Branson & Kelly Horn - From Teacher to Florist, Creativity in Unexpected Places, and Starting a Business

Hey there! It's been awhile (as usual), but we have a better reason this time... We just had our second child! In this episode we discuss our experiences with pregnancy, home renovations, and the challenges of balancing creative work and family life. 

We talk about the importance of communication and togetherness in a marriage, especially during intense seasons like having young children. We also touch on the concept of dividing and conquering tasks as a couple, while still finding ways to come together as a team.

The Creative Couples Podcast Links:

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Visit The Creative Couples Podcast website.

Visit Frankie Orella's website.

Visit Spencer Holleman's website.

In this episode we talked with the fun and intentional Jason and Rachel Fort, who make up the indie pop duo, Noontides.

Jason and Rachel share the ups and downs of creating music together and how they protect their relationship, family, and finances while pursuing a dream. We also have candid conversations on raising children, being women and mothers in the music industry, and recovering from hard days.

Jason and Rachel’s mindset and fun personalities will be infectious as you hear them tell their stories. Enjoy!

Guest Links:
Noontides (Spotify)
Noontides (Instagram)
Rachel Fort (Spotify)
Rachel Fort (Instagram)
Jason Fort (Instagram)

Links mentioned in the episode:
Simple Truth oat milk creamer
Coin’s Uncanny Valley album
Louis Prince
Coldplay
Songfinch
Ryan Corn (producer)

The Creative Couples Podcast Links:

Sign-up for our email list to get all the in-depth episode info, extra content, and creative insight.

Follow us on Instagram.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Visit The Creative Couples Podcast website.

Visit Frankie Orella's website.

Visit Spencer Holleman's website.

What if we weren’t afraid to try? 

In this episode we sat with the kind and courageous Christian and Leah Hale to talk about being individual business owners as a musician/producer and web designer, respectively. 

The Hale’s are great examples of pursuing creative careers even when it’s scary. They tell the stories of transitioning from corporate work, investing in their crafts, not being afraid to change directions, and how to get away from trading dollars for hours.

They’re also passionate about careers not being the sole focus of life and putting their relationship first and share a lot of fun hobbies they do together as a couple.

Christian and Leah will inspire other freelance business owners and/or couples feeling stuck in work being the sole focus of life. Enjoy!

Links mentioned in the episode:

Vota

Soy Bistro

“Pivot” Friends Scene

Dann Huff on Being a Producer

Guest Links:

Virtue Design Co. (Leah’s Main Website)

Virtue Design for Bands

Valor Music (Christian’s Production Website)

Leah’s Instagram

Christian’s Instagram

The Creative Couples Podcast Links:

Sign-up for our email list to get all the in-depth episode info, extra content, and creative insight.

Follow us on Instagram.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Visit The Creative Couples Podcast website.

Visit Frankie Orella's website.

Visit Spencer Holleman's website.

Hello, friends! It’s good to be back with you. In this episode, we chat about why we took such a long podcast break, the importance of acceptance and dealing with disappointments, and learning how to be better spouses and parents. 

We also talk about the importance of good counseling, why children should see their parents do things they love, escapism, and what’s coming next. Join us in this candid conversation as we discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2022. 

We’ve missed you! 

Links mentioned in this episode:

How To Raise An Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims 

Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Frankie Orella: Sad In Paradise EP 

Songfinch: Frankie Orella 

Whitestone Inn

The Creative Couples Podcast Links:

Sign-up for our email list to get all the in-depth episode info, extra content, and creative insight.

Follow us on Instagram.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Visit The Creative Couples Podcast website.

Visit Frankie Orella's website.

Visit Spencer Holleman's website.

In this episode we sat down with the wise and passionate Caleb and Kara Campbell.

Caleb is a U.S. Army Veteran and former NFL player turned Leadership Speaker, Trainer, and Podcaster. Kara is a former celebrity chef and event connoisseur turned relationship coach who empowers others to trust themselves and know their inherent value.

Caleb and Kara share their inspiring career stories full of unique experiences that led them into their current creative careers and the story of how a writing retreat unexpectedly helped them meet and fall in love.

We dive into so many good topics in this episode including the importance of self work, singleness vs. marriage, how to regulate your emotions, what it looks like to be present in our bodies, creating safe spaces for others, and why death is often a prerequisite to life.

We also talk about sitting in the tension of unanswered questions, and what to do when our lives end up looking nothing like we thought they would.

