Three new things to share with you!
A look at recent projects 👀
Hi Friends!
What a difference a couple of months can make. I’m thinking back to March, when I had started pitching literary agents. I was anxious, I was spiraling, checked out, I wasn’t sleeping, and putting an enormous amount of pressure on myself to get it right.
“This is your only shot!” my inner voice warned.
But they were wrong. It wasn’t my only shot. To be a creative person is all about making things, including opportunities!
In this post, I’m going to share what I’ve created and launched during my book-pitching process. So far it hasn’t directly connected with me landing an agent, but I feel infinitely better — and isn’t that everything?
If you’re feeling similarly to how I did in March, let this be a reminder of your creative power. That you have the opportunity to make new things every day, to bring yourself joy, and nobody can stop you! ::echoing villain laugh::
Everything I’ve created + launched lately
🍿 Film to Table
The podcast that I launched with my youngest sister Laura in the fall of 2022 finally got a new website!
My personal site was created on the Showit platform, which allows for infinite design options, so I built the one-pager for Film to Table right inside. It was such a perfect creative escape for me: getting to play around with typography, a new color palette, and copy.
I’m so pleased with the final result. If you haven’t had the chance to take a peek, here’s where you can see it.
After a little hiatus, we also kicked off our new season, with a focus on Movie Musicals. Here’s where you can watch and listen to the first two episodes in the season:
🕺 MAMMA MIA! (2008)
📺 Watch | 🎧 Listen
🩰 AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)
📺 Watch | 🎧 Listen
You can also catch clips:
📷 Instagram
📱TikTok
🔜 Our discussion around LA LA LAND (2016) is queued for release on Tuesday, and I’d love if you could help support us by subscribing to our YouTube channel (it’s free)!
📼 Introducing… Play Me a Memory
If you’ve been part of my community for a while, you know that I co-hosted a show called A Podcast for Creatives with my friend Steve King for over five years. To date, it’s one of the most rewarding projects I’ve worked on, and wrapping it was only bearable because ending it meant we had space to explore something new.
We’d already dabbled with a concept called Commercial Breakdown, where we revisited TV ads from our childhood—and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Years later, this comment section is still popping!
Even though Pod for Creatives was centered around our experiences as creative professionals, we’d inevitably end up chatting about memories, nostalgia, and recounting stories from our childhoods.
It seemed like the most natural move to make that the whole show: deep dives into obscure corners of the 1990s. And so, Play Me a Memory came to be!
We just released our first episode, in which we attempt to figure out how teal + purple became the official colors of the decade. It’s part creativity, part nostalgia, mixed with some humor and a lot of heart.
Here’s where you can watch and listen to our trailer and the first episode:
HOW TEAL + PURPLE TOOK OVER THE 90s
📺 Watch | 🎧 Listen
Like Film to Table, one of the best and easiest ways to support us is simply to subscribe to our YouTube channel!
My New Creative Home: michellehickey.co
Like many creative people my age, I’ve dabbled in many different mediums — from Etsy to blogging and beyond. I’ve been the owner of an embarrassing number of URLs, but one that’s been around for the long haul is michellehickey.design and michellehickeydesign.com.
After a lot of (over)thinking about my current and future work, it felt like the right time to drop the “design” from my name, making space for all of my creative endeavors: design, but also podcasting, video, and writing.
My hope is that sometime soon, I’ll be back to tinkering again, making space to promote my book!
In the meantime, here’s a look at the most up-to-date michellehickey.co.
🫶 Thanks so much for indulging me and giving me a space to showcase my latest projects. I’d love to hear what you’ve been working on and/or dreaming up in the comments!
✍️ Creative Exercises/Journal Prompts
Have you been trying to put all of your creative eggs in one basket? Allow yourself to dabble in something new (or old!) — anything that feels fun.
Is it time to close the door on a project to make space for something that feels more aligned with who you are and what you want to share?
(Something I’m always working on): hone your introduction pitch. If someone asks “what do you do?” — what do you want to tell them?
☀️ Five good things
When we can recognize the things that bring us the most joy, we invite more of them into our lives. Here are five things that made me happy this week. Share yours below!
Five good things that happened this week:
Last week, I already shared that we got the exterior of our house repainted, and it looks brand new! This week we added new light fixtures, the icing on the cake.
I discovered a new show on AppleTV+ called The Afterparty, a murder mystery that takes place after a high school reunion. The cast is so good, and I love the creative way each episode is in a different style.
We made a last-minute decision to try trivia night at our local pizza place/cocktail bar, and it was so much fun — the highlight of both our weeks. Here’s to being more spontaneous!
Our family celebrated a special anniversary (of when my parents bought our childhood home, forty years ago). My little Instagram commemoration here.
We also got to celebrate my mother-in-law’s retirement, and welcomed her and my father-in-law to Florida as full-time residents.
💬 Share your intention
Whether it’s a giant leap, a tiny to-do list item, a habit change, or something else, there is power in accountability, and this is a safe space to share your aim. Some weeks, we’ll fail, others we’ll soar, but with support, we’ll always keep going together.
Until next week, get out there and make something beautiful.
Michelle
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Creative power! Yes! I love the way you think, Michelle. I've recently been making an effort to remind myself of the JOY I take in the writing process, and how much I love being in the world of my novel. It's work, yes, but it's not brain surgery. When I remember I'm having fun, it does feel like reclaiming my power.
I needed to hear this (with the villain laugh, of course): "...let this be a reminder of your creative power. You have the opportunity to make new things every day, to bring yourself joy, and nobody can stop you!"
Yes! (And onward.) I'm making a new illustrated sticker with the limited pockets of personal creative time that I have this month. Ditching anxiety, tapping back into fun. (Thanks for the timely inspiration.)
Oh, the teal and purple obsession of the '90s. Guilty. They were the official colours of my high school / university jazz combo jacket. (I loved it. Then.) I'm not typically nostalgic for the '90s, but curious to listen to Play Me a Memory.