The Magic of Creativity with Chris-Anne

[00:00:00] Emily Thompson: Welcome to being boss, a podcast for creatives, business owners and entrepreneurs who want to take control of their work and live life on their own terms. I'm your host, Emily Thompson. And today I'm joined by Chris Anne tarot deck creator and marketing strategists live from the gathering a virtual event for the Being Boss Clubhouse to discuss creativity, connecting with inspiration and the intersections of creativity and business.

[00:00:30] As a boss, you know, that starting and scaling your business are two very different things, but we have to dive into both first starting, then scaling, and you're going to need help all along the way. And since you're obviously a podcast listener, I recommend checking out the Entrepreneurs On Fire podcast as another resource to help you on your path. From episodes on getting funding, to building businesses based on creative ideas,

[00:00:55] it features amazing conversations, strategies, and tools that help you tap into your entrepreneurial spirit no matter where you are on your journey. Listen, learn and grow with 

[00:01:04] Entrepreneurs On Fire on the HubSpot Podcast Network at hubspot.com/podcastnetwork.

[00:01:15] Chris Anne is a debt creator, artist and magic maker, as well as a marketing strategist and owner of Pixel Brand, a branding and graphic design company. She has successfully kick-started three independent card decks, the Sacred Creators Oracle, the Light Seer's Tarot, and the Muse Tarot. And she offers unique courses for creators that combine marketing and branding with manifestation and intuition.

[00:01:41] We are back. We are back in this time. I am joined by none other than Chris Anne. Welcome. 

[00:01:49] Chris-Anne: Thank you so much for having me. 

[00:01:50] Emily Thompson: I am stoked to have you. I will share a little bit of backstory for everyone. I invited Chris. Well, first I backed your Sacred Creators Kickstarter. How long ago was that? When did you do that?

[00:02:05] Chris-Anne: Like maybe six or seven. I don't know, my, my sense of time is so horrific. And the last couple of years it's gotten worse. I think it was about six or seven years ago. 

[00:02:15] Emily Thompson: Okay. So six or seven years ago, I will also share, I like, what is it called whenever, like embarrassing hobbies and embarrassing hobby.

[00:02:26] I don't know. I troll Kickstarter for decks. And something that I do pretty regularly, probably every once every three to six months, I will go to Kickstarter and just see all the decks that I can go by. And I will back a lot of them. It's one of my favorite things, but I also think it started with me backing your sacred creators deck six or seven years ago.

[00:02:50] So I backed that deck. Got it. It's on my desk. It lives right here on my desk under a clear quartz crystal. And I use this deck all the time when it comes to writing content for Being Boss. So there's like several little secrets. Emily secrets had no way in there. One, I love decks on Kickstarter and all of my friends.

[00:03:15] They hate it. Cause I'm always like, go buy this one. This one's totally you. And they're like, Emily, stop looking. I can't buy anymore.

[00:03:26] Right. But then also that I do use an Oracle deck to write a lot of content that I write for being boss. And it's, it's this deck. It's one of my favorites. I know several bosses in the community use it. So whenever I reached out to you to do this, I had, I was having a little bit of a fan girl moment.

[00:03:44] And then you came back and said that you are familiar with being boss. So it's just heightened my fangirl moment. And here we are finally, after all these years getting to have a conversation together about creativity and magic, which is just going to be the best. 

[00:03:58] Chris-Anne: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. And I've known about, being boss for a really long time too.

[00:04:04] So I, yeah, it's fantastic. Cause I think we kind of got started in the online space sort of. At least within a similar timeframe, I would say when the community was a lot smaller. 

[00:04:16] Emily Thompson: Yeah, for sure. And so you have gone on to create more decks. I'm being, I create more podcast episodes for sure. More and more all the time.

[00:04:29] It's so exciting to me to have you here. I'm so excited to have this conversation and with our bosses in the room as well. So I think just to get us started, let's start with hearing more about you. I like to start these with hearing your entrepreneurial journey, how it is that you got to where you are today.

[00:04:52] Chris-Anne: It has been a long journey and it's so funny because from the other side of the screen. People often say to me, wow, like you had such fast success. And I always think you were not here on this side of the screen for all of the, you know, all of the moments in the building and all of the backstory I did start out kind of, as I would say, more conventional entrepreneur, if there is such a thing when I first, so I, gosh, where do I start?

[00:05:22] I started a design and creative agency. When I lived in Chile, so that's how I got started. I moved to Chile because my husband is Chilean and I couldn't speak Spanish well enough to work in creative. You know, when you're working in creative and marketing and that sort of thing, there's so much about you need all of the nuances of language and culture, and I didn't have it when I first got there.

[00:05:45] I couldn't, I just couldn't do it. So I started my very small online business, like way back when that was really new, when, e-lance, it was called, which is one of these kinds of like Upwork or grew online systems where you can [00:06:00] pitch to companies was first getting started. So it was one of the very first people that worked in that sort of system.

[00:06:06] Emily Thompson: Wow. I remember e-lance back in the day. 

[00:06:10] Chris-Anne: And it was able to work with English, speaking companies through that and find English speaking clients. And then, so, I mean, really, I started my entrepreneurial journey a long time ago, and then it evolved. It evolved slowly and surely. I mean it evolves to a kind of wanting to show up more in my business and in my design business and wanting to show up more in everything that I did is not always the way, right.

