by other people’s creativity. When I’m in a slump I’ll seek out art pop ups or go to a gallery to jump start my creative juices. Read more>>
Ilaria Serantoni
Feeding my brain with visual – this works for me. Movie, tv show but also lot of books and museum. Read more>>
Danielle Wilkinson
I am forever inspired by life! I believe EVERYTHING, every single thing that I do, everything that is happening around me, everything that simply is.. all of it…is art. The way that I dress, the way that I eat, the way that I love, all of it art. When I look around, I see creation everywhere. I see inspiration when the trees sway with a breeze, or in the colors of a puddle during sunset. Life is my muse and presence is my gift. When you are truly present, everything around you is magical and inspiring. I also tap into my heart space everyday through journeying and meditation. My heart portal is my personal creation station. All of my deeply felt and lived emotions inspire me to create. I keep my creativity alive by living in a world with eyes and ears and senses wide open while finding quiet time to sink into my deep inner space to feel what wants to birth through me. Read more>>
Zary Irurita
In the design world, I think that creativity never stops. Influence can be taken from the outdoors, a friend’s house, social media, etc. Design can be anything you want it to be and that’s the beauty of it. Despite what articles may say, there isn’t a wrong or right way- it’s all about feeling good in the space you reside in! Read more>>
Kris Knight
Creativity has always been a really important part of my life as far as I can remember. I spent the first decade of my life with my grandma, who saw my artistic talent at a young age and encouraged me to pursue it. To this day, she still reminds me when we talk on the phone, to never give up on my art. Without her encouragement, I really don’t know what direction I would have gone with. How do I keep my creativity alive? I have a variety of hobbies that rely on creativity. Digital Art is my go-to, though I also paint, crochet, and do photography. Each of those hobbies expand into different facets, or subcategories, so I always have a range of things to feed my creativity. When I’m not feeling satisfied with one piece or medium, I switch it up and work on something else until that spark of creativity for the last piece comes back. Sometimes it doesn’t, and that’s okay. Even if I don’t complete a piece it is a learning and growing experience in the process. Read more>>
Olivier Momma
Growing up, I moved to a new country every five years. This constant change made me adaptable and always eager for new experiences. As a kid, I dreamed of being an architect and spent hours sketching and designing buildings and homes. That early love for design kickstarted my creative journey. I’ve realized my creativity hits its peak when I switch up my surroundings. Whether it’s a work trip abroad or just exploring a new part of Amsterdam, changing the scenery sparks my imagination. Each new place gives me fresh ideas and a new perspective. Every day at 2 PM, I hit the gym. It’s like starting a second day for me. Working out recharges my brain, making me more productive for the rest of the day, and gives me the energy to work longer hours. This boost keeps my creativity alive and kicking. Read more>>
Mary Hawkins
It can be hard sometimes to keep your creativity going, and the thing that’s worked best for me is to switch things up, have outside projects that fuel the main branch of your creative work and have collaborators or deadlines that can help you finish. For a long time, I was doing nearly the same thing for nearly the same clients and while our projects looked amazingly creative from the outside, from the inside it more often felt like we were, you know, doing work at work. Even little things like sketching at my desk, volunteering to do designs for nonprofits or taking art classes helped keep me out of a rut. Knowing that I could handle those projects meant that I was well-prepared to tackle projects that were even bigger and more complex, like starting a stationery store and creating my short animated films. Read more>>
De Ivett
As the founder of a digital marketing agency, creativity is key to the success of our business. I keep my creativity alive and inspired by focusing on my passion for photography and music outside of work. I have been fascinated by photography and taking pictures since I was 8 years old. Nikon has been my brand since I bought my first professional camera when I was in high school and shooting for the yearbook. I currently own a Nikon z50 mirrorless camera complete with the addition of a 105mm macro lens. Over the last several years, my partner (who is also a photographer) and I have spent most of our free time taking road trips to explore different nature centers, lakes, hiking trails and our favorite butterfly farm. I love to focus on the intimate details of my subjects from flowers to bees to butterflies using my macro lens. Being out in nature grounds me and opens my mind, clearing the way for new creative ideas to develop in my day-to-day work in commercial design. Read more>>
Joseph Conde
Keeping my creativity alive requires me to constantly take in new and inspiring content and continuously expanding my point-of-view. I’ve always loved learning new things and I show that love of knowledge by emulating my interests. Be it music, writing, acting, directing, I am always looking for new ways to express myself through my interests. Read more>>
Jackie Bingham
