Authenticated

Kate McLeod

The podcast for diverse, in-depth discussions around the creative conscious™ of creative thinkers. Join creative entrepreneur Kate McLeod as she examples in conversation, the path for authentically optimized creative patterns of thinking with other innovative creative thinkers. The result: an array of tools for listeners who want to habitualize their creative conscious™ or just take their creative thinking to the brain gym for about an hour. Get ready to get introspective, creative and expansive with the latest episode of Authenticated.  

  1. DEC 10

    Measuring Backwards w/ David Mattar Merten

    Send us a text On the latest episode of Authenticated, Kate is joined by Broadway actor David Mattar Merten to workshop what it means to measure backwards in his career.  David's always been a "look ahead" person, great at getting the job and currently in the practice of staying present in it. He reflects on the threads that have woven together to get him from his 11-year-old poster dream to now: showing up, following the artists that light his passion on fire, sending the email and making the ask when intuition says the moment calls for it, and trusting that work begets work. They explore what it means to actually see the evidence around you—the proof of what you've already done—rather than only chasing the dream ahead.  Kate and David dig into the difference between gripping goals tightly and holding them with trust, how personal and professional growth are inseparable, and why the way you treat people in rooms matters more than any single audition. Their conversation moves through the simultaneous weight of imposter syndrome and belief, the gift of being exhausted from work you once begged for, and the quiet revolution of simply believing what the world is already telling you about who you are.  They explore the mirrored evolution from smoothing yourself out to fit any mold to embracing the intersectionalities that make you a unique asset, the power of practicing being in the spaces you say you want to inhabit, and how sometimes the most generous thing you can do for your future self is look back and finally believe what you see. David Mattar Merten: Insta: https://www.instagram.com/david_merten_/?hl=en Website: https://david-merten.com/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGngl2oO-Y-FAEJ44kfSMyXQKKW3VHI9Cr6fpekwldV9Ovg7-y91tp6pCkxgaw_aem_HMC7t1UnIvkSllOSgWGdAg Authenticated All Access ME³ Kate McLeod

    44 min
  2. NOV 24

    Powered By Perception w/ LadyDi MegaDiva

    Send us a text On the latest episode of Authenticated, Kate sits opposite the LadyDi MegaDiva, a star on her ascent who is powered by perception. She's a real-life, adult, her-version Tinkerbell—she needs the applause and laughter or she dies. Give her an audience and she comes alive. Her songs are her scrapbook because she's terrible at journaling. Silly, cliche and real all at once. She sings them over and over, carrying past versions of herself into who she is now. LadyDi told me she just wants to have fun. So I asked her the obvious question: if fun is your native language, your superpower, why isn't it everywhere? Why the social media anxiety? Why the overthinking? Why not sprinkle fun on all of it? The conversation of artistic stretching through dialogue delivered LadyDi MegaDiva to the following: "I'm literally just trying to sing and be a showgirl for a living. Why wouldn't it be sprinkled with fun?" This episode is about the gap between knowing what you're good at and taking confident action to delivering it everywhere. LadyDi has the talent and drive to make it to a massive platform. Kate sees it. Everyone who knows her sees it. But every artist can get in their own way. They know their superpower but don't trust it enough yet to let it loose consistently, and that informative journey along the way, is a story of solidarity every up and coming creative could stand to bear witness to. Kate and LadyDi MegaDiva talk about vulnerability in singing, being powered by perception, authenticity as allowing yourself to be who you will in a moment without preemptive planning, and what it means to assume your audience will love you before you even start performing. If you're an artist who knows what makes you special and wants to practice leaning all the way in, this conversation will surface some questions and answers that you need to hear yourself. LadyDI MegaDiva https://www.instagram.com/ladydi.megadiva/?hl=en https://www.youtube.com/@ladydi.megadiva/videos https://open.spotify.com/artist/6vMcINv5A40cYWlilPx1mZ https://www.tiktok.com/@ladydi.megadiva Authenticated All Access ME³ Kate McLeod

    47 min
  3. NOV 17

    Malleability Over Rigidity w/ Dr. Moiya McTier

    Send us a text On the latest episode of "Authenticated," Kate is joined by astrophysicist, folklorist, and science communicator Dr. Moiya McTier to explore what happens when you understand both the universe's vastness and your own insignificance — and allow that scale of knowledge to deliver you liberation. They leverage their shared comfort with not knowing everything to dig into curiosity as an intimate relationship, spite as a temporary fuel versus fun as sustainable propulsion, and why comparing yourself to galaxies is healthier (and better science) than comparing yourself to other humans. Kate and Moiya tinker and play in the intersection of astronomy and mythology as two languages attempting to answer the same fundamental questions, the practice of enjoying your own brain as a prerequisite for creative work, and how grief mirrors the physics of space filling voids. Their conversation surfaces the spiral versus the circle, the privilege of authenticity once you've proven yourself, and why the fastest force in the universe still takes time — so maybe you can cut yourself some slack. They examine how studying the cosmos teaches personal philosophy, why creativity requires malleability over rigidity, and what it means to be a curious nihilist who knows nothing matters cosmically but everything matters locally. A conversation between two people who both geek out about the human experience, just from wildly different disciplinary entry points—proving that the most valuable dialogues happen when people approach similar life lessons through completely different means. Dr. Moiya McTier: https://www.moiyamctier.com/ Authenticated All Access ME³ Kate McLeod

