How do you even podcast?! We’re officially releasing episodes and recording AT THE SAME TIME! Anna spirals (hello, self-awareness overload) but also shares how wild and powerful it’s been to listen to yourself learn in real time. It’s cringey! It’s growth! It’s both!

This week is packed with big, juicy questions:

🧠 Is understanding something intellectually different from understanding it emotionally?

🔥 Can you metabolize pain into energy? (Excuse us??)

🛠️ Is pain just your system screaming, “FIX THIS”?

We also get into the realness of studying art at school. Does it help? Does it mess you up? Can you grade creativity? Is imagination actually more important than knowledge?

Plus: what happens when your creative project becomes a product? What if your process is the most sacred part—and not the outcome?

And the kicker: what if the goals you create for your creative life should aim at your definition of success, not the world’s shiny, hollow version?

Big questions, lots of heart, zero clean answers—but we’re in it. Let’s go!!!

💛💜💛💜💛💜

References:

Get your hair dyed by Mia Bella

Balls Cabaret: Sundays 2-4pm at Strike Theater

824 18th Ave NE
​Minneapolis, MN 55418

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

It’s Week 7! This chapter hit us with a big one: “Art is not about thinking something up, it’s about getting something down.” Um… WHAT. You mean no straining? Just ease? Openness? Receptivity?!

Okay but… how do you actually do that? Is it a mindset? A lifestyle? Can you really just show up and make the thing, or are we all too tangled in our own perfectionism to even start?

This week, we wrestle with:

— Whether or not limits actually help

— If the universe cares and gives us what we need (???)

— The radical idea of actually expecting good things to happen

— And why making mistakes feels so impossible when perfectionism is running the show

Anna comes face to face with her “no mistakes allowed” policy, while Sarah gently reminds us (and herself) that doing your best doesn’t mean doing it perfectly—and maybe that is enough. She also admits her deep fear of looking stupid, and honestly? Same.

Do we have answers? Not really. But we do have questions. And messy progress. And a lot of trying. Because at the end of the day, you just have to do the thing.

Enjoy the episode!

💛💜💛💜💛💜

References:

Rick Rubin

Cathy Heller

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

Welcome to another week of Yes Ma’am Pod!

Surprise—there’s no chapter this week.

Instead, we bring you what we’re officially calling an interlude. You know, that moment when life completely takes over (hello, holidays) and your creative project gets sidelined by the chaos of being a human.

We could’ve kept this part of our journey creating this podcast quiet and pretended we were right on track, but we believe in honesty. And the truth is: every creative journey includes an interlude. It’s not a matter of if—it’s when.

So what exactly is an interlude, and how do you get through one without completely losing momentum? How do you come back to your work when it’s been dropped for a minute (or many)?

This is our most practical episode yet, full of tools, real talk, and gentle encouragement—so grab a notebook, give yourself some grace, and enjoy the show.

💛💜💛💜💛💜

References:

Martha Stewart Documentary Trailer

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

It’s Week 6, and yes—we’re talking about money. Again. Because it turns out, money is kind of a big deal. It’s a constant consideration, a major stressor, and, let’s be honest, a very convenient excuse to stay creatively blocked. In this episode, Anna and Sarah unpack their personal money systems and ask some real questions: How does the way we think about money control our creative lives? How is our sense of worthiness tangled up in what we believe we deserve financially? What even is a “little luxury,” and how do we tell the difference between what we actually want and what marketing tells us we need to not be sad? We also explore what would happen if we treated money with intention and attention, instead of fear and avoidance.

Then things get philosophical: why do we associate difficulty with virtue, and where did we get the idea that art is “just fooling around”? (Spoiler: it’s not.) Plus, a public service announcement—watch out for blocked people. They’ll cut you!

We have so much fun this week, even while confronting all the messy stuff, and ultimately we land in a place of encouragement: stay in your body, stay in the flow state, and keep showing up. We love you.

💛💜💛💜💛💜

References:

Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

Blue Door Pub

Selling Sunset (for an example of Fake Luxury)

Landman (Watch It!)

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

Welcome to Week 5, folks. Buckle up, this one’s a long one. 🏎️💨

This chapter had us going wait. like. what?! on repeat. Real talk: God has a LOT of money. Like, unlimited?

We dive headfirst into the deep end of God, spirituality, and organized religion and ask: Are they the same thing? (spoiler alert: they are NOT). How do we, as artists in recovery, reclaim a spirituality that supports us without dragging along the baggage of human-organized religion? And is a personal spiritual connection the only real path to intimacy with others?

