Welcome to Syncreate, where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology, and spirituality. Our goal is to demystify the creative process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative. Creativity. It’s a word we throw around all the time, but what does it really mean? On the Syncreate Podcast, we share stories of the creative journey. We talk to changemakers, visionaries and everyday creatives working in a wide array of fields and disciplines. Our goal is to explo ...
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Episode 61: Creative Spark Series - Isolation vs. Solitude with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
11:20
In this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we explore how isolation and solitude can show up in our creative process, how to distinguish between the two, and how to work with both. When we feel isolated, it’s important to reach out and connect with our communities. But sometimes we need to cultivate solitude in order to dig deep into …
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Steven Ross is the Co-Founder of Wisdom Pathways, co-host of The Way to Go podcast, and host of the Intuition Radio podcast. He is a gifted intuitive medium, ordained interspiritual minister, wellness facilitator and teacher of traditional yoga and meditation. With 20 years on the yogic path, he is a devotee of Paramhansa Yogananda. Steven holds a …
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Episode 59: Creative Spark Series - How Creativity Opens Doors with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
12:29
In this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we discuss how creativity opens doors, and how saying yes to our creativity also helps to build connection and community. We each share our own experiences of creative connection, and how expressing our creativity has led to new experiences and relationships. This episode, like the mini-episo…
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Michael Steiner is the Executive Director of BEST Robotics, an annual student robotics competition for middle and high school students that facilitates experiential, complex creative problem solving within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Over 18,000 students across the US participate in the program each fall. Mi…
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Episode 57: Creative Spark Series - Accountability Partnerships with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
12:36
In this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we share our insights and best practices on accountability partnerships for our creative work. Accountability partners help us move more quickly and effectively toward our goals. We can form accountability partnerships with creative collaborators, peers, co-workers, coaches, family, friends, …
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Chris Stack plays the role of Simon in the current Broadway sensation Stereophonic, winner of a Tony award for best play, and the most Tony-nominated show of all time. Stereophonic follows a 70’s rock band in the process of recording their groundbreaking album, featuring original music by Will Butler of Arcade Fire. Chris and Melinda also happen to…
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Episode 55: Creative Spark Series - Experimenting Across Media with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
9:29
In this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we explore the possibilities that can emerge from experimenting across media in our creative work. For example, if we’re writing a poem, what if we expressed it as a dance? Or if we’re composing a song, how would it translate into a painting? Exploring our ideas across media can open up new p…
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Peter Himmelman is a Grammy and Emmy nominated singer-songwriter, visual artist, best-selling author, film composer, entrepreneur, and rock and roll performer with over 20 critically acclaimed recordings to his credit. His new book, Suspended by No String, reflects on the spiritual elements that suffuse his life and creative work.In addition to his…
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Episode 53: Creative Spark Series - Preparation vs. Spontaneity with Melinda Rothouse and Charlotte Gullick
11:52
In this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we explore the delicate balance between preparation and spontaneity in our creative work. How do we invite structure and planning into our process, while also allowing for freshness, mystery, surprise, and improvisation? Maybe the thought of public speaking terrifies us, so we want to prepare…
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Amanda Johnston is the 2024 Texas Poet Laureate, the first Black woman appointed to the role by the Texas State Legislature. She is also the recipient of a 2024 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship. She is the author of two chapbooks, GUAP and Lock & Key, and the full-length collection Another Way to Say Enter. Her work has appeared in num…
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Episode 51: Creative Spark Series - Curiosity & Exploration with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
10:51
In this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we discuss the role of curiosity, exploration, openness to experience, and the spirit of adventure in the creative process. Following our curiosity opens up new ideas, connections, and inspirations, which then enhance our creative work. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, i…
