Creative by Nature Podcast with Jess Madenford

Jessica Madenford
  • 5.0 (10)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Because creativity isn’t something you do — it’s who you are. Creative by Nature blends self-expression, personal growth, and wellbeing in ways you can actually use. This podcast is for anyone ready to reconnect with their inner spark  — whether you’re deeply creative or someone who has never considered themselves “creative.”  You’ll hear stories and guidance for those moments when you pause and catch yourself thinking things like: “I used to have such a big imagination as a kid — what happened?” Or when you wonder, “Can I really trust myself?” Maybe you notice how often you’ve been silencing yourself just to fit in, or feel that surge of inspiration but don’t know where to begin.  Each episode meets you in those moments of doubt and “where do I even start?” feelings, helping you reconnect with your spark, trust yourself, and take simple, practical steps to express who you really are. Whether you want to feel more confident in your creativity, explore your intuition, or bring a little more mindful, inspired living into your day, Creative by Nature offers practical guidance, gentle support, and ideas you can experiment with right away. Subscribe now to reconnect with your imagination, explore self-expression, and cultivate a life of alignment, creativity, and joy. Visit thejourneytohere.net for free resources, guidance, and ways to connect with Jess. If this show resonates, share it with a friend and leave a review to help other creative souls discover a path to inspired living.

  1. 11H AGO

    How Creative Leaders Build Trust, Connection, and a Culture of Belonging with Brett Umbenhouer

    What does it really mean to lead with heart? In this episode of Creative by Nature, I’m joined by elementary school principal Brett Umbenhower, whose leadership is rooted in compassion, connection, and the belief that every person deserves to feel seen, heard, and loved. Brett shares the powerful experiences from his childhood that shaped the way he leads today—including a moment when someone doubted his potential and another when a teacher believed in him enough to help change the trajectory of his life. Together, we explore how creative leadership can transform workplace culture, build trust, and create environments where people feel psychologically safe enough to share their voices. You’ll hear how simple practices—like greeting people by name, listening deeply, and inviting collaboration—can foster belonging, empowerment, and genuine connection within teams. We also talk about the importance of supporting the human side of leadership: holding space for difficult conversations, encouraging healthy boundaries, and remembering that the people we work with are carrying real life experiences beyond the workplace. Whether you lead a classroom, a business, a creative team, or a community, this conversation offers inspiring insights on how to lead with empathy, creativity, and heart. Because when people feel truly seen and heard, they thrive. If this episode resonates with you, share it with someone who leads with heart—or someone who could use this reminder today.

    45 min

  2. APR 2

    Art, Witchcraft, & Self-Expression: Bringing Magick into Your Life with Jadzia Black

    What if creativity wasn’t just something you did—but something sacred that could reconnect you with your inner magick? In this episode of Creative by Nature, Jess sits down with Jadzia Black, an Art Witch, magickal mentor, and former professional 2D animator who worked with major studios like DreamWorks and Disney. After experiencing profound personal and professional shifts—including the loss of her animation career and navigating family health challenges—Jadzia found herself reconnecting with the mystical practices that had quietly lived within her all along. Through creativity, shadow work, and intuitive exploration, she began to redefine witchcraft—not as something distant or mysterious—but as a deeply personal and creative expression of truth, empowerment, and healing. In this conversation, Jadzia shares how everyday moments—stepping outside, lighting a candle, singing your favorite song, or simply sitting in silence—can become powerful portals back to yourself. She reminds us that magick isn’t something you need to learn from the outside—it’s something you remember from within. Whether you identify as an artist, a creative, or simply someone longing to reconnect with yourself, this episode will remind you that your creativity is not separate from your healing—it is the pathway to it. Your magick has always been there. Sometimes, creativity is how you remember. Where to find Jadzia: Website: https://thesisterhoodofthehallows.com Instagram: Sisterhood of the Hallows Facebook: Sisterhood of the Hallows Free gift: Sign up for her newsletter to receive a free video and guide on finding your magick!

