You Don’t Have to Be Good
• – • The Dance Hall (Kittery, ME)
About the speaker
Crystal Paradis-Catanzaro is a marketing and communications professional, local elected official, and multidisciplinary creator based in Somersworth, New Hampshire. With a background spanning roles from barista to digital marketer, she now channels her passion for storytelling and impact into her work at The Nature Conservancy, supporting global efforts to protect the planet. Her creative life is rooted in nature, magic, and everyday joy, often inspired by life on the "Enchanted Honeystead" with her wife, Angie, and their beloved pets.
In her talk, "You Don't Have To Be Good," Crystal explores the tension many of us feel between creativity and the pressure to be “good enough.” Through stories from her childhood as a rule-free storyteller, Crystal will trace how perfectionism (shaped by rigid expectations and later reinforced by ideas of what a “real artist” should be) can disconnect us from the joy of creating. Drawing on experiences from organizing large-scale community events, working in politics, and building purpose-driven initiatives, Crystal offers that creativity isn’t about performance or validation, but about alignment, presence, and permission.
Additional details
This event is free, but advance registration is required. Registration opens at 9am on the Monday before the event. Please sign up for our newsletter to be notified when registration is open.
The event is held at The Dance Hall in Kittery, Maine. Doors open at 8:30. Coffee served 8:30-9am. Talk begins at 9am and will end around 10am.
There is street parking just outside of The Dance Hall and on surrounding side streets. Additional parking is available a 5-minute walk away at Loco Coco’s Tacos. There are 2 van accessible parking spaces in the municipal lot on the corner, within 200 feet of the main entrance to The Dance Hall.
Access to The Dance Hall space is either through the front door/main entrance or through the side entrance via the accessible ramp.
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