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The Iowa Idea: Natalie Nixon
“Wonder and Rigor.”
In this episode of the Iowa Idea Podcast, I’m joined by Natalie Nixon, PhD. Natalie changes lives through ideas so that people build their creative confidence for years to come, make an impact, and get paid their worth. She is a creativity strategist, global keynote speaker and author of the award winning The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation and Intuition at Work, which has been recognized as a game-changing innovation book by Fast Company, Porchlight and Soundview. As president of Figure 8 Thinking, LLC she advises leaders on transformation – by applying wonder and rigor to amplify growth and business value.
Natalie shares her journey from growing up in Philadelphia, to degrees in anthropology and fashion, to her career in academia, to launching her own business, to releasing her book The Creativity Leap. Natalie shares the power of daydreaming… which makes me feel a bit better about how I spent most of second grade.
Natalie and I nerd out as we talk about creativity, design, chaordic systems (chaos and order) and how she elegantly weaves all of these together with concepts of wonder and rigor. Links to her WonderRigor™ Lab and a WonderRigor™ tip sheet can be found in the show description. Through the lens of improv and jazz we explore the value of creativity in many forms, including the power of the remix. I appreciated Natalie’s insights and perspectives on creativity, wonder, and sensemaking.
It was an honor having Natalie join me on the show. I hope you enjoy the episode.
About Natalie
Natalie Nixon, PhD changes lives through ideas so that people build their creative confidence for years to come, make an impact and get paid their worth. She is a creativity strategist, global keynote speaker and author of the award winning The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation and Intuition at Work, which has been recognized as a game-changing innovation book by Fast Company. Company, Porchlight and Soundview.
As president of Figure 8 Thinking, LLC she advises leaders on transformation- by applying wonder and rigor to amplify growth and business value. Clients have included Comcast, Citrix, Living Cities, and Bloomberg.
A hybrid thinker, Natalie consistently applies her background in cultural anthropology and fashion. She began her career in education and as a hat designer. Later, Natalie worked in global apparel sourcing for a division of The Limited, Inc. Previous to Figure 8 Thinking, she was a professor for 16 years. Natalie is an early-stage investor at two social impact ventures. She’s valued for her ability to work at the intersection of commercial value and stakeholder equity.
Natalie has lived in Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Israel, and Sri Lanka and is proficient in Portuguese and Spanish. She is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and is certified as a Foresight Practitioner by the Institute for the Future.
When she’s not dancing up a storm in hip-hop class, Natalie is fine-tuning her foxtrot, salsa, and tango on the ballroom floor. She lives in her hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her husband, John Nixon, and is the proud stepmother of Sydney.
Links
Free sample chapter of The Creativity Leap : bit.ly/tclfree
The WonderRigor™ Tip Sheet: bit.ly/wrtipsheet
The WonderRigor™ Lab online creativity course
Figure 8 Thinking – https://www.figure8thinking.com/
Natalie’s TEDx Fire – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTS95OchFOE&t=999s
Credits
Episode produced by Spark Consulting Group (www.inspiredbyspark.com) in Iowa City, with support from Executive Podcast Solutions (https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/).
The Iowa Idea Podcast theme music written and performed by Paisley Bible (https://paisleybible.bandcamp.com/).