86:The Rhythms of Creativity and Business Featuring Morgan Harper Nichols

See the show notes for this Episode here.

This transcript has been automatically generated.

Transcript:

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:00:00]:

I probably never even met the person who created that, who decided that. But them pausing and thinking about a possibility of someone like me is a part of why I'm here today.

Bonnie Christine [00:00:14]:

I'm Bonnie Christine, and this is where all things Creativity, design, business, and marketing unite. I'm a mama living in a tiny town tucked Right inside the Smoky Mountains, running a multi seven figure business, doing the most creative and impactful work of my life. When I first set out to become an entrepreneur, I was struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with how to accomplish my biggest dream of becoming a fabric designer. Fast forward to today, I'm not only licensing my artwork all over the world, but Also, teaching others how to design their creative life and experience the same success. I'm here to help you Spend your life doing something that lights you up. I'll help you build a creative business that also creates an impact, Changes people's lives, gives you all of the freedom you want, and is wildly profitable. Welcome to the Professional Creative Podcast. I am so incredibly Excited to share our guest with you today.

Bonnie Christine [00:01:27]:

It is none other than Morgan Harper Nichols. I am recording this just after I finished our interview, and I can't tell you how incredible This session is I feel completely different coming out of it as I did when I walked into it. And so I know that If you're feeling busy or stressed or behind or overwhelmed, just take this time and let Morgan just pour into you. She's incredibly just inspiring. So if you're not familiar with Morgan, she's a popular Instagram poet and artist. She's created her life's work around the stories of others. Her popular Instagram feed is Morgan Harper Nichols has garnered a loyal online community of over 2,000,000 people, and she's the author of you are just beginning, a book of poems and art she Created in response to the personal stories submitted by her friends and followers. She also hosts a podcast, the Morgan Harper Nichols Show, Where she shares daily reflections on finding meaning and peace in life and work.

Bonnie Christine [00:02:37]:

Morgan has also performed as a vocalist on several Grammy nominated projects and written for various artists, including Billboard number 1 single performer by her sister, Jamie Grace. Morgan's iconic Instagram art has inspired 1,000,000 and landed her brand partnerships with Anthropologie, Coach, Adobe, Vogue Singapore, Aerie, Target, Starbucks, Kind bar Gap Splendid, John Paul Mitchell, and so much more. Morgan is often on the road creating, teaching, and performing in hopes of spreading her unique Inspirational message and inviting others into her creative. I'm especially excited to introduce her to you because she's also one of our keynote Speakers at the Immersion Live conference coming up this October. So you're gonna be able to get to know her, dip your toes into her world. And if you're joining us For this conference, you can find out more at bonnie christine.comforward/2023immersion live. We'd love to see you there, and you'll be able to learn more from Morgan. Hello, Morgan.

Bonnie Christine [00:03:40]:

Morgan, do people call you Morgan, or is it always Morgan Harper Nichols?

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:03:44]:

You know? I actually get called MHN quite a

Bonnie Christine [00:03:48]:

bit,

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:03:49]:

which is so funny because The reason why I started to sign my work in May 10, it was not like a artistic poetic. It was like, I'm tired of writing this whole name, I just want something short. And then one day, I met someone. They're like, MHN. I was like, who's that? So, honestly, anything works. Anything works. Morgan, the whole name. You know?

Bonnie Christine [00:04:12]:

Inh Chen. We're so Yeah. Excited to have you. I'm so thrilled to have you on the podcast today. Introduce you well, just let our listeners really do a deep dive into your world. Could you just take us back and give us a nice overview of What you do today, but also a little bit more about your creative journey

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:04:32]:

too? Yes. Yes. So I am an artist. It's probably the shortest way to explain it, primarily visual artist, and I do lots of creative writing as well and poetry. And I I consider myself very, very fortunate that I grew up in a in a in a very creative household where creativity was encouraged, and I was homeschooled. So I always like to say that because I I consider it a huge privilege that I got that at a young age because there was always kind of, like, this tone of, like, just try stuff. Like and my I have one sibling. My sister and I, we both talk about that.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:05:11]:

We're like, we can see that in both of our adult lives as well. So my my story is is a lot of different ways of trying that before ultimately, I guess I'll use the word landing, landing on in 2016, 2017, I fell in love with digital art, and I fell in love with digital visual art. And I had tried it in different ways before. There was very specifically I saw an I, like an iPad television commercial. And there was like a Apple pencil. And I was like, that looks like something I could try. Because in all of my creative trying, one, in exploring and curiosity is one thing that I really struggled with was was, 1, financially. I really struggled because I didn't I didn't really have a lot of other skills.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:06:07]:

