Creativity Coaching

For Professional Artists and Creatives

with Mark McGuinness – Coaching Creative Professionals since 1996

Does this sound like you?

You are a creative professional, such as:

• An artist
• An author
• A commercial creative – e.g. designer, copywriter, web developer
• A performer – e.g. actor, musician, dancer, TV/radio presenter
• A Creative Director or VP
• A TV/film director or producer
• A coach, consultant, or other creative service provider
• An agency or studio owner
• An entrepreneur

You are not a beginner – you have at least 10 years’ experience behind you.

You may have achieved a certain level of success – creative, professional and/or commercial. But deep down, you know you are capable of much more.

You have produced work that pleased you in the past, and that others praised or paid you well for. But you are no longer satisfied to play at this level.

You want to reach for the stars and (finally) do the work you dream of. The work you will look back on with satisfaction when it’s time to shuffle off this mortal coil.

Maybe there is a ‘dream project’ calling you – such as a book, a different kind of art, a product idea, or a whole new creative field. But you have been putting it off, for any number of reasons.

Maybe you feel like you have strayed from your creative path, because of distractions, external pressures, or even success.

Sometimes the pressure that comes from a public profile and commercial success can make it hard to find that space where you once created from pure freedom. In this case, you may be missing the regular practice that ignites your creative spark.

Maybe you’re struggling with a creative block and looking to find a way forward. In my experience, creative blocks are particularly stressful for creative pros, due to the fact that your creativity is entangled with your professional identity and financial security.

When your income depends on your creativity, especially if you’re a senior creative or an artist with a public profile, it can hard to discuss your creativity with others. In which case, you want to talk this through in strict confidence, with someone who really understands you and your world.

Or maybe you just want another perspective on your creative process, from someone who is informed and empathetic, to see what new creative horizons coaching could reveal to you.

Regardless of the specific issue you are facing, you have the feeling that now is the time to stop putting it off and start putting your creativity first.

And … you are an experienced creative professional. You have high standards, for yourself and anyone you work with. So you need something tailored for your individual talent, that goes beyond the clichés about creativity, and ‘creative thinking techniques’ that were developed for non-professionals.

You also want to be able to discuss these issues with absolute trust and discretion.

This is where I can help

I’m an award-winning poet and Creativity Coach. I work exclusively with high-performing creative professionals like you. I’m approaching my 30th anniversary as a coach, so I’ve learned a lot about the very specific challenges and needs you have as a professional creator.

I can help you with all aspects of your creative work – from fending off the demands and distractions of 21st century life and establishing effective working habits, to connecting with your deepest sources of inspiration, and dealing with stubborn creative blocks.

Whatever your creative discipline, there are patterns and principles that are common to all creative professionals, as well as aspects that are particular to you. Having spent many years working 1-2-1 with creative pros like you, as well as wrestling with the challenges of my own art – poetry – I’m confident I can help you make the most of your unique talent.

I work internationally, so most of my coaching is via secure video calls, with phone and email support between sessions. Some clients travel to Bristol, UK, to work with me in person. I occasionally provide coaching and retreats on location.

Coaching places are allocated by invitation after an initial session. To apply for coaching, answer the questions on this page.

Mark helped me understand where I need to focus my time in order to become more successful as a creative. He challenged me on some of my assumptions, as well as the language I have been using. He helped me to acknowledge what my true aim as a dark fiction author is, and where I was falling too far into the Shadow Career.
J.F.Penn, New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author

Typical Creativity Coaching goals

My Creativity Coaching clients come to me with a range of goals. Here are some things I can help you with:

• Taking your work to the next level – and there is always a next level
• Completing a major creative project such as a book, a screenplay, an album or a series of artworks
• Building a rock-solid creative routine and maintaining consistent output
• Overcoming a creative block and regaining a sense of flow and motivation
• Balancing creativity with professionalism, allowing art and business to coexist fruitfully
• Staying creative under pressure – from public scrutiny, client demands, the state of the economy, problems at home, whatever life throws at you

My work is grounded in day-to-day work towards tangible results. And … creativity is not a linear process. So whatever the specific goal we work on, I will also help you with these ‘broad brush’ themes:

• Clarifying your artistic vision and reconnecting with your true creative identity
• Getting to the emotional truth of the work so that it touches people’s hearts
• Changing your relationship with your Inner Critic – breaking out of negative self-talk and using your critical faculty as a creative tool
• Reconnecting with the joy of creating – you chose this path because you love this work, right?

My aim is to help you thrive by honouring both sides of the term ‘creative professional’ – keeping your creative spark alive and using it to succeed in your career, fulfilling your ambitions and making your mark on the world.

