Daring Creativity Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Dare to pick up the pieces – Sarah Ellen Masters
Host: Radim Malinic
Guest: Sarah Ellen Masters (Collage Artist and Founder of Collei)
Date: March 9, 2026
Duration: Approx. 54 minutes (content timestamps below)

Episode Overview

This episode of Daring Creativity dives deep into the resilient, reflective journey of Sarah Ellen Masters—a collage artist and founder of Collei. Sarah shares how her struggles with dyslexia and feelings of shame and isolation in her early years transformed, through the analog art of collage, into healing, self-acceptance, and a meaningful business. The conversation unpacks the healing power of creativity without perfection, the importance of tactile, communal creation, and the transformative role of “just showing up.”

Key Discussion Points

1. Discovering Creativity after Isolation and Shame

• Sarah’s Early Struggles:
  • Grew up with undiagnosed dyslexia; faced an education system that didn’t accommodate different learning styles.
  • Was bullied by peers and even shamed by teachers (“I was told in front of a class by the teacher that I was stupid.” – [07:13])
  • Internalized these experiences as inferiority, worthlessness, and ultimately, self-isolation:

    “I learned to isolate myself because I was shut out at school and I was carrying so much shame and felt so disconnected, not just from my peers, but from myself.”
    —Sarah, [12:53]

• Delayed Recognition of Creativity:
  • Only realized her creative side in her late 20s, after feeling a major part of herself was missing ([03:55]-[05:41])

2. The Power and Practice of Collage

• Why Collage?
  • Initially dismissed as “kids play,” Sarah’s bias changed during her Masters in Visual Communication, when she was seeking new ways to generate original ideas ([16:39]-[19:49]).
  • Collage became her method of emotional exploration and healing—transforming shame into self-worth and confidence.
• Collage as Visual 'Morning Pages':
  • Inspired by Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, but found traditional “morning pages” (diary writing) text-based and inaccessible due to dyslexia.

    “I kind of see my collage practice as a visual way of doing the morning pages. So I use collage... to get out what's inside with what's to hand.”
    —Sarah, [23:49]

• Allowing Imperfection:

  “It's not about having an esthetically pleasing image at the end of this. It's about the process and it's about being present over the product.”
  —Sarah, [21:42]

• Collage’s Accessibility:
  • Unlike drawing or painting, collage doesn’t carry the intimidation of being “graded.”

  “Maybe there's less of a barrier there because we didn’t have that art form as kids, potentially.”
  —Sarah, [19:16]

3. Reclaiming & Rebuilding Through Hands-On Connection

• Community and Safety in Workshops

  • Sarah runs workshops focusing on creating safe, supportive, hands-on environments away from screens.

    “My top priority is making people feel safe and supported and to try and empower them… Instead of just putting people on pedestals, get in the trenches with them. This is something we’re both working on together, because we both need to reclaim our creativity.”
    —Sarah, [32:35]

  • Emphasis on analog, tactile, and presence in a device-saturated world.

    “People are hungry to be in these atmospheres where they're making with their hands so they can't hold a phone… making eye contact with human beings in a room… I think that in itself, on a physical level, is needed more and more as we keep driving towards connectivity over connection.”
    —Sarah, [36:39]

• Materials and Sourcing

  • Collage materials come from: thrifted ephemera, inherited materials from her grandmother, and her own printed scraps ([28:56])
  • Notable: Incorporating her grandmother’s sewing supplies and paintings—honoring the past and the idea of creative renewal.