We get real about the fear of abandonment and how it affects literally every single choice we make, all the time, forever. 😵‍💫 Anna attempts to speak Gen Z (send help), while Sarah lives in a van down by the river and teaches us how happiness can exist independent of all things. 🚐✨ WHAT!

Anna has a full-on Kevin McCallister moment and hides under the bed after her creativity actually shows up! Sarah wonders if expecting your art to pay for your food and roof is even a good idea (yikes). We also break down the difference between possible vs. probable when it comes to how we view our creative projects, wrestle with how to be a good human to the people who are relying on you while still doing your own thing, and, most importantly…

🚨 Just freaking buy the ticket, yo. 🎟️

💛💜💛💜💛💜

Authors & books & references:

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Deborah Keenan: poet

Norwegian Slow TV

Van Down by The River SNL Skit

Tommy Boy

"Can't Remember the Taste of Strawberries" Lord of The Rings

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

WELCOME TO WEEK 4!

Dude, what does reading deprivation even mean in a world dominated by the internet and social media? Sarah actually does it. Anna? Absolutely not. But that leads us to the real question—how do we make space inside ourselves?

This week, we examine what we do to numb out, what distracts us, and what pulls us back into our bodies. Anna discovers that, shockingly, the Artist Date and Morning Pages actually work (she wrote something!), while Sarah fills the newfound silence by talking out loud to herself.

We also introduce the concept of Flow Suck™, ask whether you can love something and still abuse it, and wonder if there’s such a thing as a good loss of self. Anna reveals her obsession with Survivor’s Jeff Probst and hopes he’ll somehow end up on the pod, while Sarah has a full-on existential moment about kriyas (is it actually cry-a?).

Plus, we tackle the painful reality of sitting with yourself, the question of whether you can create without radical self-honesty, and the unsettling thought that you might not be able to express anything unless you have a self.

Oh, and did we mention we sing a song? Because that happens. So buckle up, because this week we go everywhere—including a wild conversation about Butterfly Goop and why you definitely want some of that.

💛💜💛💜💛💜

References:

Poet Deborah Keenan

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Where the name Rodney for Adam's van came from

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

It’s Week 3, and we’ve got a lot of questions. Anna spirals into the weeds of her daily life, wondering where the heck she’s supposed to find space for this work. We dive into the connection between power, lifestyle, and what’s considered “normal,” and then—because why stop there?—we wrestle with success vs. significance. Meanwhile, Anna realizes TV ruined her brain, yet she still wants to write for TV (make it make sense).

Is watching something the same as doing it? Can you live a conscious creative life without suffering for your art? What if the process was actually fun (well… mostly)? And what if you thought your goal was to be an artist, but deep down, you just saw creativity as a stepping stone to being rich and famous? 😬 We also ask the realest question of all: Can you pause and actually feel success in your body, or are you too busy skipping ahead to the next thing?

Sarah drops that being an entrepreneur requires a certain amount of psychosis. We also get real about who we let into our creative spaces (and who shouldn’t be there). Plus, if you decide the what, does the how really follow? And what even is an intentional foul?

The Artist’s Way is making us define our what and why, and honestly, we’re kind of failing—but also having a great time. And just so you know, we are currently only accepting compliments. Thank you. 🙏😂

References:

How to be an entrepreneur and have peace: Cathy Heller podcast Abundant Ever After "Gino Wickman on How to Unlock True Entrepreneurial Freedom & Fully Shine"

"Come into this": from Anis Mojgani "Come Closer"

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS EPISODE!

Anna is angry about how hard this all is, and we question how we use our time—because, surprise, time feels different every week. How are we supposed to deal with that?! 🙃 Busyness is the ultimate humblebrag, Anna confronts her aggressive perfectionism, and oh yeah… there’s a pear explosion. 🍐💥

We explore whether you can do The Artist’s Way without accountability, the fact that trying things is mandatory (ugh), fantasy vs. actually doing the work are not the same, and Anna realizes she is the crazy person in her own life.

Sarah casually mic drops her mind bending take on spirituality and melts Anna’s brain, and we close it out with this pro tip: get a bike that fits you and ride it. 🚲

💛💜💛💜💛💜

Authors & books & realtor references:

Atomic Habits - James Clear
Deep Work - Cal Newport
Somehow - Anne Lamott (I, Sarah, incorrectly reference this on the episode, but the book is divine)

Rebecca Del Pozo - Incredible human, sweet being, real estate agent out of Seattle. Please learn more about her magic powers here: https://www.rebeccadelpozo.com/

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!