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Vail Valley Bizwatch: Creativity specialist offers coaching

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Business name: Coach Kristen Green — Creativity Coaching.

 Location: Eagle.

 Date opened: April.



 Owner: Kristen Green.

 Contact information: Email green shew@gmail.com, call 720-280-2456 or go to http://www.coachkristengreen.com.

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What goods or services do you provide? I am a creativity coach. I get to help people work around their fears, resistance, procrastination and other blocks to get back in touch with their sense of joy and awe. I provide one-on-one coaching as well as group workshops. Creativity coaching is helpful for people engaged in the creative process — writers, painters, musicians, sculptors — as well as for people who just want to live their lives with more fun and audacity, and with less fear.

 What’s new or exciting at your place? I’m offering a workshop (I call it a “fun” shop) called Permission to Play on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at Colorado Mountain College in Edwards. We’ll be giving our inner children permission to come out and play. Often, as adults, we get caught up in all of the “shoulds” of life — I “should” do the dishes instead of drawing. I “should” be responsible. I “should” do for others rather than myself.

The truth is that play is vital for your brain, your heart and your body, and giving yourself permission to play, whatever play looks like to you, opens a whole new world of joy and healing.

What strategy do you use to differentiate your business from your competition? My creativity coaching practice is based on the Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching model, developed by Jill Badonsky. The “Kaizen” part of Kaizen-Muse relates to the Japanese philosophy of the same name that means continuous improvement through small steps. The “Muse” part refers to the “The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard),” 10 powerful creativity principles disguised as wise and playful Muses.

In ancient Greece, the Muses were goddesses who inspired literature, science and the arts. Kaizen-Muse updates the Muse concept to bring new inspirations, each with a set of tools and questions designed to make the creative process easier, less fear driven, and more enjoyable. Whatever block you have that keeps you from your creativity or living the life you have imagined, can be addressed using some combination of the creativity principles embodied by the Muses. I have used these principles in my own life to be a better parent, to help my recovery from medical issues, and to start a blog. The principles help you focus on what’s working rather than your limitations. It is a much more gentle approach to life coaching than other models, and honors the non-linear nature of the process of change.

 What philosophy do you follow in dealing with your customers? What can your customers expect from you?

I believe strongly that we already know the answers within. We know what works for us. We know what brings us joy. We know when we want to show up for our lives with audacity. The trick is brushing away the overwhelm, disabling perfectionism, lack of focus, fears, procrastination, low self-confidence, bad habits and negative self-talk. I work with clients to help them begin to listen to their intuition and to what their heart is telling them. It is liberating and fun, and it makes creating true change much easier!

 Tell us a little about your background, education and experience: I have a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications. I am also the mom to two amazing girls, a wife and I work part-time for Colorado Mountain College in Edwards doing marketing. I’ve always loved creativity — writing and knitting, crafting, etc. — but often felt blocked by my own fears and lack of confidence.

A health crisis a few years ago forced me to look at my life in ways I could not have imagined. I learned to create things for myself without thought for the completed product, I learned to laugh at my mistakes and at my fears, and I learned how to cultivate a stronger, kinder inner voice. I felt compelled to share what I learned during the process of my recovery, and synchronicity lead me to Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching. It combines everything I’ve learned and everything I know to be true:

Take small steps — teeny-tiny steps.

Find the humor — there is always humor.

Be gentle — especially with yourself.

Enjoy the process — let go of the need to be perfect, be a beginner.

Create — write, paint, draw, take photos, bake, journal…express what is in your soul somehow, some way.

Sometimes, you have to stop thinking and just do it.

What is the most humorous thing that has happened at your business since you opened? For my first workshop at the Gypsum Public Library, a really lovely woman brought her six-week old son with her. We were in the middle of some pretty deep sharing when the little guy had a very loud blow-out. It definitely made every one laugh and lightened the moment. And it was a great example of how everything does not need to be perfect to be powerful.


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