Podcast
Creative Pep Talk
Hosted by Andy J. Pizza · EN
A Weekly Podcast Companion for Your Creative Journey
Transform your creative potential into reality by making your creativity a practice. A “creative discipline” can feel like an oxymoron. Creativity is about doing something new. Discipline is about doing something consistently. The aim of this podcast is to help you strike that elusive balance.
Each week, New York Times Bestselling Author Illustrator Andy J. Pizza shares everything he’s learning about building a thriving creative practice. Through solo episodes and interviews with top-tier creatives, Pizza brings you the strategies and stories that you need week in and week out to keep your inner critic at bay, bust through creative blocks and stay creatively pepped to the max!!
Learn more: creativepeptalk.com
Check out the host: andyjpizza.com
110episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
510 - Remember How to Have Fun and Get Loose, ADHD / Being You, Storytelling, Ignoring the Industry & More with Picture Book Maker Bob Shea
Jun 18, 202501:16:12Summary readyFeeling lost on the creative journey? Download our 7 step Creative Career Path Handbooklet for FREE by signing up to our newsletter. --- This episode is for you if you: 1 - Struggle to be productive like a “normal” human2 - Want to make your work more YOU3 - You want to get looser and have more fun in your work4 - Are interested in storytelling / picture books THIS WAS A PHENOMENALLY FUN AND INSIGHTFUL CHAT with picture book legend Bob Shea! SHOW NOTES: Bob Sheahttps://www.bobshea.com Bearsuit Turtlehttps://store.abramsbooks.com/products/bearsuit-turtle-makes-a-friend Chez Bobhttps://www.bobshea.com/books/chez-bob Lane Smithhttps://www.lanesmithbooks.com Stinky Cheese Manhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stinky_Cheese_Man_and_Other_Fairly_Stupid_Tales Genesight Medication Testinghttps://genesight.com Co-Writing / Editing: Sophie Miller http://sophiemiller.coAudio Editing / Sound Design: Conner Jones http://pendingbeautiful.coSoundtrack / Theme Song: Yoni Wolf / WHY? http://whywithaquestionmark.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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509 - Hack Motivation to Begin AND Finish Well + Unlock Creative Self with These Questions
Jun 11, 202500:46:56Summary readyFeeling lost on the creative journey? Download our 7 step Creative Career Path Handbooklet for FREE by signing up to our newsletter. ---This episode is for you if you are: 1 - A beginner trying to make a splash2 - A seasoned creative who needs to try something new3 - Stuck and uninspired and lost the love of making stuff We are all beginners at some point and we become beginners again and again at different aspects of our creative journey repeatedly. With times rapidly changing, this has never been more true. In this Q&A episode of the show, we explore how to begin well, but also, maybe more importantly how to end and finish projects well. This is a fan favorite type Q&A “Ask Dr. Pizza” episode :) SHOW NOTES: Co-Writing / Editing: Sophie Miller http://sophiemiller.coAudio Editing / Sound Design: Conner Jones http://pendingbeautiful.coSoundtrack / Theme Song: Yoni Wolf / WHY? http://whywithaquestionmark.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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508 - The Real Magic of Finding Your Creative Voice with Brian Selznick
Jun 4, 202501:08:30Summary readyFeeling lost on the creative journey? Download our 7 step Creative Career Path Handbooklet for FREE by signing up to our newsletter. --- How do truly embed yourself into your work? Today on the show, we have a creative master who has done this at the highest level. In this episode, Caldecott winning author illustrator Brian Selznick joins me to discuss his new book “Run Away with Me”. We deconstruct the elements that make this book both a quintessential piece of work for Selznick, and also an evolution of his creative voice. If you want to develop a deeper sense of yourself in the work and find your place amongst the timeline of your creative hero's. This episode is for you! SHOW NOTES: Brian Selznickhttps://brianselznick.com https://www.runawaywithmethebook.com Maurice Sendakhttps://www.mauricesendak.com A Page is a Door by Remy Charliphttps://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/remy_essay.htm Co-Writing / Editing: Sophie Miller http://sophiemiller.coAudio Editing / Sound Design: Conner Jones http://pendingbeautiful.coSoundtrack / Theme Song: Yoni Wolf / WHY? http://whywithaquestionmark.com SPONSORS:SQUARESPACEHead to https://www.squarespace.com/PEPTALK to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code PEPTALK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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507 - How to Find Your Secret Creative Powers
