This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Susan Blackwell: The SparkFile podcast may contain profanity and other adult content. Please use your discretion.

[0:09] Laura Camien: When I bump into something that inspires me, I jump in my spark file to be something that I wanna make or how I wanna be. I pump it in my spark spot. Spark! I jump into my spark slide. Let's open up this spot file!

[0:37] Susan Blackwell: Welcome to the Spark File, where we believe that everyone is creative, but smart creative people don't go it alone.

[0:44] Laura Camien: Hey, I'm Laura Camien.

[0:45] Susan Blackwell: Hey, I'm Susan Blackwell, and we are creativity coaches who help people clarify and accomplish their creative goals.

[0:52] Susan Blackwell: You should know that just by listening to this podcast, you're joining a warm and wonderful clan of creatives.

[1:02] Susan Blackwell: A spark file is a place where you consistently collect all of your inspirations and fascinations.

[1:08] Susan Blackwell: Every episode, we're gonna reach into our very own personal spark files and exchange some sparks.

[1:15] Susan Blackwell: And from time to time, we're even going to talk to some folks who spark us too.

[1:21] Susan Blackwell: And your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take some of those sparks of inspiration and make something of your own.

[1:28] Susan Blackwell: So without further ado, let's open up the spark file.

[1:33] Susan Blackwell: Laura, I was just watching you as we recorded that intro, and you are practically off book.

[1:38] Laura Camien: Like I was like, she's not looking at her script.

[1:42] Laura Camien: What's so funny is I was looking directly at my script, and I was having the opposite thought.

[1:48] Laura Camien: I was thinking, if somebody asked me to recite this right now, would I?

[1:54] Laura Camien: You know how sometimes when you have a script, you could memorize it, but you never have.

[2:00] Laura Camien: And so I don't know.

[2:02] Laura Camien: If someone stopped me on the street tomorrow and said, "I'm Susan Blackwell."

[2:10] Laura Camien: You might be wondering what is a spark file?

[2:12] Laura Camien: And then handed it to me, I would be like, good question.

[2:17] Susan Blackwell: Back to you, Susan.

[2:22] Susan Blackwell: Well, you seemed like you were completely off book.

[2:25] Susan Blackwell: Spontaneous.

[2:26] Susan Blackwell: Good job.

[2:27] Susan Blackwell: Thank you, listener.

[2:28] Susan Blackwell: If you could see me now.

[2:30] Susan Blackwell: Hey.

[2:31] Susan Blackwell: May I interest you in a delicious, fresh spark?

[2:35] Laura Camien: I am ready for a hot steaming spark.

[2:39] Susan Blackwell: Easy.

[2:40] Laura Camien: What?

[2:41] Susan Blackwell: I am excited to share this spark with you.

[2:43] Susan Blackwell: Uh so many things flowing into this spark.

[2:47] Susan Blackwell: I put a spark.

[2:48] Susan Blackwell: Let me say spark again.

[2:49] Susan Blackwell: Spark, spark, spark, spark, spark.

[2:51] Susan Blackwell: I put a spark into my spark file recently.

[2:53] Susan Blackwell: It was a 60-second clip of Simon Sinek, who wrote Start with Why.

[2:58] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[2:59] Susan Blackwell: In this TikTok, Simon Sinek was saying the three most important parts of our body to maintain for longevity include number one, the heart.

[3:11] Laura Camien: Yes.

[3:11] Susan Blackwell: Number two, the lungs.

[3:14] Susan Blackwell: Laura Camien, would you like to guess the third most important part of our body to maintain for longevity?

[3:19] Laura Camien: Well, I was gonna say, is it our brain?

[3:22] Susan Blackwell: That is a great guess.

[3:24] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, that's what I feel like.

[3:26] Susan Blackwell: I feel like it's not being if you guessed, listener, if you guessed your thighs.

[3:32] Laura Camien: Oh, oh, oh yes, I totally learned something about this recently.

