Detours are Destiny: Chasing Dreams, Secret Art, and Approaching Business with Creativity with Nishant Jain (The Sneaky Artist)
Release Date: 10/30/2025
Tax and Money Conversations for Sensitive Creatives with Hannah Cole of Sunlight Tax
The Create! Podcast
Welcome back to the show! We are thrilled to host the incredible Hannah Cole of Sunlight Tax to talk about her new book, Taxes for Humans: A Simple Guide to the Taxes That Rule Your Life. This episode is must listen material for artists, curators, freelancers, and gallery professionals who want a kinder, clearer way to deal with money and taxes. Hannah is an exhibiting artist turned tax professional. She shares the personal story of being dismissed by an accountant and how that experience inspired her to build a more humane, accessible approach to taxes for creatives. If you have ever felt...
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Finding Harmony, Gratitude, and Bringing Art into Communities with Artist Leslie Braginsky
The Create! Podcast
We’re celebrating one million downloads! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for tuning in, sharing the show, and leaving us love on iTunes. I’m so grateful to be able to share this program with you and our creative community. In this episode of Create! Podcast, host Ekaterina Popova sits down with Colombian artist and designer Leslie Braginsky to talk about gratitude, harmony, and the beauty of bringing art into communities. Leslie shares her inspiring journey from Colombia to the U.S., how gratitude shaped her perspective as an artist and mother, and how she began creating inclusive,...
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Learning to Trust Your Creativity and Falling in Love with Your Art with Carrie Schmitt
The Create! Podcast
Inspiring episode of The Create Podcast, host Ekaterina (Kat) Popova sits down with artist, author, and creativity coach Carrie Schmitt to explore what it means to fall in love with your creativity again — to trust it, surrender to it, and let it lead you toward healing and joy. Carrie shares her powerful story of transformation, from facing a life-threatening illness to rediscovering painting as a divine and loving force that carried her through darkness and back into light. Together, Kat and Carrie discuss creativity as a sacred relationship — one rooted in devotion, acceptance, and...
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Detours are Destiny: Chasing Dreams, Secret Art, and Approaching Business with Creativity with Nishant Jain (The Sneaky Artist)
The Create! Podcast
Sometimes the most meaningful parts of our creative journey are the detours — the moments when we think we’ve failed or lost our way, only to realize we’ve discovered something new. Like a labyrinth, life guides us toward the next best thing, often better than we could have imagined. In this episode, host Ekaterina (Kat) Popova sits down with Nishant Jain, also known as The Sneaky Artist, to talk about curiosity, permission, and finding beauty in the everyday. Nishant shares how writer’s block led him to a thriving art practice, how he built a loyal global community through Substack,...
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Sneaky Ways Your Ego is Sabotaging Your Growth (and How to Shift It) + Q&A with Kat
The Create! Podcast
Hello, beautiful souls. Welcome back to The Create! Podcast with me, your host, Kat. In today’s episode, I’m diving into a topic that’s been deeply present in my own creative journey — the sneaky ways our ego can sabotage our growth and how to shift it. Our ego often shows up in disguise: through comparison, fear, doubt, or even the desire to “grow too fast.” It’s that part of us that tells us we need a certain number to feel safe or successful, that we “should be further ahead,” or that our current progress isn’t enough. I’ll share how these patterns have shown up in my...
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How to Build Unshakable Belief in Yourself and a Healthy Money Mindset with Emily Williams
The Create! Podcast
In this episode, host Ekaterina Popova talks with coach and author Emily Williams, founder of I Heart My Life and creator of the I Heart Money Method. Emily shares how belief fuels action, how to move through comparison and setbacks, and how simple micro upgrades can shift your relationship with abundance. This is a grounded conversation for artists and creative entrepreneurs who want growth without burnout. 💡 What You’ll Learn How to generate belief before results Practical ways to move through fear, doubt, and comparison Micro upgrades that shift money mindset without overspending...
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Facing the Haunted House of Our Finances: How to Release the Ghosts Holding Creatives Back from Success and Abundance with Kat
The Create! Podcast
Hello, beautiful friends. It’s spooky season, with cold mornings, hot coffee, and time to face the real ghosts that haunt artists and creative entrepreneurs: scarcity, unworthiness, dabbling, and fear of expansion. In this episode, we walk room by room through the haunted house of money. Kat shares practical tools, mindset reframes, and nervous system rituals to help you release fear, build self-trust, and transform your financial story into fertile ground for growth. Nothing is wasted. Even past mistakes can become compost for future abundance. In This Episode The ghost of scarcity and...
