Kristina Libby: Building a ‘Brain Renaissance’ Through Art, Storytelling, and Technology

0:06 In my Hut I heard this voice and it said flowers make something with flowers and I bought flowers. I bought like 200 flowers and all the flowers that they had and I went home and I googled what to do with a lot of flowers. I'm so excited to talk with Christina Libby, my collaborator for the cohort, and so much more. Christina is a storyteller, artist, and technology executive based in New York City. She founded the Floral Heart Project, a COVID memorial initiative purchased by 1800 Flowers for which she was awarded a Hero of 2022 and named one of the leading public artists for social Change. Last year she wrote and produced her solo show I Almost Died for This, which won the Best Storytelling Show award at the prestigious United Solo Festival. Christina writes for film and television. With Co creator Tim Cahill she developed the award-winning television script Penny Starts a Cult and the television Show and Indie Pilot Books.

1:18 She is also a fiction novelist whose work is represented by Sterling Lord Literary. As a humor and non fiction writer, she's been published in The New Yorker, Mcsweeney's, the Boston Globe, Salon, Popular Mechanics and Entrepreneur magazine. Christina has served as a fractional chief communications officer for numerous companies and startups. She's originally from Damariscotta, Maine and holds a master's degree in International Security. Christina, welcome to the show. Thank you. It's so good to be here. I'm very excited. I can't believe we've only known each other for less than a year. I I feel like I've known you forever and I want to start by talking about our community, the cohort which you founded and invited me to partner with you on. What was your impetus for starting the Cohort and what are you most looking forward to as we build the community together? I felt lonely.

2:22 And that was the, that was the way I was talking about it for a long time. I felt lonely. I was someone who had both a professional career and was growing a creative career. And I didn't know anyone else who was like me, like I, I didn't know other people. And, and so it felt like, am I the only one doing this? And then I wanted to know how do I do it and, and who else could help me figure it out? And so I started the community, I think because I was feeling a little lonely, but I think also because I didn't, I was just finding the courage to have a dual career at Ampersand lifestyle.

3:07 And it was hard to maintain that courage alone. You know, I needed to see other people doing it. And then I wanted the resources that came from collectively doing things together. You know, it's very hard, I think, to figure out what is this career, this dual career look like? How do I make money? What kind of accountant do I need? How can I scale these things? You know, all of that and, and it's just impossible, I think to do it on your own, or maybe it's not as rewarding or there's no shortcuts when you're doing it on your own. And so I wanted the community to kind of fulfill all of all of those needs.

3:52 And the more and more I think about the community, the less lonely I am because now there's many of us, which is incredible and there's you. And I really feel like I have a a partner in both, someone who is living in the exact same way I'm living, but also someone who believes that kind of rising tides lift all boats. And if, if we're all doing this together, there's so many more opportunities for people. But as I look forward in this sort of new frame, I also think like learning to live like this is the future, you know, learning to have a dual career. I was just on the phone with a woman who said we are ripe for a brain renaissance.

4:42 And I was like, that's what we are trying to do. Like there's this research that I believe in the the core of the cohort, which is the most innovative. Nobel laureates are people who have actively cultivated dual careers and an innovative meaning their research has been cited the most times. And that they both have a scientific career and they have a creative career. And that they focus on both of them with an equal amount of dedication of professionalism. And that they believe that it is the intersection of the creative career with the less creative or the sort of more traditional career that drives innovation.

5:24 And in my experience, personally, my lived experience since really dedicating myself to having dual careers, but also now as someone who is observing all of these people who are having dual careers, I do believe it drives innovation and I do believe it expands your brain in ways that your brain wouldn't otherwise be working. It allows you to make new connections. It sort of pushes your own neural pathways and, and it's about creating a renaissance. It's about driving innovation together. All of us can sort of do this at a very heady level and at a very simple level, sort of for members.

