Creatives Processing

Word of Mouth Creative
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Creatives Processing is the podcast where creatives reveal their process and process what it means to create. It illuminates the human journey behind creative work – where professional creatives share their authentic processes, struggles, and triumphs with a host who champions creative collaboration and kindness.

  1. 2d ago

    Highlights: Christy Hall, Actor, Musician, Comedian, and Director on Why the Permission Is Already Yours

    This highlights episode features three moments from the full Creatives Processing conversation with Christy Hall — actor, musician, comedian, director, and managing director of the New York theater co-op Theatre 4the People. First, Christy on the agency you already have: sign up on the list, do your five minutes, come back next week. Then on why she has never narrowed to one lane, and what she counts as success instead of being chosen. And finally, something different — a piece of the ritual she performs in her live show, which she does here, live, and which you can do along with her. Between segments, creative director and podcast host Sarah Mulligan Williams shares what these moments bring up for her. Highlight 1: Christy Hall on why you don't have to wait to be cast; the open mic as the thing you already have access to, and how five minutes at a time stacks into an hour with a part in it only you can play. Reflection: On freelancing as her own open mic, the reps that taught her what her style actually was, and why the things you get dinged for are exactly why the work could only ever be yours. Highlight 2: Christy on never narrowing to one lane, and a definition of success that isn't being chosen — it's knowing she can make the thing happen, and getting in the room consistently. Reflection: On a range that used to cost her jobs, what shifts when continuing is the win instead of being categorized, and finally seeing how all of it connects. Highlight 3: A piece of the ritual from Some Love Songs — a letting-go exercise Christy walks the whole room through, performed live here. Grab a scrap of paper and something to write with if you have them nearby. Reflection: On doing it for real with her own word, and why “let go to make room” has been rattling around ever since. 🤩 Listen to the full conversation! If you liked this episode, the full conversation with Christy is available now. We get into the clown course that taught her the thing she was most afraid of was also her material, the layoff that sent her back to the stage, what it takes to run a theater co-op on the belief that you shouldn't need a trust fund to make or see theater, and what it looks like to do all of it at once, on purpose. Some Love Songs is a live show — follow @christyhallyall for upcoming dates About Christy Hall Actor, musician, comedian, and director, and managing director of Theatre 4the People, a New York theater co-op running since 2010 on the belief that you shouldn't need a trust fund to make theater or to see it. Her hour-long musical comedy show, Some Love Songs, is built from a decade of stand-up in the city and songs she's been rewriting for ten years. Christy Hall — instagram.com/christyhallyall Theatre 4the People — theatre4thepeople.org 🗓️ UPCOMING EVENTS Comedy 101 presents... Thanksgiving weekend two-fer at the Hollywood Theatre, Portland Saturday, November 21 (matinee) · Monday, November 23 (evening) Titles and tickets announced in the monthly dispatch — wordofmouthcreative.co/newsletter 👋 SAY HEY! Creatives Processing is hosted by Sarah Mulligan Williams. Find them at their creative studio, Word of Mouth — wordofmouthcreative.co If you're looking for a creative partner who leads with strategy, storytelling, and a real human point of view — come say hey! https://www.wordofmouthcreative.co/contact sayhey [AT] wordofmouthcreative [DOT] co 👍 FOLLOW For updates on Creatives Processing, Comedy 101, and everything else happening across the Word of Mouth studio, sign up for the monthly dispatch — wordofmouthcreative.co/newsletter Or follow on Instagram — @creativesprocessing @wordofmouthcreative @comedy101presents 👄 REAL WORD OF MOUTH 😁 If you loved this episode, spread the word! Leave a rating and some love, or share it with a friend. Produced by Word of Mouth, edited by Cai Indermaur, music by John Michael Rouchell

    Highlights: Christy Hall, Actor, Musician, Comedian, and Director on Why the Permission Is Already Yours

  2. Sep 9

    Christy Hall on the Layoff That Freed Her, Refusing One Lane, and Making 'Some Love Songs'

