20 - The Wall is The Way: Unblocking Your Life

In today’s episode I’m chatting with the wonderfully imaginative illustrator and musician Jim Stoten. He’s much more than both those titles would have you believe - creativity seems to just flow through him into the world in a beautiful technicolor surreal way. You may know him from his Mr. Tweed books, my kids are big fans of those, or you’ve probably seen his work in the world for the likes of The New Yorker, The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, Bandcamp, Moog synthesizers, or any of the other many clients who have commissioned him over the years.If you’re a long time listener of the podcast, you might remember that Jim was on nearly five years ago. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long! If you want to hear our first conversation, check out episode 11 where we discuss the topic of time. Today, we pick right up where we left off in the last episode, pondering time and our relation to it. But also, a lot has changed in Jim’s life since then; he’s become a dad, moved to Venice, Italy, has brought new creative projects into the world, including his most recent album with Dirty Melody records titled “22”, and a new book with Unseen Sketchbooks called “Super Road”. Check out unseensketchbooks.com to purchase a copy. This will allow you to peer into his fabled sketchbooks that are so captivating. In this conversation, Jim and I dive deep into parenthood, beauty, depression, what it means to be an artist, time, aging, art and much more. Jim is so easy to listen to, he’s hilarious and a great storyteller, and it’s fascinating to hear the world through his perspective. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.You can find Jim on instagram or online at jim-stoten.comYou can find Allison on instagram or online at thefriendlyunknown.com

In this episode Pace and I discuss the metaphor of the chrysalis, how a caterpillar builds a safe container around itself where it melts down into a kind of cosmic soup before it can reform into a butterfly and take flight. We talk about how this metaphor relates to our own lives and those periods of expansion that often feel like we turn to goo for long periods of time before we finally have a breakthrough.The chrysalis is that threshold time when you’ve outgrown the old world, but the new world has yet to emerge, and you’re in a kind of stasis between the two. That period can feel quite confusing and confronting. We talk about why that is, what we can do to cross the threshold into the new world, and how the chrysalis is a natural process and ultimately a good thing, despite it often feeling the opposite.

In today’s episode I chat with the wonderful Tina Yip. Tina is a coach and the founder of Space to Grow, a company helping creative people make their work/life more intentional, meaningful, and expansive. After spending the last decade as a brand strategist at agencies such as R/GA and Big Spaceship and working on brands like Samsung and Mastercard, Tina realized that what she cared most about were people - bringing people together, maximizing their human potential, rethinking their relationship with work, and challenging societal norms so that they can live their most fulfilled lives. This conversation is a heart to heart about how to navigate the pathless path to do what you love in this lifetime. We dive into how to connect and align with your future self and allies for our journey, and why it’s so important to remember your dream for your life. Tina and I are both endlessly passionate about these topics so hopefully you find our conversation just as fun and insightful as I did.You can find Tina online and on instagram  If you’d like to find out more about the Friendly Unknown, you can follow me on instagram, or at thefriendlyunknown.com. 

In this episode, Pace and I dive deep into the mystery to get closer to who we are. We discuss some of the important messages we’ve found in our dreams, some of synchronicities we’ve experienced and how they've influenced our paths, and some of the insights we’ve had in therapy. We talk about how these experiences are easy to miss and dismiss in our lives, but how when we pay attention, we begin to notice them more, and we discover they can be helpful guideposts on our paths, and bring us into a deeper relationship with ourselves and our desires. This was a fun one for me because I love talking about this kind of stuff, and I hope you enjoy it too!--Pace Gatherer is a future Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) working toward a Master’s in Science. Their work with children—particularly in underserved communities—uses play to build resilience, leadership, and connection. With a BFA in Sculpture and a background in museums and arts nonprofits, they’ve long been committed to promoting DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion accessibility) initiatives. Driven by a passion for creativity, emotional intelligence, and modern spirituality, Pace explores how these elements intersect to foster personal growth, healing, and self-expression. You can contact Pace at pace.gatherer at gmail.com.