I keep my creativity alive by allowing myself the freedom of thought and expression. I don’t let anyone tell me that something isn’t for me or that I shouldn’t be doing it. I enjoy trying new things, regardless of whether I become good at them or not. Recently, I’ve been inspired by street photography and landscape photography. To explore these interests, I bought a Fujifilm XT-50 to carry with me as an everyday camera. With this camera, I capture nature, objects, plants, and architectural art at random. Often, while driving, I’ll see a shape or color that catches my eye and think, “I want to capture this.” Through these spontaneous shots, I aim to tell a story or evoke a mood. Read more>>
Antonio Hernandez
It is easy to lose your creativity, especially when you are doing the same kind of things over and over. For example, during graduation season it felt as if I was doing the same photoshoot over and over. It almost felt like I was not putting much thought into them since I was doing the same poses and locations. What helped me keep that creativity alive is seeing if the client was open to trying new techniques and poses I was working on. Not only would this make the shoots different, it would also help me improve on the techniques. I was getting new experiences out of the shoots which would excite me even more to try new things. Another thing that would help is quite literally just going on a walk and taking pictures of random things I saw. It might seem stupid but it helps clear your mind and allows you to think outside of the box. Read more>>
Lindsey Davis
About two years ago I realized immersing myself in personal and professional experiences was crucial to improve my creativity and work product. I go to shows and exhibits, embark on professional development trips with friends in my industry, joined the World Experience Organization, signed up for French lessons, began working with a swim coach, escaped to the wilderness on a NOLS expedition… every month I do something that teaches me something else. Exposure to other creative people and projects stretches my mind and helps me become more creative for my clients, allowing me to tell their stories in unforgettable ways. Read more>>
Addison Agen
I don’t just wait for creativity to hit me. I seek it out. Although it’s amazing to feel naturally inspired and on fire about something, often times it takes a little bit more work than that to reach our best creative selves. I find that if I spend a small amount of time during my mornings being creative, even in simple ways like…making a new type of breakfast, taking a new route on my walk or journaling for 5 minutes, the process of trying to “access” my creativity throughout my day gets a lot easier. Creativity becomes more of a way of living rather than something you have to turn on. On a more straight forward note, we’re humans, and I think it is nearly impossible for us to not be creative. Read more>>
Screecher
In the realm of music, I keep many doors open. Its definitely a continuous evolution but I try to keep an open mind with the past and the present music. I always say there are no rules to music. That helps mix styles and taste to possibly create something. Whether its original or novel its something. Read more>>
Dreya Starr
As a creative with an inquisitive mind, I like to learn new skills to keep my creativity alive. This helps me keep a fresh and innovative perspective on my craft of musi I’ve always had a vivid imagination, picturing entire movie concepts while looking out the window on car rides, and hearing unwritten symphonies in my mind while trying to fall asleep. So my specialty of flowing from genre to genre as a singer isn’t much of a surprise. I’m very focused with my musical discipline, I sing every day and I research the qualities of music in media that fascinate me and drive my passion. It’s easy to be overly saturated in music since it’s a tool used far and wide to set tones and associations. That’s why it’s important to shift some of my focus to other skills like cooking, reading and exercising. I learn about myself as a person while I learn and practice new skills and that helps me bring more authenticity to my music. Read more>>
Jen Lancaster
I keep my creativity alive by always looking for inspiration in nature, fellow artists, and sometimes even my dreams! I then allow myself to express that creativity by taking models or working on wigs. Read more>>
Ken Ramos
I try to make the process of creating as fun as I can. If I’m enjoying doing it, I want to do it all the time regardless of any doubts or blocks that enter my mind. I was raised in an environment where the emphasis was on what financial or career benefit something you created would have, but I saw how that killed people’s creativity. I think you need to protect your creative space and process so that external forces don’t take you away from the joy creating gives. Read more>>
Michael “Tiny” Alcorn
This is a great question that every actor like myself should answer and ask themselves. With the ever-evolving world of entertainment, my ability to stay creative is pivotal. It’s not merely about delivering lines or hitting marks, it’s about continuously reinventing oneself, drawing from a well of inspiration, and bringing something fresh to each role. My creative journey requires dedication, introspection, and an openness to new experiences and staying creatively engaged. Read more>>
Dupre
A phrase I live by, and would pass on to every artist, is this: We are more capable than we understand of reaching a potential we can’t yet comprehend. My primary motivator from my earliest days of music production has been to fulfill my creative potential to the fullest extent possible. It’s a mentality that artists are in a unique position to act upon, and I believe that how we let that mentality manifest is what dictates our growth most.