Like, for me, it wasn't like, oh, art's like your side thing that you do in addition to the other thing. I kept trying to make the other thing. It never never really happened to all of my skills. Even when I had, like, like, a cubicle job, it was like, oh, you're so creative. I'm like, I'm not trying to be creative. I'm just trying to to be, but it just oozes out, I guess. And so that was the first thing I struggled with. And that also of as I got older, the financial part began to affect my creative curiosity because Now it's more expensive when you wanna go to the craft store and just buy canvases and just buy paints and explore.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:06:48]:

So I was really struggling because I was like, I can't just keep buying new camera equipment and trying to I can't afford to do it. So I was like, oh, this iPad is cool, though, because I can just if I could just buy the iPad, I can try all kinds of things. So that was a huge turning point for me was discovering rediscovering, actually, because I had tried when I was a bit younger, rediscovering digital art. And it also was at a time where I was just very stressed financially, And I ended up writing a poem about it. And I wrote a poem just about the stresses that came with that particular year, and it was coming toward the end of 2016. And then in 2017, that was when, something just like a just me kind of like just lamenting of my own struggles and talking about trying to find grace. I miss those struggles that I shared a poem that got over a 100,000 repins on Pinterest. And that became like the impetus of like, oh, I don't know what that was, but it was something.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:07:59]:

And from that moment forward, I was like, well, let me just try to build keep building on that. And that has turned into books, has turned into I do a lot of different collaborations with brands, sometimes product collaborations. I've done a few things with anthropology. I do a lot with Hallmark right now. Pottery Barn, have some things at Target. And a lot of that has just come from just sharing the little bits and pieces along the way from from that first moment of discovering that iPad and writing that poem.

Bonnie Christine [00:08:35]:

That's incredible. You also have about a cool 2,000,000 people that you inspire on Instagram, So Morgan is being super humble. You have a new book. That's your 2nd book. Right? So you're an Author, you have your own podcast. You developed an app. It's incredible. And you.

Bonnie Christine [00:08:55]:

You know, the way that you do it is just So inspiring because it's so relatable, and it's also just filled with hope and grace, and it's a beautiful, Like, touch it really goes straight to the heart. And so it's no wonder that you're able to impact so many people.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:09:15]:

Thank you. Thank you for saying that.

Bonnie Christine [00:09:18]:

Morgan, you talk a lot about rhythms. Rhythms and creativity and embracing kind of the natural rhythm. I would love to hear you talk more about that. Like, define what a rhythm is for you, and how does that play into your work?

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:09:32]:

Yes. I always start with the rhythm of the heartbeat and just thinking about how our hearts beat in different ways while we're doing different things and the rhythm of that heartbeat will change. So I always start with that even with my creative practice and just, you know, I'm I'm a mom of a 4 year old. Just Life stuff, it's very important for me to think about rhythms because I think it's very easy to feel, and I I've dealt with this a lot of feeling swayed or pressured by something that I see or I'm inspired by such as, like, if I like, there's a book that I really love, that I've read quite a bit. I've read it 3 times, I think, called Deep Work by Cal Newport.

Bonnie Christine [00:10:20]:

I love Yes. Yes.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:10:22]:

Yeah. I love that book. But there are times in my life where I'm not able to get into the deep work, where I'm, again, chasing around a 4 year old, trying to send PSD files for some collaboration that I'm doing. And For me, embracing rhythms is not feeling bad about that. Like, not feeling bad when the days or weeks or months have passed on something or years on something that I wanted to work on and or that I was working toward and I didn't finish it or I didn't it's like I was in 1 rhythm in that space, and now I'm in a different one, but someday I'll be back. For instance, I'm working right now on so so I decided to go back to grad school, And that was just sort of like a a me thing. I really I I wanted I tried to pursue my MFA when I graduated from undergrad, but that didn't work out again financially. It was just it was quite an endeavor.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:11:25]:

So I saved up my money and I'm back in school now, and I am loving it. And I I'm as I'm in school, the things that I'm working on, there have been moments where I'm like, wow. Imagine if you had worked on this stuff 10 years ago where you would be. But then I have to remind myself, I'm like and also imagine where you'll be by working on it now. Imagine by being here right now, your child seeing you go through this experience, your child seeing you, Like like, I I literally have, like, an aluminum box, like, beside my desk. It's like a part of some project that I'm working on, and He thinks it's a toy and are just, like, all these different things that are coming up as a result of me being in school. So that's sort of like a short answer of of embracing rhythms is just recognizing, especially in those moments where I do start to feel like I'm not doing enough, or what if I had started this way earlier, or what if I was actually I had been able to commit to a, b, c, d, whatever, when I get to that place, just reminding myself of the times where I was running and my heart was beating one way. And when I was resting, my heart was my heart rate heart rate was slowing down.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:12:38]:

And I'm like, yeah, there's so much there's so much depth in that simple thing. So I always like to bring it back to the heart.