[3:37] Susan Blackwell: Your legs, your legs, baby.

[3:39] Susan Blackwell: So healthy heart, healthy lungs, healthy thighs are the key to longevity because historically the thighs are not responsible for exercise, but for mobility so you could connect with others.

[3:54] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[3:54] Susan Blackwell: Before there were cell phones and email, and even before cars and trains, we had to walk our little selves to visit people and maintain social connections.

[4:04] Susan Blackwell: And if you were more mobile, then you were more likely to maintain friendships.

[4:09] Susan Blackwell: And research says that strong social fabric is a prime marker for longevity.

[4:14] Susan Blackwell: So the three most important parts to keep healthy: heart, lungs, thighs, baby.

[4:21] Laura Camien: Do those squats.

[4:22] Susan Blackwell: But this really got me thinking about Gavin Creel.

[4:28] Susan Blackwell: I've been thinking about him a lot lately.

[4:30] Laura Camien: Me too.

[4:31] Susan Blackwell: But something that has really become apparent after Gavin died is how strong his social ties were.

[4:39] Laura Camien: Oh my gosh, yes.

[4:40] Susan Blackwell: The social fabric of Gavin Creel's life was strong and healthy.

[4:46] Susan Blackwell: And even people who didn't know him well, people who met him at a stage door, people who taught him, you know, students.

[4:54] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[4:55] Susan Blackwell: In a one workshop, you could tell that even those people that didn't know him well, there was a mutual fondness and a mutual respect there.

[5:04] Laura Camien: Susan, like I've been thinking about it ever since we recorded that episode.

[5:08] Laura Camien: Because I didn't tell any stories of Gavin Creel in that episode because we had so much great stuff from everybody.

[5:15] Laura Camien: But I have like these moments of connection with him that I like I would not say that I knew him well.

[5:22] Laura Camien: I met him, had great connections on three or four occasions, and have this.

[5:29] Laura Camien: He has had a reverberating effect in my life that is not proportional to the amount of time I actually spent with him.

[5:39] Susan Blackwell: That is well put.

[5:40] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[5:41] Susan Blackwell: It's astonishing.

[5:42] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[5:43] Susan Blackwell: Seeing the response to his death reminded me how important it is to maintain our social fabric.

[5:53] Laura Camien: Oh, yeah.

[5:54] Susan Blackwell: For our mental health and other things.

[5:56] Laura Camien: Yep.

[5:57] Susan Blackwell: So all of that's been on my mind.

[5:59] Susan Blackwell: And then I was further sparked this week by the brilliant Jen Waldman.

[6:04] Susan Blackwell: Uh, who so happens to be a friend of Simon Sinek, it's a small world.

[6:08] Susan Blackwell: Uh, they have done a lot of work together.

[6:11] Susan Blackwell: But you all heard me talk about Jen recently on the podcast.

[6:15] Susan Blackwell: She is one of the leading acting teachers in New York City, and her clients are in all the Broadway shows.

[6:20] Laura Camien: So if you're a New York City-based actor, I cannot recommend Jen and her acting studio highly enough.

[6:27] Susan Blackwell: Jen recently visited the Spark File's Blaze course to share her wisdom.

[6:32] Susan Blackwell: Yes, we are.

[6:34] Susan Blackwell: She shared her wisdom on reaching out to others, or as she called it, how to build your professional network without the ick.

[6:44] Susan Blackwell: And Jen's energy around the concept of a network was so positive and so ick-free.

[6:52] Susan Blackwell: She encouraged us to be generous and generative givers and makers, even when reaching out to the edges of our network.

[7:01] Susan Blackwell: And she said it's not actually all about who you know, it's all about who you're willing to introduce yourself to.

[7:09] Laura Camien: She was such a great guest teacher.

[7:14] Susan Blackwell: It was phenomenal.

[7:14] Susan Blackwell: It was chock full of goodness, all delivered in such a clear, kind, inspiring way.

