Did you dream as a child of creating an exceptional life story that remains, as yet, untold?
Did you yearn to dance through life in full technicolour but find yourself trudging through endless grey days?
Would you like to take your creativity once more by the hand, step into your unique story and learn to dance with life?
I was there ten years ago, approaching 40 and feeling less than fabulous. Today, I am a Storyteller and Creative Coach. I am an award winning audiobook narrator with over 120 titles to my credit, including Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven Series, Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” and Sarah Vaughan’s “Anatomy of a Scandal”.
I am the author of a novel, “The Way Home” and a second book is in the pipeline, “Be Your Own Hero: A Mindful Guide to Thriving in a Creative Life.”
In developing my own creative practice I have drawn deeply on my business leadership skills as well as research into positive psychology and mindfulness to ensure I give my clients the very best service possible. I have over 20 years of experience in business leadership, a Certificate in Foundations of Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. I am also an accredited CAPP Strengths coach and a Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher.
I was a highly creative child. I lived in a vibrant world created by my own imagination. I read, I wrote, I performed. I had a strong and unquestioning relationship with the life-giving force of creativity, trusting implicitly that it would always be there for me.
Then I grew up. I put away childish play and worked to join the world of adults. I became a lawyer and an accountant. I wore suits. I had a career in a bank. I had a title, a salary, status, success. I had everything but felt nothing.
Then in 2007, I became a mother to a beautiful daughter and my soul awoke. In the light of her eyes I was reminded of the power of creativity. I loved her from the start, but when I saw myself and the person I had become, I was filled with rage and shame. I had to change, for her and for me.
If she was going to learn to embrace her unique story, to dance freely with her dreams and hopes, to giver her life to bringing them into glistening reality, I had to show her the way.
I revisited my creativity and asked if it was still there for me. It told me gleefully that it had simply been waiting to be asked and took its place as my dance partner, holding me close while I took a step of faith into my own creative hero’s journey.
Trusting in its guidance and wisdom I began to grow in creativity. When my son was born I stepped resolutely on to my creative path. I wrote the first draft of my novel and took acting classes, finding myself celebrating my 40thbirthday at Drama School. From there I continued to grow in strength, overcoming expectations and predictions to become a successful storyteller.
More than professional success, I have also found a way to create a home and family life I love that nurtures my mind, body and soul, and gives me what I need to help my children to thrive. I work from a beautiful office at the bottom of my garden, which is set up as a professional voice studio, and am kept company during the day by my nutty labradoodle, Phoenix.
With what I learned through this experience I have devised The Creative Hero workshops for creative leaders from all disciplines whether design-led business, professional creative endeavours or social responsibility ventures. All of these change makers are committed to putting creativity at the heart of what they do, so they can effect positive change in themselves and the world around them. The workshops are for creative artists, entrepreneurs, professionals and teams and are designed to guide you through a creative hero’s journey and develop your own creative practice.
I have run strengths coaching and Creative Hero Workshops with individuals and groups. This is what they had to say about the experience:
“Esther helped me achieve my bigger picture goal with her insight and ability to pinpoint strengths I didn’t know I had and then map it out with real achievable actions. Her authentic delivery enabled me to find myself and become my very own hero.”
“The actors really appreciated the session and got a lot out of it.”
“I appreciate your incisive clarity of vision.”
Contact me to discuss how we might work together and help you or your team grow into the creative heroes you are meant to be.
If you’re not ready to work with me yet but would like to know more subscribe to my blog or join my facebook community: The Creative Cauldron.