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Benjamin Kintisch is a cantor, chaplain, and music teacher. He created a musical based on his experiences as a chaplain working with patients and families involved in hospice care, called Life Review: The Hospice Musical. We discuss his inspiration for the musical, his songwriting collaborations, and his pandemic pivots, as well as his involvement …
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Episode 49: Creative Spark Series - Creativity in Challenging Times with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
10:27
Por Melinda Rothouse, PhD / Charlotte Gullick, MFA
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Is creativity something you’re born with, or can you learn it? In this episode, we talk with creative director and writer Chris McKenna about creativity as a skill that we can learn and practice. Chris is the founder of Wee Beastie, a creative agency based in Los Angeles. Part of his work with clients and organizations involves teaching people abou…
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Episode 47: Creative Spark Series - Creativity & Meaning Making with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
10:19
In this installment of our Creative Spark series, Melinda shares the connection between creativity and meaning making. We can use our creativity in service of healing, integration and wholeness. This may involve paying attention to our dreams, and to messages from our unconscious, and then conveying them through a variety of creative media. This ep…
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Reena Friedman Watts is the host of the Better Call Daddy podcast, which features guests from all walks of life with stories to share. She got her start chasing stories at the Jerry Springer Show, and worked for Court TV before starting her own show. We discuss storytelling, creativity, and the art of podcasting, as well as religion and spiritualit…
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Episode 45: Creative Spark Series - Giving and Receiving Feedback with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
15:27
In this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we discuss the art of giving and receiving feedback in the context of our creative work. It’s so important to ask for and receive feedback to polish our work into its final form. But sometimes this feedback can be hard to receive in the moment, or we may need to take some time to digest it be…
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Jimmy Johnny Juste leads groups and organizations through a process of conscious facilitation, helping them to resolve conflicts, navigate change, and embrace innovative solutions. At the core of his practice lies the liberation of self, employing diverse methods from somatic work to hypnosis and facilitative mediation. Facilitation, a transformati…
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Episode 43: Creative Spark Series - Time Management & Prioritizing Your Work with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
8:53
In this installment of our Creative Spark mini-episodes, we emphasize the importance of time management and prioritizing our creative work. Though we have a vision for a project, we may struggle with how to begin, or it may feel overwhelming. But if we break the process down into manageable goals, milestones, and tasks, we can move from start to fi…
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Episode 42: Creativity and Depth Psychology - The Underworld Journey with Jennifer Leigh Selig
38:41
Our guest today is Jennifer Leigh Selig, author of the new book Deep Memoir, and founder of Mandorla Books, an award-winning boutique publisher. Our conversation explores creativity and depth psychology, which examines the deeper questions of life, meaning, and purpose. We discuss the proverbial underworld journey, or dark night of the soul, and ho…
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Episode 41: Creative Spark Series - Creative Practice, Process & Product with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
8:16
In this installment of our Creative Spark series of bite-size, mini-episodes, Melinda & Charlotte explore the distinctions between our creative practice, process, and products, and how this can help us in bringing our creative work into the world. When working with clients, we find it helpful to look at our creative work through each of these lense…
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This episode is a co-release with From Illumination to Innovation Podcast (Episode 4) with Stephanie Crain and Shaniqua Brown, where I was a guest discussing creativity and leadership in organizational contexts, and how best to foster cultures of innovation. We discuss the Syncreate model of Play, Plan & Produce, as well as how companies that value…
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Episode 39: Creative Spark Series - The Vulnerability of Sharing Works in Progress with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
8:46
In this installment of our Creative Spark series of bite-size, mini-episodes, Melinda & Charlotte discuss the vulnerability of sharing work we know is not finished, but for which we need feedback in order to improve it. Sharing work before it feels complete can be a little scary, so it’s important to consider who we can trust for feedback to get th…