6:08 I want people to make all their creative and their professional dreams come true. And, and I think we do that together. And the more people we bring in and the more opportunities we bring in, the more people really, really have a chance to go out there and like, do everything they're dreaming of. And, and so on all of those levels, sort of both this big idea of like we are helping to fuel the brain renaissance and on the smaller idea of every individual artist who is part of the community, every Ampersand who joins, together we can try and make that career as big and full as it possibly can. Like that excites me so much.

6:50 I love it. Such a great answer. Let's rewind a bit to younger Christina growing up in Maine. When you were a kid, what did you think a career or careers would look like and how did that change over time? I think I wanted to be an actress, but I also played pretend a lot with my sister Anna. And I really wanted to be queen of the world. Like that was always the like pretend game I would play was that I was queen of the world and my sister would be a mom. And I think in that framing, like I, I was always very focused on like, I wanted to have a job, like I wanted to have a career. And I think what changed in me is that like my sister was became the creative one.

7:47 Like she decided, but she was like 11 that she wanted to be an interior designer. And I think because of that, we're only 18 months apart. There's six siblings. But she and I are really like, you know, when you grow up that close to someone in age, a lot of who you are is like, who they aren't, you know, or if they're going to do that, you're going to do this other thing. And so I think I just became the more like serious. Like I was like, oh, I'm going to do just like a more serious career and I focused a lot on that. But even, I mean, it's very funny now to be part of this ampersand community, to have have started and now Co found an ampersand community.

8:38 It's even when I got my master, my undergrad degree, I got an English degree and an International Development studies degree, you know, and so I, I even then have this sort of, well, maybe I could be a creative writer and I could also be an ambassador or work for the UN or something, you know, and I think a little bit hedging, hedging my bets. And I even got, I almost got a third degree in religious studies. Like, you know, I was, I think I've always had this bifurcation. And then I got a master's degree and focused on International Security because I thought that's the right, like there's a job there I'll work for like the NSA or the CIA or something like that. And then very funnily, I went to get those jobs and I was told that I didn't have the personality for them that I like didn't have the personality to be a government employee. And and then I was like a bit lost for a while, but I think I have always, I think, you know, I grew up, we were not a wealthy family knowing I needed to work, being very, I think clear on the fact that like I wanted to have a healthy financial career lifestyle.

10:12 I want, I wanted wealth and that a creative curtain. It didn't offer any promise of wealth, you know, And so I think I went more and more and more serious. But I also believe if that is a part of who I am, like I'm interested in serious global geopolitical issues. I am interested in the hard, dark experiences of being human. And also I want to like, write ROM com podcasts, you know, like it's a totality of my human. And so I think the career focus, I think weaved and wobbled. But I think even when I went to college, I was like, like, I'm never going to be satisfied if I just choose one thing. I think that comes up so much on this podcast and I, I think so many people have come on and said, you know, I was a double major in college and I was, I was as well music and product design.

11:20 So I think it's a very, very common theme. And you, you call yourself a storyteller in both a corporate and creative frame, and you're very much a writer. Having worked in this more kind of serious corporate global world, and also in the world of ROM coms and television and fiction, what do you think these worlds can learn from each other? I think we are so inclined to believe that we live in like a facts based world or that, you know, their research is what's is what people want to hear and see. And like, I was just having this meeting with someone from the World Economic Forum yesterday and they were wanting to put out this communications research and, and leading with this idea of like evidence based communication, which is the right thing to believe.

12:23 Like it is right to believe that we want like evidence based research to inform us about what to do next. And yeah, I would argue that today's America proves to us that like, emotionally based storytelling is the thing that sways great amounts of people. And it's good if that emotional based storytelling has fact underneath because you're going to get more and more people. But like, we are humans. We are emotional creatures to our detriment, but also to our advantage. And like, we want to connect emotionally with people. And that that is something that I see in all of those realms that I think also in this moment of time where like AI is becoming such a dominant force in our lives, I think we are forgetting that part of what makes the experience of living wonderful is other human beings.