[00:06:39] We kind of, do the thing we do, what we think is going to be successful. And then we get to a place where. Okay. No longer feels like it's like a badly fitting suit, right. It just doesn't feel right. So I started to shift my business and begin only taking on clients that felt aligned. So that was anyone who was in the healing space.

[00:06:56] I took on work with a lot of, like chiropractors and acupuncturists and healers and other clients that were in kind of the green space thing. Anyone who is making the world a better place. So that felt really aligned. I started saying no to a lot of work. I was able to say no to a lot of work. I couldn't do that in the beginning.

[00:07:14] So it was nice to see that growth. And then I really started moving more into the what's making these business stick. And why are they doing well? Because when you're working, one-on-one with so many different types of businesses across so many different types of fields. You start to see that it's the entrepreneur themselves who makes the difference in the business, not even the business model necessarily, and not even how fantastic the product is, but I started to see, well, like this entrepreneur is a lot like that business owner and that business owner and all of them just kind of took off.

[00:07:45] And so I kind of began to see what is it that they're doing the same? What is it about their personality that's the same or about their version to risk or whatever it was, you know, I just started taking notes and doing that for [00:08:00] 10 years, ish. 

[00:08:02] I just began to see this pattern emerge and then I was really excited about that pattern and wanted to share that pattern.

[00:08:10] And that's where Sacred Creators kind of, it was birthed out of that, but also out of me wanting to bring in more Oracle decks into business meetings and never being able to find the right Oracle deck. So that was my first deck and it was a hundred percent my transition into what I'm doing now. 

[00:08:29] Emily Thompson: Nice.

[00:08:29] And it came from you really wanting the tool for yourself 

[00:08:34] Chris-Anne: 100%? Yes. Yeah, I was going into some brand strategy sessions with, you know, at that, by that time in my business, it was, finally sort of this size that I wanted it to be. And I had some larger corporate clients and I was working with, some municipalities.

[00:08:50] And so I was able to go in and do brand strategy sessions with, like 20 ish people in the room, which was what I had always wanted to be able to, I wanted to scale my business. I wanted to get there, and when I was there doing those sessions, that's when I was really like, I want to bring

[00:09:07] oracle decks in because they're such a fantastic tool, even if people are not into decks, you know, because they're just, they're able to, it's like, they give themselves permission to say what they see in that moment. And that's when the truth comes up. And that's when all of a sudden things fall into place so beautifully.

[00:09:24] Right. Because there, and it's like, they would have had all of that magic inside of them anyways, but they needed the tool in so many ways. 

[00:09:32] Emily Thompson: You feel like you could have put it on a post-it note.

[00:09:38] Chris-Anne: That's all they needed. Right. People don't always believe that they sometimes need to think that, wow, this is the card that's telling me the thing that I need to say. And I already kind of knew it, but I never wanted to say it, or I didn't have the courage. So, I brought in lots of different decks. I'm trying to, it was, I mean, it was a test.

[00:09:59] It was really a huge test because you I'd have to kind of almost like check out the different businesses, you know, which business is going to be okay with this and which corporate experience is going to be okay with this. And so I would kind of talk around it without actually saying I'm going to bring an Oracle deck.

[00:10:16] What if I bring these cards that are gonna help us? And some people were like, you know, I lost some clients by taking those chances on occasion because they just thought that it was far too out there. At that time in history, I don't think that would happen today. And but then I really got closer to other clients because they just really, really loved the experience and loved being able to do that.

[00:10:41] And going through, you know, I don't know how many decks I brought in trying all different types of decks. And finally, when I was like, the perfect deck does not exist for this, I thought to make it. 

[00:10:53] Emily Thompson: Perfect. Oh, I love that. And how many boss stories have we heard that are exactly the same, where you are here doing some work.

[00:11:01] You need something, it's not available, so you have to make it yourself. And because you were almost your own, like, you know, test group, you were able to do something that has really, I mean, six, seven years, it's not really the standing the test of time, but isn't it in the entree, in the online business world.

[00:11:18] Isn't that definitely standing the test of time. 

[00:11:22] Chris-Anne: Yeah, I think so. And I mean, the deck definitely changed my trajectory, my life, the way I work, what I do now. And so, yeah, it definitely had long-term effects. Who knows how long, but hopefully knock on wood here. 

[00:11:42] Emily Thompson: It'll steep. Keep going for sure. It will keep going.

[00:11:45] Perfect. Well, I, I want to move into this idea of magic and creativities. We're started. I think you've started sort of paving the path there for sure. I think I want to get us started around something that I've seen, you know, on your site and social and just like the way you're positioning yourself and the way I think you were attracting that dream client.

[00:12:06] Because I also think there's something very amazing to say about you were showing up as yourself. I mean, if they didn't like it, they could go and if they did great, let's make amazing things happen. One of the things that you say often, or you, one of the things you ask often is what's your soul creating, and I'm wondering why those words in that way.

[00:12:29] And what does that mean for you? 

[00:12:32] Chris-Anne: It's such a good question. Those words in that way. Well, they're definitely words that we don't often hear in business. Right. So when, when people are so at that kind of draws more on the artistic side or the intuitive side of the work that we're doing, and almost this playful energy where you kind of follow the muse or you follow the signs or you follow the inspiration.