[7:23] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[7:24] Laura Camien: I love that session.

[7:25] Laura Camien: Great, great teacher.

[7:27] Susan Blackwell: So Jen turned us on to the work of Molly Beck.

[7:31] Susan Blackwell: Molly wrote a great book called Reach Out, all about you guessed it, reaching out and networking.

[7:38] Susan Blackwell: So I want to share this spark from Molly Beck that came to be via the great Jen Waldman because I think the potential application for this could be life-changing in all sorts of ways.

[7:49] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[7:50] Susan Blackwell: All sorts of creatives.

[7:51] Susan Blackwell: Not just your creative life, but your life, your period.

[7:55] Susan Blackwell: Full stop.

[7:56] Susan Blackwell: Your life.

[7:57] Susan Blackwell: So there are so many gems in Reach Out, but to whet your spark appetite, I just want to share a few key sparks.

[8:04] Susan Blackwell: And Laura, please feel free to jump in, respond.

[8:10] Laura Camien: I'd be happy to.

[8:12] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[8:12] Susan Blackwell: So spark number one, according to Reach Out author Molly Beck, with the right attitude, reaching out can be a life-changing process that will help you strengthen your network.

[8:24] Susan Blackwell: Molly asks us to think of everyone we know.

[8:27] Susan Blackwell: And this is actually an exercise that you and I have done together, Laura.

[8:30] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[8:30] Susan Blackwell: Where you just like basically make a mind map of I actually did this, I worked on this today.

[8:37] Susan Blackwell: I started making a map, and the easiest way for me to organize it was chronologically.

[8:43] Susan Blackwell: I started at the beginning of my life, and I was like, who do I know from the town I was born in?

[8:43] Susan Blackwell: Who do I know from elementary school?

[8:48] Susan Blackwell: Who do I know from high school?

[8:50] Susan Blackwell: Who do I know from college?

[8:51] Susan Blackwell: Who so I just started and it just grew and grew and grew.

[8:56] Susan Blackwell: So think of everyone you know.

[8:58] Susan Blackwell: These people constitute your network.

[9:01] Susan Blackwell: So naturally, within this, all of those folks, there are those who are closer to you, such as friends and family, and then those that are less close, like former co-workers or an old teacher.

[9:13] Susan Blackwell: The family and friends represent your strong ties, and then the old coworkers, the past teachers, etc. represent your weak or loose ties.

[9:25] Susan Blackwell: So those are the ones that are out on the periphery of our social network.

[9:30] Laura Camien: Suze, can I ask a question?

[9:32] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[9:33] Laura Camien: Then after that, is it the people they know that's like our one degree of like Kevin Bacon of it all?

[9:40] Susan Blackwell: Yes, yes, that's exactly right.

[9:43] Susan Blackwell: Or if you're picturing it like a map, like it gets off to the dark edges, and there's like there being there be monsters here and just like the unknown.

[9:52] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[9:52] Susan Blackwell: No, but yeah, truly, you guessed correctly.

[9:55] Susan Blackwell: Those are sort of your friends of friends, your colleagues of colleagues, etc.

[10:02] Laura Camien: What are you giggling about?

[10:06] Susan Blackwell: It's such a sidebar.

[10:08] Laura Camien: I'm sorry.

[10:09] Laura Camien: But I'm giggling because um a friend of mine who is a screenwriter, I don't want to name him because of the people that may contact him based on what I'm about to say.

[10:22] Laura Camien: But he um he posted that he's working on a new project and that Kit Harington is on board.

[10:29] Susan Blackwell: Uh-huh.

[10:30] Laura Camien: And so I was giggling because I'm like, I'm one degree away from Jon Snow.

[10:38] Susan Blackwell: Did I anticipate that being a fact of life?

[10:42] Laura Camien: No, I did not.

[10:43] Susan Blackwell: But anyway, so that's what I'm giggling about.

[10:46] Laura Camien: It's just for our Game of Thrones fans.