13:27 Absolutely. And humans need stories. We understand things through stories about other humans, and we're seeking relationships and community and belonging. I want to talk about the Floral Heart project, which was your public art series. It was cited as the catalyst for the introduction of COVID-19 memorial legislation in the US Congress. So pretty big deal. Thinking back to this project, what are you most proud of? On one level, I am so proud of the community that came together to help people grieve. Like grief is something that is so poorly understood in America. We have so few practices for it.

14:19 And the people came together and they like made these floral hearts and they laid them and they raised money and they organized to get media out there and community out there. Like it's incredible. And they all volunteered, you know, And that's like a wonderful thing of people saying to each other, I'm so sorry you're hurt. I'm gonna, I'm just gonna be there for you. I'm gonna make a memorial for who you lost. I'm gonna show up for you. I'm gonna be there for you. I don't think we do enough of that in general, period.

15:01 And we make no space for other people's grief in America like it is. You could have lost your father. And the next day, you're supposed to be at work, you know, like, we just don't make space. And I think that's one of the largest problems with our country is that we don't grieve the things we have lost communally and collectively. And so we just bury that pain and it just sticks around and it festers and it continues to eat at us. And and that, I think is the work we have to do if we want to really change the society we're part of. I know on the other vessel, it was the first time that I like really became an artist, you know, and I am proud of that experience.

15:57 What happened was I was really upset by the pandemic. I knew it was going to be a problem. And I, I knew it was going to be a problem that we were grieving and I didn't know what to do about it. Like I, I felt all of these feelings and I was walking around, you know, walking the dog is the only thing you're allowed to do in the pandemic. And I kept walking by this grocery store and I had this flowers outside, just like, you know, as they do in New York. There's like a whole outside section itself, laurels. And I just had this no wait in my Hut. I heard this voice and it said flowers make something with flowers.

16:40 And I bought flowers. I bought like 200 flowers and all the flowers that they had. And I went home and I googled what to do with a lot of flowers. And this, this like YouTube popped up YouTube video that said you can make a Garland. And I was like, oh, OK, I can do that. And and I sat there and I cut all of these heads off the flowers and I started to weave them together. And I really thought about all the people we had lost and the things I had lost in the moment we had been through. And it, I cried and it was a really powerful moment of sort of taking my feelings and putting them into something else.

17:29 And I've been doing a lot of painting, but I've never done anything like this. And then I had this huge garment, 6-8 feet long and I was like, what did you, what do I do with that? And I was like, it always made me feel good to give people flowers and that maybe it would make people feel good to receive them somehow. And so I took them and I left my house and I had on like a hat and sunglasses. And I had a number for a lawyer because I didn't know if what I was doing was illegal. And I brought the flowers down by the waterfront in Brooklyn and I laid them down and I put them into a heart and I ran away like I was, I was like, oh, my God, I'm going to be like arrested because I like, didn't know.

18:10 I felt like public defacement. And then I got maybe 50 feet away and something inside of me said stop. They stopped. And they turned around and looked And I watched the runner run by, stopped, turned back. And he knelt down by the hearts and he prayed and I started to cry because I really felt like, oh, I have connected with this other person. Like I have done this job of being an artist. Like I heard I wanted to do something. I wanted to connect with people. I followed my intuition. I made the thing, I put it out there and and then something to something else.

18:56 And so I started doing it more and more and, and that's what I mean by being an artist like that. I had the inclination and I listened and I did it and it mattered and it kept growing and growing and growing and then did make this really big impact and we like all got to grieve together. We had this, you know, national it because we did a national floral heart laying and there's so much imagery across the country. It showed that there was interest in creating a memorial so they could introduce the legislation. And no one was really taking a risk as a political figure because there was such a huge delegation of people behind them. And that was when I realized that like, I could be more than I had been before.

19:54 Let's take a short break and reflect on this question. When have you felt the call and followed your intuition? Are you and Ampersand looking for community inspiration and resources? Come join us in the cohort where we help you grow and scale your creative and professional aspirations. If you're looking for more dedicated support, Ioffer executive coaching for business leaders, people managers, creatives and of course, ampersands. Find out more about the cohort and one-on-one coaching at jessica1.com.