Bonnie Christine [00:12:45]:

There's so much love there for yourself and the different places that you're at. I think everyone can resonate with that so much. And, like, admittedly, for many years, I would kind of run run dry. I would it for me, it's different for everyone, but for me, it's like, summer and end of summer, which is oddly where we're at. Yeah. And I would just be like, well, I guess I'm done. I'll never have another good idea or be motivated ever again. And it finally dawned on me that that was just Part of my annual rhythm because it always comes back and it always comes back on fire, and there's a trusting.

Bonnie Christine [00:13:25]:

There's like a you Finally learn how to trust the

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:13:29]:

process. Yes. Yeah. And it's it's hard when you're in the process because it's you can feel you can feel that tension. You can feel the tension of where you were and where you're trying to go, And it just feels like, well, why am I here in this place of tension? But then you look back and you realize, Oh, I was at one point in the process. So, yeah, I love that you mentioned the seasons as well because that's that's a very good way to think about it too, the rhythms, rhythms of nature.

Bonnie Christine [00:13:58]:

Okay. So you sound, like, just so full of grace for your rhythms and projects and unfinished projects and Starting things late, but, Morgan, you have

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:14:09]:

accomplished so much.

Bonnie Christine [00:14:12]:

So I wanna talk to the people who, like, might actually feel stuck. Like, okay. They're trying to embrace the fact, but the reality is they haven't made any progress On something that they actually wanna make progress on in a long time. Have you ever felt that, and do you have any, tricks or tips on how to just gain kind of, like, Momentum and fluidity

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:14:34]:

again? Mhmm. Yes. I spend most of my time in my creative process. And I I really do think this is a defining factor in my my success and projects. It's so hard to say that word. Just throw that out there. Like, as I said that, I'm like, oh, it's hard to say, but maybe that's some work that I

Bonnie Christine [00:14:55]:

need to do. It's like, yes. Beautiful.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:14:57]:

You're you know, embrace it. Oh, yes. Thank you. It's hard to say that, but it is true because I've had to learn how to find a way to measure success because even sometimes what ends up being a success to other people in the background, there may have been a component that wasn't successful to me or something that, For instance, when, you know, you publish books, there's always, like, these whispers of, like, being on the best sellers list and things like that. And I've had books that were not on bestsellers list. And there are times where that does start to feel like, well, You know, so and so mentioned it, so maybe I, yeah, I guess the book didn't do that well. And I'll have those thoughts to myself, and I'll have Or I'll have moments where, you know, maybe I I was able to do a collaboration, and I thought it was gonna lead to another one. And the one that ended up getting out there was was great and people engaged with it.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:16:05]:

But behind the scenes, it was like, oh, but I thought that was that was actually, like, 1 fourth of what I thought we were gonna be doing. And, you know, where's that one piece? Like, I thought there was gonna be something with that. And So I've had to learn how to embrace, like, well, I can't use the final product as, like, the measurement of success because that part's out of my hands because I'm not able to like, I've actually had this happen where my mom will be in a store and be like, why didn't you tell me that you had this product? I was like, mom, to be honest, I didn't even know that store picked up picked that up. I I didn't know it was in there. And there's all kinds of things that end up happening like that where I'm like, you know, I can't. As exciting as that is, I'm grateful. I can't just sit around and wait for that because it it gets to a point where and this happens even if even if you just upload a TikTok video, this can happen. Like, you can create a TikTok account today where you are quilting a or crocheting a hits in hat or something, and it could go viral overnight.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:17:12]:

And then you know you don't have any control over who sees it or so I'm not the only person that can happen to where you do something and it gets out there and then success just becomes this, like, swarm of bees, honeybees, just all in the world. So for me, I'm like, I have to find another way to measure that impact, to to measure that success of the thing. So for me, it's the feedback. It is the feedback from people. That is kind of all I'm looking for, to be honest. I spend a lot of time in my DMs. I spend a lot of time in my email. I spent a lot of time reading letters people have sent me.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:17:50]:

Just today, I was taking screenshots of I've done, like, these affirmation calendars where they were just I just I just like doodling on calendars. So I doodled, like, some affirmations of just like 30 days. This This is something I did a over a year ago. And someone sent me a DM about something I posted yesterday. And I went into that DM, and I saw Riot Miss. They were a school teacher. They had taken that affirmation thing. This was a year and a half ago.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:18:18]:

They'd taken the affirmation thing, and they had turned it into an assignment in their classroom. Oh. And I was like, woah. I never would have even thought of that. And that was very exciting for me to hear because I'm actually about to release the affirmation calendar thing again. So So I was like, I wasn't even thinking about that application for a teacher being able to use that in the classroom, but now I am. So I spend most of my time on that. Now I will say it does it does get a little tricky because sometimes people will give you feedback for things that you can't do or things that you don't wanna do.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:18:56]:

So I will say that I have I I have had to learn how to manage my energy and how to pause and see how I feel when requests come in. So if someone says, oh, wow. This would have made a really, really nice wastebasket. And I'm like, well, yeah. But I that didn't excite me. That doesn't mean that or I didn't think about it later on that day. Another gauge is just talking to my husband because he's the one that has to hear just all the random things that come out of my head. Yeah.