    Christy Hall came to New York to act, direct, and do stand-up. Instead she got good at something else — a survival job that became a career, promotion after promotion, until she was running the games division at an ed tech company. The paycheck was real, the mission was good, and she was already done with it. Then a mass layoff made the decision for her, and she got back to the thing she'd come to New York to do in the first place. In this conversation, we trace Christy's path from an Arkansas childhood where nobody got mad when she was weird to the hour of musical comedy she eventually built for herself. She tells us about the clown course that taught her the thing she was most afraid of was also her material, the years of open mics that stacked five minutes at a time into a full show, and what it takes to run a theater co-op on the belief that you shouldn't need a trust fund to make or see theater. We get into AI actors, why honesty happens to be funny, and a definition of success that has nothing to do with booking the job. Episode Highlights: No bum note: growing up weird in a family of musicians and paintersThe clown course: commedia dell'arte, mask work, and the idea that your clown is the need you're most afraid ofGolden handcuffs: a company doing genuinely good work, and how hard it is to leave a job you're already done withThe layoff, the five-minute cry, and the difference between a partner on the get-a-job train and a partner on the make-a-job trainWhere "Some Love Songs" came from: a solo festival at her own theater company, and a producer who told her she had an hour in herEverything is your partner's fault: what Meisner and improv taught her about getting out of her own head, and why honesty happens to be funnyTilly Norwood, AI slop, and the difference between an actor missing a note and a machine that compounds what it never understoodTheatre 4 The People: a co-op where nobody is in charge, a residency with a stipend and no deliverable, and why the real difference between Broadway and community theater is often just moneySign up on the list, do your five, come back next week — how a solo show gets built without waiting to be castHer definition of success: consistency, not casting — “I don't have to pick one. I pick them all.” ⭐️ ABOUT THE GUEST Christy Hall is a New York-based actor, musician, comedian, and director. She is the managing director of Theatre 4 The People, a New York theater co-op running since 2010 that prioritizes new work from queer and BIPOC artists. After a decade of stand-up in the city, she wrote and performs "Some Love Songs", an hour-long musical comedy show that stitches her storytelling songs to her stand-up and ends with a ritual she performs together with the audience. She also teaches comedy classes built specifically for actors. Instagram: @christyhallyall Theatre 4 The People: theatre4thepeople.org 👋 SAY HEY! Creatives Processing is hosted by Sarah Mulligan Williams. Find them at their creative studio, Word of Mouth — wordofmouthcreative.co If you're looking for a creative partner who leads with strategy, storytelling, and a real human point of view — come say hey! sayhey [AT] wordofmouthcreative [DOT] co 👍 FOLLOW For updates on Creatives Processing, Comedy 101, and everything else happening across the Word of Mouth studio, sign up for the monthly dispatch — wordofmouthcreative.co/newsletter Or follow on Instagram — @creativesprocessing @wordofmouthcreative 👄 REAL WORD OF MOUTH If you loved this episode, spread the word! Leave a rating and some love, or share it with a friend. Produced by Word of Mouth, edited by Cai Indermaur, music by John Michael Rouchell

    Christy Hall on the Layoff That Freed Her, Refusing One Lane, and Making 'Some Love Songs'

  3. Jun 30

    Highlights: Candace Cui & Carissa Potter on Art as Medicine and the Trust to Begin