[10:51] Susan Blackwell: Cherish it, save it about.

[10:54] Laura Camien: And I love that it's not Kit, by the way.

[10:56] Laura Camien: It's Jon Snow.

[10:58] Susan Blackwell: I'm sure Kit is wonderful, but it's the character.

[11:00] Laura Camien: The character of Jon Snow that I'm one degree away from.

[11:03] Susan Blackwell: Whatever gets you through the night, Laura Camien.

[11:06] Susan Blackwell: So Molly tells us, contrary to what we might think, it is our weak ties, Jon Snow, that can have the most transformative effect on our lives, on our careers, on our creativity.

[11:19] Susan Blackwell: And this is because your strong ties usually move in the same circles and have the same information.

[11:32] Laura Camien: Well they have a whole other galaxy.

[11:34] Susan Blackwell: Exactly.

[11:35] Laura Camien: They have their own.

[11:36] Susan Blackwell: They have Westeros.

[11:37] Laura Camien: They have.

[11:42] Susan Blackwell: Yes, exactly.

[11:43] Laura Camien: I mean, you know, they just have their whole other world.

[11:46] Susan Blackwell: Like by meeting one person in a different galaxy, you have expanded your network.

[11:46] Laura Camien: That's right.

[11:52] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[11:52] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[11:52] Susan Blackwell: That's right, Laura Camien.

[11:54] Laura Camien: And when you start thinking about it in those terms, the impact that this could have starts to really excite me, actually.

[12:04] Susan Blackwell: When I was making my map today, so I made the map of all the people. There are so I know so many people from different parts of my life. And then I had the other side of the map was people that I want to know.

[12:19] Laura Camien: And wow.

[12:20] Susan Blackwell: Types of people that I want to know. And I was like, well, this is fun and exciting too. And how do I get there from here? Through reaching out, you can get in touch with these people. You can increase the size of your galactic network of people.

[12:38] Laura Camien: And put simply, the goal is to expand your network of people who can let you know about an opportunity, such as a role or a grant or an interesting creative project.

[12:49] Susan Blackwell: The more people you know, the more likely you are to know someone who can recommend you as a creative, a collaborator, a contractor, a cast member. Molly shared this stat that as many as two-thirds of the people recommended by a company's employee get the job.

[13:06] Laura Camien: Oh my gosh.

[13:07] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[13:08] Laura Camien: Yes.

[13:09] Susan Blackwell: Yes. It's so interesting to think about that because what that says to me is that we all do want to expand our network, but we're most comfortable with it just being someone in the neighborhood next to ours.

[13:21] Laura Camien: Yes.

[13:21] Susan Blackwell: It's not entirely like a whole different, we don't, you know, just that recommendation piece of it says we want some familiarity, but we also want a whole new opportunity.

[13:37] Laura Camien: That reminds me of a spark that I don't know if I've talked about on the podcast. The Maya most advanced yet acceptable. We want a com we want it to be at the crossroads of the familiar and the novel.

[13:48] Susan Blackwell: Yes, yes, yes, exactly. That's so this sort of moxie that it takes to do these reach outs is we've seen it embodied in our client Jenna Pastuzek.

[14:01] Laura Camien: Oh.

[14:01] Susan Blackwell: Jenna's big creative goal in the Spark File is to she calls it Project Broadway, and it is to land a named role in a Broadway show, and she has got the talent, yes.

[14:13] Laura Camien: Oh my god.

[14:14] Susan Blackwell: So one day Jenna reaches out to me and says, Who can I connect with to further my big creative goal? And I was like, who can I connect you with? And I actually think this is a fun game. I kind of enjoy being a connector of people.

[14:26] Laura Camien: Yes.

[14:29] Susan Blackwell: So I was like, ooh, ooh, I would be excited to introduce you to Seth Rudetsky, who was always making great stuff and spotlighting great Broadway level talent. And so this was fun. I emailed Seth a video of Jenna singing this Barbara Streisand song that I love because I know Seth also loves a good barber moment.