[00:12:57] And when you ask those questions in a business to an entrepreneur, it doesn't even have to be in a business scenario. But any entrepreneur that hears that, I like to think that it calls on both sides of us, that side, that part of us that started the business, they knew that we could make great change that part of us.

[00:13:16] They knew that it was our soul calling. We felt this tug, but then it also is going to bring up that logical mind and that logical side often. And there's often, there's sometimes there's a little bit of a rub between those two things. You know, like we start businesses with these amazing ideas. We're gonna re I'm gonna change the world.

[00:13:34] I'm gonna do this thing. And then so very quickly it gets chiseled down into what you think you have to do and creating what you think you have to create, because all of a sudden you are doing it for an audience and not for your soul, and you're doing it for the money and not for your soul. And you're doing it for the

[00:13:49] success, the whatever abstract thing that needs to each one of us, you know? And so it's really, I think for me anyways, because I, [00:14:00] because I am that like kind of serial entrepreneur, constantly creating, that's often a rub in my system too. And that's often where I go back to that, like, well, what's my soul creating, not what do I need to create to be successful?

[00:14:14] Not what I need to create because that's, what's expected. And I struggle with that a lot. That's not something that comes easily to me. So I think that's probably why I'm able to identify with that so closely because I need to, or else I would never do what I do. 

[00:14:32] Emily Thompson: Yeah. 

[00:14:33] Chris-Anne: Does that make sense? 

[00:14:34] Emily Thompson: Absolutely.

[00:14:35] Because even as you're saying that I can think back, you know, I started, I don't know if you know, the, I started online business in 2010. So started working online in 2010 and doing websites. 

[00:14:49] And I thought I was going to build a web design agency. Right. That's what I was going to do. So really similar.

[00:14:55] And I remember getting to a point finally, where I just realized that I wasn't passionate about websites. Right. What I really loved was online business and the thing that I had been sort of trying to piece together and put together. Being boss now is it's just, I was doing it in a way that quote unquote made more sense that like had a better business model, right?

[00:15:22] Or had a business model that was easier, more easily recognized by other people because a web design agency is one thing, a podcast and community was not even a thing back then, right. In a community of creative business, people for the purpose of everyone being better at business. So it was that creativity and business that was really at the core for me.

[00:15:44] And so I really love this, like this question, because what a great way to help the creative entrepreneur evolve their idea of what they think they should be doing in their business, into what they should be doing. As a creative soul on the earth wanting to make a difference. 

[00:16:09] Chris-Anne: Absolutely. Yeah. And I mean, when we were starting out, I'm sure you, you may resonate with this as well.

[00:16:14] I took years to quit words to what I wanted to do, because back then nobody told me that creativity and inspiration could be a business model. 

[00:16:26] Emily Thompson: Yeah. 

[00:16:27] Chris-Anne: What do you mean that that can be a business like yeah. You know, and so I did the same like creative agency. Well, that's something creative and I can, and people, I could use my skills, but I was always using them for, of course, as you know, someone else's dream, not my own.

[00:16:45] And, and that's great. I mean, there's a lot of people that, that is the business they want to build and that's fantastic. But for me, part of what I wanted to create didn't exist in that framework. 

[00:16:56] Emily Thompson: Yeah, same. And I feel like probably 90% I'm pulling that number totally out of the air. 90% of creative business owners are in a similar situation or the thing they want to do the thing they want to create the thing they want to launch and make their living off of

[00:17:16] is something so weird. Right? And so out of the box, that one, they probably struggle with actually seeing it. And two, definitely with communicating it to someone else. Right. But if you can, if you can just get centered in that question of not do I want to create, because that is like, Because someone told me I should because I was educated to do so because, you know, that's the next logical step on my path.

[00:17:44] But instead, like what is my soul creating that just like, I feel leapfrogs eight steps into something that is way more aligned with what it is that you want to do and accomplish. That's beautiful. 

[00:17:57] Chris-Anne: It was also, I mean, even just asking the question for me from a strategic point, from a strategic point of view, it really, kind of separates those who would say, well, that's a ridiculous question.

[00:18:12] And those that would say, oh, I love that question. But by putting that front and center in my work, it also helps me to call in the right people who are going to, I hope, love what comes next, you know? 

[00:18:26] Emily Thompson: Yeah. Right. People who were interested in shedding. The sheds, right. And the expectations and look into a solution that is maybe weird, definitely different and definitely more aligned.

[00:18:42] That's beautiful. I love that question. I'm glad I asked you.

[00:18:51] Inbound 2021 boosted with love by HubSpot is taking place online from October 12th to 14th. Find inspiration, explore the custom digital platform. Grow your network and learn from global industry leaders across business marketing sales and customer success. Featuring exclusive breakout. Spotlight 

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[00:19:59] This episode was recorded. Live at the gathering a virtual event that is now accessible as a set of amazing replays to our clubhouse members. Inside, you'll find all of the sessions from this event, hearing more from Chris Anne and a handful of other boss experts who joined talk rituals, creativity and business. But it's not just this event,

[00:20:18] you'll also get access to last year's gathering as well and inspiring event of sessions filled with 

[00:20:23] boss' goodness, to help you nurture your intuition and connect it to how you do business. Find all 

[00:20:28] of this and more, and get access to future events in the being boss clubhouse at beingboss.club/community.

[00:20:39] Let's dive into the magic piece. So that's creativity, that's you showing up to do in the world what it is that you are here to do in the world, creativity, right? To make something, do you agree with actually, what is your definition of creativity? How would you, how do you go at that word? 

