Are you an experienced creative or accomplished professional who seeks a creative ‘safe space’ to:
- Complete a creative project
- Take your work to the ‘next level’, or
- Attempt something you’ve never tried before, AND
- Learn tangible tools to build your self-promotion muscle, PLUS
- Establish and energize your potential audience base and share your work with the world?
Calling in emotionally-intelligent, high-functioning creatives ready to level up!
SCHEDULE A FREE, FUN CALL WITH US NOW!
Have you spent *years* dreaming about or working on a creative project you want to complete ‘someday’?
Have you completed a creative project, but let it languish rather than taking the next step?
Have self-doubts, past creative wounds or desire for support kept you from sharing your work with a larger audience?
Do you crave tangible skills and guided support to learn how to share your work with the world?
Have you spent immeasurable time supporting someone else’s vision, but wonder what might be possible if you invested in your own creative work?
YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
WE KNOW FIRST-HAND WHAT IT TAKES TO COMPLETE A PROJECT AND SHARE THAT WORK WITH THE WORLD
Taking the risk to pursue your big creative dreams can feel daunting and scary.
And oftentimes, it can feel easier to keep ourselves “safe” by deferring our creative impulses, putting them off for “another day”, or dedicating our creative energy to other people's projects.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
BOOK A NO-OBLIGATION CALL WITH US NOW
WHY ILLUME EXISTS
WE BELIEVE EVERY FULLY REALIZED CREATIVE WORK PASSES THROUGH EACH STAGE OF THE SPARK CYCLE OF CREATIVITY ON IT’S WAY TO COMPLETION:
- GENERATING SPARKS - this is idea generation and INSPIRATION stage
- FANNING THE FLAMES - this is the ‘DOING the work’ stage, sticking to the process until your project is complete
- SHINING THE LIGHT - this is where we launch our project into the world in a way that generates excitement and impact for our desired audience (large or small)
WE HAVE NOTICED THAT FAR TOO MANY CREATIVES STOP JUST BEFORE THEIR PROJECT IS COMPLETE OR BEFORE IT IS TIME TO SHINE THEIR LIGHT!
WHY?
WE HAVE SOME THEORIES:
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Perhaps the prospect of being SEEN (or heard or read) is too frightening, or
-
the vulnerability required to take a creative risk feels too big to bear, or
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we simply don’t know HOW - we need to hone our self-promotion skills!
ILLUME IS DESIGNED TO SUPPORT YOU AS YOU COMPLETE YOUR CREATIVE PROJECT AND PREPARE TO SHARE IT WITH THE WORLD.
WE SUPPORT YOU AS YOU EMBRACE THE DUAL ROLES OF CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER AND CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER OF YOUR OWN WORK!
The 9-month ILLUME mastermind program includes:
VIRTUAL KICKOFF RETREAT
featuring goal setting and ‘road mapping’ to identify, clarify and reach your Big Creative Goals!
PRIVATE COACHING SESSIONS - 2 - 60 minute 1:1 private coaching sessions
Dig deep in expert one-on-one private coaching sessions that will support you as you make big progress towards to creative goals.
THINKING PARTNERSHIPS - Every month you will have the opportunity, if you choose, to be partnered with a member of your cohort for a Thinking Partnership, based on the work of Nancy Kline. Don’t worry, we’ll show you how it’s done, but trust us, these life-changing sessions are a reminder of what a gift it is to deeply connect with our own minds and intuition.
VOXER SUPPORT - All ILLUME participants will be added to a thread in the ILLUME online portal AND on an app called Voxer - it’s like having a walkie talkie in your pocket! If you need to reach out with a question, or are in need of a little energetic boost, the Spark File coaches and the full community are right there to support you. These are tools you can use as much or as little as you like. Just like a safety net, it’s nice to know it’s there if you need it!
ILLUME CAPSTONE EVENT - a live or virtual event (TBD) designed to extend your network with key contacts, put your new skills to use and launch your work into the world.
MEET YOUR GUIDES
Susan Blackwell’s work as a creativity coach is informed by her life as a Broadway, film and TV actor, writer, and educator. She created and played characters based on herself in the original Broadway musical [title of show], and the off-Broadway musical NOW. HERE. THIS. She hosted the chat show ‘Side by Side by Susan Blackwell’ on Broadway.com for 11 years. She is a proud co-host of The Spark File podcast. In addition to her creative accomplishments, Susan worked in corporate and management for over 20 years, and has developed and led professional development offerings for thousands of participants at companies such as Disney, Comedy Central, and Adobe.