[14:53] Laura Camien: Yes.

[14:53] Susan Blackwell: And Seth wrote back in a moment, he wrote back, OMG, I'm obsessed. That song, and she's doing the barber arrangement with a mozzing orchestration, and her placement is amazing. I must meet her with one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight exclamation points. And that is all because Jenna, who I have a strong connection with, was like, who could you help me reach out to?

[15:21] Laura Camien: So that is a great example of somebody who's got that. Like, who do I need to know? Who do I need to know?

[15:28] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[15:28] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[15:28] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[15:29] Laura Camien: I love this game.

[15:30] Susan Blackwell: And the specificity of the ask.

[15:32] Laura Camien: And the specificity of the ask.

[15:34] Susan Blackwell: Absolutely. It was not, there was no ambiguity. It was a very clear. And I believe she probably asked it without an attachment to outcome, that which is what we always emphasize in the Spark File with our attachment to the outcome.

[15:48] Laura Camien: Yes.

[15:48] Susan Blackwell: So if all of this sounds exciting, but you're nervous about putting yourself out there, Molly Beck says that's all the more reason to do it and to do it regularly. That the best way to fight anxiety is to face it over and over and over again and get used to the discomfort.

[16:04] Laura Camien: A therapist might call that prolonged exposure.

[16:07] Susan Blackwell: We do this in the Spark File. We normalize risk taking. We're risking all the time. And it takes a lot of heat out of any single risk. So sticking to this strategy when reaching out regularly helps us not to dwell on any non-responses because we simply have no time to.

[16:39] Laura Camien: Jen had us pull out our cell phones and scroll. And when we landed on a name that made us smile, we sent them a text right from class. We sent them a text. Hi, I just saw your name in my cell phone. It made me smile. I hope you're doing great. As Jen said, if we did this once a day in a year, we would reconnect with 365 people.

[17:00] Susan Blackwell: So there's some sparks for it.

[17:03] Laura Camien: Which is incredible and incredible.

[17:06] Susan Blackwell: And really low effort and super fun. Like the amount of joy versus the effort required is just beyond.

[17:16] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[17:16] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[17:17] Laura Camien: Crazy.

[17:18] Susan Blackwell: So here's another little spark for you. Molly Beck talks about the gift and the favor. The gift and the favor being two key elements of any reach out.

[17:24] Laura Camien: Yes.

[17:29] Susan Blackwell: According to Molly Beck, any good reach out, whether it's an email, a tweet, a comment on someone's blog, should include at least two gifts. And those gifts can be simple. It can be a sincere compliment or a recommendation for a podcast or a book or a resource. That's enough.

[17:45] Laura Camien: Yes.

[17:46] Susan Blackwell: If applicable, you could also share some information that the target of your reach out might be interested in but doesn't have access to. We do this all the time in the Spark File. We'll share curriculum or podcast episodes that we genuinely believe will help unlock something for the recipient. We'll send people books, we'll send people like we do this all the time.

[18:08] Laura Camien: Yes.

[18:08] Susan Blackwell: Another potential part of the reach out can be to ask a favor or make a request of the person that you are reaching out to. But when it comes to favors, you want to find the right balance. Nothing vague, nothing impersonal. If you can find it easily on the internet, don't bother your recipient with the request.

[18:28] Laura Camien: Yes.

[18:28] Susan Blackwell: On the other hand, you don't want to overburden the target by asking for information that they would normally charge for. You don't want to give them homework. You don't, you don't want to ask for something that is well beyond your organic relationship. For instance, cold emailing someone and asking them to mentor you is too much too soon.

[18:48] Laura Camien: Yes.

[18:48] Susan Blackwell: So you just want to strike that balance when you're asking for a favor, if you're asking for one.

[18:54] Laura Camien: Yeah, I also want to just underline this. This is, you know, the line is in different places for different people, but the point you make about like not asking for them to do for you for free, the very thing that is what their business is built on.

