The Fire Horse Begins

In this first episode of The Keys with Paige Williams, we begin with a foundational question: What would change if you stopped performing and started leading from your whole self?

Paige shares the origin of Creative Leadership, the story behind The Twelve Creative Keys, and why most leaders are not struggling with strategy but with identity. This episode explores performance culture, threshold seasons, and what it takes to lead without self abandonment.

If you are navigating reinvention, courage, burnout, visibility, or a quiet internal shift you can no longer ignore, this conversation is for you.

Creative Leadership is what happens when a leader is all of themselves. Let’s begin. 🗝

Hosted by Paige Williams
Executive coach. Transformational guide. Author of The Twelve Creative Keys.

Call or text a question: 801-THE-KEYS, 1-801-843-5397
Learn more at https://www.paigewilliams.co

Join our free Leadership Circle: https://www.skool.com/creativeleadership/about

 Connect on LinkedIn and Instagram @paigewilliamscreates

Creative Leadership begins within. Clarity follows willingness.

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to the first episode of The Keys with Paige Williams. Take two. I just did this whole thing and my microphone wasn't working. So hopefully it is now. And this is a total experiment. And so of course stuff happens. But that's the deal with firehorse energy. You just go anyway and see what happens. So this is the keys with Paige Williams. I have wanted to create this space for a while. Not for performance, not for noise, but for truth. This is a live show about creative leadership and living. And creative leadership is what happens when a leader is all of themselves. Most of us were taught to lead through control, through pressure, through performance. But performance is exhausting and eventually it costs us parts of ourselves. This show is about something different. It is about detecting the story that you are leading from, exposing the cost of that story, and choosing a more generative one. If you're navigating growth, reinvention, a threshold moment, or the quiet knowing that something in your life no longer fits, you are in the right place. This is a call-in show. So, you can actually call in and leave a question. And at some point when I figure out the technology, we'll be able to have a conversation through the YouTube live. But you can call 1801 the keys. That's 18018435397. Nothing is off limits if it's real and it's authentic. And tonight we begin with one simple question. What would change in your life if you stopped performing and start inhabiting your full self? Before we go further, let me tell you about why I'm holding this space. I built and led a company from the ground up. I raised capital. I led teams. I negotiated acquisitions. I almost sold it. I lost deals the day that they were supposed to close and ultimately I closed the company just recently. I know performance culture from the inside and I know what it costs. I am now an executive transformational coach. I'm a speaker and I'm creator of the 12 creative keys. I developed this framework during what I call the hallway season. A period when everything I built was changing and I had to decide who I was without the title or with a new title. And here's what I discovered. Most leaders are not struggling with strategy. They are struggling with identity. They are leading from a story that they've never examined. My work is helping leaders to detect that story to expose its cost and author a better one so that they can lead but without self-abandonment. I do not teach theory. I teach from lived experience. And this is the show where we practice that work in real time. I'm also an author of the Amazon bestselling book, The 12 Creative Keys. I wrote it during one of the most uncertain seasons of my life. While acquisition talks were happening, while deals were falling apart, while I was confronting who I was without performance, and who I was becoming outside of my tech company. The 12 creative keys are 12 capacities that help you move through change without abandoning yourself. And we'll go through those. They're not personality traits. They are leadership competencies. The book became a map. The coaching became the practice. And this is the laboratory, this show. So here we are experimenting. Take two. And the real question is not how do I win? How do you win? The question is how do I lead without losing myself? Today also of course marks the beginning of the year of the firehorse. The horse represents momentum. The horse represents forward movement, not chaos, not frenzy. Self-led movement. Fire represents clarity, visibility, courage. The firehorse year is not about waiting for permission. It's about deciding and doing. Deciding what is true today. What is true now? Deciding what no longer fits. Deciding who you are willing to become. Launching this show today is my big firehorse move. So, I'll ask you two questions. Ready? Here we go. If this were your year of clean forward motion, what would you stop tolerating? I'll ask you again. If this were your year of clean, forward motion, what would you stop tolerating? Okay, here's the