    This highlights episode features two moments from the full Creatives Processing conversation with Candace Cui and Carissa Potter, co-creators of the fantasy journaling book The Imaginary Atlas. First, Carissa on why art isn't a privilege—it's medicine—and how fantasy works as a tool to get around your own inner critic. Then Candace on what the writing process actually looks like when you stop forcing it, and why trust is what makes creative work possible, alone or with someone else. Between segments, creative director and podcast host Sarah Mulligan Williams shares what these moments bring up for her. Highlight 1: Carissa Potter on why art isn't a privilege, it's medicine; fantasy as the mind's way of going somewhere the body hasn't figured out how to get to yet, and letting it be information rather than destination. Reflection: On the inner critic, finding the side door, and journaling through an alien's eyes (with a little help from Marty McPug). Highlight 2: Candace Cui on what the writing process looks like when you stop forcing it: write it, walk away, come back — and why trust is the root of creative work, alone or with a collaborator. Reflection: On rumination as material (not distraction), and the trust that lets work change, break, or shift mid-project without it feeling like a threat. 🤩 Listen to the full conversation! If you liked this episode, the full conversation with Candace and Carissa is available now. We get into how The Imaginary Atlas came together, what it looks like to build something across different creative skill sets, all the different ways trust comes into play, and why they both believe imagination isn't an escape from real life, but a tool for building one. The Imaginary Atlas — ⁠peopleiveloved.com/products/the-imaginary-atlas-journal⁠ About Candace Cui Freelance growth marketing consultant and writer. Her advice column, Dear Candace, and her book, Why Do We Avoid the Hard Thing?, tackle the questions most people can't bring themselves to ask out loud—about life, love, and the impossible choices in between. Candace Cui — ⁠candacecui.com⁠ Dear Candace — ⁠dearcandace.substack.com⁠ About Carissa Potter Artist, illustrator, and founder of People I've Loved, a Bay Area studio and imprint making books and paper objects that help people get through their days. Carissa Potter — ⁠www.carissapotter.com⁠  People I've Loved — ⁠peopleiveloved.com,⁠ ⁠peopleiveloved.substack.com⁠ 🗓️ UPCOMING EVENTS Comedy 101 presents... O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? Sunday, July 6 — Hollywood Theatre, Portland, OR ⁠https://hollywoodtheatre.org/show/o-brother-where-art-thou⁠ WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER Monday, August 17 — The Roxie, San Francisco, CA  (Tickets available in July) 👋 SAY HEY! Creatives Processing is hosted by Sarah Mulligan Williams. Find them at their creative studio, Word of Mouth — ⁠wordofmouthcreative.co⁠ If you're looking for a creative partner who leads with strategy, storytelling, and a real human point of view — come say hey!  ⁠https://www.wordofmouthcreative.co/contact⁠ sayhey [AT] wordofmouthcreative [DOT] co 👍 FOLLOW For updates on Creatives Processing, Comedy 101, and everything else happening across the Word of Mouth studio, sign up for the monthly dispatch — ⁠wordofmouthcreative.co/newsletter⁠ Or follow on Instagram — ⁠@creativesprocessing⁠ ⁠@wordofmouthcreative⁠ ⁠@comedy101presents⁠ 👄 REAL WORD OF MOUTH 😁 If you loved this episode, spread the word! Leave a rating and some love, or share it with a friend. Produced by Word of Mouth, edited by Cai Indermaur, music by John Michael Rouchell

    Highlights: Candace Cui & Carissa Potter on Art as Medicine and the Trust to Begin

  4. Jun 16

    The Imaginary Atlas: Candace Cui & Carissa Potter on Fantasy as a Creative Tool

    Candace Cui and Carissa Potter are the co-creators of The Imaginary Atlas, a fantasy journaling book that invites you to imagine yourself as a character in a fantasy world—as a tool for real-life reflection and change. In this conversation, host Sarah Mulligan Williams and her guests explore how The Imaginary Atlas came together, what it takes to build something across different creative skill sets, the many ways trust comes into play, and why they both believe imagination isn't an escape from real life, but a tool for building one. The Imaginary Atlas — peopleiveloved.com/products/the-imaginary-atlas-journal About Candace Cui Freelance growth marketing consultant and writer. Her advice column, Dear Candace, and her book, Why Do We Avoid the Hard Thing?, tackle the questions most people can't bring themselves to ask out loud—about life, love, and the impossible choices in between. Candace Cui — candacecui.com Dear Candace — dearcandace.substack.com About Carissa Potter Artist, illustrator, and founder of People I've Loved, a Bay Area studio and imprint making books and paper objects that help people get through their days. Carissa Potter — www.carissapotter.com  People I've Loved — peopleiveloved.com, peopleiveloved.substack.com 🗓️ UPCOMING EVENTS Comedy 101 presents... O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? Sunday, July 6 — Hollywood Theatre, Portland, OR https://hollywoodtheatre.org/show/o-brother-where-art-thou WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER Monday, August 17 — The Roxie, San Francisco, CA  (Tickets available in July) 👋 SAY HEY! Creatives Processing is hosted by Sarah Mulligan Williams. Find them at their creative studio, Word of Mouth — wordofmouthcreative.co If you're looking for a creative partner who leads with strategy, storytelling, and a real human point of view — come say hey!  https://www.wordofmouthcreative.co/contact sayhey [AT] wordofmouthcreative [DOT] co 👍 FOLLOW For updates on Creatives Processing, Comedy 101, and everything else happening across the Word of Mouth studio, sign up for the monthly dispatch — wordofmouthcreative.co/newsletter Or follow on Instagram — @creativesprocessing @wordofmouthcreative @comedy101presents 👄 REAL WORD OF MOUTH 😁 If you loved this episode, spread the word! Leave a rating and some love, or share it with a friend. Produced by Word of Mouth, edited by Cai Indermaur, music by John Michael Rouchell