May 28, 202500:36:55Summary readyFeeling lost on the creative journey? Download our 7 step Creative Career Path Handbooklet for FREE by signing up to our newsletter. ---Do you feel like the competition is so steep you don’t have a chance? Do you ever look around online and think “why should I even bother? I am not even close to this level of talent!” If so, this episode is for you. Stop trying to be super and tap into your true edge: your secret creative powers! Let’s talk about how to find them! SHOW NOTES: Co-Writing / Editing: Sophie Miller http://sophiemiller.coAudio Editing / Sound Design: Conner Jones http://pendingbeautiful.coSoundtrack / Theme Song: Yoni Wolf / WHY? http://whywithaquestionmark.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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506 - The Career Defining Breakthrough I Found in Scary Slow Times
May 21, 202500:38:07Summary readyFeeling lost on the creative journey? Download our 7 step Creative Career Path Handbooklet for FREE by signing up to our newsletter. ---When times are hectic and industries freeze, it can feel like creative progress is impossible. In times like these, rather than bang your head up against the same wall over and over again, you can see this external block as a sign that it’s time to shift your focus and ways of being. In this episode I share one of the most essential breakthroughs in my creative practice that happened during some of the slowest and scariest moments of my creative journey. SHOW NOTES: Lisa Miller PhD The Awakened Brainhttps://www.lisamillerphd.com Co-Writing / Editing: Sophie Miller http://sophiemiller.coAudio Editing / Sound Design: Conner Jones http://pendingbeautiful.coSoundtrack / Theme Song: Yoni Wolf / WHY? http://whywithaquestionmark.com SPONSORS:SQUARESPACEHead to https://www.squarespace.com/PEPTALK to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code PEPTALK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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505 - How Demystifying Your Craft can Enhance the Magic with Maggie Smith
May 14, 202501:09:44Summary readyFeeling lost on the creative journey? Download our 7 step Creative Career Path Handbooklet for FREE by signing up to our newsletter. --- This was an INCREDIBLE CHAT. I left so pepped. If you are overwhelmed by the blank page, scared to try and fail, or feel the pressure to exist in a vacuum, this episode is for you! In this episode, Poet Maggie Smith is back with her brilliant new book “Dear Writer: Pep Talks and Practical Advice for the Creative Life”. I LOVED this book and this chat JUST AS MUCH. This episode is CHOCKED FULL of creative insights from Maggie and her new book, you are going to love it! SHOW NOTES: Maggie Smithhttps://maggiesmithpoet.com/book/dear-writer/ Good Boneshttps://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/89897/good-bones Dear Writer: Pep Talks and Practical Advice for the Creative Lifehttps://maggiesmithpoet.com/book/dear-writer/ Katherine Faheyhttp://www.thecrankiefactory.com/115034631.html Co-Writing / Editing: Sophie Miller http://sophiemiller.co Audio Editing / Sound Design: Conner Jones http://pendingbeautiful.co Soundtrack / Theme Song: Yoni Wolf / WHY? http://whywithaquestionmark.com SPONSORS:SQUARESPACEHead to https://www.squarespace.com/PEPTALK to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code PEPTALK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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504 - Reduce Overwhelm and Unlock More Creative Work with This