    1h 19m

  3. MAR 26

    Creativity Begins with Feeling Safe: Embodiment, Healing, and Reconnecting with Yourself

    In this powerful and heartfelt episode of Creative by Nature, Jessica sits down with Candice Van Dertholen, holistic practitioner and founder of The Warrior Within Healing, to explore how grounding into the body, healing from the root, and reconnecting with our inner truth can completely transform the way we live, create, and lead. Candice shares her deeply personal healing journey — from surviving profound mental health struggles and burnout to discovering the embodiment-based practices that helped her feel safe in her body again and fall back in love with life. Together, Jessica and Candice talk about how creativity, energy work, and grounded spirituality become pathways home to ourselves during life’s hardest transitions. You’ll hear about:  ✨ Why embodiment is the foundation of healing and alignment  ✨ How creativity and play reconnect us with our inner wisdom  ✨ Healing generational patterns and emotional wounds stored in the body  ✨ Grounded spiritual practices you can use in everyday life  ✨ Why alignment creates clarity in life, creativity, and business Candice also shares simple tools — like heart-centered energy practices and micro moments of stillness — that anyone can begin using today, even in a busy life. This episode is a gentle reminder that you don’t need to fix yourself. You simply get to come back to yourself. Whether you’re a creative, healer, sensitive soul, or someone navigating change, this conversation will leave you feeling seen, grounded, and inspired. 🎧 Listen now and reconnect with the wisdom already inside you. Connect with Candice: Website: (Booking) https://heal.me/candice Instagram: https://instagram.com/candice_elizabeth.co LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candicevandertholen YouTube: YouTube: @TheWarriorWithin_Candice

    58 min

  4. MAR 19

    5 Signs You Need to Clear Your Energy (For Creatives, Empaths & Sensitive Souls)

    Have you ever sat down to create — to write, paint, sing, or dream something into being — and suddenly felt heavy, foggy, or emotionally drained? Or had a great day… until one conversation, one crowded store, or one emotional interaction completely shifted your energy? If you’re a creative, empath, intuitive, or highly sensitive person, this episode of Creative by Nature is for you. Inside this episode, we explore: -Sudden mood shifts after being around certain people -Social exhaustion and energetic overwhelm -Carrying other people’s emotions and ruminating -Brain fog and creative disconnection -Physical tension and how emotions can settle in the body You’ll hear real-life stories from teaching, parenting, marriage, people-pleasing, and healing — along with grounding practices, energy clearing techniques, and nervous system regulation tools you can use immediately. Clearing your energy doesn’t have to be complicated or mystical. It’s about listening to your body. Honoring your limits. Releasing what isn’t yours. When you learn to work with your sensitivity instead of against it, your creativity flows, your emotions balance, and your body feels safer. If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, foggy, tense, or energetically drained — this episode will help you reset. 🎧 Press play and let’s clear your energy together.

    40 min
  5. How Art Helps You Make Sense of Life’s Hardest Moments

    MAR 12

    How Art Helps You Make Sense of Life’s Hardest Moments

    When a trusted colleague’s hidden truth shattered everything she thought she knew, Jess turned to art to process the pain, confusion, and grief that followed. In this deeply personal episode, she shares how creativity became a lifeline—a way to release emotion, rebuild trust in her intuition, and begin to heal after witnessing betrayal and loss. You’ll hear Jess open up about the power of the creative process to help us move through life’s hardest moments—when words fall short, and our hearts are desperate to make sense of what happened. This story isn’t about revisiting pain, but about honoring it, transforming it, and finding peace through expression. ✨ In this episode, you’ll discover: How art and creative expression can help you process complex emotions and traumaThe connection between intuition, trust, and healingThe transformative role of forgiveness in finding peaceWays to support children and families navigating emotional aftermath through creativity⚡ If you or someone you know has been impacted by abuse or misconduct: Please seek professional guidance and support. You can contact: The National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) at 1-800-656-4673 or visit rainn.org A licensed therapist or trauma-informed counselor for emotional support🎧 Tune in to this episode of Creative by Nature to discover how creativity can be a sacred bridge between heartbreak and healing.

    24 min

  6. MAR 5

    Creativity, Consciousness, and the Wisdom That Guides Us

    In part two of this conversation, we go deeper into the unseen layers of creative work. Building on our first episode, this dialogue explores how creativity can become a bridge — not just to self-understanding, but to intuition, collective consciousness, and deeper forms of guidance. We talk about what it means to receive ideas rather than force them, how creatives access wisdom beyond the logical mind, and why storytelling, imagery, and creative practices can open doors to profound inner knowing. This episode also explores a more expansive aspect of Maryann Bell’s work: how intuitive guidance and ancestral wisdom inform her coaching and creative processes, and how practices like automatic writing offer clarity, compassion, and perspective for those seeking direction or alignment. This is a conversation for creatives, healers, and intuitive leaders who are curious about mystery, trust, and the subtle ways wisdom moves through us — and who want to listen more deeply to what’s already trying to come through. 🎧 If you haven’t listened to Soul Work: Finding Purpose Through Visual Storytelling with Maryann Bell yet, I recommend starting there to ground this conversation. Learn more about Maryann, the Ancestors, & Soul Work:  🌿 Website: maryannbellcoaching.com