[19:18] Susan Blackwell: Yes, yes.

[19:19] Laura Camien: Um, and that's hard because, you know, I know for us we have a flexibility there because we have such a genuine love of supporting people and helping people. But when the ask comes that is essentially, can you do for me everything that I would get if I took your class?

[19:38] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[19:39] Laura Camien: Then it's a little like then we have a harder time. And I'm like, I want to help you. There is a way that we could help you. And that would be for you to be, you know, in our course.

[19:49] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[19:49] Laura Camien: Um, but it puts it's very, it's hard. It puts people in a hard position, especially when they have big hearts and like I want to help you. In fact, I've built a program that can help you.

[20:01] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[20:01] Laura Camien: And not only does it put them in a hard position, it also can kind of sully future reach outs that you might do to the person because you're like, oh, that person is not reading the room. They seem sort of off balance or out of touch. You know what I mean?

[20:14] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[20:17] Laura Camien: So there's there's a distinction between being audacious, which is kind of refreshing and fun, and just being kind of inappropriate.

[20:28] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[20:28] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[20:29] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[20:29] Laura Camien: And I think that's like that list again from Molly Beck is really something everyone should consider to be like, so how can I be audacious and read the room, as you say?

[20:46] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[20:47] Laura Camien: So here's another spark for you. Your reach out strategy should depend on this this speaks to what you were just saying, Laura. Your reach out strategy should depend on who you're reaching out to. When you were sharing that example, there are people who are close, close ties of mine that reach to me and say, Could you help me construct the curriculum for this class I'm teaching? Could you help me structure this keynote address I'm giving?

[21:12] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[21:15] Laura Camien: And I'm like, baby, I gotcha.

[21:17] Susan Blackwell: No, when it's a close tie. But you're again your strategy should depend on who you're reaching out to. And this might help clarify this point, Laura. Molly Beck presents four handy types of reach out in order of how close your connection is to the target.

[21:35] Susan Blackwell: Oh, interesting.

[21:36] Laura Camien: So the first kind of reach out is a re-reach out. And a re-reach out you would send to someone you already know, although probably not very well. There's the follow-up reach out, which is reserved for reaching out to someone you've met once or twice, maybe at a party or a work event or a conference.

[21:57] Susan Blackwell: There's the borrowed connection reach out. This is where you're addressing someone you've never met before, but you share a mutual contact with. Before doing this, you're gonna want to ask your mutual contact whether the target would appreciate an email from you.

[22:14] Laura Camien: Yes.

[22:14] Susan Blackwell: This is what Jenna did with Seth. We brainstormed together. And she I made the introduction, she borrowed the connection, took it and ran with it.

[22:24] Laura Camien: That's right.

[22:24] Susan Blackwell: And finally, the cool reach out is for targets you have no connection with. So this, for instance, might be someone in your field that you admire. We have actually have a client, the great Tim Bosie, wonderful writer, wonderful human. Tim Bosie reminded me after Jen Waldman's class that Tim had actually sent me a cool reach out years ago.

[22:50] Laura Camien: Oh, wow.

[22:51] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, and Tim is a great writer, so it's no surprise that as part of I wrote Tim back. And as part of my message back, I was like, this email is so fucking rad.

[23:05] Susan Blackwell: That sounds right on target for you.

[23:08] Laura Camien: And Tim is somebody.

[23:09] Susan Blackwell: So Tim did that cool reach out, right? Didn't know me personally. Not only is Tim now a client, beloved, treasured. I mean Tim works on this podcast. Tim works on this podcast. Tim is invited into our lives in every way.

[23:26] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[23:27] Susan Blackwell: So he's so awesome. So that's actually a good bonus spark, like really paying attention to your writing.

[23:35] Laura Camien: You know, that is yes, yes, yes.

