Today we’d like to introduce you to Melinda Rothouse and Charlotte Gullick
Hi Melinda and Charlotte, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Charlotte and Melinda are experienced creativity coaches, educators, and facilitators. Melinda holds a PhD in Psychology with a specialization in Creativity Studies, and Charlotte holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction. They met while both teaching at Austin Community College; Charlotte was teaching Creative Writing, and Melinda was teaching Religious Studies. Sharing a common interest and synergy around creativity, they began offering workshops and retreats on the creative process, culminating in a book they co-authored called Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities, which won a 2021 Silver Nautilus Award for Creativity and Innovation. Currently, they are sharing their insights via The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity, which aims to demystify the creative process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative. They were recently featured in USA Today.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has not been a smooth road – which is much like any creative journey! We had visions of an app that would empower all users with a flexible and clear accountability plan. We worked with a developer and a graphic designer, meeting every week for over two years, refining our vision. We were accepted into a technology incubator program, which revealed to us that this wasn’t our ideal environment for flourishing. So, we pivoted to the book and then the podcast. We were thrilled to receive a 2021 Silver Nautilus Award for Creativity and Innovation – that helped affirm we were on the right path.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We specialize in helping people find their creative joy and bringing their ideas to fruition. We offer coaching, consulting, workshops, and retreats. As discussed previously, we co-authored an award-winning book and created a podcast focusing on the creative process. Community and collaboration are at the forefront of our approach, and we offer a positive counter-narrative to the tortured artist stereotype. We are both educators and professors who value authentic life-long learning. We are offering a six-month creativity coaching group starting in July that will help people move from start to finish on a creative project. https://www.syncreate.org/upcoming-events.html
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
There’s a saying that luck favors the well-prepared and that synchronicity favors those who pay attention. Synchronicity is at the heart of our initial meeting, and it has been our steadfast companion in our endeavors. We believe that creativity is an iterative process where we try things out, see how they work, get feedback, pivot, and keep trying until we arrive at something that is both helpful and resonant.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.syncreate.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/syncreatecreativity/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Syncreate/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtHDSSa3-OP6cRtWEe5VRjQ
Image Credits
Daniel Whiteside
Dreux Carpenter
Andreana Salvemini
