Singer/songwriter Lila Forde stands at a launch point in her career. She’s a self-sustaining, working musician, who’s been at it for years. And if you’re a fan of The Voice, you know that in Season 24 last fall, Lila earned a coveted 4-chair turn and went from a gigging girl in LA to one of the show’s top vocalists with adoring fans nationwide. Finishing among the five finalists, Lila continues to be compared to Joni Mitchell and her coach John Legend, describes her as magical. No doubt, she’s poised for a long and successful career. Listen to this episode and one day, you can look back and say, “I heard an interview with Lila when she was just taking off!”

Takeaways

• Stay true to yourself and your artistic vision, even in the face of external pressures
• Log as many hours as you can to develop your confidence and expertise in whatever medium you choose
• Respect yourself as an artist

Resources

Listen to Lila’s music on Spotify

Watch her perform on YouTube

Go to her website and sign up for her mailing list at lilaforde.com

Follow her on instagram @lilfody

Dava Whisenant, founder and president of Cactus Flower Films, is a master storyteller who has stories to tell, and she tells them with honesty and humor. For more than 20 years, she’s worked in narrative and nonfiction film as an editor — from The Late Show with David Letterman to the Emmy-winning and Oscar- short-listed documentary short The Flagmakers — and now as a director. The award-winning documentary Bathtubs Over Broadway, was her directorial debut, for which she won Best Director at the Tribeca Film Festival and a Writer’s Guild Award for Best Documentary Screenplay. We talk about her creative process, the necessity of a team, the financial challenges of a creative life, the value of being scared, and the importance of inspirational mugs!

Takeaways

• Surrounding yourself with a team of good-hearted people, helps you get you through the hard times
• The creative process requires resilience —particularly with those big dreams that take a while to realize.
• It may not always be comfy, but sometimes it pays to keep your overhead low so you can take more creative chances.
• And the greatest rewards lie outside your comfort zones.

Resources:

Learn more about Dava:

www.cactusflowerfilms.com

Completed films:

Bathtubs Over Broadway

Take That Step (finale song in Bathtubs Over Broadway)

The Flagmakers

Two Trains Runnin’

Butterfly in the Sky

Diane Warren: Relentless

The subject of her work in progress:

Thomas Jackson

Learn more about her co-writer Steve Young

Steve Young

And listen to him on No Time to be Timid!

My attempt at a film short:

How to Dye Your Hair at Home (During a Global Pandemic)

A useful book to discover where your gifts are:

The Genuis Zone by Gay Hendricks

Becca Stevens, the founder and president of Thistle Farms, shares her journey from starting a 5-bed home for women survivors of trafficking, addiction, and prostitution to creating a global movement for women’s freedom. Born at the crossroads of where arts and crafts meets justice, Becca talks about how creativity has transformed the lives of women in her programs, the importance of a walk in the woods, and how one Thistle Farms candle was the catalyst for a birthday party including A-list celebrities. The word timid is not in Becca’s vocabulary — anything is possible!

Takeaways

• Creativity can be a powerful tool for healing and justice.
• Arts and crafts provide women survivors with healing, economic opportunities, and a sense of purpose.
• Finding a space like the woods where your heart can sing is important to the creative process.
• No creative effort is too small to a difference.
• Don’t hold back on starting a project just because you think you don't know enough!
• Creativity can spark new revolutions in our lives, our communities, and in our world.

Resources

Learn more about Becca and her work at

https://beccastevens.org/

Support the effort — shop at Thistle Farms!

https://thistlefarms.org/

And check out Thistle Farms fan Banksy and his work:

https://banksy.co.uk/

Follow them on Instagram and Facebook @beccastevens, @thistlefarms