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With a 40-year career in the toy and art supply industry, most recently as CEO at Faber-Castell USA, Jamie Gallagher brings a wealth of insight into how creative companies function. He is the founder of 4 the Win, which fosters creativity and innovation among individuals, teams, organizations and communities through four pillars of success: Purpose…
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Episode 37: Creative Spark Series - Giving Back to the Community with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
7:06
In this installment of our Creative Spark series of bite-size, mini-episodes, Melinda & Charlotte discuss the importance of giving back to our creative communities. This could take the form of mentoring or guiding others, or just simply lending a helping hand with someone’s creative work or process. Helping others can also help us out of our own cr…
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Picking up where we left off in Part 1 (Episode 34), we continue the conversation about creativity and transpersonal psychology with Marina Smirnova, Ph.D., head of the Consciousness, Spirituality, and Integrative Health specialization within the Humanistic Psychology program at Saybrook University, and a professor of transpersonal psychology, or t…
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Episode 35: Creative Spark Series - Navigating the Creative Wilderness with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
13:19
In this episode of our Creative Spark series, we explore the creative call to adventure and subsequent journey through the wilderness. We often start our creative projects with a sense of inspiration and excitement, only to flounder along the way, or plunge into self-doubt. Never fear - this is actually part of the process, and if we can learn to n…
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Where do our creative ideas and inspirations come from? For many of us, our creativity is deeply intertwined with questions of meaning, consciousness, and spirituality. Our guest today is Marina Smirnova, Ph.D., head of the Consciousness, Spirituality, and Integrative Health specialization within the Humanistic Psychology program at Saybrook Univer…
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Episode 33: Creative Spark Series - Incubation & Time Away with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
8:26
In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte emphasize the importance of creative incubation, and of stepping away from our work at key moments in order to gain the perspective to move forward in a productive way. This is not the same as procrastination or avoidance; it is a strategic move in the creative process that allows …
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How does synchronicity shape a creative life? In this episode, we explore how a shared connection, a chance meeting, or a risk taken can lead to opportunities we may never have imagined possible. Our guest is Dr. Steven Pritzker, Co-Editor of the The Encyclopedia of Creativity, Professor of Creativity Studies at Saybrook University, and a renowned …
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Episode 31: Creative Spark Series - The Power of Collaboration with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
10:01
In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte discuss the power of collaboration. It’s in our name, Syncreate: synergy and co-creation. We can accomplish so much more through collaboration than we can on our own. We describe own experiences of collaboration, and how you can harness the power of collaboration in your own creati…
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Ben Thoma and Brian Thompson are the Co-Founders of Creative Mornings Austin, a local chapter of Creative Mornings, a monthly creative gathering in cities around the world. Described as “church for creatives,” Creative Mornings includes coffee and breakfast, a musical guest, and a presentation by a member of the local community, in a different loca…
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In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte describe the process of iteration, where we revise, refine, rehearse, and otherwise fine-tune and polish up our creative work to bring it to completion. Sometimes iteration requires radical cutting, editing, and reworking. We liken this process to pruning, which actually allows a t…
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How do we move from healing to wholeness in body, mind, and spirit? How can we communicate and create from a place of deep integrity? We explore these questions with podcaster, workshop facilitator & former NFL player Eben Britton. After 7 years in the NFL, Eben has embarked on a journey of healing and wellness, which he shares via his podcast, wor…
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Collaboration is vital for getting things done, for innovation, and for solving complex problems. But do we really understand collaboration, and what distinguishes it from coordination, cooperation, and even teamwork? According to our current guest, Randy Langford, collaboration involves people in community using communication to express their need…
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In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte describe the final phase of the creative process: Produce. In this phase, according to our Syncreate model, we move toward completion of our creative work. This is where we refine, iterate, polish, get feedback, and ultimately share our creative efforts with the world. It’s also wh…
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Episode 25: Between Order & Chaos - Creativity, Neuroscience & Psychedelics with Bradley Cooke, Ph.D.