Bonnie Christine [00:19:32]:

It's the only other Yeah. One big hug for all

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:19:34]:

the husbands. Yeah. He's one it's like, I'm like, okay. You're the only adult in this house right now. And when I was Buckle up. Yeah. When I when me and my sister were roommates in college, it was her. So and she's very creative too, so that was just nonsense.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:19:50]:

It was crazy. But the thing is it's like I'm like, oh, I told him about the affirmation thing and the calendar and the classroom. That means that it was exciting for me. But if someone said, oh, you could make a turtleneck or these would be Like, for instance, I don't do a ton with apparel. That's not to say that there's no opportunities in apparel. I have had some, but I don't spend as much time on that. I'm thinking about things on walls. That's just energetically, that's where my mind goes.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:20:25]:

Like, my mind goes to the wall, what's on the wall, what kind of room is it in, where's the light in the room, I could talk about that for an hour. So that's what I'm looking for in feedback. Yes. I'm I'm open to all the requests, but I also have to filter it through what I'm actually capable of, what I actually like to do. And that's something I had to learn because for a while, getting a lot of feedback of like, wow. I really like these hummingbirds that you did. I would kinda take that as like, well, do I need to do 60 more? So it's it does take some some some discipline, I guess, and and some practice of just learning how to pause and say, wow. Thank you so much, person, who gave you this feedback.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:21:10]:

But am I talking about it an hour later? Am I thinking about it? Am I did that energize me in some way? And I have been and I'm taking so much time on this because I've been so shocked by how many of my collaborations have been aligned with that. It's been aligned with the things that I think about all the time. So I do a lot of journals. I do a lot of planners. Mhmm. That's something that I think about. I've gotten to do collaborations with people who I used to buy their products long before they reached out to me. And I'm like, there's something to that.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:21:48]:

Cool. Like, when I and I think when for someone who's just, like, totally stuck, what I would recommend that you do is If you if you have access to go into a store that has, say, a department store, which department are you going into? Are you going right to the books? Are you going right to apparel? Are you going right to planners? And, of course, it's gonna be different, different seasons of life, different reasons. But if you just have, like, a day to yourself to just explore, what kind of places are you finding yourself in? For me, I'm finding myself in bookstores. I'm finding myself in the journal sections. I love just looking at journals. I remember back in the day, they used to have they may still have, but I don't see them that much anymore. But they used to have, like, in Walmart. They had, like, those, like they have, like, all the boy bands, like, those posters that you could, like, swipe through the swivelly.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:22:37]:

Oh,

Bonnie Christine [00:22:38]:

yeah. And, like Oh, yeah. I know exactly

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:22:40]:

what you mean. My parents will be shopping, and I would stand

Bonnie Christine [00:22:43]:

there Yep. For,

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:22:45]:

like, 15, 20 minutes. I just loved looking at the posters and just swiping through. What do I make today? I make wall art. So so if you're stuck, you're like, well, I I overthink it when I go into the store. Maybe you can try looking back. When you were when you were a kid, where were you going? Some kids are going straight to look at dolls or look at cars or look at the video game section. Where where were where were you interested in the material and holding the thing? Like, I used to get so excited about agendas and, like, the stickers. So I spent a lot of time on that because I I'm I'm surprised at how my collaborations today, I have started to trace them back to things that I've always just been drawn to.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:23:33]:

And I think that's there's something to it. Because, yes, you're serving people and you're creating things for other people to engage with, but but you're also there too. And and nurturing that part of you is is really valuable too.

Bonnie Christine [00:23:48]:

Mark your calendars for this October 19th through 21st because Our annual conference for creative, Immersion Live, is coming up. We've gathered a spectacular lineup of industry leaders, artists, And entrepreneurs like Amy Porterfield, Morgan Harper Nichols, Glow Atanmo, and Nicholas Wilton, plus many, many more for an unmatched Virtual conference experience. Immersion live this year is all about the art of business for the professional creative. Over 3 days, you'll unlock strategies to guide your business effectively, refine your designs, and establish a flourishing creative career. And the best part is that you can experience it all from the comfort of your own home. We do a live virtual conference like nobody else. Sessions will allow for real time interaction, questions answered, and a sense of community that's honestly hard to match. Our event kicks off with open studio night on October 19th, where you'll get to peek behind the curtain of some incredibly successful artists and designers.

