Bra shopping in the big city! The left image is actually dress made of pink crayons. Cool, huh?

Our April trip to the Nashville PRSA Awards show was, what, all work and no play? I don’t think so. Inspiration comes in surprising places.  We were intrigued by the lobby art at our decidedly quirky hotel and that got us thinking (yeah, we do that sometimes) about the power of everyday stuff when it’s used in unexpected ways.

Who else is thinking “70’s porno flick”?  Why yes, that is red faux pony skin that adorned the walls of our hotel’s elevator.  Getting up to our floor was a memorable experience.  We weren’t quite sure if it was smarmy (okay, it was really smarmy) but it was completely true to itself.  Honest smarmy, you know?

And crayons.  Every kid has crayons.  But hardly anybody makes a pink crayon dress.  It stands out and sticks in your mind precisely because it is unexpected.  Kind of like the punch line to a joke. Your mind is going along a certain path and then, bam, you end up someplace you didn’t plan to be.

Madonna has already done underwear as outer wear but it’s not everyday you see a bra as a light fixture.  Illuminating - in every way.

Our trip to the big city reminded us that the potential for creativity is all around us.  It’s in the stuff of every day.  Maybe faux red pony fur is just what you need to stand out.  We’re sticking with crayons because underwear belongs in a drawer when it’s not on the job.

I just had the chance to listen to the interview that my partner, Jan, gave recently to Lisa Marie of MetroChickradio. Jan, although she loves to talk (did I already mention that?) is shy when it comes to tooting her own horn. Listen to the interview and you’ll see why she is my hero. Yes, that was rather schmaltzy, but I meant it.

MetroChickradio is based just outside of Detroit, Michigan and is a Women’s Internet Radio Station founded by producer and talk show host, Lisa Marie. Their mission to inform, educate and empower women at every level made them the perfect venue to interview Jan on her life, work and personal philosophy.

Jan and Lisa cover a variety of subjects including Jan’s interesting and rather tawdry past. Alright… interesting, yes… tawdry, no. I may have been channeling my own past. Anyway, the part of the story that I love the most and I think speaks volumes is the very beginning. Jan was born in Peculiar, MO. PECULIAR!

The story that she did not tell was how she used to lock friends in her attic and make them pretend to make cold calls. Now it could have gone one of two ways at this point… a serial killer could have been born or what actually happened… a SUPER SALESMAN! The jury may still be out of which was the lesser evil, but I think goodness did prevail.

By now, you may have realized that this post isn’t really going to tell you much about the interview. That you are going to have to listen to yourself.

Go.
Now.

Are you still here?
Fine. I’ll tell you a smidge. Jan talks about how she has lived her life with passion and no regrets. She has followed her own path and focused on what she wants to do rather than what she is afraid of.

There. See? She’s hero-material!

Susan

Top photo: Every party has one. If there had been a lamp shade this person would’ve been wearing it. Bottom photos: Left: The first guest arrives. Right: Big heads. Big egos. VIPs turn out for the Conversations with Creative Minds launch party.

No expense was spared for the lavish two-city launch of the new Conversations with Creative Minds Web Site. It was definitely OFF-THE-HOOK.

But this entry is not about the party.

When your company works from remote locations and you’re introducing a new venture, creative measures are sometimes needed to keep up the enthusiasm and excitement, and to find a new audience. Utilizing Web 2.0, we turned on our iCHATs, kept in touch, uploaded interviews from Conversations to video sharing sites, shared launch party pix on Flickr, got social on network sites and even started tweeting. Now it’s time to turn our attention to blogging.

The web site, Conversations with Creative Minds, is a talk show that explores the role that creativity plays in the lives and careers of successful people from all kinds of fields. Our podcast, Creative Juice, is two girls talking about the talk show and all other things “creative” that interest us. So I guess the blog will be two girls blogging about talking about the talk show.

Wait, I’m getting dizzy.

Well, you get the idea. We’ll blog about the talk show. We’ll blog about the podcast, including show notes on both when appropriate. We’ll blog about creativity in our own business. We’ll blog about creativity in our own lives. In short, we’ll blog, blog, blog.

Susan