[23:38] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, yeah. More on that in just a second. Here's another little reach out spark for you. Reaching out can help you achieve a range of goals and again can impact your career, your creative work, your personal life. Before you start reaching out, think about what you want to achieve with this reach out and choose your recipients accordingly. There are many types of goals that reaching out can help with. A re-reach out, such as a former coworker who works at an arts organization where you want to be employed, can probably help you get an interview. A follow-up reach out can turn into an opportunity if you connect meaningfully with someone whose problem you solve. And when it comes to cool reach outs, contacting creative decision makers or influencers in your field can result in opportunity, advice, a new project.

Again, I give you exhibit A, Tim Bazi. Like that was a cool reach out. With regards to the borrowed reach out, the key is to remind your contacts about your skills and let them know what opportunities you're looking for. Again, this happened with Jenna and Seth Rodetsky. Seth even invited Jenna to come on his Sirius XM show and sing.

[24:57] Laura Camien: Yes.

[24:58] Susan Blackwell: So you can really you can really move the needle with some smart reach out. Makes me think of something, and I apologize if you're about to tell us this, but it makes me some think of something that Jen Waldman also stressed in this class, which was if you're gonna do that, you also need to be prepared.

[25:17] Laura Camien: So gotta be prepared.

[25:19] Susan Blackwell: When he comes back and says, Do you want to be on my show and do you want to sing something? It can't be like, ah, I don't know what I would sing. Let me work something up, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. She's like, choose from these 17 songs.

[25:30] Laura Camien: That's right.

[25:31] Susan Blackwell: I'm ready. Yes. Tell me when, and here we go.

[25:35] Laura Camien: That's that is exactly right, Laura. And now to circle back to a spark that you just surfaced. This is such a creative act. Use your creative writing skills. First of all, novel length emails are unlikely to get a response. Keep it concise, keep it to the point. Give it a subject line that grabs your recipient's attention. Greet the person in a simple manner. Introduce yourself as briefly as you can, potentially with a one or two sentence bio. Finally, offer your gifts. And if you would want to ask for that favor, you don't have to. After that, sign off, make sure to include your contact information. Proofread everything that you send and also craft these reach outs like a beautifully written little gift.

It can be such a fun extension of our creativity. And recently, I'll throw this into the mix. I started making videos for people. Sometimes that's easier for me. They can see my face, they can hear my voice, they can hear my real affection for them. And it's, I think it's sort of unique.

[26:47] Laura Camien: Well, I think it is. And I also would underline in all of this in your writing, in whether it's a video, whatever you're sending, like make it be you, authentically you.

[27:01] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. Because for someone else, video's not my favorite form. And it would be a bad idea for me to be like, I'm gonna jump on here and make a video, or I'm gonna try out a sense of humor that isn't really mine.

[27:16] Laura Camien: Yeah, because I think maybe that they might like it.

[27:19] Susan Blackwell: I think it's always best to stay aligned with who you are. That authenticity, Laura, I think is key. And utilize those gifts and superpowers that you have that really show your true self and show that authenticity.

[27:36] Laura Camien: That is a great point. It's a great point. This is chock full of great points. I got one more. I got one more for you. The last one is oh, this is challenging to me, but I'm gonna say it because Molly Beck said it and Jen Waldman co-signed on it. Make reach outs part of your daily routine. According to Molly Beck, reaching out only once in a while won't really make a difference. The best way to do it is to turn it into a daily routine. And when you've got that down, well, there are a few more things to pay attention to. First, like Laura just said, you're going to need to be prepared to respond to the people who reach back to you. Some people will just write a quick thank you, in which case there's no need to respond.

But I still think I'm like, hell's yes, respond. And keep the purposeful dialogue going. Right. When it reaches a natural conclusion, it's okay to let it conclude. But but I think I think keep that tennis ball in the air. Another thing that Molly Beck talks about that Jen Waldman underscored is whatever the outcome of your reach out, always do it with a grateful heart. The people that you reach out to can't always, they can't grant the favor you asked for. They can't always, you know, respond fully, but it's still worth thanking them for any response. According to multiple studies, simply adding a thank you to your email can double the chance that the answer from your recipient will be positive.