    1h 2m

  7. FEB 26

    Soul Work: Finding Purpose Through Visual Storytelling with Maryann Bell

    What if the answers you’ve been searching for aren’t out there… but already within you? In this episode of Creative by Nature, I’m joined by intuitive coach, creative facilitator, and former Fortune 500 creative leader Maryann Bell, whose work helps people return to themselves through creativity, visual storytelling, and deep reflection. Maryann shares her powerful process called Soul Work—a creative, heart-led approach that uses imagery, storytelling, and community reflection to uncover your core values, strengths, and life themes. This isn’t about fixing yourself or becoming someone new. It’s about remembering who you’ve always been. Maryann also shares her own journey—from decades leading creative teams and building award-winning brands, to being laid off and answering a deeper calling to guide others through periods of transition, uncertainty, and growth. This conversation is for you if you’re: Feeling stuck, burned out, or disconnectedQuestioning your path or purposeCraving clarity, alignment, and self-trustA creative, intuitive, or soul-led human navigating change Learn more about Maryann & Soul Work:  🌿 Website: maryannbellcoaching.com 🌿 Workshops & 1:1 Soul Work sessions available throughout the year If this episode resonates, share it with someone who might need a reminder of just how remarkable they truly are.

    1h 3m
  8. The Soundtrack to Spiritual Awakening And The Creative Process With Tyler Street

    FEB 19

    The Soundtrack to Spiritual Awakening And The Creative Process With Tyler Street

    What does it mean to honor your creativity while living inside roles that feel practical, responsible, or expected? In this episode of Creative by Nature, Jess sits down with writer and musician Tyler Street for a soulful conversation about creativity as identity, the courage it takes to come home to yourself, and what happens when your calling refuses to stay quiet. Tyler shares his journey of balancing life as a practicing physician with his deeper creative calling to music and writing, offering wisdom for anyone who feels torn between who they are and who they’ve been told they should be. Together, Jess and Tyler explore parenting as a creative act, releasing the need for external validation, and reconnecting with creativity later in life—not as performance, but as truth. This episode is for you if: You feel pulled between a “responsible” career and a creative callingYou’ve hidden parts of yourself to fit into a role or identityYou’re rediscovering creativity after burnout, grief, or life transitionsYou believe creativity is about self-connection, not perfection We’ll be diving into… Creativity as a path to self-knowledgeParenting and nurturing as creative energyLetting go of comparison and validationMaking art from joy, not fearHonoring your creative voice at any stage of lifeConnect with Tyler: Website: https://tylerstreetmusic.com/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/tylerclaytonstreet/ 🎧 Listen now and explore what it means to create from who you truly are.

    1h 15m
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About

Because creativity isn’t something you do — it’s who you are. Creative by Nature blends self-expression, personal growth, and wellbeing in ways you can actually use. This podcast is for anyone ready to reconnect with their inner spark  — whether you’re deeply creative or someone who has never considered themselves “creative.”  You’ll hear stories and guidance for those moments when you pause and catch yourself thinking things like: “I used to have such a big imagination as a kid — what happened?” Or when you wonder, “Can I really trust myself?” Maybe you notice how often you’ve been silencing yourself just to fit in, or feel that surge of inspiration but don’t know where to begin.  Each episode meets you in those moments of doubt and “where do I even start?” feelings, helping you reconnect with your spark, trust yourself, and take simple, practical steps to express who you really are. Whether you want to feel more confident in your creativity, explore your intuition, or bring a little more mindful, inspired living into your day, Creative by Nature offers practical guidance, gentle support, and ideas you can experiment with right away. Subscribe now to reconnect with your imagination, explore self-expression, and cultivate a life of alignment, creativity, and joy. Visit thejourneytohere.net for free resources, guidance, and ways to connect with Jess. If this show resonates, share it with a friend and leave a review to help other creative souls discover a path to inspired living.

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