The Ugly Podcast

Today’s guest, April Fitzpatrick (she/her), aka “The Pineapple Lady,” is an art therapist whose work centers art as a process that allows people, particularly those who’ve experienced racial trauma, to reclaim agency over their personal narratives.

April and I talk about the impressive symbolism of the pineapple for both the therapy process and the human development process, and a broad overview of what happens from a neuroscience p...

In this episode, I talk with fellow editor and book coach, Sabrina Estudillo Butler, about standing in our values and saying the quiet part loud. We discuss how it feels in our bodies when we step out of our comfort zones and speak up about injustice and the inner criticism that inevitably pops up when we are new or feel like an imposter. We touch on the issues in publishing as a white, cis, straight, able-body-centered industry, a...

Today’s episode is all about the importance of queering up the creativity process and I am lucky enough to be joined by M Eifler (they/them), a San Francisco-based artist who uses art and technology to explore disability as a hotbed of innovation.

M and I talk about the way their disability has helped them evolve their creative approaches, including their #ArtSchoolFromBed series, the importance of starting where their body is rath...

In this episode, I chat with Switzerland-based writer and fellow healing perfectionist Jo Bahdo about their recent season of writing project, defining what perfection even is, taking steps to heal distrust in ourselves after we haven’t shown up consistently for our craft, and the value in having a “no such thing as mistakes” mindset when it comes to practicing our art.

Jo Bahdo (they/them) is a writer, an avid reader, and a regular...

The Ugly Podcast is back from hiatus, and I couldn’t think of a better person for this episode than Emerson Lee, my creative partner and former co-host. Emerson and I both share big life events we’re currently grieving, how making art and having an expansive mindset is helping us process our grief, how weird time is, and the joy in allowing ourselves to explore what we want in this moment, no matter how messy or nonsensical it seem...

In this episode, I’m rejoined by my fellow editor and twin perfectionist, Erika Steeves! We’re back to talk about perfectionism but through the lens of Katherine Morgan Schafler’s book, The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control, the book that asks the question: What if your perfectionism is actually a superpower?

We were both deeply impacted by this book as it aligns so well with the path we’d already begun with our perfectionism...

Get ready for ugly-ception!!! In this episode, I’m joined by publisher, editor, author, and maker, Kim Werker, to discuss our parallel discoveries: that ugly art makes everything better! Kim made her discovery seventeen years ago at a fateful crafting party where, in a bout of intense imposter syndrome, she was inspired to make a hideous doll…on purpose. Ever since then, she’s fallen in love with making ugly things and wants everyo...

On today’s episode, I’m joined by Merle Saferstein, writer, journaler, and legacy work educator. Together we talk about the joys of journaling, how it’s useful to get to know ourselves, process our messy feelings, and consider new perspectives as we navigate our relationships and worries. We also talk about Merle’s work as a legacy educator and how she helps people live more intentionally by asking them to live out the legacy they ...

After a brief hiatus for my vacation, I’m so glad to bring this episode to you with my guest Gauri Yardi, a writer and multidisciplinary creative, naturopath, and creative wellbeing coach. She creates resources for tired and burnt out creatives to help regain the energy to make their incredible art through holistic nervous system care. Gauri noticed that when professionals would discuss burnout, they would talk about mindset and sl...

Sophie Cannata-Bowman is an anti-perfectionist book editor and writing coach, a playwright, theatre performer, rock climber, and amateur herbalist. In today’s episode, she joined me to look at improvisation and the ways it can help us get unstuck and find a more joyful writing practice. We talk about Sophie’s experience growing up around creativity and storytelling, her study of plays and acting and the ways a writer’s words can be...

Today I was joined by my kindred perfectionism buddy and editor of speculative fiction, Erika Steeves. We talk about our instant connection over perfectionism when we met last year, and you might hear some familiar descriptions of your own perfectionism and self-doubt that echo in your head each day just as it does ours. We discuss how ugly art has helped us build up a tolerance for imperfection–because what is perfectionism but ha...

Can you believe it? One whole year of The Ugly Podcast! I’m so proud of my little bundle of joy, and to celebrate, my original co-host and lifetime creative partner, Emerson Lee, joins me for a vulnerable conversation about coming to terms with the messy middle. We’re both painfully honest about where we’re at with our businesses, and I had to come down from a monster vulnerability hangover afterward, which I’m sure will rear its h...

This week I’m joined by Cami Ostman, the founder of The Narrative Project. She’s written for Adventures Northwest and the Psychology Today blogger series as well as her own blog: 7marathons7continents.com. Cami has been profiled in O Magazine, Fitness Magazine, The Atlantic, and the Washington Post. Cami believes words are powerful and that we CREATE our identities with words—as we write, we become! We chat about Cami’s original cr...

Today I’m joined by Mae Wagner, an author, speaker, advocate, trauma mentor, and community builder. We discuss what it means to use creativity to process trauma by helping identify harmful coping mechanisms, find agency, and listen to our intuition. Mae says that creativity allows us to shed light on parts of ourselves that thrive in darkness, paving the way for healing and self-discovery.

We also talk about Mae’s own relationship...

In today’s episode, I chatted with artist, writer, and accidental astrologer, Heather Buchanan. You know her from her distinctive, goofy, watercolors and oil paintings with noseless faces as well as her weekly, totally real, horoscopes, Horror Scoops. We discussed her days of painting portraits and when she realized that she wanted to find her own style rather than relying on what other people wanted to see and what would make her ...

Leisa Greene, the founder of Indie It Press, spent the first forty-one years of her life completely unaware that she had anything creative to offer the world. Coming into her creativity later in life, Leisa immediately felt the imposter syndrome. “Who do I think I am?” “I haven’t been dreaming of this since I was a kid, so I must not be a real writer.” In learning to navigate the creative process, she began learning more about impo...

My guest today is changing how I see myself as a writer. Meg is a developmental editor, writer, journalist, and certified Gateless Writing teacher, and her new Gateless Writing salons aim to take down the inner critic and get writers more deeply in touch with themselves and their creativity. Gateless Writing is a framework developed by acclaimed author and Fulbright Scholar Suzanne Kingsbury and is based in neuroscience and Zen pri...

In today’s episode, I’m joined by another Lauren who is basically my twin. Lauren Henderson is a self-proclaimed creative dabbler. She’s been an engineer for consulting firms for twelve years and is specialized in technical editing and quality control. Throughout most of those years, she’s had creative side hustles, including book review blogging, selling used books, making pottery, and freelance editing. After deciding to pursue f...

My guest today is Rey Ward, a youth development professional who uses art and creativity as part of a trauma-informed practice when serving young clients. Working with kids has taught them infinite lessons on seeing beauty in imperfection and finding healing in the process rather than the result. We talk about how creativity gives us space to run free and get our brain zoomies out—because we’re just a bunch of weird little animals ...