4. The Practice and Science of Self-Acceptance

• Moving from Absorber to Observer
  • Collage allowed Sarah to become more emotionally resilient and aware:

    “Because of that practice, I am not reacting to situations in my life, I’m responding... I have a greater awareness because I’ve had time within my collage practice to explore my emotions and the parts that I’d suppressed.”
    —Sarah, [26:46]

• Learning to Be Seen and Supported
  • Opening up to ask for help—recognizing the importance of gut-level, not just intellectual, connection:

    “I’m learning to let myself be seen and supported. I obviously isolated myself for a lot of years because of the tactics I learned growing up to survive with dyslexia... leaning into my family and friends is not an intellectual thing. I need to do it on a gut level in order to sustain the business that I’m trying to move forward and for it to have longevity.”
    —Sarah, [00:09] & [46:11]

5. Daring Creativity as Ongoing, Courageous Practice

• Getting Comfortable with Growth
  • Both Sarah and Radim reflect on public vulnerability, emotional labor, and the value of small, repeated efforts (“reps”) in building confidence.

    “The more reps you do, you just marginally get a little bit closer to confidence every time and there’s no ceiling to that. Today I get anxiety over sending a voice note. I’ve just come on a podcast. Look at me go, Radim!”
    —Sarah, [43:39]

• Business, Choices, and Long-Term Fulfillment
  • Sarah on choosing “good hardship” over shallow ease:

    “I’m so grateful that I get to choose my hardships... Hard choices, easy life; easy choices, hard life.”
    —Sarah, [50:45] (citing Jimmy Carr)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Being Different:

  “These days I realize I’m not a black sheep. I’m a unicorn that refuses to fit in a horse box.”
  —Sarah (as quoted by Radim), [52:30]

• On Labels:

  “I’m not shy at all. I learned to isolate myself because I was shut out at school and I was carrying so much shame and felt so disconnected.”
  —Sarah, [12:53]

• On Artistic Beginnings:

  “I had such a bias about [collage]. I thought it was just kids play. I was like, this is nonsense. Why are we doing this? But I wanted to question that bias because I was starting to realize that a lot of the assumptions I had about creativity were very wrong.”
  —Sarah, [16:39]

• On Workshop Impact:

  “I think people are also really surprised when they come out the other side of a workshop and they’re like, ‘Wow, I’ve just made something and I’ve had the capacity to just play and it’s been such a gift.’”
  —Sarah, [33:45]

Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment/Topic | |-----------|----------------------------------------------| | 00:09 | Sarah on letting herself be seen & supported | | 03:10 | Sarah's introduction | | 06:38 | School experiences & dyslexia impact | | 12:34 | The effect of labels & isolation | | 16:39 | Discovery and transformation through collage | | 22:42 | Sources of collage materials, visual journaling | | 26:46 | Healing self-worth and emotional resilience | | 32:13 | Building a safe, collaborative workshop space| | 36:38 | Analog connection vs. digital “connectivity” | | 43:39 | Confidence, public vulnerability, reps | | 46:11 | Workshop anxieties & relying on support | | 50:45 | Choosing creative "hardships," gratitude | | 52:30 | “I’m a unicorn…” quote and closing remarks |

Episode Tone and Speaker Dynamics

• The conversation is open, honest, and gently humorous. Radim is affirming, often referencing his own creative journey and struggles to meet Sarah at eye level, fostering comfort and authenticity.
• Vulnerability is at the forefront; both guest and host celebrate the imperfect, playful, experimental nature of creativity.
• The episode is uplifting and generously practical, balancing deeply personal anecdotes with concrete advice.

Takeaways for Listeners

• Creative exploration is a gradual, ongoing act of courage—perfection is irrelevant.
• Community, analog creation, and tactile experiences are urgent antidotes in a world obsessed with digital “connection.”
• Vulnerability and self-acceptance are foundational: healing happens not from hiding, but from daring to be seen—by others and by oneself.
• “Just showing up” and “putting in the reps” changes everything, especially if you start from a place of shame or uncertainty.

Further Resources

• Sarah Ellen Masters – Collei
• Radim Malinic’s Books & Resources
• Julia Cameron – The Artist’s Way
• Quote to remember:
  “I’m not a black sheep. I’m a unicorn that refuses to fit in a horse box.” —Sarah Ellen Masters, [52:30]