Hey, there!
Hi, I’m Christina.
I help creatives get unstuck, choose what matters now, and move the work they care about into the world.
When I decided to create Water in Her Tender Leaves, my debut photopoetry book, there was one small problem:
I had absolutely no idea how to do it.
I thought I'd start with the poetry. After all, I was already a writer and poet.
Except I didn't.
I picked up a camera instead.
Photography was completely new to me. I had no experience with portrait photography, which turned out to be wonderfully freeing because I also had very few expectations about what I was supposed to do.
So I gave myself some boundaries. Black and white. Portraits. Keep it simple.
Then I started interviewing women, something I already knew how to do. I took their portraits. I listened to their stories.
And eventually, I wrote poems from them.
Notice I said eventually.
The poetry did NOT pour effortlessly from my soul while I sat beside a window sipping coffee and looking poetically into the distance.
I had to take several weekends away to get those poems written.
But the curiosity and ease I'd found in photography gave me a way into the larger project. One step informed another. The work became more surprising and complex than I could have planned at the beginning.
And eventually, that project I didn't know how to start became a book and a gallery exhibition.
I wonder if you can relate.
You have the idea. You may even have seven.
There's something you want to make.
A book. A body of art. A business. A ministry. A creative project you can't quite explain yet but can't seem to shake either.
Or maybe you have so many ideas that choosing one feels mildly torturous.
You care about story, good writing, and the creative arts. You love Jesus. You want the work you make to mean something.
But knowing that doesn't necessarily tell you what to do on Tuesday morning.
Where do you start? Which idea do you choose? And how do you break this enormous thing into something you can actually do?
Friend, I know this place.
I've spent more than 40 years making things, and I still have more ideas than I have hours to make them.
I've been overwhelmed by big projects. I've struggled to focus when five other fascinating things were waving at me from across the room. And I've absolutely put off meaningful creative work because something else offered a much faster reward.
(Hello, internet.)
You don't have to know how to do the whole thing to know where to begin.
Sometimes we make creativity much harder by trying to solve the entire project before we've taken the first step.
Instead, I like to ask:
Where is the life?
What's making you curious? What part of the project feels lighter? Where do you notice energy rather than dread?
That doesn't mean creative work will always feel easy. (Remember those poetry weekends?)
Sometimes the work is plain old work.
But curiosity and ease can give us an entrance.
And once we're inside, we can figure out what comes next.
That’s a lot of what we do in creative coaching.
We start with what’s alive.
What are you drawn toward right now? What keeps resurfacing? Where do you notice curiosity, energy, or even a little lightness?
We pay attention to those clues because sometimes the easiest way into a big creative project is through the part that makes you want to begin.
We get honest about your capacity.
Creatives can be wildly optimistic about how much we can accomplish.
We imagine writing the book, starting the podcast, making the art, growing the business, being present to the people we love, and perhaps growing heirloom tomatoes before October.
Meanwhile, we are tired.
So we make a plan for your actual life. Not the life of Imaginary You, who apparently has unlimited energy and no laundry.
We choose what gets your attention now.
Choosing one project doesn't mean giving up on all the others.
Sometimes we need to put a good idea somewhere safe and say, I see you. You're good. And I'm not tending you right now.
A “not now” isn't necessarily a “never.”
Together, we'll discern what deserves your attention in this season, break it into doable steps, and help you keep moving.
Not perfectly.
But faithfully.
My creative life has rarely fit neatly into one box.
For more than 40 years, I've been involved in the arts, from music and theater to visual art, writing, poetry, and photography. Today, I work primarily as a poet, writer, photographer, and creative coach.
And all those years of making have taught me something: creative work asks for more than talent. It asks us to begin before we know exactly what we're doing, stay curious when things don't go as planned, and keep showing up when the work gets hard.
I've also spent more than 25 years mentoring, coaching, teaching, and encouraging creatives in ministry, professional, entrepreneurial, and community settings.
So yes, I can help you figure out what to do next.
But I'm also interested in the person making the thing.
Because the two aren't separate.
Because I’ve spent a lifetime making things, too.
40+ YEARS
making across creative disciplines25+ YEARS
mentoring, coaching & encouraging creativesDOCTORAL STUDENT
Leadership + Spiritual FormationMASTER’S DEGREE
Christianity + the ArtsLooking for the official version? Read my professional bio →
I believe the work is forming you, too.
I don't believe creativity is only about getting the thing made.
The book matters. The art matters. The idea you can't stop thinking about matters.
But so does who you're becoming while you make it.
My Christian faith deeply informs the way I coach through gentleness, curiosity, compassion, and attention. Sometimes that includes prayer or spiritual practices. Sometimes it means wondering together where God might be present in the creative process.
We make the space fit the person.
Because I'm not trying to turn you into a productivity machine.
I want to help you make meaningful progress on work that matters to you while becoming more fully yourself and more deeply connected to God and others.
Creativity isn't only about making things.
It's also one of the ways we learn to pay attention.
To listen.
To risk.
To tell the truth.
To be seen and known.
And to offer something of ourselves to the world.
Now for the important stuff...
I live with my family in an old farmhouse near Kansas City. My husband and I have two squirrely young adults who are amazing, a flock of chickens, and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Snoop, who is my best buddy and has never once questioned my career choices.
I love digging in my garden, yoga, paddleboarding, spy novels, artsy films, stationery shops, fancy eraseable pens, and coffee.
And coffee shops.
Obviously.
My husband and I also love traveling across the country in our airplane, and I'm nearly always thinking about where I'd like to go next.
I'm not a particularly good decorator for an artist. I blame my preference for experiences over stuff.
Beautiful new lamp or a trip somewhere I've never been?
Pack the bag.
What kind of creative leader are you?
Maybe you're ready to make something but aren't sure where to begin.
Maybe you're trying to figure out which of your many ideas deserves your attention.
Or maybe you're curious about how you're naturally wired to create, connect, and lead.
I've made something for you.
Take the free Creative Leader Quiz to discover your creative leadership style and get a little more insight into the way you approach your creative life.
Because you don't need to have everything figured out before you begin.
Sometimes you need enough light for the next step.