Bonnie Christine [00:24:52]:

The next 2 days, you'll immerse yourself in keynote Sessions and workshops where you'll learn, interact, and have all your questions answered. Come engage with like minded creatives, Make meaningful connections and open the doors to collaboration. We're also recording every session so you can revisit and absorb this wealth of knowledge at your own pace. Head on over to bonnie christine.comforward/2023immersion live to join us. Okay. You said something that makes me wanna ask you this question, which I hadn't planned on asking you. But you don't know this, but, the I just recently published a few episodes on the podcast around really growing yourself as you grow your business so that you can like, when you reach success or explode overnight, you can handle some of the stuff that comes with it.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:25:45]:

Yes.

Bonnie Christine [00:25:47]:

So how do you like, given that you intentionally put yourself in the line of all that feedback, What have you done to prepare yourself to see, like, difficult feedback or people who say things that are, like, we're talking, you know, like, the really Outfield type of stuff that you Mhmm. Get. And you, inevitably, you see at the size that you're at on social media. How do you manage that kind of thing?

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:26:14]:

Yes. That's such a good question. And just, you know, full transparency, that's something that is not easy. I've had periods where someone's left an unfavorable review on on a book of mine, and I cried over it. And I was just like Great example. And and for me, I find myself the most impacted by early feedback, and that one in particular was and it's it's funny. It's happened with several books, actually, where early on, someone says something. And it's and and I think it gets to me more because it feels like, well, that sets the tone for how other people are going to encounter and or experience it.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:27:00]:

And the most recent time where I had that kind of feeling and it really got me down, was this year. So it's not that's not something that I just I'm like, oh, that's behind me. I don't worry about the feedback. But one thing I I do try to do is I try to look for it. If I feel it, it's just, like, sitting with me. Like, I can't stop thinking about it or I react to it emotionally, you know, even just internally, even if I don't say anything to them, I'm just reacting to it. One thing I try to do is look for, is there something I can talk about inside of this that can just help me release it a little bit? And this is where I kinda part from things that I've heard some people say, and I'm like, maybe it works for some people. But from my personality, it doesn't.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:27:45]:

I hear people say, ignore the haters. Ignore the haters. And I'm like, sometimes she can't, but sometimes she can't. Like,

Bonnie Christine [00:27:52]:

sometimes We're so heartfelt. Like, everything we do is, like, our we put our Soul out

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:27:58]:

there. Yes. It's like, yeah, you're putting your heart out there. It's like, no. I'm going to be affected by it. Like, this is This is my story woven into these things, my life experiences, like things that affect me as a person. And even though There's the brand me that's out there. It's still connected to me, like a real person.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:28:20]:

So I'm like, no. I I I'm not if there have been some times where I get something and I'm just like, yeah, I'm just gonna ignore that. And that's fine. Great. Great job working. You did it. But for all the other times where that doesn't happen, I do look for an example to to give. And sometimes I may share that even with my audience, like, especially if I feel like it's affecting my work.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:28:42]:

So when my last book when that happened and someone left a review and they said something along the lines of which I've heard before, But for some reason, it just really got to me this time. It was something along the lines of like, oh, this this is the kind of poetry that just belongs on Instagram is what they said and not in a book format. And I've heard that before, and I've been like, you know what? Whatever. Like but for some reason, this particular way that they said it, it just really, really got to me. So what I did was I was like, you know what? Yes. I'm feeling something about this, but there's also something else in here I wanted to talk about. And that was how, by me being a black autistic woman, I talked about how and I did a whole post about it. I was like, look.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:29:28]:

You're allowed to have feedback about, you know, my work. But at the end of the day, I know that what the work I'm doing, I represent a group of people that really don't even have that many books out there to begin with. And I'm willing to I didn't say it this exact way, but I'm like, in a way, I'm willing to take the punch in a in a way because I hope that this can help somebody else be inspired to make something. And maybe what they make will be something else, and we can just keep building something together. And there's gonna be different things for everyone. And I know that what I'm contributing, it matters, and it has an impact. And I know that my story matters. And even just affirming that for myself and, like, sharing that with others.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:30:16]:

I got so many comments from other people who are writers, who are authors, and who are saying thank you for sharing this. Because I I'm tired of being told just ignore the haters or ignore like, it gets to me. Thank you for saying that. And I found so much freedom in that. And since then, that particular moment, I I honestly feel like I've continued to do that anytime it comes up in different ways. Like, sometimes it might just be like a a long journal entry that I write to myself, and I'll just put a note on it, share this in 5 years. Right. I have, like, this boulder of

Bonnie Christine [00:30:54]:

like space.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:30:55]:

Yeah. And I'm like, there's gonna come a time where I'll share this story, and it's gonna help somebody. Sometimes it's too fresh to share it in that moment. But, yeah, I think it comes down to just giving yourself permission to feel. Like, don't Don't feel like, oh, in order to do this, I've gotta be oh so tough, and I'm not allowed to have feelings about it. No. We're allowed to talk about Like, let's talk about it more, and, of course, let's support each other as we talk about it more. So I am.

