Vibrant Visionaries is a warm, funny, Inclusive, playful, soothing, insightful and inspiring podcast produced and hosted be me, Heidi Bennett
This project was born out of my absolute LOVE of listening to, guesting on, sharing and producing podcasts. I started my love affair with podcasts when my husband played me an episode of Doug Loves Movies back in 2012. Soon my daily companions where these hilarious improvisors, performers and creators who shared their real life experiences through this incredibly intimate new medium.
My favorite podcasts are funny, insightful, candid conversations about comedy, film, tv and the creative process in general.
At the top of my queue: HDTGM, Stop Podcasting Yourself, The X-Files Files, Throwing Shade, Doug Loves Movies,The Pod F Tompkast, Dead Authors, Who Charted, You Made it Weird, Star Wars Minute and later on - the Gilmore Guys, Who Shot Ya’, Switchblade Sisters, the Director’s Cut, Radaptations, the Thing Minute, Clonecast, the Better Call Saul Insider, the Good Place - the Podcast and the Evolution of Horror to name just a few.
After co-hosting two podcasts in the movies by minutes genre - Spinal Tap Minute and Cabin Minute Cast I decided it was time to launch my own passion project - to share behind-the-scenes stories about living and thriving as a multi-creative professional through candid conversation with some of the most fascinating and innovative creators and performers in film, art, design, comedy and music! So, in July of 2018 Vibrant Visionaries was born.
As the podcast has progressed the most well-received episodes are those that explore the benefits of self-kindness and cultivating a compassion practice for success and longevity as a self-employed creative. As a Coach for Professional Creatives I love sharing with my guests and listeners ways to prevent burnout and complete your creative projects.
Sprinkled through-out shows, my guests and I share ways to experiment with mindfulness and create habits that help you avoid burnout and live rich, deeply satisfying and happy lives.
Here are a couple of favorites to get you started:
Skinner is a painter / writer / actor / animator and has collaborated with a multitude of amazing creators including Adult Swim, Mastodon and High on Fire. He drops ALL the truth bombs and shares LOADS of ideas on how to thrive as a self employed creative during our hang time at my home studio in Oakland.
Production Designer Martin Whist (Super 8, The Cabin in the Woods) shares a ton of fun and fascinating details behind the making of Drew Goddard’s Bad Times at the El Royale! It was a dream come true to talk with Martin about one of my favorite parts of the film making process.
Oakland raised multi-creative D’arby Rose shares her experience learning to play music from riot grrrl icons at Rock Camp for Girls as a young woman. We discuss her move to LA to pursue film making and the process behind designing a women’s creative collective that is feminist, inclusive, inter-sectional, supportive and fun!
Author, Actor, Comedian and Podcaster DC Pierson shares his love of cooking and entertaining guests at home as evidenced in his delightful new podcast – Stay For Dinner. On this episode of Vibrant Visionaries we discuss the benefits of a growth mindset when tackling new creative projects and how to keep an open mind when your friend wants to play you his Journey albums.
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Partner with me as your coach or podcast creative consultant at HeidiBennett.com
Vibrant Visionaries is a sanctuary for Creative Professionals seeking inspiration, community, understanding, inclusion and a judgment-free place to come as you are and celebrate your genius while listening to the real life challenges and success stories of people like you!
Notes on my podcasting style:
I painstakingly edit each episode eliminating mouth smacking, coughs, excessive "ums" and "like, ya' knows" while keeping the conversation feeling natural and relevant.
Well-balanced sound editing is a high value of mine and although I enjoy the occasional dog snore or cat meow I take great pride in my ability to craft a thoughtfully edited experience for my listeners.
I book guests of varied race, ethnicity, gender, religion, economic background, sexual orientation, age, physical and mental abilities.
What they have in common is that they’re funny, open, experimental, curious, optimistic, compassionate and willing to share their life experiences, vulnerabilities and lessons learned as they blaze their non-linear path to success.
I've spoken with performers and creators from Spain, Argentina, Canada, Australia, California and beyond - who identify as q***r, bi-racial, non-binary, men, women, millennial, gen-X, not to mention self-proclaimed weirdos!
What you'll experience listening to Vibrant Visionaries is joy, celebration and the occasional f-bomb. I love creating a supportive community, devoid of snark and sarcasm, overflowing with laughter, generosity of spirit and a sense that we're all on this wild, wonderful, sometimes scary and oftentimes absurd ride together so let's share our stories and learn from each other. We are better together.