47:03
What distinguishes creativity from other modes of thinking and being? How do we understand creativity from a neuroscientific perspective, and how do psychedelics affect creativity? We explore these questions with Bradley Cooke, Ph.D., a neuroscientist and Program Director at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Cooke oversees the nation's p…
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Episode 24: Creative Spark Series - Creative Planning with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
13:23
In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte describe the Plan, or organizational, phase of the creative process. The word “plan” might not immediately come to mind when we think about creativity, but planning and organization are actually vital to bringing a creative idea to the world. We discuss how convergent and divergent…
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Episode 23: The Corporate Mystic - Archetypes of Leadership & Creativity with Stephanie Crain
51:27
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, this episode explores the archetypes, personas, and roles we embody in our work life and beyond, beginning with the archetype of The Lovers. My guest is The Corporate Mystic, Stephanie Crain, an Austin-based leadership/ ethos coach and innovation consultant. She’s the founder of Tapas Innovation, and a Certified Ma…
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In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte describe the Play, or ideation, phase of the creative process. In our view of the creative process, we begin with play. This is where we dream, fantasize, imagine, and envision the work we want to create. It’s where we play with ideas, build our skills, and experiment with differen…
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Following the creative path professionally requires faith and courage, as exemplified by our current guest Warren “Ren” Jackson. Originally from Indianapolis (where he and Melinda went school together growing up), Ren went on to earn an MFA from the University of Arizona, and then to a professional acting career with an emphasis on Shakespeare. He …
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Episode 20: Creative Spark Series - The Syncreate Model of Play, Plan & Produce with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
13:18
In this episode of our new Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte give an overview of the Syncreate model of Play, Plan & Produce to help you move from ideation to completion with your creative work. Do you have an idea for a creative project but can’t seem to move it forward? Or maybe you’ve stalled out along the way, or can’t figure out how…
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Episode 19: Creativity, Sexuality & The Sacred Feminine with Leah Shadwick, Marie Commisso and Thais Bicalho Silva
43:27
For our first full-length episode of 2024, we’re taking things in a more personal direction, as Melinda shares the story of her recent hysterectomy journey, along with her team of women healers, Leah Shadwick, Marie Commisso, and Thais Bicalho Silva. We discuss the connections between creativity, sexuality, the body, and the sacred feminine, as wel…
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Episode 18: Creative Spark Series - 2024 Creative Intentions with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
10:26
For our very first episode of the new year, we’re doing something new! A couple of things, actually. We’re moving to a weekly release schedule, and introducing a new series we’re calling Creative Sparks to help stimulate your creativity. Every other week, Syncreate Co-Founders Melinda and Charlotte will co-host a mini-episode focusing on a specific…
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Episode 17: Creative Collaboration - The Joy and The Pain with Syncreate Podcast Producer Mike Osborne
34:15
In our final episode of 2023, Melinda and Mike reflect on our collaboration in developing and producing The Syncreate Podcast over the last year, from its ideation phase to the present. We talk about Melinda’s inspiration for the show, some of the myths and stereotypes she wants to dispel about creativity, and (now that we can laugh about it) our c…
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What is creativity and how do we study it? If you’re curious to learn more about the study of creativity and innovation, this episode is for you. My guest today is Dr. Robert Cleve, head of the Creativity, Innovation, and Leadership Specialization at Saybrook University. We talk about how Robert recently updated the curriculum to better address the…
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We’ve all likely experienced some degree of burnout or overwhelm in the course of our lives, especially since the pandemic. But what exactly is burnout? How can we recognize the signs of it, prevent it from overtaking us, and heal from it once we’ve experienced it? My guest on the show today is Dr. Katherine Semler. Katherine has worked for 25 year…
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Songwriting, like many creative pursuits, can be a mysterious process. There’s no set formula for writing a song, and each songwriter approaches it in their own unique way. My guest today is George McCormack, a British singer-songwriter who performs as Son of Cormack. George and I were introduced by a mutual friend last year and started collaborati…
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This episode, featuring Cyrus Gray III, demonstrates how creativity can support resilience, even under extremely difficult circumstances. In Episode 11, I talked with Dylan Hayre about the creativity in his criminal justice reform work. In this episode, we hear about the criminal justice system from the perspective of someone who found himself behi…
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Sharanya Rao is a leadership, team, and career coach with an emphasis on equity and inclusion. She’s also the Artistic Director of Leela - An Indian Community Theatre in Austin, Texas. Her current project, Anklets in the Boardroom, gives voice to South Asian women’s experiences in the workplace. Her project is a living example of creating in commun…
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