So I just feel like this is such a potentially life-changing practice. Making reaching out a consistent part of our creative life could provide countless new opportunities, collaborators, champions. It could strengthen that social fabric in ways that the return on that is just, I think, immeasurable. And especially if you do it with a real positivity and a constructive intention around it.

[29:45] Laura Camien: So that is my spark for you, Laura Cameron.

[29:47] Susan Blackwell: I love it. I love it so much. This idea of making it like a daily habit is so good.

[29:55] Laura Camien: It's so good. I just had an exchange with a friend recently who had um maybe gone a little bit of time without communicating to me something that they felt like it was important to communicate to me. I was not at all upset about it, but then they expressed the fact that I had not reached out in so long, made me not reach out even longer. And they were saying that about themselves. They were saying that about themselves. And I was like, I totally get it. I've been there. I've been there. But that kind of thing, not making it a like a muscle that you use can mean that again, it just is harder when you go to do it.

[30:38] Susan Blackwell: Yes. That's what I love about the possibility of this. And it's something as an introvert that I think I struggle with because I know if I start, I think of them as like tennis balls. If I start hitting those reach out tennis balls to people that some that I know and love, I know I'm gonna get a lot of tennis balls back.

[31:03] Laura Camien: That's right.

[31:04] Susan Blackwell: And which is scary. It feels a little overwhelming. But I I feel like there's something in this that is so key. It feels so important and so critical that I just bring it back to the benefits that I think that it can provide to us as people and as creatives. If I may, I would like to bring it back to this idea, like we just shared um probably a week ago. What if you applied the lower the stakes idea to it? Because I think that is exactly the reason why, like I there I've not answered certain emails for a long time because I'm like I want to do it perfectly.

[31:52] Laura Camien: Great emails.

[31:52] Susan Blackwell: Yes. I love that, Laura. I love that. Lower the stakes. And I think about the number of times when I've gotten an email back from someone that was super short, clear, efficient. And I've just been like, I'm so glad they wrote me back. I did not need it to be a big flourish. They wrote me back clearly and kindly. And that was all the communication that was needed. So lower the stakes, send the email.

[32:19] Laura Camien: Or you can do it, reach out lots of ways. Send the direct message. Send the video.

[32:23] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, send the video. There's so many fun ways to do it. So that is my spark.

[32:28] Laura Camien: I love it, Seuss.

[32:29] Susan Blackwell: Thank you.

[32:30] Laura Camien: You're so welcome. Friends, that's it. This episode of the Spark File was made on the lands of the Lenape and the Mohegan people. And as always, we hope it put another bunch of sparks in your file. Listen, if there's a spark you'd like us to explore, or if you'd like to learn more about how to coach with us to accomplish your creative goals, you can email us at get creative at the sparkfile.com or reach us through our website, thesparkfile.com. You know, we will even happily take your feedback. But first, the price of admission, you've got to share a creative risk that you've taken recently. You can follow us on social at the SparkFile and be sure to subscribe, rate, and five-star review this podcast. You have to believe me when I tell you, it really does help other listeners to find us. Also, if you like this podcast, we hope that you'll share it with people that you love. And if you didn't like it, we hope that you will not reach out to us.

[33:29] Susan Blackwell: How about that?

[33:31] Laura Camien: Save that reach out.

[33:32] Susan Blackwell: Save that reach out. Redirect. If something lights you up and gets your creative sparks flying, we are writing you a forever permission slip to make that thing that's been knocking at your door. It's your turn to take that spark and fan it into a flame. You know, you gotta take it and make it friends.

[33:54] Laura Camien: Make it this inspires me. All the people I want to reach out to. When I bumped into something that inspires me, I dump it in the spark fire. Spark could be something that I wanna make or how I want to be. I pump it in the spark fire. Spark. I jump into my spark file. Spark. Let's open up the spark fire.