[00:20:59] Chris-Anne: Oh, another great question.

[00:21:03] You know, creativity is sort of, because people have all sorts of ideas about creativity and I've done this in sat in like seminars where I've asked people, like, do you think creativity is like in you or is it external?. And for me, and a lot of people will say that it's inside, that they kind of get ideas in it.

[00:21:21] It all kind of becomes mulched inside of them. Right. And output is something different. But for me, creativity often feels like it's external. It often feels like it's the muse energy. It often feels like it's inspiration. And so creativity is sort of, a type of spirituality for me. If you will know, that sounds like it's very abstract, but it just feels like when I'm fueled with creative inspiration, then I am also aligned in the work I'm doing.

[00:21:50] And I'm also on the right path. And I'm also, you know, just fed with serendipity all day long. But when I'm not feeling creative and I'm feeling so unaligned, uninspired, and like not myself, Yeah. Oh, like my food. 

[00:22:09] Emily Thompson: Right. And I feel like probably for some, if not, half-ish again, pulling these numbers out of the thin air, of the people listening to this probably feel the same.

[00:22:21] I feel very similarly. I often, like, I think externally very much so align. With like, you'll probably see me as very much so a business person, which I love, I love that you see me that way. And I am very much, I love spreadsheets so much. But I am a hugely creative being and I feel out of whack, like I know I'm not doing okay if I have no urges to create.

[00:22:50] Right. If like my ability or inspiration or connection to some desire to make something, anything, whether it's cooking or personal projects or writing, or like, if that like fire is gone, I know I need to like take care of myself because something is off. Like, it is very much so part of who I am, a lot.

[00:23:17] Yeah. Oh, I love it. Okay. Then let's, let's look comparatively at magic. How do you define that? And what are some similarities and differences between magic and creativity? 

[00:23:34] Chris-Anne: Magic, they feel like, it is there, gosh, they are. There's some similarities there for sure there, because magic is sort of serendipity and synchronicity.

[00:23:44] And then also, so there's that, that side of magic, that's very much linked to creativity and being aware and being aware of the path you're on, but then there's a whole other side to magic. I play with that's much more linked to ritual into the things that. Like it's like an output, something that we create or something that we do, you know, magic,

[00:24:03] we can take part of magic and we can also be aware of magic. So it's kind of this give and take. Depending on the project and I don't do a ritual for every project that I put out or everything that I create, but there are definitely like if it's a large project, especially with sacred creators, that was like my first time doing a, I'm going to put something in my own, out into the world.

[00:24:24] I did a lot of ritual around it. I did a lot of little things to kind of help to number one, you know, give it the most success that it could possibly have. Number two, see to my own understanding of what it was that I was doing. I often think that again, this may sound abstract, but I often think that when we remember something,

[00:24:51] like memory is so important in our sense of identity. So the more ritual I can view in something that's launching, the more beautiful it will feel. I'm such a visual person, the more beautiful it will be in my mind and the better I will feel about it. And then it's like that whole getting aligned in your feeling and your emotional side.

[00:25:11] Is it actually that you can do kind of a ritual or some sort of spell and make something happen. I'm not sure, but I do know that I can actually get myself aligned enough in that energy because I have the memory of doing the work. 

[00:25:22] Emily Thompson: Y'all my mouth just dropped open. I don't know if you saw that. 

[00:25:28] Yeah, I feel that a lot. I feel that a lot.

[00:25:31] And I'm wondering how you connect all of that with this idea, with that sort of comparison of creativity being internal or external, right? Like how, how do you bring those, how did those work together? 

[00:25:47] Chris-Anne: I feel like magic is just an extension of creative energy. So, if I want to create something, I could just go right to the task and pick up a pen and try and create.

[00:26:00] But if I'm not feeling the inspiration or if I'm not, you know, that just feels like, because I, because I've done that work for so long, it feels more like work. So how do we bring more flow and excitement and inspiration into it? Well, maybe I do something where I'm going to whether it is something simple, like just meditate on it or journal about it.

[00:26:19] Or if it's something more involved, like a full, you know, full blown ritual, they help to kind of stir the pot of creativity, you know? Cause as I'm doing something else, let's say I'm in nature and I'm doing something then maybe there's a connection to the project that I hadn't thought about because I started looking at an Oak tree and I not done that.

[00:26:38] It would've just been, Chris Anne whatever she thought in her room in that moment. And sometimes I need a lot more ingredients. So magic feels like an ingredient of creativity. 

[00:26:50] Emily Thompson: Oh, I'm feeling that I'm definitely being that perfect. 

[00:26:54] Then let's stay in this lane, but I want to ask you about the other two decks that you've created.

[00:26:59] So we've talked about sacred creators, but then you moved on to create tarot decks. What was that transition like for you and, what was that transition like for you? I guess let's start there. 

[00:27:14] Chris-Anne: Well, I really, I mean, I'm a longtime fan of tarot. I loved tarot. I've been reading tarot for a long time, but I was really not very upfront about it in a lot of ways, because it just didn't have the same sort of global acceptance as it does right now.

[00:27:30] So when I would go into business, of course, you know, business meetings, I would bring an Oracle deck. I didn't bring tarot decks and, but I wanted to create a tarot deck. And the sacred creators oracle was in many ways it was much easier to produce the graphics of that deck because the graphics are much simpler and the graphic is much more involved.

