Ana Elisa Sotelo: Prize-winning photography, nature as a co-creator, and de-colonizing exploitative relationships with the female body

Tash Haynes: Creative Entrepreneurship, Generational Wealth, and the Importance of Showing Up

Latasha “Tash” Haynes is a creator, entrepreneur, and mother of three whose story is rooted in resilience, creativity, and building a life on her own terms. After coming out of the foster care system, Tash found her passion behind the camera, falling in love with photography and turning that passion into a thriving business alongside her husband—one that continues to support their family today. What began as a creative pursuit grew into something much bigger. Following a life-altering health scare in 2017, Tash was forced to slow down and reevaluate everything. That season became a turning point, leading her to begin sharing her life more openly online—documenting motherhood, healing, joy, and the everyday beauty of family life. Today, Tash has worked her butt off to become a highly successful content creator and influencer, building a platform that blends storytelling with strategy. She partners with brands, travels the world with her family, and shares real, practical insight on creative entrepreneurship, motherhood, and building generational wealth. At the heart of it all, Tash is committed to bringing others along with her—mentoring women, pouring into her community, and showing what’s possible when creativity, intention, and courage come together. Her life and work are a reflection of purpose, joy, and legacy in motion. Find Tash on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/itstashhaynes/] Check out her blog HERE [https://www.itstashhaynes.com/] Get full access to COLLECTIVE CREATIONS at collectivecreations.substack.com/subscribe [https://collectivecreations.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Ana Elisa Sotelo: Prize-winning photography, nature as a co-creator, and de-colonizing exploitative relationships with the female body

Ana Elisa Sotelo is a Peruvian photographer and educator whose work explores gender, culture, and the human relationship with the natural world. Her work often merges art with activism, creating collaborative projects that amplify collective voices and experiences. Ana was born in Lima, Peru and was raised in Bolivia, Mexico, USA, Chile and Argentina. She is currently based in Washington DC, where she teaches Photography and Photojournalism. Blending photography with participatory practice, Ana’s work challenges extractive relationships to both land and the female body. Her series Women of the Water, is an ongoing project that explores female liberty and liberation through collective action in open waters. Convened through open calls, Ana invites women to gather in the rivers, lakes, and seas of their communities to reclaim their bodies and territory. Ana’s interdisciplinary collaborations, including her work with Shipibo-Konibo artist Sadith Silvano, bring together photography and ancestral artistic traditions such as Kené embroidery to explore the visible and invisible ties between people, place, and Amazonian ecosystems. Her work has been exhibited internationally and her images have been published in National Geographic, The New York Times, Vogue, Ladera Sur, Gatopardo Magazine, El Comercio/Somos, Folha Sao Paulo, The Washington Post, American Ai-Ap, among others. https://www.anaelisasotelo.com/ Get full access to COLLECTIVE CREATIONS at collectivecreations.substack.com/subscribe [https://collectivecreations.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Kaelyn Thede: Travel as a teacher, the art of nourishment, and what it really means to feel loved & fed

Kaelyn Thede is a chef, yoga teacher, writer, and the creator of the Loved & Fed newsletter [https://lovedandfed.substack.com/] — but more than that, she’s someone who has built a life around nourishment, community, and paying attention to the small, meaningful moments that make up a life. Through her supper clubs, private chef work, and her writing, she creates spaces where people can slow down, connect, and feel cared for. Her work is deeply rooted in seasonality, in travel, and in listening both to the world around her and to herself. Over the past few years, she’s moved through huge seasons of change — traveling, healing, rebuilding, and creating something entirely her own. And through it all, she’s continued to follow what feels true to her, and to share that with others in such a thoughtful and honest way. I’m really excited to talk with her about travel, creating community, nourishment, building a life and business on your own terms, and what it really means to feel loved and fed. Get full access to COLLECTIVE CREATIONS at collectivecreations.substack.com/subscribe [https://collectivecreations.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Collective Creations Team: Inner-workings of the Newsletter, Get-to-Know-Us, Personal Projects & What's on the Horizon for 2026

Ahhhhh!!! This first episode of 2026 is with our entire little CC team (Halley, Karina, & Aja) In this episode, we talk a lot about the behind the scenes of the newsletter, as well as ways we want to support artists better going into the new year. We also had the opportunity to do mini-interview with each other, so you’ll get to know more about the HUMANSSS who are doing this labor of love <3 This episode features a CRAZY announcement somewhere in the middle, so make sure you listen ALLLLL the way through!! Get full access to COLLECTIVE CREATIONS at collectivecreations.substack.com/subscribe [https://collectivecreations.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Mawahib Ismail: Filmmaking, the Importance of Artistic Community, and Storytelling as Innate Healing

Mawahib Ismail [https://www.mawahibismail.com/] is a Somali filmmaker, writer, poet, and actor born and raised in Seattle and now based in New York City. From an early age, she saw the world through the lens of a storyteller — envisioning films in her head while listening to music, filling notebooks with poems, and seeking ways to make others feel less alone. Her filmmaking journey began with the short documentary Very Sincerely Yours, from her time in the University of Washington’s BSU, where she explored the cyclical nature of Black student activism across generations. She went on to co-produce Peach Fuzz, a coming-of-age short film, and most recently wrote, directed, and acted in Hooyo Macaan, her story of a young Somali woman navigating cultural expectations and the pursuit of poetry. Beyond film, Mawahib shares essays, poems, and cultural critiques on her Substack, so serious [https://mawahib.substack.com/] (previously titled Mawahib’s Thoughts). Across all her work, she remains committed to community-centered storytelling, vulnerability, and amplifying voices and perspectives too often left out of mainstream media. I want to start this off with a quote from Mawahib’s website: “I started as a dreamer and a thinker. I was the kid who listened to a song and could envision each frame, color, costume, prop, frame size, and camera movement in my head. The kid who would write poems on anything writable because I needed to make sense of something, of anything. The kid who wanted to sing and dance for others to make someone feel less alone. My name is Mawahib Ismail, and I am an artist.” Check out her website here: https://www.mawahibismail.com/ (made by me actually LOL shameless plugging here, if you or someone you know need a website hmu!) Subscribe to Mawahib’s Substack below Get full access to COLLECTIVE CREATIONS at collectivecreations.substack.com/subscribe [https://collectivecreations.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]