    57 min
  4. NOV 10

    Ego, Intuition & The Art of Honoring Your No w/ Terrease Rebecca Aiken

    Send us a text On the latest episode of "Authenticated," Kate sits down with harpist, artist and sound healer Terrease Rebecca Aiken to talk about the courage to choose your individual path. They share their practices of distinguishing ego from intuition—and all the masks ego has—and how surrendering perfectionism creates space for something else. Their conversation moves through the physical demands of playing a "diva" instrument that requires full-body presence to why stepping away from traditional acting pathways doesn't mean abandoning your craft but rather focusing your energy where it generates real momentum. Kate and Terrease spill some hard truths about the forced intimacy of performance training and how those early connections can confuse professional networks, the liberation that comes from honoring your "no," and why being peaceful makes you more valuable than being productive. They end somewhere in the realm of realization that how you show up in life is exactly how you show up in your art—your humanity on display—and that protecting your peace isn't selfish, it's the foundation for showing up authentically in every role you inhabit. Two multifaceted creatives proving that expansion happens when you stop shrinking yourself to make others comfortable or yourself easily digestible. Terrease Rebecca Aiken Website: https://www.terreaseaiken.com Terrease Rebecca Aiken Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noirhathorsounds/ Authenticated All Access ME³ Kate McLeod

    54 min
  5. NOV 3

    When Intuition is Faster Than Logic w/ Lindsey Mango

    Send us a text On the latest episode of "Authenticated," Kate converses with life coach Lindsey Mango all things exploring their personal work within interplay between intuition, logic, and the courage to trust your inner knowing. Sharing all inner musings of practices that identify expanders versus contractors—the people, places, and things that either open you up to possibility or shrink you into limitation—and how that awareness shapes everything from daily micro decisions to life-altering pivots you can never turn back from. Their conversation incorporates the art of rebuilding trust with intuition by honoring even the subtlest desires, the ever fascinating balance between writing voice and thinking voice, and why energy management isn't just self-care but the baseline for showing up authentically in every role you inhabit personally and professionally. Kate asks Lindsey to share insights on how motherhood can either fast-forward your growth or contract you into smallness depending on your willingness to stay present with the work, and they challenge the environmental cultural programming that teaches us not to trust ourselves from childhood forward. They land on a powerful realization: that intuition moves faster than logic, and sometimes the most logical thing you can do is follow what doesn't make sense yet—because the evidence always reveals itself in retrospect. Two creative thinkers proving that confidence isn't about having all the answers, and rather about trusting the questions enough to allow them to be momentum forward. Lindsey Mango Authenticated All Access ME³ Kate McLeod

    43 min
  6. SEP 22

    Knowing is Enough w/ Maria Müller

    Send us a text On the latest episode of Authenticated, Kate reflects opposite Maria Müller, a Romanian-born artist who's mastered the audacity of believing multiple versions of herself can coexist—actor, writer, producer, co-founder of Italia Theater—despite growing up in a culture that insisted excellence could only exist in a singular focus. Maria and Kate side-by-side compassionately and comically unpack the alchemy of transforming a childhood spent planning her inevitable stardom into the more complex reality of building creative infrastructure, for Maria one visa application and 900-page extraordinary ability petition at a time. Their conversation excavates the tender brutality of cultural shapeshifting—how returning home after growing elsewhere, became a masterclass in holding your own evolution while others mourn the person you used to be. Kate and Maria dissect the capitalism-soaked delusion that worthiness lives in productivity, the comic revelation that boyfriends can introduce you to something called "weekends," and the particular violence of being told your dreams require documentation you cannot simply purchase at CVS. What surfaces is an archaeology of unbridled ambition—how the practice of collecting proof becomes a love letter to all versions of yourself, how fear reveals itself as the most honest creative collaborator, and how the deepest rebellion against a system designed to diminish you is the radical act of refusing to shrink, even when shrinking feels like survival. Maria Müller: insta, website Et Alia Theatre  Authenticated All Access ME³ Kate McLeod

    57 min
4.6
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

The podcast for diverse, in-depth discussions around the creative conscious™ of creative thinkers. Join creative entrepreneur Kate McLeod as she examples in conversation, the path for authentically optimized creative patterns of thinking with other innovative creative thinkers. The result: an array of tools for listeners who want to habitualize their creative conscious™ or just take their creative thinking to the brain gym for about an hour. Get ready to get introspective, creative and expansive with the latest episode of Authenticated.