Caleb and Kara are deep wells of wisdom and advice and are also two of the most genuine souls we’ve had the pleasure of knowing. We hope this episode inspires and challenges you to grow relationally with both your partner and yourself. 

Links Referenced in the Episode:

Kara’s Cookbook: Toast

The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend 

The Count of Monte Cristo

Bluebird Diner in Stanford, KY

Be Kind To Yourself - Andrew Peterson

The Enneagram Institute

Guest Links:

(r)Evolutionary Relationships Podcast

Caleb Campbell’s Website

Caleb Campbell’s Instagram

Kara Campbell’s Website

Kara Campbell’s Instagram

The Creative Couples Podcast Links:

Sign-up for our email list to get all the in-depth episode info, extra content, and creative insight.

Follow us on Instagram.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Visit The Creative Couples Podcast website.

Visit Frankie Orella's website.

Visit Spencer Holleman's website.

This is a special episode where we discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of creating this podcast together and what it means for The Creative Couples Podcast in 2022.

We talk about how the podcast has impacted our marriage positively and negatively, the difference between choices and sacrifices, quality over quantity, our favorite episodes, what we’ve learned about being better co-creators, and why no one is good at multitasking. 

In addition to sharing important life updates that affect the podcast, we talk about how to be more sustainable in your creative projects.

We don’t want to contribute to the podcast graveyard, so we’ll share our plans to sustain the podcast for the future. We are grateful that you’ve listened on this journey with us.

Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

The Tim Ferriss Show

How I Built the Tim Ferriss Show Episode

The Myth of Multitasking

Why Multitasking is a Myth That’s Breaking Your Brain

How Day Jobs Help Your Freelance Career

Outsourcing Creative Work

Frankie Orella on Spotify

The Creative Couples Podcast Links:

Sign-up for our email list to get all the in-depth episode info, extra content, and creative insight.

Follow us on Instagram.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Visit The Creative Couples Podcast website.

Visit Frankie Orella's website.

Visit Spencer Holleman's website.

Ever met someone who went from working for FEMA to being a full-time musician? What about a hospital grief counselor to a photographer and life coach? Yeah, us either… until this episode! 

We sat down with the hilarious and entrepreneurial powerhouse, Dan and Katie Snyder. Dan is a songwriter, producer, and keyboard player who has supported multiple artists and toured with bands of his own. Katie is a life coach, photographer, and podcaster. They’ve played significant supporting roles in each other’s creative pursuits over the years. Dan has assisted Katie with capturing and editing photos, and Katie has tour managed for one of Dan’s bands.

Their career stories are fascinating and motivating as they discuss the life-altering moments and decisions that led them to where they are now.

We chatted about how they make creative and business decisions together, why it’s important to do the things we’re afraid of, why hiring more skilled people helps your business grow, balancing multiple creative passions, and how to not care so much about other people’s opinions. 

Dan and Katie are inspiring, encouraging, and so genuine in how they communicate their wins and losses. We appreciated their honesty on how working together affects your marriage and the ways they’ve balanced career and relationship. 

Links Mentioned in Episode:

McKay’s Bookstore

Minimum Viable Audience - Seth Godin Blog

Zero Percent Market Share - Seth Godin Blog

Paper Lights Documentary

Paper Lights - merch for sale

Guest Links:

Dan’s Main Instagram

Katie’s Main Instagram

aReverie & Paper Lights Website

Katie’s Photography

Life Coaching Link

Doing Scary Things Podcast

The Creative Couples Podcast Links:

Sign-up for our email list to get all the in-depth episode info, extra content, and creative insight.

Follow us on Instagram.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Visit The Creative Couples Podcast website.

Visit Frankie Orella's website.

Visit Spencer Holleman's website.

Day jobs and freelance work are often seen as mutually exclusive options. But in this episode, we share how day jobs may actually be beneficial to freelance work. It may not be obvious, but when you’re starting out in a career and/or working with your spouse to create together, a day job may be exactly what you need to kickstart a creative freelance career. And sometimes your day job may show you exactly what you don’t want in a career; that’s helpful too. 

As we share parts of our career journeys so far, we’ll share with you how we’ve seen various day jobs impact 3 key areas:

1. Financial stability 
2. Skill-building
3. Opportunities through relationships or experiences

We also talk about why relationships mean more than you might think, the importance of nurturing your freelance career in its early stages, when to take a risk, and discovering transferable passions and skills in your work.

Getting to do something you love full-time is a gift, but if you take that leap too soon, it might end in burnout and a strained marriage. We propose another option that gives you stability in your career and relationships.