    The Imaginary Atlas: Candace Cui & Carissa Potter on Fantasy as a Creative Tool

  5. Jun 4

    Highlights: Maegan Gindi, Artist, Photographer, and Director on Why Failure is Simply Stopping

    Three key moments from the full Creatives Processing conversation with artist, photographer, and director Maegan Gindi, photographer, director, and artist whose career spans portraiture, writing, audio, and fine art. From the self-funded project that launched her career to the "eternal hustle" of running a creative business, this episode explores what it actually means to keep going in an industry that never stops shifting. Between each clip, host & creative director Sarah Mulligan Williams shares her own perspective on treating feedback as diagnostic information, the 85/15 ratio of business to flow, and why we all need a space to show our unfinished work. Featured Highlights: The Avedon Connection — How studying art history and iterating on feedback transformed a self-funded political project into a career-defining breakthrough. The Eternal Hustle — Why Maegan's definition of failure is simply "stopping," and how the relentless work of being your own CEO/CFO creates the conditions for creative flow. Crit Nights and the Unfinished — The importance of building community-led spaces where work doesn't have to justify itself economically and can be looked at with serious, empathetic eyes. About the Guest:  Maegan Gindi is a New York and LA-based photographer, director, and artist whose work focuses on the intersection of human connection and cerebral, timeless aesthetics. A graduate of the ICP Teen Academy with a background in art history, she has built a career that spans high-stakes commercial assignments and deeply personal fine art projects. Her client list includes The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, Teen Vogue, and Louis Vuitton. Beyond the lens, Maegan is a community builder, hosting quarterly critique groups and fostering collaboration across the creative industry. Her work is characterized by a "sleek sensibility coupled with grit"—a nod to her South Brooklyn roots. She is currently exploring the medium of audio-portraiture and directing, while continuing to develop her long-term series In Conversation With. Want more than just these highlights? Check out the full conversation episode! Connect with Maegan Gindi Website: www.maegangindi.com Instagram: @maegangindi SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER Connect with Creatives Processing: Instagram: @creativesprocessing Email: creativesprocessing AT wordofmouthcreative DOT co About Word of Mouth, the creative studio behind Creatives Processing: Website: wordofmouthcreative.co Services: Strategic creative direction, brand development, and design for mission-driven organizations—always through the lens of humanizing the creative process Approach: Partner with Sarah to create authentic brand experiences that honor both strategic goals and human connection Subscribe to Creatives Processing to hear more conversations with creative professionals about their processes, challenges, and what it really takes to build sustainable creative careers. Credits Edited by Cai Indermaur Music by John Michael Rouchell

    Highlights: Maegan Gindi, Artist, Photographer, and Director on Why Failure is Simply Stopping

  6. May 5

    Maegan Gindi on the Art of Connection, ‘Shots at the Rally’, and Moving Through Grief