Mark encouraged me to foster and share my unique brand of multifaceted creative weirdness rather than cater to the (often imaginary) desires and expectations of others.
Shawn Feeney, Motion Designer, Musician and Visual Artist

Mark helped me find the confidence to pursue comedy as something completely separate to copywriting.
Amy Harrison, Comedy Writer and Filmmaker

I have a much clearer picture of where I am, where I am aiming to go and I am actually on my way there with both feet firmly on the ground.
Stathis Athanasiou, Film Director and Visual Artist

Mark’s session proved to be that very rare thing: an enlightening seminar that inspires you to really question (and improve) your creative process, rather than a shopping list of trite ‘how-tos’ on the subject. Part history lesson, part creative road map, Mark’s workshop was illuminating, entertaining and, most importantly, beneficial to my development team.

Sean Kirkegaard, Development Executive, BBC Children’s Television

If you are a writer …

I work with clients across the whole spectrum of the arts and creative industries. I love the variety of working across different media. And at the heart of my work are the things that are common to all creative disciplines – inspiration, the creative process, emotional work, courage and resilience in the face of rejection, criticism and other obstacles.

As a writer myself, I also have a particular affinity with other writers, including novelists, screenwriters and non-fiction authors.

I’ve written award-winning poetry, commercial copywriting, academic theses, a series of books for creatives, chapters of two international bestsellers, and my blogs and podcasts for creatives have reached over a million readers and listeners.

So if you’re a writer, I can give you detailed feedback on your work-in-progress, and help you develop and polish your writing. Writing a book or screenplay can be a long and lonely process, and my author and screenwriter clients tell me it makes a world of difference having me along as a co-pilot.

Mark helped me to create a sane(ish) and steady(ish) writing practice and oversaw my turning in a piece not just on but ahead of my deadline for the first time in my life.
Adam Green, Vogue’s Theater Critic, Contributor to The New Yorker

I made more progress on my novel during the 6 months we worked together than in the 3 years before.
Layne Mosler, Author

The result was achieved. I completed my first book: The SHED Method: How to Make Better Choices When It Matters.
Sara Milne Rowe, Performance Coach

Creative process vs outcome

Some of my fellow creativity coaches focus purely on their clients’ creative process, rather than the finished work. I respect their stance, as it honours a deep truth about creativity that has been verified by psychological research: truly original work comes from focusing on the process of creation, rather than outcomes and rewards.

But in my Creativity Coaching, I also care about the outcome of the process, and I want to see my clients’ work-in-progress as well as their finished work. Here’s why.

My clients are creative professionals. For them there is always something at stake in their creative work – their artistic ambition, their livelihood and their professional reputation.

So they are faced with a paradox: on the one hand, they need to find a space of pure creative freedom, to create in the moment without any thought of praise, criticism or reward.

Yet on the other hand, they are working in a demanding and competitive creative field, where they are exposed to sometimes brutal rejection and criticism, and where success or failure can have big implications for their professional career and their financial security.

This paradox can result in a very specific kind of mental torture. And resolving it takes a special kind of mental balancing act. It’s so finely balanced, and so easily upset, that I wrote a whole book about this: Motivation for Creative People.

Another reason I take this approach is that I have only a few coaching slots, and limited time on this earth. So I want to put my coaching at the service of creative professionals with the ability (or potential) to create truly great work.

It’s a joy and a privilege to see my clients’ creations evolving week by week, to be a part of their creative process for the duration of our work, and to celebrate their success together when they release the finished work into the world.

Which means I do want to see your work! So when you answer the questions on my coaching form, make sure to include examples of your best work.

AI and your creative work



Like many creatives, you may be uncertain about what AI means for your work – excited by the possibilities, wary about the risks, annoyed at having your work scraped without permission, or all at once.

I see it as part of my job to understand AI and its creative potential and pitfalls, on behalf of my clients. You can read my thoughts about this in the series I’m currently writing, AI for Creative Professionals.

I’m currently helping clients think through how to protect and develop their own voice, and how to use new tools without being used by them. My aim, as always, is to help you stay true to the kind of work only you can make.

Mark is non-intrusive, stimulating and inspiring. He gently guides you towards your purpose whilst keeping you accountable to guarantee progress and eventually success.
Fabrice Bourrelly, Artist, Architect and Virtual Reality Designer

So who am I to help you with your creativity?

You’re an experienced professional, so it’s natural for you to wonder how someone from outside your field could help you with your creativity. Here are four reasons why I get consistently stellar feedback from my clients about our work:

I know how you feel

As an award-winning poet I know what it feels like to stake my life on an absurdly high ambition. To look at the best work in a crowded creative field, and to dare to dream that I could contribute something worthwhile to it.

As you can imagine, that ‘award-winning’ part only came after a lot of hard work, feedback, and scores of rejections. So I know how that bit feels too.

You probably feel the same about your dreams and ambitions – sometimes they inspire you, other times they scare you or make you feel like an imposter.

