by Laura West
I’m loving my interviews about Courageous Creativity! I’m fascinated by how it shows up in my life and those of other creative entrepreneurs.
Next in the Courageous Creativity in Business Interview Series is Gail McMeekin of Creative Success.
Tell us a little more about your business.
I am the Visionary Passionate Coach and Mentor for Creative Professionals and Entrepreneurs and I help people access their own version of Creative Success and create fulfilling work and artful lives. Our creativity (and we all have it) helps us to access the “gold” in our business and our lives and gives us the leading edge in the marketplace.
I work with people internationally who are in transition, growing a business, or leading initiatives in organizations. Your passions and actions are key to your personal, heartfelt success. I do Creative Success VIP days, run Manifest Your Jewel of an Idea Coaching Groups, do SoulCollage® workshops, and teach at spas and retreat centers nationwide. I trained at the Coaches Training Institute, am certified in HR Management, and have an MSW. I am the author of many books, including the best sellers The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women and The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women, and my work has been featured in The Sunday New York Times, Redbook, Huffington Post, Boston Magazine, Investors Business Daily etc., as well as on radio and TV.
How does creativity show up for you in business?
I love to create products, and one of my new products that I recently did with my photographer husband is called “Creativity Courage Cards,” which were just featured in Artist Magazine in April. It combines my affirmations with his inspiring photos, plus we do Inspirational Poster Prints each month, which are for sale in my webstore.
I also help my clients to create new products and services that express their originality and fascinations, and then monetize them. I have been an entrepreneur for 30 years and use my brainstorming and business abilities everyday in my work with clients and I love it! I have also written e-books, made meditation tapes, videos, and a stress management workshop-on-tape among other products.
What do you do to prime your creative pump?
I find that journaling daily really fuels my creative intentions and gets me focused as I have Ideaphoria, and work with others who have that too. I’ve found you need to develop a structure for getting focused and making decisions. I also light a candle to signify that this is my creative time and have a collection of music that puts me into a creative trance of sorts. I also use lots of inspirational cards, including my own Creativity Courage Cards, to inform my process. I am a certified SoulCollage® facilitator, and I find making Cards and exploring their meaning to be very empowering as well. I also paint watercolors which I adore and this interacts well with my writing work.
What do you do when you feel stuck or blocked on a project?
I use my journal and my cards to look for messages about what might be stuck. Then I put on my detective hat and start using my own creative connections strategies and design several experiments to try to untangle what is stopping my flow. The trick is to work on the project until you work through the bugs and not to quit. Be tenacious!
What role does passion play in your business?
I choose to only do work that I love! So I delegate as much as I can and have a new team of super people who support me. If my gut says, “No,” I really honor that and decline the project. Because I have Ideaphoria, I have many things that attract me, and I love to learn new models and practices, art techniques, travel, etc. However, my passions can pull me in too many direction at once, so I have to learn to say “No, not now” on a regular basis. I made a video for the Business Fusion Studio that shows my model for sorting out ideas and choosing the best ones for the present and saving the rest for later.
What would you consider your bigger Passion Project? What do you feel you are here to create?
My mission in life is to empower people to express their creative potential and to create the heartfelt, personal success they desire. All of the things that I do–my books, my products, my SoulCollage® work, my Scientific Hand Analysis readings, and my coaching clients and running workshops, all reflect this mission to help people embrace transition and grow themselves and their careers and their businesses. As I am meant to be in the Spotlight, I do lots of speaking and love doing radio and podcast interviews and do probably 100 a year. My books also attract a large audience as well and spread my message, which is so fulfilling for me. I feel like I am doing sacred work and feel so blessed. Eventually, I will be training a group of leaders to use my process in their businesses. Stay tuned!
Where can our creative community find out more about you and your business?
My website is http://www.creativesuccess.com and I have lots of videos about my work on the site, including 12 short videos–one for each Secret from my book, The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women. As a gift for signing up for my Creative Success newsletter (a monthly resource for creative souls), you will receive my acclaimed e-book called “The Path to Creative Success” for free as a download. Enjoy!