    Maegan Gindi sees herself as an artist first, with photography as her primary medium. In this conversation, we trace her journey from starting with disposable cameras at age twelve in Brooklyn to shooting commissioned celebrity portraits. Maegan shares the story behind Shots at the Rally, the self-funded project that launched her career by referencing Richard Avedon’s In the American West to capture political supporters. We dig into the high-stakes reality of a 5-minute celebrity shoot, why she’s leaning into directing, and her deeply personal project In Conversation with Death. It’s a look at what it takes to build a sustainable creative life while staying true to a timeless, empathetic vision. About the Guest: Maegan Gindi is a New York and LA-based photographer, director, and artist whose work focuses on the intersection of human connection and cerebral, timeless aesthetics. With a background in art history, she has built a career that spans high-stakes commercial assignments and deeply personal fine art projects. Her client list includes The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, Teen Vogue, and Louis Vuitton. Beyond the lens, Maegan is a community builder, hosting quarterly critique groups and fostering collaboration across the creative industry. Her work is characterized by a "sleek sensibility coupled with grit"—a nod to her Brooklyn roots. She is currently exploring the medium of audio-portraiture and directing, while continuing to develop her long-term series In Conversation With. Episode Highlights: The Vegas detour: Using a move to the desert to repair a relationship with her father through photography and audio Why a portrait where someone isn't smiling is actually harder to get than it used to be The “adrenaline-addicted” personality type required to thrive in commercial production 85% vs 15%: The honest ratio of business admin to creative flow state Dealing with “no chill” moments and why being equals with celebrity subjects is essential for the shot Her definition of failure: It’s not a rough quarter or a shifting industry—it’s stopping Connect with Maegan Gindi Website: www.maegangindi.com Instagram: @maegangindi Connect with Creatives Processing: Instagram: @creativesprocessing Email: creativesprocessing AT wordofmouthcreative DOT co About Word of Mouth, the creative studio behind Creatives Processing: Website: wordofmouthcreative.co Services: Strategic creative direction, brand development, and design for mission-driven organizations—always through the lens of humanizing the creative process Approach: Partner with Sarah to create authentic brand experiences that honor both strategic goals and human connection Get the Word of Mouth monthly newsletter! https://www.wordofmouthcreative.co/newsletter Check out the April edition of the Word of Mouth Mixtape! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2roZNrEDcmkoKCV7bkwJvP?si=5a04f721155140cf Subscribe to Creatives Processing to hear more conversations with creative professionals about their processes, challenges, and what it really takes to build sustainable creative careers. If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and send to a friend! Credits Edited by Cai Indermaur Music by John Michael Rouchell

    Maegan Gindi on the Art of Connection, ‘Shots at the Rally’, and Moving Through Grief

  7. Apr 21

    Mona Shomali Highlights: Author, Visual Artist, and Youth Educator on Why Dreaming Has to Come First

    In this highlights episode, Creatives Processing host Sarah Mulligan Williams pulls three moments from her conversation with Mona Shomali — author, visual artist, and director of a Youth Environmental Leadership Program. Between each clip, Sarah shares her own perspective on the creative process and connects Mona's insights to her approach to building authentic, human-centered creative work. This episode covers what it actually takes to get a book into the world on your own terms, why dreaming has to come before doing, and what technology and Western isolation are quietly costing us — creatively and as humans. Featured Highlights The 180 Nos — What 180 rejections did to Mona's sense of self, how one conversation helped her reframe it, and why building your own publishing infrastructure isn't settling — it's strategy Before Reality Shuts You Down — Why dreaming has to come first, what Mona's youth program has taught her about keeping creative possibility alive, and the danger of closing the window before it's even open Too Afraid to Be Human — What phoneless activities and indigenous community structures reveal about Western isolation, why no one dances anymore, and why showing up imperfectly is both a creative and a human necessity About the Guest: Mona Shomali is an author, visual artist, and director of a Berkeley-based youth environmental leadership program. She spent a decade teaching International Relations at three New York universities, where she led courses on Indigenous human rights in the Amazon, resource conflicts in the developing world, and international environmental governance — and took students to live with the Makushi people in Guyana. Her debut novel, Water Mamas: A Novel of Climate, Spirituality, and Indigenous Human Rights, follows a UN environmental scientist navigating a clash between a proposed geoengineering project and the indigenous communities whose land — and spirits — would be affected. It's a book that reads like a thriller and teaches like a course. The cover is Mona's own painting — a work she envisioned before the novel was even finished. Get Water Mamas on ⁠Bookshop.org⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠. Also available through the IngramSpark catalog — request it at any independent bookstore near you. Connect with Mona Shomali Website: www.monashomali.com Substack: monashomali.substack.com Instagram: @monashomali_ Connect with Creatives Processing: Instagram: @creativesprocessing Email: creativesprocessing AT wordofmouthcreative DOT co About Word of Mouth, the creative studio behind Creatives Processing: Strategic creative direction, brand development, and design for mission-driven organizations—always through the lens of humanizing the creative processPartner with Sarah to create authentic brand experiences that honor both strategic goals and human connectionwordofmouthcreative.co⁠ Subscribe to Creatives Processing to hear more conversations with creative professionals about their processes, challenges, and what it really takes to build sustainable creative careers. If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and send to a friend! Credits Edited by Cai Indermaur Music by John Michael Rouchell