And like me, you know deep down that – absurdly ambitious or not – you don’t really have a choice. You didn’t choose this work. It chose you. You can’t give it up, and you are determined to find out how far your talent and hard work can take you.

If you are going to ask for help with this, you want it to be from someone who knows how all of this feels. Which I do, to my cost, yet also to my joy.

We can go as deep as you want

At the beginning of my work with every client, I tell them that the biggest thing we work on is you.

For a creator, personal development and professional success are deeply intertwined. You put your heart and soul into your work, so sometimes it helps to work on your heart and soul.

I spent 19 years as a psychotherapist, which gave me an in-depth understanding of human psychology and a lot of experience at helping people develop their emotional intelligence.

It’s important to emphasise that my coaching is not therapy. My clients are high-performing professionals, not people suffering from mental health issues. But my background in therapy means we can ‘go deep’ on the emotional issues at the core of the creative life. And I can help you get to the emotional heart of your creative work – however uncomfortable this may be.

And sometimes life intervenes and you’re faced with challenges in your personal life in the midst of working on your professional challenges. My clients tell me they value the fact that they can talk about anything in our sessions, including personal issues that threaten to interfere with their professional work.

I’ve studied creativity at Master’s level

Back in 2005 I was one of the first students to enrol on the innovative MA in Creative and Media Enterprises at Warwick University.

The Theories of Creativity module involved in-depth study of the nature, history, psychology, and sociology of creativity. I looked into the research on how creativity really works, beyond the popular myths. Some findings surprised me, others confirmed some of my deepest instincts about creativity.

The MA also covered the creative economy, intellectual property law, and creativity in an organisational and business context, which gave me a wide-angle view of the world my clients are operating in, across the various creative industries.

I graduated with a distinction and a lot of ideas. My clients value the fact that I understand their world, and the sometimes counterintuitive insights I bring to their creative process from my studies. (Some of them also love the book recommendations!)

I’ve worked with hundreds of creators like you

Yes, I know you’re a rare type. But I’ve made it my life’s work to provide a specialist coaching service for people like you – high-achieving creative professionals.

I started in the nineties, so at this point I’ve worked with hundreds of talented creatives 1-2-1, and spent many thousands of hours helping them with their creative work. Whatever you’re struggling with, or whatever you want to achieve, chances are I’ve helped many clients with a version of it.

Working with so many people over almost three decades, I have spotted recurring patterns – the unique challenges facing creative professionals, typical ways they get stuck or hold themselves back, and how to help them with these challenges.

Clients are often surprised to find that what they thought was a personal failing was actually just an occupational hazard for people in their line of work. Which makes it easier to stop beating themselves up over it, and get to work on a solution.

You can read about my clients’ experience of working with me on my testimonials page.

Based on my experience as a coach, I’ve written four books for creatives, two of which have been translated into Russian. I also contributed to two international best sellers from 99U, Manage Your Day-to-Day and Maximize Your Potential.

My work has been featured in media including Creative Review, Vogue US, The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal.

So these are four big reasons why I’ve been able to help so many clients over the years, and why I believe it’s likely I can help you. But I don’t expect you to take my word for it…

Would you like to find out for real?

If you are serious about taking your creative work to the next level, the first step is to answer the coaching questions on this page.

Once I review your answers, if I think we may be a good fit for working together, then I will invite you to a coaching session (at no charge or obligation) where we’ll start working on your challenges and goals for real.

Creativity Coaching is such a personal process that the only way to know whether the magic is there for you, is to actually do a session. So you will experience my coaching, and have concrete evidence that I can help you, before deciding whether to work with me.

I have limited coaching places, and there is always demand for them, so when you answer my questions, be sure to dream big, speak from the heart and tell me what you really want to achieve with your creative life!

Important:

I spent 19 years as a psychotherapist, and my background in therapy means I can ‘go deep’ with clients and address the emotional truth of their creative work and their career decisions. But my coaching is not therapy. My coaching clients are high-performing creators who engage me to help them realise their full potential – creative, personal and professional.

I take confidentiality very seriously for every client, and I am used to working with clients who have a public profile, for whom discretion is essential.

Sessions take place via secure video call or in person, with no recording or AI transcription. Confidentiality and other terms of engagement are covered by a written coaching agreement.

I always felt as if Mark was inviting me into a space where I could be a bigger version of myself. He’s very encouraging and he is a great witness to the creative process. Being a creative himself, he really understands that.
Rob Gale, Art Director and Illustrator

Is Creativity Coaching all you are looking for?

Creativity Coaching is one strand of my work with creatives. I also help them with Creative Career Coaching and Creative Leadership Coaching.

Some clients focus on a single strand, but others find that their goals and challenges are intertwined, so it makes sense for us to work on two or three strands together.

So if you think you may need help with your creative work or your role as a leader, have a look at those pages before you answer the questions and apply for a coaching place.