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Combinging Mindfulness and Art with Mindful Creative Muse Founder Cynthia Hauk

Cynthia Hauk is an artist, educator, and the founder of Mindful Creative Muse. Cynthia helps people reconnect with creativity in simple, kind, and realistic ways. She began using art as a way to move through anxiety, illness, and burnout, and that personal practice grew into work that now supports thousands of creatives and educators around the world.   Cynthia believes creativity isn’t about being perfect or producing more—it’s about showing up, paying attention, and trusting the process. In this conversation, we talk about creative blocks, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and how small, mindful practices can help creativity feel supportive instead of stressful.   In this episode, we talk about how mindfulness and creativity are linked, how she incorporates yoga into her practice, the mind-body connection, how she teaches people the business side of living a creative life, how to stop judging your art, and more.    Follow Mindful Creative Muse on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulcreativemuse/ [https://www.instagram.com/mindfulcreativemuse/]  Visit Mindful Creative Muse’s website: https://mindfulcreativemuse.com/ [https://mindfulcreativemuse.com/]  Check out Mindful Creative Muse’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MindfulCreativeMuse [https://www.youtube.com/@MindfulCreativeMuse]  Art as Mindfulness Workshop: https://learn.mindfulcreativemuse.com/art-as-meditation-workshop [https://learn.mindfulcreativemuse.com/art-as-meditation-workshop]  Subscribe to Version 1's substack: version1podcast.substack.com/ [http://version1podcast.substack.com/]  Follow Version 1 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/version1podcast/ [https://www.instagram.com/version1podcast/] Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/waverlycolville [https://buymeacoffee.com/waverlycolville]

Honoring Women Through Sustainable Fashion with No More Nobody Founder Silva Hrabar-Owens

Silva Hrabar-Owens is the founder of No More Nobody, an independent London-based fashion brand rooted in sustainability, storytelling, and female empowerment. She creates limited-edition pieces using deadstock and leftover fabrics, championing ethical production and conscious consumption. Through No More Nobody, Silva is building a community that celebrates individuality, confidence, and clothing with purpose. In this episode, we discuss Silva’s upbringing in Croatia and London and how it impacted the work she does now, her switch from being an accountant to fashion, what she learned about the fast fashion industry that was the catalyst to launch her own sustainable brand, growing up with ADHD and dyslexia, why she’s inspired by the 1800’s, why it’s important to pay attention to the fabrics that touch your skin,    Follow No More Nobody on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nomorenobody_studio/ [https://www.instagram.com/nomorenobody_studio/]  Check out No More Nobody’s Website: nomorenobody.com [http://nomorenobody.com]  Subscribe to Version 1's substack: version1podcast.substack.com/ [http://version1podcast.substack.com/]  Follow Version 1 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/version1podcast/ [https://www.instagram.com/version1podcast/] Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/waverlycolville [https://buymeacoffee.com/waverlycolville]

The Art of Scent and Perfumery with Pink MahogHany Founder Chavalia Mwamba

Chavalia Mwamba is the founder of Pink MahogHany, an independent fragrance brand. She is a self-taught niche perfumer from Longview, Texas (by way of Dallas.) With a background in both music and education, Chavalia treats each composition as an alluringly intriguing song that takes the wearer on a unique, unforgettable journey.     Chavalia founded Pink MahogHany in 2005, when she began to notice the scents of once favorite fragrances changing without notice. Amidst these changes also came an influx of complaints from those whom she conversed with. Frustrations from an inability to wear or use certain fragrances due to adverse reactions such as headaches, rashes and other allergy-like symptoms placed urgency on her quest to create a line of products that gratify the senses without the addition of some of the less than desirable ingredients. Through her constant research and many forms of trial and error, Chavalia aims to educate and provide transparency, all while helping others feel more confident about using fragrance on their skin and in their space.   In this episode, we discuss Chavalia’s journey from a music teacher to a perfumer, why scent is so important to her, what phthalates are and why Pink MahogHany never uses them, the surprising parallels between scent and music, her creative process behind designing a scent, how she evokes emotion to design her fragrances, how she designs fragrances in layers, how she finds inspiration from music, experiences, words, and other unique places and how she translates those to scents, the unique ways she tests her fragrances, and more.    Follow Pink MahogHany on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pink_mahoghany [https://www.instagram.com/pink_mahoghany]  Visit Pink MahogHany’s website: https://www.pinkmahoghany.com/ [https://www.pinkmahoghany.com/]  Subscribe to Version 1's substack: version1podcast.substack.com/ [http://version1podcast.substack.com/]  Follow Version 1 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/version1podcast/ [https://www.instagram.com/version1podcast/] Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/waverlycolville [https://buymeacoffee.com/waverlycolville]

How To Identify Your Creative Allies and Overcome Self Doubt with Amy Bernstein

Amy L. Bernstein is an award-winning author, a former journalist, and a professional nonfiction book coach helping authors find their best path to publishing. She teaches writing and creativity workshops and brings an empowering message to writers and multi-media artists around the world. Her nonfiction book, Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration, won first place from BookFest 2025 for self-help and inspiration. In this episode, we discuss Amy’s writing career, why she loves storytelling, why Amy struggled with calling herself a writer, why creative people specifically suffer from self doubt, where self doubt comes from, how to identify and deal with your creative allies and adversaries, how to be a better ally, why women are affected by self doubt more than other identities, how to stop comparing yourself to others, how to shift validation from external to internal, and more.    Follow Amy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amylbernstein/ [https://www.instagram.com/amylbernstein/]  Visit Amy’s website: https://amywrites.live/ [https://amywrites.live/]  Buy Amy’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Wrangling-Doubt-Monster-Fighting-Inspiration/dp/1610886380 [https://www.amazon.com/Wrangling-Doubt-Monster-Fighting-Inspiration/dp/1610886380]  Subscribe to Version 1's substack: version1podcast.substack.com/ [http://version1podcast.substack.com/]  Follow Version 1 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/version1podcast/ [https://www.instagram.com/version1podcast/] Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/waverlycolville [https://buymeacoffee.com/waverlycolville]

Building Connection Through Food Blogging and Education with Life As A Strawberry’s Jessie Johnson

Jessie Johnson is the founder of Life As A Strawberry, a food and recipe website that helps home cooks make food they're proud of. Her superpower is breaking complicated recipes and techniques into accessible, easy-to-follow action steps. Jessie grew up working in catering and community kitchens, and spent her academic career studying sustainable food systems and food security. Her graduate work at Cornell University focused on the stigma of hunger in America. After grad school, Jessie went full-time with Life As A Strawberry and never looked back. Today, Life As A Strawberry is a full-fledged food media company reaching millions of readers every year, with multiple verticals and team members in seven states.  In this episode, we discuss how Jessie’s background in working in food kitchens and studying food access and food security influences her work as a food writer, being a food blogger in the early 2000’s, how she turned blogging into her career, why educating her audience about food is important,  growing an intentional community, growing her team,  lessons she’s learned, how she’d like Life As A Strawberry to evolve, and more.    Follow Life As A Strawberry on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeasastrawberry/ [https://www.instagram.com/lifeasastrawberry/]  Visit Life As A Strawberry’s website: www.lifeasastrawberry.com [http://www.lifeasastrawberry.com]  Subscribe to Version 1's substack: version1podcast.substack.com/ [http://version1podcast.substack.com/]  Follow Version 1 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/version1podcast/ [https://www.instagram.com/version1podcast/] Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/waverlycolville [https://buymeacoffee.com/waverlycolville]