We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gina R. Farrar. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gina below.

Gina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

One of the most fulfilling things about learning a creative craft is in the experimenting and growing. It’s the process of creating that brings the challenge and the joy. The greatest obstacle to my own growth and learning came from judgement: judging myself, the process, the time frames, the outcomes. Once I was able to shift away from judgement and release my expectations of a specific outcome then I could allow the process to unfold. I had to believe in my ability to figure things out as I took my next best step instead of knowing how from the start. For me the learning has literally been in the doing, taking what I knew and building on that, asking the right questions of those I admired and having a learners mindset. The key is to trust the process, lean in and stay in a posture of curiosity – see what could work, never think I know all there is to know, and be willing to experiment. Honestly it would be easy to look at my journey and wish things had moved faster or happened differently but the ongoing process of my creative journey, the struggles and the triumphs, the fits and the starts have all happened when they did, how they did to bring me to where I am today. It takes too much energy to hang on to the coulda, woulda, shouldas of life. I discovered I had everything I needed to start: today, my passion and my ability t0 figure things out.

Gina, 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?

There are two things that have always been a part of my life, creativity and helping people. Throughout my life journey I have honed my ability to solve problems creatively, listen deeply, and intuitively identify how to help people. Any creative endeavor I have undertaken has brought me back to people. My best example is with make-up, I was a pro for over 30 years and was able to create a look my clientele wanted by reading in between the lines and getting to know the personality of the person I was doing make-up for. No matter what creative path I’ve taken, I have focused on the way I relate to and show up for people.

Knowing this and wishing to help reach more people, I started a podcast to create a resource for women about midlife including all of its challenges, changes, and possibilities. I love connecting with my guests, drawing out deeper interactions and having genuine, rich conversations for my tribe.

This ultimately led me to my true creative journey. During the lockdown in 2020, I decided it was time to do what I’d always wanted – paint. For years my limiting beliefs and self-judgement had kept me from having the courage to even try. With a little help, I picked up a palette knife and began to paint. What absolute joy I felt! All of my years of small creative endeavors led me right to my dream. This piece of my story has not only brought me freedom but has actually given me a greater ability to empower others as a transformational coach.

Transformational coaching has naturally been woven into my life. For years I have helped people to grow, develop skills, transform their mindsets and their lives. As a coach I am able to listen intuitively and distill key information then use creative strategies to help people unlock their genius. In order to expand my ability to help as many people as I can, I’ve created an online course that helps people design their midlife masterpiece plan. “Your Midlife Masterpiece Plan” is my unique system that teaches actionable, practical strategies that will empower students to live a life that lights them up.

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

My goal in being creative is to grow as a person and an artist. By allowing myself to explore and play with color, texture and form, art provides a way for me to communicate my world inside and out. This journey enables me to deepen my ability to serve others through my coaching and online courses.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

In my middle school years I had an art teacher that responded in a strong negative way to a sunset painting I did on a paper plate. That experience, compounded by difficulties in my home life, primed my immature emotional mind to believe in my inability to create art. As I look back now I can see how that broken story was formed and why. I can also see how that caused a huge block around painting until midlife. Creativity drove my life in a myriad of ways music, makeup, sewing, you name it. I even bought all the art supplies for my children to create art growing up while I watched from the sidelines. It wasn’t until I began to connect the dots that I could dismantle that limiting belief and allow myself to step into the art I’ve always wanted to create.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gina_r_farrar/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gina-r-farrar/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/GinaRFarrar
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FeminineRoadmap
• Other: https://creativemindset.samcart.com/courses/course/your-midlife-masterpiece-plan