20:35 Now back to the show. Last year you wrote, performed, and produced your one woman solo show titled I Almost Died For This. What prompted you to go all in on this story at this point in your life? I had a traumatic brain injury six years ago that I got in part that what the show really talks about is in part I got this traumatic brain injury because I had these views of love and relationship that were sort of so rooted in patriarchal society. And which is a word that I only use once in the entire show, but is sort of the framing and the basis for for the show. And I have tried to tell the story about my brain injury. I knew there was a story in the brain injury, right? Like I sort of knew it in the same sense of like of not necessarily a calling in that way, but in like, this is a story.

21:44 This is like a great story. Like I knew the story framing so deeply in my body that I knew it was there. And I tried to write his memoir and it could really stick the ending. Like I just like couldn't figure out the landing. And I kept turning on it and turning on it. And I think what I knew deeply was that I couldn't get to the next point in my life without expressing this story that is inherent to the show. And that there was something in this story that was so wrong inside of me. Like there was something in my world view in there was just something in in me that I like, couldn't figure out that was driving so many of my actions.

22:34 And I was like, I have to, it has to get out of me. And a friend was like, maybe she'll consider a one woman show. And I was like, well, I'm not really a performer. Like I'm not really looking for like that career step. And she said, well, go to this class, the sky map Overman does this class called Go solo. And she was like, I've taken the class and that's incredible. So I was like, sure, OK, whatever. So I took the class and it was incredible. It was incredible because so much of it was about helping you understand your own internal story and how you work and all of that. So I started to take another class and I think I was still trying to figure out if there was something there in that story.

23:18 You have to tell your stories in the art forms which are inherent to who you are. And I had tried to paint this experience and write this experience and just try and get it out of my body. And I really had a moment of realizing, like, I'm a story teller. Like the teller part of it is so important and that I needed to tell a story and I needed an audience of people to listen. Like I, I needed that format. And then I went to the Edinburgh Fringe festival and I got to be a listener and I got to realize this huge power in listening and receiving stories and that it really is this like very symbiotic experience of being like a storyteller and a story listener.

24:15 And, and for years I had been saying, I want to be in conversation with people. And it wasn't until I got till I went to French. So I had worked on this show till I realized, Oh, this is in like this is the space and the frame and the way you are in conversation with someone. And then very Long story short, and then I actually did it and, and like getting the story out of my body and giving it to other people. The message of it, the idea of it, you know, lives outside my body like I am I, I both fully understand myself. I understand the system in which I operate. I understand all of the choices that I made now, and also now I no longer hold the story or the experiences. And so that was all very important. And I also think important in the fact of my own artistic growth to be able to leave those core defining narratives behind, a lot of which had to do with, you know, I mean, I was so willing to give up my whole life in service of a man, you know, and like a man who may or may not have deserved that because that's what I was told would give me a feeling of fullness, a feeling of completeness, like a feeling of belonging. And it was only by doing the show and learning to reject that idea that I think I am able to step into more and more of more and more artistic opportunities, but also more and more professional opportunities and sort of becoming a different person and weaving a different

25:49 kind of existence in the world. Amazing, amazing. I know that after your traumatic brain injury, painting was one of the ways that you were able to really get through a very challenging time. What advice do you have for people who maybe have at some point had art in their lives and now are looking to bring it back or are looking for some other creative outlet to get started or to to get more deeply into? I mean, you have gone into the, you know, the solar show and the floral heart project, and these are all creative, but they were pretty new art forms for you. Oh.

26:40 Yeah, I mean, I'm still like a baby artist. I I took a weaving like 3 weeks ago. I was like, I think I want to weave and. And now I'm taking weaving classes, but my only advice is to listen Before my traumatic brain injury, I didn't remember this, but so I had the TBI and I had this much like the floral heart project, just like a knowing like a like in something inside my brain was like go get paints, buy paints. I never painted like I it's like watercolor when I was like 7 right? But it was, I never had a painting practice, but my best friend Ashley said you told me you were interested in painting 5 or 6 months ago and you never took a painting class. And I think about that as how I didn't listen to that desire or that inclination.

