We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Stromsoe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?

I got a degree in music. Right after college I moved to LA, where I had a really cool work opportunity with a producer I admired. That particular opportunity didn’t take flight, which I now know was due to my own lack of understanding of the importance of stability and self care. I stubbornly tried to afford staying in LA anyhow, at any cost. Unfortunately the cost ended up being serious health issues!

I ended up working as an executive assistant to a creative who was married to a very famous musician. I put every ounce I had into this job and, once again, set no boundaries for my own stability or self care. I thought it would all be worth it in the end, and maybe it would even come back to music via her husband. It was an exciting job and I was going to show up fully for it, around the clock.

This led to all sorts of blood work and doctors, as I could no longer keep my eyes open to drive to/from work and had lost so much weight. Turns out my adrenal system was totally shot from existing in a state of adrenaline for too many years without a break. It took me moving in with family and 5 years of treatments to just start to feel normal-ish again. I didn’t have it in me to work on any of my dreams or goals in that state. My mental health was also incredibly out of whack and basic life skills had become very difficult. It was all connected. I would say though the treatments took about 5 years, the whole process cost me a decade of my life. This makes me pretty sad.

The value of stability and self care is above all else and, as the airlines advise, you must “put on your own oxygen mask on first” before attending to others. I’ve learned over and over again the hard way that you really will have nothing left to give if you don’t take care of yourself.

This shows up in my own business now and I can catch my desire to overwork. I think when you have a business or project you care so deeply about, and no one to clock-in hours with, your around the clock life can end up being all work. As hard as it was to learn to set boundaries with past employers, it’s been even harder to set boundaries with myself. 9pm scheduling emails? Why not!

I can’t stress enough, to myself and others, how important it is to schedule breaks, schedule time outdoors, always have snacks and water in your work zone and say NO way before your plate is full so that you don’t accidentally get stuck spiraling around in the chaos. Limiting work time actually makes for more productive and more focused work time. Chipping away in small bits will still get the job done. In fact, you’re more likely to complete projects with structured boundaries around time because you are using the other time to refill your energy tank. Make sure the time spent outside of work brings you energy, joy, calm or something useful to take back to your next work session! Cut out what and who depletes you.

When deciding to do anything I have now made it a requirement to pause and take my internal temperature – Where is my stress level at? What does my body need? What does my mind feel like? Does this choice align with my current state of what is? Do I like how it feels when I imagine doing this thing? Is it worth whatever it will mean I have to say no to?

I have also learned to ask for time before replying to requests of myself (versus the knee jerk reply of “yes!”), and when committing to a deadline I have learned to pad that time with extra days. Best case scenario you get done early and everyone is happy! Otherwise, you just bought yourself a few days to recover from whatever unpredicable thing came up. Unpredicable things do come up.

Give yourself time, space, room to breathe, recover, recharge, and then see how much you can actually get done from existing in this more stable reality where your needs are cared for!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

When it came time for me to pick a career path I felt torn between music and medicine. Med school? Acupuncture School? Music School? A jazz teacher in high school told me, “If there’s any part of you that wants to be a doctor, do that! You can’t make any money in music!” So, naturally, in my defiant teenaged way, I chose music.

Still, I studied yoga, meditation, body work and energetic healing modalities on the side as hobbies. My favorite classes were vocal pedagogy, biology and anatomy. I read about the body for fun. I loved exploring spiritual practices and feeling connected to something beyond my comprehension. There was a powerful moment for me when I was at an acupuncture appointment and the doctor said, “Oh you do music? Then we are both in the healing arts!” I realized music *is* a medicine, as cliché as that sounds.

I started incorporating all my various healing studies with music, particularly vocalization, and seeing how they all fit together. I first practiced on myself and a few entry level students as I developed in understanding, and soon I had a handful of committed students showing up serious about their goals and ready to expand. It all started word of mouth and I didn’t have to promote or advertise (that being said, I perform regularly which in itself can be a promotion, as people will sometimes come up after a performance to ask if I teach).

I now feel so excited to help guide people through their own exploration of the healing power of music, movement, and physical awareness as they learn to sing and write songs with me. It truly lights me up to see others get lit up and inspired by making their own connections within themselves and through their singing. I love to witness others stepping into their truth and power! Nothing makes me happier than to witness people’s journey toward improvement and the freedom and confidence that brings.

It’s funny how we can get stuck on our business needing to look a certain way. The initial idea for my business, innerspace, really relied heavily on a very large physical space for people to have this holistic creative experience. My business did, of course, need a physical space but it turns out it’s functioning and serving it’s purpose on a much smaller physical scale than I initially thought it needed to. I have learned that even when I have a specific vision, not to force things to happen and instead hold on to the core intention. Perhaps someday it can evolve to my full vision of a space, but for now the core intention of people’s expansion through expression is happening and that’s what really matters!

I have learned this physical space I’ve created can be recreated elsewhere via workshops and retreats. The container can be flexible when the core intention is strong.

Alongside guiding and teaching through innerspace, I write my own music, am recording and performing. I think of this musician aspect of myself as another business of mine using the tools I share through innerspace.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Though I happily work with any human, I am most passionate about working to empower and free voices of women. When I say voice I mean two things: our literal voice (singing, sounding, speaking), and also how we show up in the world and what we are bold enough to create. We, as women, are effected by a society discouraging us from making waves and encouraging us to feel shame for brazenness. Psychologically this takes a big toll on the power of our sound and feeling as though we have the right to make sound in the first place. I want for everyone to feel they have a right to take up space, to be and share who they are, and follow their creative impulse, unafraid. This idea is my biggest motivator. This all being said, I have male students who I am supporting in this area as well so, as I mentioned initially; I’m happy to work with any human!

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had known the importance of having systems in place to support myself, and that there are people whose job it is to help support you in supporting yourself.

I was diagnosed with ADD when I was twelve years old but didn’t take my medications because I thought it was a bunch of baloney. I thought because I’m an intelligent and capable being I could just deal with the ADD and power through. I did this for 20 more years until I realized how wrong I was. It turns out there are resources out there in the world that will be very supportive of who you uniquely are if you allow them. Not just medications, but information in the form of books, lectures, and even the guidance of coaches. There are business coaches, creative coaches, even ADHD coaches, all available to help you set up your own systems so you can handle the chaos that can be running your own creative business. I didn’t know these things were an option earlier in my journey and I white knuckled through every twist and turn determined to make it work any way I could. That did lead to a ton of resilience, however; it didn’t have to be quite so painful. I have a few students who I coach as creatives, and I receive coaching myself sometimes. Being held accountable is a great tool, and so is having someone mirror back to you what you’re processing, clarifying and aiming to birth.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nicolestromsoe.com

Image Credits

Sarah Kathleen, Stephen Dummit, Luke Udsen