One example many of us experience is the discouragement that comes with feeling we haven’t improved artistically over some amount of time. One option is to let that realization manifest in the idea that we’ve hit our concrete wall, and feel defeated. Alternatively however, we could take the realization as an opportunity to reflect constructively, understand our areas of improvement, and absorb inspiration through a student-like frame of mind. In other words, creative development comes in waves, and taking advantage of the low points make the high points that much higher, keeping the creativity alive. Read more>>
Lindsay McOien
As a child, I was always creative. Whether I was drawing, painting, designing clothes, or wishing I had my own HGTV show, if there was an artsy activity, I was doing it! As an adult, it can be hard to keep that spirit alive, especially when you have a creative job for a living. You find that the original joy that brought you to make art in the first place isn’t the same anymore. I still absolutely love what I do, but just like any other job (and adulting in general haha), certain responsibilities and pressures come along with it. Read more>>
Tess Allen
I started dancing when I was 3 and by 9 I was en pointe. Singing became a passion as I found my love for music extended from ballet, and becoming the song was alchemy. With a 5 year career/degree at The Boston Conservatory, I really think I have a creative soul. Career-wise, my heart is very much in the non-profit world. Prior to serving the LGBTQ+ community in Ventura County, I worked for a non-profit that served children with disabilities, one that built a hospital, and volunteered with an organization that planted indigenous trees around Los Angeles County. So. How do I keep creativity alive now? I love my job and I love being a mother and both of those require creative thinking much of the time! Read more>>
Michael Grepp
Well let’s start by saying that creativity doesn’t die! It exists in all of us in different ways. For some it is artistic, for others it is in how they solve a problem, express themself, communicate. The challenge is as we enter adulthood we feel pressure to conform, to see things like everyone else does, and just roll with it. This is what stifles creativity. Years ago I worked in an office where success in my career meant conforming to the company and my coworkers. I couldn’t really be myself, and despite spending my evenings after work in acting school working on scenes and exercises, I think it hurt my acting. We all have proverbial roles that we need to play in our life. Read more>>
Rafael Serralheiro
For me, the key to keeping creativity alive and flowing is to pause regularly, not overthink, and not stop for too long Creativity is like anything in life, such as working out at the gym or learning a new skill. It requires consistency and dedication, but at the same time, it can quickly become stale, and sometimes it’s hard to keep it fresh and flowing. I strive to stay creative despite the complexity of the challenge. However, I find consistency to be the best tool to keep my work creative by not stopping to create for long periods. For me, specifically, being a 3d artist, it requires me to spend a long time on the computer designing worlds and models. When I feel less creative or need to reset my perspective on my work, I try to be creative in a different way. For example, I might go on a hike and take photos with my camera (not my phone), or I might watch a show or play a game and analyze it, pausing to appreciate the work. Read more>>
Andrea Weinbrecht
There is a great quote by Maya Angelou that really resonates with me about creativity. She said, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” I completely agree with that. Even when I’m not working, I try to keep my creative mind active with other things that keep me feeling inspired. Its usually something simple like getting lost in a book, working in my garden, or doing an art project with my son. I’m so fortunate to have so many brilliantly creative friends in my life that are so inspiring and we are always bouncing ideas off each other which is awesome! Living in Los Angeles, we have access to so many amazing museums, galleries, art walks, libraries, historical architecture, concerts, beautiful parks, trails and nature that are sources of great inspiration where I can let my imagination get lost and really unplug which helps me keep my creativity flowing. Creative inspiration is everywhere! Read more>>