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Meet Your Shadow: How to Go Deeper in Your Creative Practice with Chelsey Pippin Mizzi
The Create! Podcast
In this week’s episode, Kat is joined by Chelsey Pippin Mizzi, author of The Shadow Path, to explore how shadow work can deepen your creative process and bring more honesty and depth into your art. Together, they discuss how the parts of ourselves we often avoid might hold the key to the work we’re truly meant to make. Discover gentle, practical ways to meet your shadow through tarot, dream journaling, and ritual—and learn how to see this work as a safe retreat rather than a confrontation. 🌒 Highlights What shadow work is and what it isn’t How to meet and name your shadow...
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Being a Magic Maker: Pam Grossman on Magic, Creativity, and the Enchanted Path of Art
The Create! Podcast
Welcome back to the Create Podcast. Just in time for the fall season, I am joined by Pam Grossman, a writer, curator, teacher, and practicing witch whose work beautifully bridges creativity, culture, and magic. Pam is the host of The Witch Wave podcast (called “the Terry Gross of witches” by Vulture), the author of Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power, and co-editor of Taschen’s Witchcraft volume in the Library of Esoterica series. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, TIME, and more. She has also organized exhibitions such as Language of the...
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The 2025 Creator Stack for Artists: What's Working to Grow Business, How to Use Time Wisely, and Not Burn Out While Showing the F Up
The Create! Podcast
In this episode, I (host Ekaterina Popova) dive into what I call The 2025 Creator Stack for Artists. These are the four simple tools you need to build trust, grow your audience, and create consistent income without burning out. We are in what I call a trust recession. Algorithms keep changing, AI noise is everywhere, and collectors are more selective than ever. That does not mean your art business has to suffer. I am sharing what has been working for me this year, the lessons I have learned, and how you can lean into connection, trust, and real growth. 🎉 Special Announcement Create!...
info_outlineSometimes the most meaningful parts of our creative journey are the detours — the moments when we think we’ve failed or lost our way, only to realize we’ve discovered something new. Like a labyrinth, life guides us toward the next best thing, often better than we could have imagined.
In this episode, host Ekaterina (Kat) Popova sits down with Nishant Jain, also known as The Sneaky Artist, to talk about curiosity, permission, and finding beauty in the everyday. Nishant shares how writer’s block led him to a thriving art practice, how he built a loyal global community through Substack, and why keeping secrets and creating privately can reignite your passion.
If you’ve ever questioned your creative direction or struggled to share your art meaningfully in the digital age, this conversation will remind you that detours are destiny — and that creativity doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful.
🖋️ About the Guest
Nishant Jain is an artist, writer, and podcaster known as The Sneaky Artist. He sketches people and places in public spaces, capturing the quiet poetry of daily life. A former engineer and scientist, Nishant left academia to pursue storytelling full-time. His new book, Make Sneaky Art, invites readers to build a joyful sketchbook habit rooted in curiosity and play.
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Book Tour → The (Sneaky) Book Tour
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Buy the Book → Make Sneaky Art
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Follow Nishant → SneakyArt Substack
✨ Episode Highlights
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How creative detours become the path to purpose
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Reframing failure through curiosity and exploration
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Balancing art-making with building a creative business
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Why keeping a “secret sketchbook” protects your voice
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Building authentic connection through storytelling
Thank you to Our Sponsor
Welcome to the Jungle — Josh Brown’s immersive exhibition — opens in New York City this November.
For two days only, canvases pulse with color, hidden gazes peek from the leaves, and the city transforms into something wild, alive, and untamed.
📍 147 Broome St, NYC
🗓️ November 14–16
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💖 About the Host
Ekaterina Popova is an artist, certified master coach, and founder of Create! Magazine and Create U. Through her podcast and platforms, she helps artists and visionaries build joyful, sustainable careers on their own terms.
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Explore: createmagazine.co
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Learn: www.createu.co
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Follow: @katerinaspopova @createmagazine