New Series - Cool Creative Chicks

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Welcome to the debut of my new monthly series (to be featured on the last Wed of the month) – Cool Creative Chicks. I am fortunate to know so many CCCs & wanted to share these gems with you & foster community. That’s why we’re all online right? So hopefully, you will connect with one another & make new friends or even just take away something from each interview.

Today’s guest is Woz Flint. You may recall my post here gushing about her & I thought she would be the perfect person to kick this new series off with. I was fortunate to have had a free session with her through Artella's ARTbundance Coach Training  & we really clicked. Then I hired her as my coach when she launched her business. She is super fun, super smart, a fellow animal lover, & really just a genuinely sweet person.

And there's that little cutie of hers.

Bio:

Woz Flint is a writer, mama, and creativity coach. She can down a jar of green olives with the best of them and rarely has a good hair day. Feel free to drop her a line to say hey at woz.flint@gmail.com, follow her on twitter @wozflint & catch up with her on her blog.

You’ve owned several businesses, one being a brick & mortar store, why did you decide to be a life coach & writer? Also do you have any words of wisdom for inspiring entrepreneurs?

Coaching was something that was actually starting to take form before I opened my health and wellness store. I'd just read so much about the field and wondered if I had a place in it. For a long time I wasn't sure since things seemed so general but then I came upon a certification program that would give me the tools to be a family coach which, at the time, was perfect for me as my heart was in coaching teens. Later, I went on to work with creative women as they embarked on starting their own businesses. As far as becoming a writer, I don't know that I ever decided that one exactly. Ask the five-year-old version of me who declared herself to be a writer and illustrator after penning a poem about bubblegum based on the gum ball machine she drew. LOL

Inspiring words for entrepreneurs? Just freaking do it. Seriously. You will find a million and one reasons NOT to do what you want to do, so instead of wasting your time checking off reasons you aren't fit, make the most of your time and get your dream going. In my experience it has ALWAYS been worth it.  

How do you keep organized & find balance between being a new mother, working full-time, writing & having a side business?

Balance. Ah, such an elusive idea, isn't it? Honestly, I'm still in flux after becoming a mommy eight months ago. I'm finding some things, like writing because I can squeeze those minutes (yes, minutes!) in little spaces here and there, easier as the little guy gets older. Other things, like coaching, are a little more challenging as I have to schedule those and my son doesn't always check my day planner before demanding dinner, playtime, or spontaneous drooling attacks on my keyboard. *grin* Overall, I guess I'm just learning to be flexible and patient with myself and with life. Both are new virtues that I'm trying on for size.

How do you carve out time in your very busy schedule to create?

Again it's just being flexible. I used to need to have at least an hour set aside for creative work. If I didn't have that hour, I just wouldn't even bother thinking I couldn't get in the groove without that time allotted. What I'm actually finding is the opposite. Since I'm now creating in the "spare moments" I'm actually doing more creating that I did before. I'm finding that it's not this huge event anymore and since I'm doing things more often without all the pomp and circumstance, I'm just going for it instead of obsessing about creating the perfect scenario to do my work. Turns out that perfect scenario was pretty rare and I'm getting far more imperfect ones to get creating. :) 

Describe your creative process & how you combat creative ruts/blocks?

I wish I had a distinct creative process to gush about but I don't. I used to think that made me a "fake" but now I'm just seeing that means I'm open to whatever comes my way. When I've tried to force a certain process, I noticed that my work fell flat. Now, I'm open and my ideas and work really thrive because of it. As for those creative ruts, I just keep going. The longer I sit and obsess about not creating, the even longer I sit and obsess. I try to do something, if even for two minutes, every single day. Get a timer, set it for two minutes, and go. You'll be amazed how much can happen in those two minutes if you just allow it. Who doesn't have two minutes?

What/who inspires you?

At the moment I am wildly inspired by Goddess Leonie Allen. Her work started out as a little blog where she just felt drawn to share what was being created in her life. That little blog project is now a HUGE and gorgeous business that sustains her family, her ever growing dreams, and inspires so many other women to find the goddess that lives within themselves. I'm a member of her Goddess Circle and the inspiration on that "online sanctuary" as she calls it truly runs wild.

In general, what never fails to inspire me is going to see live music. There is something very intimate about witnessing a performance as it unfolds. There will never be another one just like it ever. I love just hanging out, singing along, and if I'm really lucky, having a nice glass of red wine to go with it all. If you ever have a chance to see Over the Rhine live (they are an Ohio band), I would tell you to run, not walk, as you will be filled with inspiration after leaving one of their shows. Genius. 

What are some of your future goals? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I would love to see myself out of Corporate America and being sustained fully by my work. I've done it twice before so I know that it can be done; I just have a little more to sustain now with a mortgage, a son, etc. I hope to have a solid circle of women who I can call my creative soul mates. I hope to be spending my Saturday mornings eating cereal, watching cartoons, and finger painting with my son. Anything more than that will just be icing on the cake. 

For fun:

Favorite beverage: Hot Dr. Pepper with lemon

Fav dessert/snack/food: vegan sushi. Actually anything I can drench in soy sauce is a really good thing.

Fav music band *at the moment* (I know it’s hard to pick just one): Over the Rhine is my all time favorite band but at the moment. I have this love affair with Maroon 5's song "Moves Like Jagger" in an unhealthy way. *plays for fifth time today*

Fav book: I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb

Fav movie: Garden State

Fav boy celebrity crush: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (meow)

Fav celebrity girl crush: Zooey Deschanel (could she be any cuter?!)

Hope you enjoyed this interview & thanks so much Woz for finding time in your busy schedule to answer these questions! Show both of us some love by leaving a comment here or visiting Woz.