May 7, 202500:28:58Summary readyFeeling lost on the creative journey? Download our 7 step Creative Career Path Handbooklet for FREE by signing up to our newsletter here: andyjpizza.substack.com --- Are you overwhelmed pretty much no matter what you do? Are you overwhelmed by long to do lists? Short ones? Complex and simple ones? In this episode I will share a recent shift that has made a big impact on me that resulted in me feeling less overwhelmed and more able to be creatively productive. SHOW NOTES: Co-Writing / Editing: Sophie Miller http://sophiemiller.coAudio Editing / Sound Design: Conner Jones http://pendingbeautiful.coSoundtrack / Theme Song: Yoni Wolf / WHY? http://whywithaquestionmark.com John Cleese on Creativity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvKeu46jgwo Cal Newport https://calnewport.com SPONSORS:SQUARESPACEHead to https://www.squarespace.com/PEPTALK to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code PEPTALK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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503 - Embrace Change and Reclaim Belonging with Morgan Harper Nichols
Apr 30, 202501:16:53Summary readyFeel like things have changed or are always changing? Do you find yourself changing yourself to fit? Where do you really want to be? In this episode I am joined by artist and author, Morgan Harper Nichols. We discuss envisioning a future for yourself that you actually want to go towards and how to find the right creative home within all the possibilities. https://morganharpernichols.com ------ Feeling lost on the creative journey? Download our 7 step Creative Career Path Handbooklet for FREE by signing up to our newsletter here: andyjpizza.substack.com SHOW NOTES: Co-Writing / Editing: Sophie Miller http://sophiemiller.co Audio Editing / Sound Design: Conner Jones http://pendingbeautiful.coSoundtrack / Theme Song: Yoni Wolf / WHY? http://whywithaquestionmark.com SPONSORS:SQUARESPACEHead to https://www.squarespace.com/PEPTALK to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code PEPTALK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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502 - How to Beat the Analysis Paralysis of "The Right Path"
Apr 23, 202500:39:26Summary readyFeeling lost on the creative journey? Download our 7 step Creative Career Path Handbooklet for FREE by signing up to our newsletter here: andyjpizza.substack.com If you THINK more about making stuff than actually making stuff, this episode is for you! I tell a story that helped me realize that going the right way is overrated and what to do instead.SHOW NOTES:Co-Writing / Editing: Sophie Miller http://sophiemiller.coAudio Editing / Sound Design: Conner Jones http://pendingbeautiful.coSoundtrack / Theme Song: Yoni Wolf / WHY? http://whywithaquestionmark.comWar of Art by Stephen Pressfieldhttps://stevenpressfield.com/books/the-war-of-art/Cal Newport Deep Workhttps://calnewport.com/writing/Christopher Vogler The Writers Journeyhttps://mwp.com/product/writers-journey-25th-anniversary-edition-mythic-structure-writers/Brian McDonald Invisible Inkhttps://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/invisible-ink-stewart-stern/1146054340SPONSORS:SQUARESPACEHead to https://www.squarespace.com/PEPTALK to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code PEPTALK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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501 - How To Create Gentle Habits with Sophie Yanow
Apr 16, 202501:02:34Summary readyHow do you develop discipline as an artist? Can you hack your behavior and form creative habits? What tips or tricks could help you to create more often AND more confidently?In this episode I'm joined by Eisner Award winning cartoonist Sophie Yanow. Sophie has so much insight on this topic and found great value in creating what she calls a 'Gentle Comics Habit'. We talk starting, stacking and bundling habits and what it all achieved.Discuss this episode, share creative wins and obstacles at our next monthly meetup! Join this month’s Creative Pep Rally by supporting the show on Substack or Patreon:andyjpizza.substack.comhttps://www.patreon.com/c/creativepeptalkSHOW NOTES:Co-Writing / Editing: Sophie Miller http://sophiemiller.coAudio Editing / Sound Design: Conner Jones http://pendingbeautiful.coSoundtrack / Theme Song: Yoni Wolf / WHY? http://whywithaquestionmark.comhttps://www.sophieyanow.com/https://www.instagram.com/sophieyanowGABRIELLE BELL https://gabriellebell.com/JAMES CLEAR https://jamesclear.com/habitsBJ FOGG https://tinyhabits.com/SPONSORS:SQUARESPACEHead to https://www.squarespace.com/PEPTALK to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code PEPTALK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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