In today’s episode, I speak with the wonderful Katie Benn. Katie is a multidisciplinary artist from San Francisco currently living in southern Oregon. She’s inspired by all things magical and mysterious, dreamy, silly, and absurd. She explores themes relating to the human condition and her inner world. She is a painter, muralist, illustrator, textile designer, and creator of zines and various art products. She has worked with clients including Google, Facebook, WeWork, Masterclass and much more.In addition to her creative work, Katie is also a practicing evidential medium. She has been connecting with spirit since childhood and has strengthened her connection through years of private study, training with renowned psychic mediums in the US and UK, and offering in-person and online readings to her extended community. Katie’s mediumship is known to be down to earth, compassionate, healing, and heart-focused as she works to connect people with their loved ones that have passed on. I've been wanting to talk to Katie for years because I love her work and am so interested in the way she explores her world and puts it into her art, so I'm very excited to bring you our conversation today.You can follow Katie on Instagram here or online at www.katiebenn.com

In this episode, Pace and I discuss limiting beliefs, what they are, how they show up in our lives as blocks, and how we can work with them to open up our lives so that we can get unstuck and move forward into more of who we are and what we want in life.

Today I’m talking with my best friend from high school Pace Gatherer who is a fine artist and currently studying for her masters in marriage and family therapy. She’ll be joining me throughout this podcast to discuss lots of interesting topics. In this episode we discuss the topic of play, and how it can be an antidote for being stuck in life. It’s an appropriate topic since I have been wanting to restart this podcast for a while, but was getting caught up in my own perfectionism. Having this conversation was a taste of my own medicine, and helped remind me to follow the fun, make it playful and that putting something out messy is better than not doing it. Hopefully this conversation will be helpful for you as well!

In this episode, I chat about community with fellow San Francisco based creative Lindsay Stripling. Lindsay is an artist, illustrator, muralist, teacher, and she hosts an amazing series on her instagram called Lunch Club, where she has really wonderful conversations with fellow artists.We discuss how community has shaped Lindsay’s life and career, how having a creative community to tap into can accelerate your path and feel like therapy, how to build your own community (even if you’re shy), and how important it is to surround yourself with supportive, like-minded people.Lindsay also shares a super useful map she uses (and teaches) to help navigate the ups and downs of a creative project. Talking to Lindsay was so fun and insightful. She’s a ray of sunshine and I hope this conversation makes your day a little brighter.You can find out more about Lindsay by following her on instagram, or find her online at lindsaystripling.com.

In this episode, I chat with Brooklyn based artist Grace Miceli. Grace works across multiple mediums including illustration, animation, comics, product design, murals, and she’s recently added published author to that list. She has an amazing new book coming out on May 4th, called How to Deal: With Fear, Failure, and Other Daily Dreads.Grace has worked with an impressive roster of clients including The New Yorker, Apple, Nike, Warner Bros., The New York Times, Urban Outfitters, Instagram, Adidas, MTV, Adobe, and the list goes on...Her work explores life’s deeper topics with a colorful, humorous, and nostalgic approach. Viewing her work almost feels like you’re secretly reading through her diary. It’s very specific to her experience and at the same time, so universal. I’m so thankful that Grace was brave enough to explore the topic of fear with me. We talk about the fear involved in forging your own path as a creative, how personal growth and healing is often painful but ultimately rewarding, how fear can be a sign post pointing us in the right direction, how we can learn to live with fear, what it’s like to write a book and the fears that come along with that process, and much, much more. This was such a wonderful conversation and I’m really excited to share it with you all.You can find out more about Grace by following her on instagram here, or find her online at gracemiceli.com. And be sure to check out her new book as well. Resources Mentioned:Pema ChodronTara BrachDharma PunxMental Health Happy Hour podcast

In this episode, I chat with the wonderful Morgan Harper Nichols. Morgan is an artist, poet and musician. Her process for creating work is really unique and amazing. People submit their stories to her and she creates artwork for those individuals, and then shares those pieces daily on her social channels. Although each piece is created for one person, they deeply resonate with the larger collective as well. So much so, that Morgan currently has 1.7 million followers on Instagram. And honestly it isn’t surprising, her presence feels like a breath of fresh air in a world that can often feel so overwhelming. Morgan shares her journey from being a musician first to becoming a visual artist, and the winding road she had to navigate to get here. We dive into the topic of “growing”, both in our personal and professional lives. Growth is a theme Morgan often explores in her work, and she has a really wonderful perspective on the topic that I hadn’t considered going into the interview. Morgan also has a beautiful new book coming out on April 27th titled How Far You Have Come. Be sure to check it out, and if you aren’t already, follow Morgan on instagram here, or find her online at morganharpernichols.com