Laura Camien’s work as a creativity coach has been shaped by her work as a Broadway producer ([title of show]), published author, playwright and screenwriter. As the long time VP of Communications for Blue Man Group, she focused on building the brand from a small Off-Broadway show to an international enterprise. She spearheaded partnerships and relationships with all national and international media, record labels, toy companies, national sporting teams, publishers and major brands such as Intel, TIM Brasil, Scholastic, The GRAMMY Foundation, The 9/11 Memorial Museum, and many more. She also served as Creative Director and Head Writer for Blue Man Group’s book, Blue Man World. She is a proud co-host of The Spark File podcast. In addition to creativity, areas of specialty include producing, public speaking, media training, writing and communication.
The Spark File Podcast with Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien is fiercely focused on creativity, providing sparks of ideas and inspiration, encouraging listeners to refill their creative fishponds with fresh perspectives. Blackwell and Camien also talk with artists and makers who have taken the spark.
WHY A MASTERMIND?
In addition to support, guidance and resources provided by Susan and Laura, in The Spark File ILLUME you’ll be surrounded by like-minded, kind creatives with a wealth of experience - in creative and creative-adjacent industries (and in life). The collective knowledge of the group and the pooled resources elevates everyone’s work.
PLUS, past guest teachers have included:
Tony Award Winner Anthony Veneziale
from Freestyle Love Supreme
Emmy Award Winner and
NY Times Best-Selling Author Jill Twiss
Tony Award Winner Celia Keenan-Bolger
Tony Award Winner Gavin Creel
EFT Tapping Expert Jenny Clift
Theatre and Film Producer Preston Whiteway
Producer, Screenwriter, and Director Shane Andries
Independent Publishing Expert Jennifer Thompson
AND MANY MORE!
ILLUME UPLEVELS YOUR CREATIVE WORK THROUGH 4 CORE ELEMENTS:
Completing a creative project
We all know the key to completion is to Keep Going! But all too often we get blown off course, doubt seeps in, or we simply run out of gas and quit too soon.
In ILLUME, you’ll craft a personalized road map to completion, learn how to ‘tack’ when life intervenes, and gain the support, accountability, tangible tools and resources you need to get your project over the finish line.
Curriculum Delivering High-Level Self-Promotion Tools
No matter the reason, far too many creatives stop just short of sharing their work with the world. Manuscripts sit in drawers, songs are unsung, businesses don’t take flight… all because we lack the confidence or the tools needed to find the right audience (large or small) for our work, expand our network, and allow our work to impact others.
The truth is, anyone who is getting a project off the ground knows that they must be the Chief Creative Officer AND Chief Marketing Officer of their own work.
ILLUME curriculum is focused on delivering the tools you need to attract, build and energize an audience for your work.
- Relationship building / Networking / Outreach
- Bios / Resumes
- Target List / Crafting an Ask / Strategic Invites
- Elevator Pitches / Pitch Decks
- Social media basics
- Media Training / Press Release and Press List Development
- Fundraising
We’ve worked with thousands of creatives - far too many get stuck when it’s time to take this step.
So let’s learn to work through it - let’s challenge self-limiting beliefs and arm ourselves with the tool kit needed to rebuild your risk-taking muscle and open yourself up to a world of possibility.
Community of Creative Co-Conspirators
We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: smart creatives don’t go at it alone.
That’s why the ILLUME program centers around a vibrant and supportive community where kindness, generosity, and connection are encouraged and celebrated. It’s a safe haven to share work, receive feedback, and forge lifelong connections with kindred spirits.
And you’ll be blown away by the humans taking the trip with you. Every kind of creative you can imagine - from the performing arts to entrepreneurs, to designers, writers, video editors… Every single person shares the desire to take a big creative swing, and we are all ready to link arms and make the trip together!
It’s a dynamic ecosystem where creativity thrives.
Gather ‘round the Community Campfire and experience the transformative power of connection.
Kind-but-Rigorous Artist- Centered Feedback
In The Spark File ILLUME program, Kind-but-Rigorous Feedback is the key to centering your unique creative voice and tapping into your own insight. You call the shots! You don’t have to suffer rooms of blowhards hell-bent on proving their experise. (Oh wait, are we the only ones who have experienced that particular hellscape?? We don’t think so.)
Our signature Feedback Process has ONE GOAL: to support YOU as you make what YOU dream of making!
You are empowered to take or leave any feedback that does not suit your vision. And you’ll have the ability to tap into ALL kinds of feedback, should you choose it. You have access to The Spark File Coaching Team, comprised of professional creatives, and also the full community of diverse and varied backgrounds, experience and resources.
We believe we can be kind to ourselves and others, AND create kick-ass quality work!
(And we know, because we’ve done it!)
I’M READY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ILLUME!