Our hope is by sharing different opportunities our day jobs gave us, it’ll help you in your day job, or if you’re trying to make a freelance career work while also needing money. Saying “yes” to a day job doesn’t have to be a “no” to everything else. 

Give yourself the freedom to make a decision knowing that you don’t have to live with that decision forever. It may in fact be the door to your next and better opportunity.

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Chris and Corinne on the value of relationships

Additional Resources on This Topic:

Career Wisdom from Adam Grant

7 Tips for Balancing Freelancing and Your Full Time Job

My Husband and I are Both Full-Time Freelancers

How to Balance Freelance Work with Your Full-Time Job

The Creative Couples Podcast Links:

Sign-up for our email list to get all the in-depth episode info, extra content, and creative insight.

Follow us on Instagram.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Visit The Creative Couples Podcast website.

Visit Frankie Orella's website.

Visit Spencer Holleman's website.

In this episode, we sat down with the incredibly talented Chris Leidhecker and Corinne Bupp. Chris is a touring drummer who also recently built a beautiful backyard studio where he does live tracking and writes music for film and tv. Corinne is an actor with experience in both the commercial and narrative worlds of theater, film, and voiceovers.

After falling in love in a live musical production at an amusement park and spending their first couple years together in California, Chris and Corinne moved to Nashville with big dreams and little connections. They share the story of what it was like to move to a new city and build freelance careers as a musician and actor and the importance of relationships and reliability. 

We talk about why kindness matters just as much as skill, building genuine relationships instead of focusing on networking, combatting the lies we tell ourselves, and unexpected gifts in a global pandemic. They also shared how they keep their marriage a priority and stay connected when they spend so much time apart. Their answers were surprising and so refreshing. 

We were so grateful to hear their story and thought it was nothing short of inspiring! If you are self-employed, freelancing, or just need encouragement in your relationships, this is a great episode for you.

Links Mentioned in Episode:

Neville Longbottom and the Black Witch

Pictures of Chris’ studio

Chemex Coffee

Knoebels Amusement Resort

Guest Links:

Chris Leidhecker Website

Chris Leidhecker Instagram

Corinne Bupp Instagram

The Creative Couples Podcast Links:

Sign-up for our email list to get all the in-depth episode info, extra content, and creative insight.

Follow us on Instagram.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Visit The Creative Couples Podcast website.

Visit Frankie Orella's website.

Visit Spencer Holleman's website.

The Creative Couples Podcast Links:

Sign-up for our email list to get all the in-depth episode info, extra content, and creative insight.

Follow us on Instagram.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Visit The Creative Couples Podcast website.

Visit Frankie Orella's website.

Visit Spencer Holleman's website.

How much of YOU do you put into what you create? How much of YOU should you put into what you create?

In this episode, we talk about identity as it pertains to art and work. We discuss what’s healthy and what’s helpful. 

We share how being creators feels like walking around with our hearts on our sleeves, why the way we introduce ourselves matters, the effects of social media on our identity, and a little pep talk for weary creative hearts.

And when it comes to marriage, understanding how identity influences how you work together is so important. We discuss our own experiences with this and the potential for an identity crisis if you’re putting too much of yourself into work that is fundamentally cooperative. Part of being in a committed relationship is practicing compromise and sacrifice. But give up too much of your identity and you water down the art; steamroll your identity over your partner and you miss out on additional creativity. 

Enjoy our thoughts on identity and art, and if you have thoughts on this subject we’d love to hear them - let us know on Instagram!

Links Mentioned in Episode:

Atomic Habits - James Clear

Deciding Who You Want To Be - Danny Gevirtz

Can Couples Create Together?

Additional Resources on This Topic:

How Identity Shapes Our Creativity 

How much “You” should you put in your writing?

Artist’s personal lives: Does it play a role in how you view their art?

On the impossibility of separating art from artist

The Artist’s Persona

The Importance of Artist Identity

The Creative Couples Podcast Links:

Sign-up for our email list to get all the in-depth episode info, extra content, and creative insight.

Follow us on Instagram.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Visit The Creative Couples Podcast website.

Visit Frankie Orella's website.

Visit Spencer Holleman's website.

The Creative Couples Podcast Links:

Sign-up for our email list to get all the in-depth episode info, extra content, and creative insight.

Follow us on Instagram.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Visit The Creative Couples Podcast website.

Visit Frankie Orella's website.

Visit Spencer Holleman's website.