[00:27:53] And so after having done it the first time and figured out the manufacturing and figured out, you know, how do we, how do we do this thing? I felt like I had a proof of concept in a way so that I could spend the year and a half, that it would take to actually produce a tarot deck. And the transition was something that, you know, I didn't do perfectly and I'm still not doing perfectly,

[00:28:19] I would say, because in that transition, from a business perspective, I couldn't do it any other way from a Chris Anne who I am, what I want to create perspective, but from a business perspective, the transition has been a little bit, like I split my audience, so I have the business and creatives as part of my audience, but then I have tarot people who are not interested in business, so all, you know, so that meant a lot more, I kind of waver between the two.

[00:28:50] But it also gives me a little more space to create whatever I feel like creating. So that in a way it's really lovely. 

[00:28:58] Emily Thompson: Yeah. You just have to make more Instagram posts, more marketing. That's all I hear. Wonderful. Okay. So you moved into these two decks. You have the Light Seer's Tarot and the Muser Tarot, and you brought up the muse earlier and I would love to hear.

[00:29:17] I would love to hear about your perspective of the muse, how it is that you perhaps work with muses, and what that looks like for bringing forth creativity. 

[00:29:34] Chris-Anne: Absolutely. 

[00:29:34] Yeah, the muse, it's funny. When in the creation process of the muse, I was in the middle of creating the Light Seer'a Tarot on the muse showed up and I, it was like, this crazy intense.

[00:29:45] The fullest form of that creative, intense energy, where you're gifted an idea and it's go time and you have to go. And if you don't do it in that moment, you know, it's gone. You know, it was just like, and I, I pushed it, I pushed it away. I kind of kept it at bay because it felt like this is ridiculous. I can't do two decks at the same time.

[00:30:04] And eventually I just stopped the one and I jumped into the other and I allowed, I kind of had this conversation with the muse, the muse. Energy, this kind of creative energy that I sense from the muse, it is that like, it's almost, this is going to sound, I don't mean it to sound necessarily from the psychology perspective, but it almost sounds manic.

[00:30:31] Like it sounds, you know, because for me it's this, it overtakes my system. I get so inspired that that's all I want to breathe and drink. It's just like that typical creative that wants to stay up for the two, five months straight to finish an art piece. That's what it feels like to me, this when I'm fully in that muse energy, but I can't live in that energy.

[00:30:52] It's just too intense. You know, I just could not make my human body cannot function that intensely for an extended period of time. So muse energy. I love it. It's somewhat, it can feel almost addictive because you feel so inspired to create, I say muse energy. And I often call them muse it because I'm not really sure if it's like, sometimes it feels like feminine, but I don't, it's just, I don't always have it have the sense that it's a, I don't always have it in my mind as something personified, you know, it's like just this energy, this spiraling energy that I step into and I create, and I feel kind of like the creativity runs through me and I'm like creating by proxy and I allowed that to happen with the muse tarot.

[00:31:41] I didn't put on any blockers as far as well. It has to be like this, or it has to be like that, you know, with the Light Seer's was much more logical and I was in my head a lot more with the decisions and with the muse, and I think it was probably because they were having happening simultaneously. The muse was just, this is what showed up and it's go time.

[00:32:00] And this is what we're doing. I didn't question it. We very different, different energy between the two. 

[00:32:05] Emily Thompson: Yeah. It sounds like it, it's amazing. Visually the difference between the two of them as well, and like hearing the story, I'm even more fascinated by them. We talk a lot here. If you read big magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.

[00:32:23] Part of it. Okay. Well, we prescribe more or less your, I read that book and felt complete resonance with how it is that she has it. She experienced his creativity with this idea that external. And I think it's both like personally, I think like, I think you create the fertile ground, you know, and you are gathering inspiration of your own to influence and effect the creativity that comes to you.

[00:32:51] But otherwise, I've definitely experienced what I call my big magic moments, similar to like the moments when the muse shows up and they're like, BT dubs, here's what you need to be doing. Right. And you could be doing something completely different or, you know, not even you don't have the time or the space or whatever, but it shows up and you either do it or you don't.

[00:33:15] And those are moments when, something comes over you. Right. And you just have to create, or do and I love that you're talking about this in the context of like creating a deck is a body of work like of artwork, right? Like it's 78 or whatever different pieces of artwork that you are creating.

[00:33:39] But I also think that it can happen those like ingenious creative ideas for something to implement or something to do, or like the clicking together of puzzle pieces that you've been trying to put together. I used to do, I used to experience this a lot with, whenever I would code my websites back in the day.

[00:33:59] Right. Weird, works of creativity, writing lines and lines of code, but that's totally what it is. And then I would have these moments of just like beautiful clarity of like, oh, that problem I've been solving or trying to solve has just solved itself in my brain. And there are these like little flicks

[00:34:21] of, I don't know, magic of the muse showing up and whispering the answer in your ear or delivering to you an entire body of work in one moment as it may be. Is there anything that you do to ready yourself for such moments. Are you, is this something, do you have like a lifelong work of, you know, preparing or are there moments where you're like, okay, it's time for the muse to show up?

[00:34:50] What is, what does that sort of ongoing or occasional work look like? If at all? 