Bonnie Christine [00:31:22]:

And, also, like, Honestly, being willing to be the one that takes the punch because I know a lot of people who are letting the 1 person or the the possibility of that one person hold them back from showing

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:31:35]:

up.

Bonnie Christine [00:31:35]:

Mhmm. And you've gotta show up for the the 999. Yeah. They need you. They're waiting for you, and it's impactful. So, thank you for answering that question.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:31:45]:

Oh, yes. Oh, can I add 1 more little thing to that too? Yeah. I'll just say that also too with the whole, like, oh, this poetry belongs on Instagram. I just wanna say that I have started to recognize that a lot of times that criticism, it does have a flip side of it too because a lot of people like the accessibility of the poetry. They like the fact that, oh, this is a book that I never read poetry before, but I read yours. So that's kind of like my version. Like, yeah, I'm at peace now with someone saying that because I know there's this whole other side of, like, well, this is This is now a book for other people who may have never picked up a book like this before, and I find that very exciting.

Bonnie Christine [00:32:24]:

Right. And oftentimes, You won't necessarily hear that from them. You've got to know that it's there. Like Yes. They're not necessarily

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:32:33]:

Yes.

Bonnie Christine [00:32:34]:

You know? And you've gotta know. You've gotta know that sometimes the loudest people are the minority in their feelings. Like, there's just One person who who said that you gotta remember all the other people who think the exact opposite. Yes. Okay. That's powerful. Okay. More lighthearted.

Bonnie Christine [00:32:53]:

You know, at this point, you're running a tremendous business. You're also working with a immense amount of creativity. So I do kind of the same thing. I would love to hear How you kind of flip flop. Do you flip flop between business and creativity? Do you do Do both of those things on the same day. What does it look like for you to really run the business and really create art?

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:33:22]:

Yes. That's such a good question. And I I've had to become very organized. I'll just say that. Like, that's it's the only way that I'm able to do it because I for a long time, I really resisted that because I'm like, no. I'm an artist. I want to have freedom to just do whatever. Right.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:33:44]:

The older I get and the more just it's deeper I get and the more experience I get, the more I find is like, well, a little bit of organization actually can help you have more freedom to do what you wanna do. So the way that I kind of organize things so that I can make the business decisions and so that I can make the creative decisions is I'm just very, very clear about, like, what categories are mine and what do I need help with? And if I can't get help with that thing, then how does it need to go? Because Yeah. I so some some examples of that would be taxes. Okay. Like, I just,

Bonnie Christine [00:34:25]:

that's thing I ever outsourced.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:34:27]:

Yes. That was the first thing that we're like, okay. Let's get some help with this. And it's a bit of it's hard because it's like, there's a lot of tutorials out there. You know, there's There's a lot of webs there's a lot of things like, oh, I could do it. I could do it. But I'm like, you know what? We're gonna let this one go. And then also that same energy for what I'm going to hold on to.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:34:51]:

So for me, I hold on to my inbox. I've tried to get help with it. But the thing is is that I found that for myself and because I'm I'm very multidisciplinary. Like, I do graphic design, illustration. Like, I do quite a bit writing, poetry, prose, essays. And what I found is that when I had someone helping me, and this happened like a few times, I was like, I think you're gonna help me with someone else, something else I think I'm gonna have to take this back. There will be times where our requests would come in where they might not necessarily know that that's something that I would have really wanted to say yes to Right. Or something I would have really wanted to say no to.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:35:39]:

And it could be, for instance, sidebar thing, I'm I'm a video gamer. I love playing Sims 4. That's why I love this.