    Mona Shomali Highlights: Author, Visual Artist, and Youth Educator on Why Dreaming Has to Come First

  8. Apr 7

    Mona Shomali on Writing ‘Water Mamas’, Self-Publishing, and Keeping Creative Possibility Alive

    Mona Shomali spent years as a professor of International Relations teaching courses on Indigenous human rights, resource conflicts, and environmental governance — and she had a book's worth of material to show for it. The problem was, nobody wanted to read it. In this conversation, Mona shares how she transformed a dense, unreadable nonfiction manuscript into Water Mamas, her debut climate fiction novel. We get into the five-year editorial journey, what it took to survive 180 rejections, and the collaborators who made self-publishing not just possible but excellent. We explore how her background as a visual artist shapes the way she writes — including the painting that became the book's cover. And we dig into what her work with youth has taught her about keeping the dreaming alive before reality shuts it down, and what technology and Western isolation are quietly costing us. About the Guest: Mona Shomali is a visual artist, author, and director of a Berkeley-based youth environmental leadership program. She spent a decade teaching International Relations at three New York universities, where she led courses on Indigenous human rights in the Amazon, resource conflicts in the developing world, and international environmental governance — and took students to live with the Makushi people in Guyana. Her debut novel, Water Mamas: A Novel of Climate, Spirituality, and Indigenous Human Rights, follows a UN environmental scientist navigating a clash between a proposed geoengineering project and the indigenous communities whose land — and spirits — would be affected. It's a book that reads like a thriller and teaches like a course. The cover is Mona's own painting — a work she envisioned before the novel was even finished. Episode Highlights From art major to Amazon obsession: how an environmental studies class changed everything The pivot from nonfiction to fiction — merging the academic mind with the creative one The painting on the cover: Death in the Forest, the Yanomami, and why the trees are bleeding 180 rejections, one botched yes, and the Reddit thread that pointed toward self-publishing Building a creative team you love: editor Dana, book designer April, and what great collaboration actually looks like The IngramSpark strategy that got Water Mamas into Barnes & Noble, the Strand, and indie bookstores nationwide What Mona can control in a painting that she can't control in prose — and vice versa Working with young people who haven't reached the place where reality shuts them down — and what that does for her own creativity What success looks like now: contentment, not benchmarks Connect with Mona Shomali Get Water Mamas at ⁠Bookshop.org⁠, ⁠Amazon⁠, or request it at your local independent bookstore. Website: monashomali.com Substack: monashomali.substack.com Instagram: @monashomali_ Connect with Creatives Processing: Instagram: @creativesprocessing Email: creativesprocessing AT wordofmouthcreative DOT co About Word of Mouth, the creative studio behind Creatives Processing: Strategic creative direction, brand development, and design for mission-driven organizations—always through the lens of humanizing the creative processPartner with Sarah to create authentic brand experiences that honor both strategic goals and human connectionwordofmouthcreative.co⁠ Subscribe to Creatives Processing to hear more conversations with creative professionals about their processes, challenges, and what it really takes to build sustainable creative careers. If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and send to a friend! Credits: Edited by Cai Indermaur. Music by John Michael Rouchell

    Mona Shomali on Writing ‘Water Mamas’, Self-Publishing, and Keeping Creative Possibility Alive
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Creatives Processing is the podcast where creatives reveal their process and process what it means to create. It illuminates the human journey behind creative work – where professional creatives share their authentic processes, struggles, and triumphs with a host who champions creative collaboration and kindness.

Information

  • Creator
    Word of Mouth Creative
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    24
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Word of Mouth Creative
  • Show Website
    Creatives Processing