Tilted Windmills has big dreams for 2024. But a dream without a plan is just a dream. Every day Athena and I have been setting aside dedicated time to discuss the nuts and bolts of turning our dreams for TW into reality - and we’ve been recording these discussions. We thought we’d share with you a (lightly edited for clarity) exchange about what we are exploring these days…
Athena: For 2024, I very much want to expand our audience and our reach. I’ve been doing a number of webinars with a social media company and I’ve found them useful in reframing how I want to deal with social media, but it’s going to involve some different ways of thinking about how to build our audience. I would love to have more creativity coaching clients and do more workshops.
Stefan: Would you say your priority is workshops over individual clients?
Athena: I don’t know. I think I’m struggling with that to be honest. I like individual Zoom meetings from a practical standpoint, but at the same time, I also recognize that I think workshops are the way that we should be gearing ourselves. It allows us to introduce ourselves to more people about what we’re doing. The trick is figuring out how to do that.
Stefan: Just to clarify, it sounds like you’re saying the workshops are a pathway into gaining more individual clients?
Athena: I wouldn’t even say that. We’ve talked about how we want to build out our community and I see the workshops as another avenue for us doing that, creating a social media community that we can interact with online. I also think we need an in-person community in Calgary as well and yes, that may lead to in-person clients but I think we want a breadth of clients. The workshops offer an opportunity for people who just want to dip their toes in perhaps at a reduced price point. Others might be more interested in working one-on-one… How about you?
Stefan: Well for me I’d like us to pivot toward more of a focus on mental wellness through creativity rather than traditional therapy. For me this year is focused around relationship building and health, and how those interact with each other through creativity. Creativity and art can be really powerful means for connecting people across differences and creating common ground. While I love the therapy work that I do, I want something more. It’s not about focusing on what’s wrong with a person, but tapping into how we can optimize what’s right about a person. That’s more coaching-oriented than therapy-oriented work. I think what really sets us apart is that focus on play and creativity and connection.
Athena: One of the things that the social media workshop has really had me thinking about is: what is our unique value proposition? I do think that the creativity angle is something very unique. Every time I’ve done networking events or I’ve talked with people about Tilted Windmills, that’s the thing that gets people really excited. But people often don’t know where to start to tap into their creativity.
Stefan: When you’re coaching clients creatively, how do you start with them?
Athena: It depends on the client but I usually start by asking the client what does creativity mean to you? What do you see about creativity that excites you? It could be something very specific, like: I want to learn this skill so that I can create this thing. Or, they might have no idea. In which case, I would probably start with a Pinterest board exercise or something simple. It’s about developing a creative practice. One of the things Julia Cameron talks about is the concept of a pipe (as a metaphor for creativity). Morning pages are a way of increasing outflow for the pipe. But you also need input. She suggests artist dates, things like going to dollar stores or museums. I use the Pinterest board this way. I might say to a client: I want you to go and pin some things that really interest you about texture or shape or something like that.
Stefan: That’s interesting that you’re going the technological route. I feel like a lot of current mental distress is related to us all being so online all the time. I’m more drawn to how do we create spaces where we can disconnect or unplug and be creative. Having a Pinterest board can be inspiration or a place to start but I wouldn’t want to focus too much on online activities.
Athena: I think the reason why I like starting with something like a Pinterest board is that if I send somebody to a museum, for example, any museum is going to already have a filter. Something like a Pinterest board, if you tell someone to explore texture they can look through their feed and focus on the particular textures that are interesting to them. Pinterest will then feed them more of the thing that they said they’re interested in.
Stefan: Pinterest actually amplifies people’s existing biases then.
Athena: Yes but I think in a way that is actually useful in terms of inspiration. It’s going to start by feeding you a lot of stuff that you’re not going to be interested in, which allows a person to hone in on their own taste. The couple of times that I’ve done the Pinterest board exercise I’ve gotten very different results. One person was looking at vintage toys and interior design from the 50s and then another person had all very contemporary art with bright neon colours. It doesn’t take a lot of time for those things to surface. Then I can say: OK, now go out into the world and see if you can find a gallery that is showing that kind of thing. Or if somebody was really interested in fabrics, I’d tell them to go and try making something with fabrics. It’s just a starting point.
Stefan: OK I love that. Technology as an entry point to real-world experiences.
Thanks for reading! If you’re interested in learning more about creativity coaching with Athena or counselling with Stefan, book a free 30-minute consultation.