Bonnie Christine [00:35:47]:

And fun fact.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:35:49]:

Yeah. I love playing games. So there's certain things that might come through that someone else might be like, This has nothing to do with what Morgan does. Yeah. And that's actually happened a few times with my husband who he's now my business partner. He's, you know, he's the the the off to the taxes person, of that side of the business. But there's been times where he's missed things, and he lives with me. We've been together since 2009.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:36:15]:

And he's like, I have no idea you were interested in that. And I'm like, oh my goodness. How could you miss this? So I'm like, you know what? I wanna I wanna keep being in here. So that doesn't mean that I have to respond to every little thing, but a lot of what I spend my day doing now, now that I have things coming in, is I'll sit down on my computer, and I'll get to work on things that I know I have to do. So if I have, like, a big collaboration coming up, then I'll just work on assets and things like that. And I try not to open my email until afternoon. And then that's when I get in there and I see and that lets me know what's urgent. Because I also do this thing, and I don't know if other people do it.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:36:58]:

I do this thing where I add urgency to things that may not actually have that level of

Bonnie Christine [00:37:05]:

urgency. I don't know what you're talking about.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:37:07]:

So I will I'll be on a call with someone. I'm like, oh, yeah. I can have that to you by Friday, when they would have been fine with it the next Friday.

Bonnie Christine [00:37:16]:

Yeah. What is that? I know. Yeah. I don't know what that is.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:37:19]:

Amount of times that I've done that. So I'm like, I've gotta get out of that inbox early and just let it simmer, and then I will get to it. After lunch, I will look in the inbox, and I'm like, oh, there it is. And I adjust my to do list accordingly. So I use Trello, which has, like a, I think I'm pronouncing it correctly, Kanban System, k a n b a n. And it's essentially, like, has, like, different columns or you can organize to do lists and things like that. So I I spend a lot of time on productivity YouTube, staying up to speed on all those different kinds of things. So yeah.

Bonnie Christine [00:37:59]:

Oh, I love that. That's a really great that's a really great tip. The other thing I wanted to ask you about was empathy. I think empathy plays a big role in what you do and your creativity. I would just love to hear you talk more about How that informs what

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:38:14]:

you do. Yes. You know, I've actually been spending a lot more time lately thinking about where does that come from? Like, why do I think so deeply about how where someone what kind of day somebody might be having, you know, before I share something or before I send out an email. I I spend a lot of time in reflection just thinking about the possibilities of that. And I've really been unpacking, like, where does it come from? And I do I do think a lot of it does come from my parents. So I had parents who were kind of like the small town preacher parent whose The door was always open, and they would just invite people in, and they were always making space for people. And little introvert me used to struggle with that in some ways, because I was like, oh my goodness. Like, who's here now? But in some ways, as a result, I can see that In a lot of different ways, I'm doing the same thing.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:39:11]:

Like, I'm I'm just saying, I'm just here to create a space. Because when you're creating a and and for me, empathy is a lot about creating a space where someone where someone feels free to come and you're able to engage and connect. And I think that the empathy organically happens through that. So in a way, empathy is like a process of creating space in which deeper empathy can be cultivated. Because I think if you just try to do, like, a 1, 2, 3 step empathy with someone, it's not really gonna work because it takes time. Like, you don't. Even if even if you just ask someone like, so tell me your story. Well, you're just getting the version of the story that they share that that, you know, you may not have walked away from that and think, oh, wow.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:40:03]:

I feel empathetically, you know, connected with that person. You may, But we need time, and we need space with one another. And I'm really interested in how that can happen digitally and how that can happen virtually. Like, how can we just create more space where people feel free to just comps. So I guess in some ways, I spend a lot of time on empathetic thinking. Like, how can I think about the whole thing from the perspective of, I don't know what people might be going through, but I'm going to create a space with lots of different kinds of people in mind? I'm gonna create a space thinking about different possibilities that someone may have experienced that day or that hour that may be coming into this space. And by space, I mean, it could be an Instagram page. I think about that when it comes to Instagram.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:40:58]:

It is not just a post. When you post something, that post exist in between other people's posts, and you have no idea what that person saw before scrolling to your their post. Mhmm. And there's no way we can know everything, but there's nothing that stops us from just pausing and mindfully considering 1 or 2 or 3 different options. And that's something that I have baked into my process. And I I really think about that, and I've really been unpacking why. And I think it's because I'm here today because of people who did that for me. Like, I'm here today because somebody thought maybe we should offer this creative writing class at the community college, or maybe we should offer this because maybe it'll get some students interested in art.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:41:58]:

It was my creative experiences at my community college that fundamentally gave me the courage to pursue this as an adult. Because by the time I got to college, I was so discouraged. And this is after having very encouraging parents. I was so discouraged. I was so, like, I can't do this. Like, I gotta give this up. And it was my community college professors that were like, no. You actually have something, and here's what you can do with it.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:42:28]:

And to keep pursuing art, you should keep on being curious, that was creating space. That was empathetically thinking about somebody like me. It's like, this community college is not an art school, but let's make art classes here. Like, let's let's do that. Like, it's not easy. Anyone who works in education knows how hard it can be to get art programs and creative things started in school settings. So I'm like, somebody somewhere had to think about that. They may have.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:42:57]:

