WILD with Piera Gelardi: the power of play, the ghost of should, and courageous joy
Julie and Casey have an encore chat with Season 1 guest Piera Gelardi (founder of Refinery 29, creative genius, and now the founder of Wild Things World) about how play became the focus for her “next chapter”. Along the way, they discuss best practices for better brainstorming, what Piera has learned from her four-year-old daughter, and entering our collective hope punk era by choosing hope, joy, and delight in a dark world.
From now until April 15th, we're accepting applications for our signature small group course for women, POWER/PLAY. Find out more and apply here!
Thank you to our Season 4 sponsor, Armoire! If you're ready to try a new look, Armoire's high-end clothing rental service (full of amazing women-owned brands) will hook you up! For 50% off your first month's rental + a free item, go to http://armoire.style/voiceis and use VOICEIS in the referral box!
TOP TAKEAWAYS:
Play is a powerful tool for presence, connection, creativity, divergent thinking, and more . . . and we have to protect the vibes. Trying to commodify it, make play “efficient”, or give it a necessary goal to hit kinda kills it.
The Ghost of Should distracts us from our true journeys — and “being taken seriously” wasn’t the right goal for Piera.
What we look for, we notice, and what we notice, grows. Creating a practice of looking for wonder, delight, joy, and love doesn’t mean we have to ignore the bad stuff or spiritually bypass ourselves and others.
LESSON: A few ways to get out of your head and find the FUN of communication
Piera Gelardi is a creative director, entrepreneur, and speaker passionate about bringing out the creativity in everyone. She co-founded the iconic women’s media brand Refinery29, the experiential property 29Rooms, and recently launched the new play company Wild Things World. She is on a mission to bring more play to every space she enters — starting with yours!
Her work has won accolades like Ad Age's "50 Most Creative People of the Year" Entrepreneur magazine’s "50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs and spots keynoting events like SxSW, Create & Cultivate, and Inbound.
Outside of her work, she loves performing in storytelling shows, teaching cathartic dance, and making up songs with her 4 year old.