We recently connected with Janeen Ritson and have shared our conversation below.

Janeen , appreciate you joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I come from the world of advertising agencies, where everything is urgent, late and weekend hours are the norm, and nothing is ever done until the eleventh hour—because it can always be better (or, more accurately, because no one wants to be the first to say, “this is it” before the deadline forces our hand). I’ve spent sleepless nights working on pitches, crashed on questionable office couches, and stumbled home just long enough to close my eyes before dragging myself back to the office to do it all over again.

As an agency creative, you’re expected to walk in, flip the switch, and churn out ideas like a machine—no warm-up, no ebb, just an endless demand for output until either the day ends or the deadline hits, whichever comes first. It’s a system built on urgency, pressure, and more for more’s sake. And eventually, it chewed me up and spat me out. That’s what put me on the path I’m on now: creating a more human-centered, sustainable way of supporting brands, makers, artists, and first-time entrepreneurs—one that doesn’t treat creativity like an industrial production line.

The machine of capitalism tells us to override our bodies in favor of productivity at all costs. But the cost is real: stress, burnout, a creativity-killing cycle of overwork and depletion. Creativity isn’t something you can force on demand; it has a rhythm, just like our bodies do, just like the seasons do. For every surge of inspiration, there needs to be space. Space to think, to be bored, to let the default mode network of the brain switch on and do the deep, unseen work of connecting ideas in ways we can’t when we’re constantly on al the time.

That’s the foundation of my work now. Whether I’m working with brands or creative individuals, we work with the body and mind—not against them. We breathe. We ground. We check in with what’s actually present, rather than pushing through just for the sake of it. (Don’t get me wrong, there are times to push. But more often than not, less is more.) I encourage rest, not as an afterthought but as an essential part of the process. We celebrate progress over the relentless churn of productivity culture. We focus on shifts in process and mindset over surface-level quick fixes. We invite in curiosity, self-trust, and creative intuition. And the work? It gets better because of it.

Janeen , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I didn’t set out to be a creativity coach. I set out to recover my own creativity.

I spent 17 years in advertising as a Creative Director / Art Director, known for strategic, detail-perfect executions and protecting both the integrity of ideas and the people behind them. My work was conceptual, high-integrity, and rigorously crafted—whether I was leading brand campaigns, overseeing high-volume content teams, or shaping integrated creative work. I had a reputation for fighting for great ideas, mentoring teams, and ensuring every piece of work was as strong as it could be before it left the door.

I’ve always approached creative work with a whole-human mindset—valuing both the integrity of the work and the well-being of the people making it. Even in the high-pressure, fast-paced world of agencies, I believed that great creative didn’t have to come at the cost of burnout. But after years of pushing through relentless deadlines, pouring myself into client work, and constantly producing under impossible timelines, it all caught up with me and I burned out.

So I quit and started freelancing, in the hope of finding my way back to my creative center. During that transition, returning to my yoga practice and to teaching yoga was essential to reclaiming my own creativity. I had done my first teacher training in 2012, my second in 2017, and as I put myself back together after burnout, I deepened my understanding of how creativity is connected to the body, nervous system regulation, and sustainable ways of working.

And in that process, I saw with new clarity the madness in believing we can treat our bodies like machines. We can’t demand creative output without rest. We can’t override exhaustion, ignore emotions, and push through without consequence. It’s a lie we’ve been sold. Creativity doesn’t come from force—it comes from presence. It requires a real relationship with yourself.

That realization didn’t just change how I approached my own creative work—it deepened how I work with people and brands.

Today, I work as both a creativity coach and a creative director, helping people and brands bring their ideas to life in a way that is sustainable and deeply human.


I offer:

* 1:1 Creative Coaching → Helping high-achieving professionals finally prioritize their own creative work and follow through—without getting stuck, second-guessing, or waiting for the perfect time.


* Creative Incubators → Structured group coaching programs designed to help people commit to their creative projects, get unstuck, and make real progress.


* The Universe of You → A guided coaching meets mind-mapping experience that helps people get all their thoughts out of their heads and clarify their next right step.


* Creative Direction for Purpose-Driven Brands → I still take on brand work, but not through agencies at this time. I help first-time entrepreneurs, and mission-driven businesses develop their creative identity and bring their brand vision to life.


What sets me apart is that I’m not just a coach who helps people think about their creative work.

I’m not just a creative director who helps people execute their projects.


I do both.

I bring a mind-body approach to creative work—integrating somatic practices and mindfulness techniques
into the work to help people navigate resistance, overthinking, and perfectionism holistically. I understand the psychology of creative blocks—and how to move through them without force, pressure, or burnout. I bring 17 years of creative direction experience—so when we build a project together, it’s not just about personal breakthroughs, but about making something real, strong, and lasting.
And I help both individual creatives and purpose-driven brands develop their work in alignment with their creative energy and capacity.

I’ve spent my career making things—in the agency world, in my own creative life, and now alongside my clients. And I know this for sure:

Creativity doesn’t happen in isolation. You can’t white-knuckle your way through it. You need structure, support, and a way of working that doesn’t demand you override yourself in the process.

I’ve helped coaching clients write books, launch businesses, develop creative practices, and finally commit to the projects that have been haunting them for years. I’ve worked with brands and first-time founders to build creative identities and tell their stories in ways that resonate.

But what I’m most proud of isn’t just the external work—it’s the way my clients come back to life inside their creative process.

This work is about creative reclamation. It’s about learning how to make space for your ideas, take yourself seriously as a creator, and follow through on your work in a way that actually lasts.

If you have a creative project you’ve been circling, a piece of work you can’t stop thinking about—it’s not going to wait forever.

There’s never going to be a perfect time. There’s just now.

If you’re ready to finally prioritize your own creative work and follow through, I’m here to help you do it—with structure and support that works.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission is to help people get themselves and their ideas unstuck—to finally follow through on the creative projects they can’t stop thinking about. I know what it’s like to have ideas piling up, waiting for the “right time.” I currently own 20+ URLs for projects I’ve dreamed up! I believe in the power of our ideas. I believe they come to us for a reason. And I also know how easy it is to let them sit, to let life take priority, to tell ourselves we’ll get to them someday.

Our ideas aren’t meant to stay trapped in-waiting. We have a responsibility to follow them through. Not because every idea needs to be perfect, profitable, or world-changing, but because this is what makes us human—the ability to dream something up and make it real. Creativity isn’t just about the final product; it’s about answering the call to create in the first place.

And something happens when we do. When we stop circling and finally step into the work, we step into something bigger—the flow of our creativity, the flow of our aliveness.

That’s what I want for the people I work with. And I want their ideas to exist—not just as sparks in their minds, but as something real, something made. Because we don’t know what our ideas can become until we give them shape and form, until we bring them Earthside—out of our heads, out of our notebooks, and into the world where they can take on a life of their own.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I believe the most rewarding part of being a creative is the moment an idea moves from the intangible to the real—when something that once only existed in my mind takes shape in the world. There’s a kind of magic in that, in following an idea from inspiration to execution, in seeing it become something I can touch, share, or experience. It’s a reminder that creativity isn’t just about making things—it’s about engaging with possibility, stepping into the unknown, and bringing something new into existence.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theunstuck.co
• Instagram: @janeenritson
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeenritson
• Other: discotete.com, yogawithjaneen.com

Image Credits

Gwen Schroeder