[00:34:57] Chris-Anne: I do a few different things, pretty religiously now. And that's for part of the year and used to always be in December and then started, before, just before Sacred Creators Oracle actually, because it was such a busy doer, implementer, constantly focused on production.

[00:35:18] And I was always writing to-do lists and always capturing a million ideas. And I mean, I still do it and I'll look back and I'll have like, five very full notebooks of a million seeds of ideas that if I'm constantly, captured what I can't actually produce any of them, because all I'm doing is capturing ideas, and that feels overwhelming.

[00:35:41] And it makes me feel like I'm not getting anywhere. There's this sense of like, oh, like there's just all of these beautiful things that are sitting locked in a notebook. And so I started to for the month of December, just stop writing. So I don't do to do lists. I mean, if I need something like a, like a note for the grocery store.

[00:36:04] Sure. But the actual, that creative kind of churning the pot creativity where, you know, there's this cute idea, or I start to sketch and they start to imagine all the things. So I just stopped for December writing. And the first year I did it, I was absolutely. It wasn't that it was, I didn't have a panic around it, but I had an angst around it, like, oh, what if I miss the good idea?

[00:36:29] What if I miss my big idea? And inevitably of course the best ideas just stay in your head. You don't forget them. So after that month, I had the idea for sacred creators the first time. And that was, it was going to be an app. It wasn't going to be a deck. I mean, it was amazing how these projects kind of shift as they go, was going to be a deck, but a digital deck and.

[00:36:53] So I done that yearly now because I found it to be really useful to just give them my, that creative, obsessive, creative energy, a little bit of a pause in my life. So every year it's not always in December now, but I will, there's at least one month or two sets of two weeks in a year where I will not allow myself to write anything down.

[00:37:16] And the other thing that I do quite religiously is I do a lot of studying. So not studying to be better at what I do, but I do a lot of studying of other things because whenever I feel like my creative cup is dry, I feel like I need more ingredients like creativity. I think it's just all about ingredients and putting ingredients together in unique ways.

[00:37:38] And so I will, you know, last year I didn't have a lot of inspirational energy, you know, after having done so much in extreme amount of output in two years I did two decks and then I had to redo Sacred Creators for Hay House. So it was just so much intense creation that I took some time off. And I did, you know, I did like, I wrote it actually.

[00:38:05] I did a post on this yesterday cause I was like, wow, last year I did like, was studying Mandarin and I did, some of the Akashic records courses and I did a neuroscience course. I still didn't feel like I was, my creative cup was full. So I'm actually going to college right now. Like every eight to 10 years, I go back to college for something just, maybe it's a semester, maybe it's more.

[00:38:25] But, that ingredient seeking is key in my process. 

[00:38:35] Emily Thompson: Yeah, it sounds like it's key to you. The way you defined both creativity and magic, right? It's this idea of just have gathering the pieces so that when the moment comes either way, an opportunity for some magic or the need to create, you have all the ingredients in your fully stocked pantry to whip up whatever it is that you need to whip up.

[00:38:57] I think that's wonderful. I also love that there are times in your life when you kind of literally make education, like further education, your job, my, you are showing up for it in the same capacity that you spent two years creating for like all of that output. You put the same amount of effort and energy into the input refilling and, you know, gaining more ingredients for your next

[00:39:29] whatever it may be. 

[00:39:30] Chris-Anne: Who knows? Right. And I think that who knows is a place that we tend to talk about, but we don't always jump right in. And that there's a lot of chat about it in our community. Of though, well, sitting in surrender and sitting in pause, but it's so uncomfortable. That a lot of us will kind of dip our toe in, but actually jumping right into the, I have no idea right now because I'm not actively producing anything right now.

[00:40:04] So as someone who makes their living on production, it is quite scary. But I also know that if I'm feeling called to do it, I have to trust it. And I also feel very grateful that I'm able to do it. You know, I used to, I'm able to do it and work part-time right now. Whereas when I used to do it, I felt like it was, you know, I could only do it in short spurts because I would still be working full-time and trying to study at night.

[00:40:30] And it just was, it was a lot, I had more energy, I guess, or it wasn't as sustainable and now I'm wanting it to be more sustainable. 

[00:40:39] Emily Thompson: Yeah, I understand that for sure. So when asked me recently, they were like, how are you doing everything that you're doing? And I was like, because I'm young, but a couple of years, I'm not going to be able to operate this capacity, but while I have the ability to do it,

[00:40:52] yes, I love it. And you know, whenever you have the ideas, when you have the time and the ability, I think there's nothing wrong with just doing it, committing yourself to producing the thing and doing it, especially when you're done, you can flip it. You can flip the switch back, right? Set in surrender or focus on input rather than output and almost like, release the leash of the need for productivity.

[00:41:28] What's that like? It sounds amazing. 

[00:41:33] Chris-Anne: It's actually a week completely honest. It's fairly new to me. I spent so much time. Producing, producing, producing, constantly producing. And I think that it was somehow linked to this need to be validated, or this need to be liked, or this need to like show up and be seen so that I felt like, um, like I was always trying to prove something to myself, you know, and I think in the last few years, my ideas around success and what that means.

[00:42:05] You know, I had this idea of success. And I remember even when I first, first did the Sacred Creators Oracle, and I did that Kickstarter, I will be successful if this Kickstarter, you know, gets funded. That's what I thought. And then it gets funded and then I'm like, wow. Like I don't feel any different. Okay, well, I will be successful if I can, you know, create this other debt or I'll be successful if it gets published.

