We’re delighted to have Jessica Hagy as our November speaker on the theme of WORK. You can get more info on the event here.

Jessica Hagy is an artist and writer best known for her Webby award-winning blog, Indexed. Her work has been described as “deceptively simple,” “undeniably brilliant,” and “our favorite reason for the Internet to exist.” Her style of visual storytelling allows readers to draw their own conclusions and to actively participate in each narrative. “Her images don’t always tell us what to think; quite often, they elegantly offer us ideas to think about.”

How do you define creativity and apply it in your career?
Creativity is taking what lying around and turning it into something interesting. If you can’t do that, wherever you are and whatever situation you’re in: your creativity is just hiding inside a fog of frustration. I try to always look for little, odd, details or big, strange things, that are hiding in plain site: those are the observations that translate into work people can really relate to.

Where do you find your best creative inspiration?
I wander around. I lurk. I am Sometimes 10, 12 miles a day. I can sit at a desk and take maybe, 12 steps in my brain. Walking around? With some paper and a pen? I can take hundreds of steps and actually think myself into somewhere strange and novel. Getting myself home, sometimes that takes a while (and a vehicle or two), because getting lost (physically and mentally) is part of the process. I am a very suspicious looking person, especially when accidentally trespassing.

What’s the one creative advice or tip you wish you’d known as a young person?
That there are some people who want work toward big ideas, and other people who want to work toward getting promoted. Ideas are more satisfying than cash, but cash follow ideas, so any creative career is game theory with feelings. Would you rather be Harper Lee or the dude in her hometown who made a decent living selling cars to her neighbors? Right.

Who would you like to hear speak at CreativeMornings?
Super badass working-mom, super-designer, so-insightful-it-hurts, she’s amazingly bold and never not hilarious: Kelsey Hanson: founder, Vocal Design. If you have time, look her up. If you have money, throw it at her amazing sense of composition and on-point style.

What was the best surprise you’ve experienced so far in life?
That you can choose the people whose opinions matter. Life’s far too short and statistically unusual to be someone else’s punching bag (physical, emotional, or professional). And if you think no one will care about you and what you have you offer? You’re just not talking to the right people yet. Keep shouting.

What practices, rituals or habits contribute to your creative work?
I draw, write, and paint every day. Every day, even if I just jot down ideas during Thanksgiving dinner. About a third of that is for myself to share, another third is for clients, and another third is for the future. So basically, I have decades of work waiting for a pseudonym to embody. I intend to reitre my name before I retire my person. That breakdown is creatively freeing and gives me an “out” for thoughts that don’t fit into pre-built buckets.