What if the secret to a creative life isn't waiting until you're ready — it's deciding that ready is overrated?

In this episode of The Creative Collective Podcast, Emily and Allie sit down with Gabrielle Siegel — founder of The Aura Creative design agency, writer published in Teen Vogue and beyond, fiddle player, and competitive Irish dancer who walked into her first class in her twenties with zero training and quietly decided she was going to make it to the top anyway. Gabrielle writes a Substack called Everything Hurts about what it actually takes to pursue the things that matter to you, and in this conversation she gets into the decade of creative risk-taking that shaped that philosophy — from a secret goal she told almost no one about, to why she still can't hit "post" without fighting the voice that tells her no one wants to see it.

In this episode, they discuss:

• How tagging along to her younger sister's very first Irish dance class led to a decade-long competitive pursuit she never planned for
• The secret goal she set for herself and kept quiet for years — and what she learned when she didn't reach it
• A childhood memory involving a zip line and a ten-minute standoff with fear that became her go-to method for pushing past creative paralysis
• Why self-promotion feels "cringy" even when the work is something she's proud of, and the mindset shift that gets her to hit post anyway
• The real cost of not pursuing the thing — and why the pain of not trying is so much harder to live with than the pain of trying and falling short
• Why having no end goal for her fiddle playing might be exactly the point

Resources & Links:

• The Aura Creative
• Gabrielle on Instagram
• Everything Hurts — Gabrielle's Substack

Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ or visit our ⁠website⁠ to learn more. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, you can apply ⁠here.⁠

You can find Allie on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠, and you can find Emily on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠ to learn more about all they do and stay connected

You can find Austin on ⁠Instagram⁠ for all of your podcasting and musical needs

If you enjoyed this episode, follow along and share it with someone who could use a little more creativity in their life.

And this is your reminder that you don't have to be an artist to benefit from creativity. You're welcome, as you are, in this creative community.

What if the most restorative thing you can do while traveling isn't simply relaxing, but making something — surrounded by people, in creative community, seeing the world (and yourself) a little differently than when you arrived?

In this Creative Check-In episode of The Creative Collective Podcast, Emily and Allie recap their recent trip to Folegandros, Greece — a Creative Club retreat Emily co-hosts, and the first one Allie has attended. Morning swims, linoleum stamp carving, watercolor doodles made with actual ocean water, and a group printmaking poster that everyone got to take a piece of home — this episode is part travelogue, part reflection on why retreats like this are having a real moment right now.

In this episode, they discuss:

• What it's like to experience a creative retreat for the first time as a guest instead of a host
• Why the loosest, least scheduled parts of the day ended up being the most restorative
• The group printmaking project that felt reminiscent of a high school yearbook (mermaid cats included)
• Why creative retreats are becoming the new version of the girls' trip — and why phone-free, analog experiences are popping up all over the place
• What it means to let yourself be positively creatively influenced by the people around you
• A challenge for anyone who can't book a flight to Greece this week, but still wants a piece of what this trip gave them

Resources & Links:

• Jennifer Chiles - Creative Club retreat co-host
• SPINA - Our dream getaway spot in Folegandros, Greece
• Monica McNeeley - Allie's travel buddy and fellow therapist
• Paige Bradford - watercolor meditation and Hooray Art Studio owner
• Sakura Koi travel watercolor set - our favorite for art on the go!
• Speedball linoleum starter kit for printmaking

Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ or visit our ⁠website⁠ to learn more. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, you can apply ⁠here.⁠

You can find Allie on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠, and you can find Emily on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠ to learn more about all they do and stay connected

You can find Austin on ⁠Instagram⁠ for all of your podcasting and musical needs

If you enjoyed this episode, follow along and share it with someone who could use a little more creativity in their life.

And this is your reminder that you don't have to be an artist to benefit from creativity. You're welcome, as you are, in this creative community.