27:33 And I wonder if I had, if painting was the thing that would have allowed me to slow down enough to have enough reflection that I wouldn't have ended up in this situation where I got right. Like I ended up getting a brain injury because what it did for me is that I'm necessity required me to slow down. But I really opened up my ways of thinking and my brain and, and I, I mean, I talk to people all the time, people who are interested in the cohort or people who you are sort of exploring this. And everyone says, oh boy, I've always thought maybe I'd be interested in dot dot dot dot dot.

28:15 And everyone has something. Yes. Most of us just never listen to it, right. And so it's, I think it is just try. There's no requirement. You stick to it. I mean, we took really intensive sculpting classes for like a year and a half. I just gave up. I didn't give up on it, but I just, I got out of sculpting what I needed to get, yes. And then I moved on and like, I'm taking weaving lessons now. Am I going to be a professional Weaver? I have no idea. But I'm also OK with maybe there's just something I need to learn through weaving. I have no idea what it is, but if I do it for long enough, eventually I'm going to learn something, you know, like, and that's, that's worth the time and effort. Yeah, so as you know, the goal of this podcast is to Co create the Ampersand Manifesto principles for leading a multi passionate life.

29:12 What are some of the top principles that you live by? Speak out novelty listen when you hear the call. And that call could be a tiny little interest to go try weaving class. Or it could be buy flowers, make the thing, seek out others who validate and justify this way of living. Be courageous, but know that you don't have to be courageous alone, that, you know, like it is a different way of living, but so many of us are architecting this lifestyle and I truly believe we are on the bleeding edge of how everyone is going to be living.

30:05 Like we are Trail Blazers and that's OK. You know, like someone recently said to me, it's really OK to have no idea where you're going because it means you're blazing the trail. And if you knew where you were going, you would just be repeating what someone else was doing. And I think there's a real power in that of allowing yourself to. Be a trailblazer, Christina. It has been so wonderful talking with you. I am honored to be a trailblazer with you folks. You can check out Christina's work at christinalibby.com and follow her on Instagram at Christina M Libby and at Light V Light. We'll link to these in the show notes. If you liked this show, share it with your friends and fellow ampersands, and make sure to hit the follow button to be notified when new episodes drop.

31:05 It would mean the world to us if you took two minutes to rate and review the show. Just go to the main show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and look for the stars. I had a chance to listen back to Christina's interview and I came away with these key takeaways. One, let's talk about this idea of a brain renaissance. I am so jazzed to explore this more. The last time we had a renaissance, it started in Florence after the Middle Ages and spanned from the 14th century to the 17th century, a long time. This renaissance emphasized human potential, reason, and the study of the humanities and arts. Thinking about where we are now in the course of human history, after the industrial age, the digitization of almost everything, and the proliferation of AI, it's a valid question to ask.

32:05 What is the best use of our human brains? How can connecting across fields banned our brains in new ways? What would a renaissance look like today? Two, across so many fields, both corporate and creative. Christina talked about evoking emotion. Whether it's corporate communications or the Fine Arts, at the core, humans connect through emotion. I've been thinking about this a lot. In my own work as an executive coach. In deep partnership with my clients, I've witnessed all sorts of emotion, and as a singer, I know I've moved people to tears. Unlocking emotion in others is sometimes seen as a rare thing. But why?

32:56 We are all human, and emotions are universal. In fact, they're what make us human. 3. I loved the back story of Christina's solo show and how it took a while for her to find the right art form to tell this story. She tried painting it. She tried writing a memoir, but those weren't the right mediums. The story needed to be told with live listeners. I resonated with this. Before starting this podcast, I had lived with this idea of telling stories about ampersands for almost 20 years. But the medium never felt quite right. Sometimes when you find alignment with the subject matter, the medium, and the people involved, that's when a project can move quickly and get out into the world. It just takes a little patience.

33:55 Like, I'm interested in serious global geopolitical issues. I am interested in the hard dark experiences of being human and also I want to like write ROM podcast, you know?