Cultivating Creativity: Innovator Interview with Jo Gifford

Sharpie markers, whiteboard, bullet journals… If your ears just perked up, you’re going to love Jo Gifford! 

Or, if you don’t know where your creativity lives, if you’ve escaped from corporate or academia, or you’ve never thought of yourself as creative… You’re going to love Jo Gifford. 😉

A big part of Jo’s work is to help people tap into their creativity and think outside the box. Jo and I agree that this is VITAL if you want your content to stand out and get noticed. 

Jo’s secrets of creativity:

  • When you apply some different ideas to what you do, you get amazing results and you stand out from the crowd. This is the secret weapon to standing away from the language we see everybody using…
  • Everything is a remix; nothing is an entirely original thought. […] It’s how you remix it where you can really leave your mark.
  • Our idea muscle becomes really atrophied if we don’t do anything with it.
  • We’re allowed to have some fun in business as well! And that is radically different and gets you noticed.
  • Apply what’s working, but also layering on… “What if?” 
  • We need to have that tools down permission to play. 
  • [Creativity] is not as far out or woo woo as it might seem. Essentially it’s just a toolkit.
  • It’s all about amping up the alter-ego parts of ourselves in our brands. 
  • Lean into experimenting and coloring outside the lines a little bit. 

 

  1. What is it about a particular work that you like? If you can identify that, you’ve got your swipe file of the concept.
  2. Make tiny, tiny tweaks to your life to encourage creativity. Change your experience on the micro level.
  3. Create white space for thinking and creativity every day. 
  4. Commit to creative output every day. 
  5. Word association: take your favorite color / film / child toy, etc. and do some word association around it with no judgement. Then play mix and match with your business ideas.
  6. How to use Netflix as your starting point.  
  7. Change 20% of your template or proven strategy to put your personality or tone of voice on it. 

 

Find Jo at jogifford.co for links to her free Facebook group and podcast!

And then let me know: where are you telling yourself that creativity or play isn’t “allowed?” How can you allow more time and space for creativity in your life? Let me know in the comments below. 

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