[00:42:26] And now it's like, you just got. Another email from my publisher today. And they're like, oh yeah, we just got the 11th contracted published late series in the 11th new language, which is insane. 

[00:42:38] Emily Thompson: Congrats. 

[00:42:41] Chris-Anne: But what I've come to realize is that all of those things that I thought that that would mean success, none of them mean that I feel successful.

[00:42:51] And so, learn it like leaning into that and like wrapping my head around these kinds of new ideas of like, well, what is success really well, success really is having the time to go study a little and not need to be producing and not need to always show up. So as a creator, I'm in a real, I mean, a massive shift in my life.

[00:43:15] Emily Thompson: Yeah. 

[00:43:16] Well, it's definitely resonated with some bosses over here. If you're seeing the chat we're going to Oof, right. Is hitting deep for me. I think that you're definitely hitting on a subject that is, that is imperative for anyone who was a prolific creator, right. Or who at least depends on their creativity to make a living needs to hear.

[00:43:40] There is this other side of it and I love that, instead of you, what am I trying to say? I feel like what highly productive people often do in your situation where they hit the mark, don't quite feel it hit the mark is they just keep going, right. They just keep like beating the dead horse or whatever it may be.

[00:44:02] Whereas you were like, okay, doing this, still accomplishing things at the moment without super trying. Right. But instead you are dialing it back in tuning in and listening. And I hope also, I don't know, really refining what that definition of success is for you because it is not 11 languages, which is amazing.

[00:44:27] Right. Then what is it? So I love that you're giving yourself the space to explore that and sort of redefine what success is truly is for you. 

[00:44:36] Chris-Anne: Yeah, well, I mean, it goes right back to that question. What's your soul created? I could easily continue to create like spinoffs of this and keep doing the same thing and just allow that, like you say, like to go to the next level, to the next level, to the next level, the opportunities there.

[00:44:51] I think I've been handed that opportunity and I'm like, I want to pause because I don't know what my soul wants to create next. And so I'm not going to just create for the sake of creating until I feel it. Yeah, like that is in alignment with my very best work. And if I've learned anything in the last 10 years, it's like, when I'm in that alignment, it comes easier and that's when the best work shows up.

[00:45:15] And that's when the most healing work shows up. And that's when you know, it's um, yeah, it's, it's, it's quite the experiment that I'm in right now, but I'm really happy to be. Yeah, 

[00:45:31] Emily Thompson: I look forward to hearing what you've learned on the other side, for sure. All right. There's like a, one more little question here around this

[00:45:39] like, because what you're talking about is sort of the intersection of creativity and business, right? This idea of like being highly productive humans for many needing to consistently create. Or in, I say feeling as if we need to consistently create right. To make a living. And most creatives, I know super struggle with this.

[00:46:05] Um, what sort of mindset shifts underneath there are you making to settle yourself into this? Or if you can't even think about for yourself, if you were talking to another creative and encouraging them to make this shift, what would you tell 

[00:46:22] them to do? 

[00:46:23] Chris-Anne: So some of the things that I've done, you know, cause they're the two sides, right?

[00:46:26] There's the, there's like the, the very mundane, earthy, real side as an entrepreneur to make money. And then there's the other side of, well, my heart needs to be happy or else, where am I headed? Like, why am I working so hard if it feels overwhelming? Or if I feel like I'm just like exhausted or if you know what I mean?

[00:46:43] Like, so there's this like when is that? When does that feeling of success? You know, come on in any day. Right? So part of the mindset work that I'm doing part of, you know, the one side is. What can I let go of and, and allowing my perfectionist self to, okay, I'm going to get more help here, systems in place, things that sit things that I'm don't need to be on all the time and also limiting time to social media, because that can suck a lot of my time.

[00:47:14] So that's been a big thing for the last two years for me, which has been fantastic. And the other part, you know, I'm really, really spending a lot of time with, with trying to understand where that push comes from, that push to produce that push to, you know, and I've been working a lot on just like my own self, if you will, or my own inner landscapes so that I don't feel like I am not cool if I'm not seen producing by other people.

[00:47:53] And so I've been my last deck. I just, I have a new deck that's coming out, in a few weeks at launches actually. And that deck I created in a very different way. They actually didn't share it. I didn't share the process. I didn't share it along the way. You know, I talked a little bit about it, but I didn't put it all over my feet because I thought, let me try and create from a place of no external validation, just completely internal.

[00:48:16] I like it. We're good to. And so this is also, I mean, this is huge for me because I've never created in this way before. 

[00:48:25] Yeah. 

[00:48:26] Emily Thompson: I mean, way to 

[00:48:27] Emily Thompson: take something that 

[00:48:28] Emily Thompson: like a sort of tried and tested, tested, improved, right. Situation that, you know, works and just. Let's not, let's not do it that way. That's wonderful.

[00:48:42] I appreciate you sharing, sharing all of that. I think all of that's incredibly valuable, for those of us raised his hand, right? Who, who feel this, and I think you really hit something there, around having other people see you be productive right there is this like that, that hit home for me, for sure.

[00:49:06] Because I think that's, I think we're raised to value looking productive. 

[00:49:12] Chris-Anne: Absolutely. And like doing a lot of work and being productive and constantly doing our best. And there are ways. To be productive and do our best work. That that are not necessarily the ways that I have been doing them.