I probably never even met the person who created that, who decided that. But them pausing and thinking about a possibility of someone like me is a part of why I'm here today. So that's how I think about empathy. Like take the pressure off ourselves to like, be like, okay, I gotta figure out my empathy planned for the next hour. It's like it's a lifelong practice that we can continue to cultivate and nurture and create. So

Bonnie Christine [00:43:25]:

yeah. I'm positive that everyone who interacts with an Instagram post or a piece of your work, They leave feeling seen. They leave feeling better than they did when they arrived, and that is something really, really special. I mean, it's incredible, Morgan. We are so excited to have you as one of our keynote speakers at Immersion Live coming up. Could you give us just, like, a Teaser on what you're gonna be talking about.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:43:53]:

Just a tip. Yes. I am so excited about taking the pressure off yourself, talking about taking the pressure off yourself to embrace your natural rhythms of creativity. Yes. So I I'm all look I'm always looking for these moments in my life, and I've become so passionate about sharing with others of just when you realize, oh, wait a minute. There's, like, this whole set of things that come naturally to me, and they're in my process. And how can I just bring those forth and continue to cultivate them? So it's a lot of, like, what I mentioned about me thinking about standing in Walmart flipping through the posters. Like, I give, like, a lot of examples that things that you can look at instead of putting pressure on yourself to keep striving to create something out of nothing.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:44:43]:

It's like, you've got something to work with. So let's cultivate that, let's nurture that, and let's watch that

Bonnie Christine [00:44:49]:

grow. Okay. That's amazing. And what would okay. So the conference is virtual, and we're working this year to really Prepare people on how to attend a virtual conference and do it, like, the right way.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:45:04]:

Mhmm.

Bonnie Christine [00:45:05]:

So what advice would you give someone who's Gearing up to do a 2 day virtual conference so that they can really get the most out of

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:45:13]:

it. Oh my goodness. I love this. Oh, I love this kind of question so much. This is right about Allie because I love going to virtual stuff. So what I do is I take tons of screenshots, And then I have Canva open on my computer, and I'm dragging it into a whiteboard. So Canva has this whiteboard feature. And, actually, if you're on a MacBook, they have a free app called Freeform.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:45:34]:

There's other versions and there's Myro. So kind of whiteboard app. Mhmm. Take your screenshots, drop them in my row, add notes, add stickers, add colors, like, while it's fresh, while you're, like, energetically being inspired. And the reason why I like that is because when you're on your computer, there's so many, like, boxes. You know? And you wanna feel connected. You wanna feel because you are connected with real people. So what I found is, like, even just taking your notes in this different kind of way and just dragging things, it creates it creates that space of like, Yeah.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:46:10]:

This is what's actually happening here. It's not just something on the screen. It's ideas are forming. Oh, I heard this at this talk. Is connected to that. I'm gonna create a little section over here or this where it keeps popping up. And you just kinda give yourself a little bit more Freedom. Because I I do think that sometimes when you're looking at a screen, it can feel like, okay.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:46:31]:

What do I do with all of that? So you need to create that space. So Get yourself a whiteboard, and certainly with my slides, screenshot away. Like, you can you can take as many screenshots as you like. And, yes, kind of like a a real time scrapbook of the moment, I guess you would say. I I find that to be very

Bonnie Christine [00:46:49]:

enjoyable. Yes. Oh, that's amazing. Okay. What else? Morgan, tell everyone where they can find you if they're not already there. And is there anything that you have coming up that you wanna share about?

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:47:01]:

Yes. So I share pretty regularly on social media. I share arts and inspiring poetry and prose on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, all those kinds of places. And I have an app called storyteller, And I've been putting a lot of energy into that, adding new features. And I started working on this app 5 years ago and still growing. And I do, like, weekly series. So every Sunday, a new 7 day series starts. There's a word of the day.

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:47:32]:

There's a journal prompt. There's an affirmation. You can highlight things. You can download wallpapers. It's like my it's my passion project right now, and I I talk about it all every day Because I I really am passionate about creating these spaces with the devices that we use every day, but it's just little bit calming, a little bit encouraging. And, yeah, that's the storyteller app.

Bonnie Christine [00:47:56]:

I would say you're a lot of it calming and a lot of it encouraging. Well, thank

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:48:01]:

you.

Bonnie Christine [00:48:02]:

You so much, Morgan Harper Nichols, for being here today. We can't wait to see more of you, And we'll be adding all of your links and everything to the show notes for today's episode. So thank you so much for being

Morgan Harper Nichols [00:48:15]:

here. Thank you. Thank you having

 

Download as txt file