Roz Wound Up

No Excuses

If you are facing a creative brick wall, unsure of how to bring a creative idea to fruition, or simply confused as to how you can make your creative dreams a reality, I think you might need a coach. As luck would have it, one of the best coaches I know, Kim Hines, is offering her time in August and September at a 50% discount!

Kim, who is a playwright, actor, director, and writing teacher, has been a popular mentor in the Twin Cities creative community for almost two decades. Several years ago she became certified as a creativity coach through Eric Maisel's program. But that's just icing on the cake, because she is a working artist who has always seen clearly through the bullshit, and just as clearly seen ways people can get out of their creative sludge.

If you were thinking that a creativity coach or mentor might be what you need to get on with your creative projects you might want to give Kim a call now when you can try it out at a introductory price. (Her regular prices are on a sliding fee scale but with the 1/2 off offer you'll be looking at $12.50-$25 per hour!)

I met Kim in 1998 when I joined a "teaching in the schools" program. She was one of the mentors in that program, but not assigned to me. I pretty much just talked to her all the time anyway, and we became friends. I think this was the best outcome of that program! (And I'm writing this post, not because she asked me to, but because so many people ask me about mentors and coaches. It seems a perfect time to mention Kim's work while her fee special is going on.) 

Kim has great boundaries (she has a creative life and doesn't need to live through yours); and she is no-nonsense. So if you are serious about taking a step forward here is someone with a breadth of experience in a range of areas (career switching, grant work, producing, writing, auditioning, financial overhaul and management, time management—to name just a few areas) who can help you make a serious commitment to your creative life.

Are you ready to stop making excuses and show up? It's pretty simple. And Kim will work with folks long distance via phone and internet—so you don't even have to be in the Twin Cities. How's that for no excuses!

You can call Kim at 612-827-3023 to set up an appointment; or email her at hines55@gmail.com

Profile: Thomas W. Smith

Left: Thom in class looking at student work. He stood well over 6 feet tall.

Thom Smith was a high-school English teacher. He was my teacher when I arrived from California as a new student for my senior year in a suburban Chicago high school. He wasn't my first mentor; he wasn't my last mentor. He did save my life. He's the reason every morning I'm grateful that I've had mentors. He's the reason I started teaching artists residencies in the public schools. He's the reason I've worked in mentor programs. He transformed my understanding of writing as a craft and he transformed the way I keep journals: simply put, he gave me tools to follow my passion.

I almost didn't meet Thom. When I met with a counselor at my new school there were problems with my transcript from Australia. Filtered through two California schools in one and a half years, credits weren't adding up. The counselor, knowing I was college bound, suggested a string of classes which left, in the whole year, one elective. I decided to take "Creative Writing" in the fall semester. That was Thom's class.