[00:49:28] I've been doing them with long hours. I've been doing them with like, beautiful, muse energy, which is fantastic, but I was so exhausted at the end of that. No, I did a year and a half of like, I would say 12 to 18 hour days, just like just engrossed in my work. And it was wonderful and it was fun and it was energy rich.

[00:49:48] But then when I got to the end of that, I was absolutely exhausted. So I'm, you know, I'm really paying attention to balance. And I used to talk about balance a lot and I used to do lots of meditating in that time. And. You know, I look back now and this is gonna, this is gonna sound like, oh my gosh, like I was, I almost see what I was doing back then with meditation as almost an abuse of the energy that I could get from meditation, because I was just like meditating and doing my stuff to fill my cups, like keep going as opposed to I'm going to meditate now and just find balance in my life and figure out how much work do I need to do today.

[00:50:28] And if I have the energy for four hours or five hours, And I make those hours count. 

[00:50:35] Emily Thompson: You just blew all of our minds because you're right. Oh, wow. Wonderful. Thank you for that insight. 

[00:50:46] Chris-Anne: And no, no, no shame in it, because I mean, how could, how could I ever know that without having done it and how could I ever have created what I created without having done it?

[00:50:57] I didn't think I could have. And so I don't know if it's a right or wrong, but I just know that I got to the place. I don't want to be as exhausted from work and I want to still be productive. So what does that mean? Well, I think it means long time balance now. And so what does that look like? You know, I think I'm kind of wavered.

[00:51:17] I'm leaning over to the other side where it's, I'm working less right now. But knowing that my cup will get to the place where I really have that, I'm trying to find that balance. 

[00:51:28] Emily Thompson: Yes. That's something we've talked about in the community a lot over the past couple of weeks, um, this idea of like, what is balance, isn't it crap?

[00:51:37] What does it really mean? Right. And I think we all settled on this idea of long-term. Or long-term sort of flow with flow there, there being this like, average that is balanced, but you're never really at that moment of balance, like it goes, and it is, long-term like, 

[00:51:59] Months, like a scale of months or, an entire year or so, or you come off of, two years of heavy creating enjoy two years of legit rest and rejuvenation

[00:52:12] if that's what you need, whenever you can think about flow or balance or whatever on that long story long-term scale, I feel like. Way easier to achieve probably than like day to day. And to you release a lot of, it's funny, you mentioned shame a minute ago, but there is some shame around the hustle or the flow or whatever, when you're thinking about it like day to day or week to week.

[00:52:38] But if you can just like, let all of that go and otherwise live a life that flows easily between the two, it's a lot more easy to digest and I think a lot more aligned with how it is. We actually do show up and need to create. 

[00:52:54] Chris-Anne: And, you know what, I think that your community in my communities like that, the type of people that we work with specifically, like people who are entrepreneurs, but spiritually minded, we can hold shame around hustle and balanced and float like simultaneous.

[00:53:11] Cause we can be like feeling like we should hustle more because I see this other person, you know, I see this what's happening or I see, or I know that this will bring me more of my business, but also shame around oh, well, but I didn't have time to meditate today. And then also like, well, my balances is, should be more, but it's like, we hold shame about it, but all of it. 

[00:53:29] Emily Thompson: The full spectrum, full spectrum shame all at the same time.

[00:53:34] Chris-Anne: And we don't. And so we do it, you know, it's much easier to think long-term like that and that, and that, cause I have, I, like I say, I'm in this other side of it where I'm much more like kind of striving for balance, but, my husband would be. From the outside looking in, but you're studying and you're running a course and you're, there's still stuff happening, but it just doesn't feel like I'm extended so much, you know, so I can still finish something and launch when I need to.

[00:54:05] And I think that I have a much better. Yeah. I, and I'm really trying to make sure that my meditation is not, is just for me. Yeah. And that's something new in my world. 

[00:54:22] Emily Thompson: Okay. That, um, I feel like that unlocked something. I love it. Chris Anne this has been a total treat. I so appreciate you coming and having this conversation with me.

[00:54:33] I think that bridging that gap between creativity and magic does so much for making how we show up and do this kind of work, fun. If nothing else, if we can like connect the two and makes us so much more fun and I think potentially fulfilling as well. So I appreciate your candor on that. And then also all the things related to your journey and how it is that you've gotten to where you are.

[00:55:04] Will you share with our listeners where it is they can find you around the interwebs? 

[00:55:08] Chris-Anne: Sure. Yeah. So my social media place where I tend to hang out the most is Instagram. And my Instagram handle is @pixiecurio. Just the way it sounds. P I X I E C U R I O. It's horrible for branding. This is, you know, not do this.

[00:55:30] And then it's too late to change. So pixie Curio over on Instagram, and you can find me at chris-anne.com as well. Perfect. 

[00:55:40] Emily Thompson: And then one last question for you. What makes you feel most boss? 

[00:55:46] Chris-Anne: Oh gosh, you know what Friday's off? Yeah, Friday's off is a good one.

[00:55:56] Emily Thompson: I agree. 

[00:55:57] Perfect. Well, I'm again, so grateful that you came to share all of this with us.

[00:56:03] I'm excited to chat with you all day tomorrow at the gathering, but this has been a complete pleasure. Thank you. 

[00:56:11] Chris-Anne: Thank you so much for having me. 

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