second question. What would you finally say yes to? If fear were not a factor, what would you say yes to? Creative leadership is embodied and embodiment requires momentum. So let me take you through the 12 creative keys. Okay. So I started off in life uh professional life as a social worker and then I went to graduate school and got an MFA in film making and an MA in theater. And once I was done with film make uh with my filmmaking degree I thought well what am I going to do now? And so I decided to become a documentary filmmaker and tell a story about my family. Um my family's from Mississippi. I was gay. My parents started nextgay ministry because they didn't want people to be gay because of Jesus. And I thought, "Wow, what a story. I can start where my story begins." And so I thought, "Okay, that's a great idea, but how am I going to get the money to make the movie?" So this was in 2006, I believe. It was um before YouTube was bought by Google. Uh MySpace was social media, not Facebook. Um Kickstarter didn't exist yet. And I went on YouTube, made a video, pasted it to my MySpace, and said, "If you send me 20 bucks through my PayPal button, I'll send you a t-shirt and you'll help me make my movie, and I'll give you credits." And yeah, I didn't start Kickstarter, but I I had the idea. And so anyway, I was able to raise enough money to be able to make this film. And then over the next, you know, seven years or so, I made several different films. And then I made another documentary feature film about two kids from Montana who got to go testify on Capitol Hill about America's foster care system and growing up in that system and what happens when they turn 18 and the government says never mind, we're done here and they have no permanent connections. And so these two young adults, Mandy and Rafe, got to go testify on Capitol Hill. And that led to the largest piece of child welfare welfare reform in the last 50 years. Obama signed it into law in 2011. When I got to the end of my uh that film, which was very long, it was three years to make that film and for that to become all of itself. I was in a new transition period. And I actually got sober and um was trying to figure out what am I going to do next? And what I decided to do next was start a tech company. And I thought, you know, it'd be a really great idea if there was a video platform that allowed filmmakers like me, all filmmakers without g gatekeepers, to upload their films and then we could vote on these films and we'll win prizes and we'll get distribution and people will discover us and then later I thought and brands will pay for this content. And I thought, yeah, that's a really good idea. I think I'll do that. And I literally had to Google how to start a tech company. I knew nothing about tech or building tech. But it started with that I have a creative idea and it would not leave me. It just kept running around in my head because I had some movies I thought I might make, but this one was like really sticking with me and so I decided to do it. Um, I did that company called OddPop for 12 years and I learned so much. One of the ideas I thought I might do was go get an MBA. And really what I did was I got an MBA in practice in starting a startup as a female founder in Montana LGBTQ. Crazy. So over the years we were able to build some beautiful technology. We built a community of 80,000 filmmakers. We awarded over $10 million. We worked with Fortune 500 brands like Dell and Southwest Air and um Hilton etc. and it changed lives. We collected, curated and commissioned over 15,000 short films and we changed filmmakers lives. We changed brands lives. We changed um people who watched those films lives and it was really beautiful work and it was very very hard as a leader and a couple years ago I went through another big change in my life a few years ago actually now and I realized that I was being called to executive coaching and I thought not me no thanks. I knew uh intuitively that that was a big calling and I thought who am I? Who am I to do that? And what I had to uncover was some limiting beliefs and I had some hidden beliefs based in my childhood and the way I was raised that women could not be spiritual leaders and I know that coaching is about connection and connection is is spirituality and so I thought I am no one's guru. Mm- I am not going to do this. Nope. And again, it would not leave me alone. And honestly, when I listened to my intuition, I knew that it was for me. But I had some stories I was telling myself that I had to look at. And I sat in the hallway for two years between Odd Pop and the 12 Creative Keys. And I was speaking with this intuitive woman. And she said, "You're supposed to write a book right now." And I hung up the phone and I thought, what would this book be about? And I realized it would be about the process that I go through whenever I create a new project. Whenever I say yes to an idea, whenever I say yes to becoming all of myself, there is a system that I have to go through in order to become all of myself. And then I created the 12 creative keys framework and wrote the book. So key one is willingness. Key zero is desperation. Something has to change. Something needs to be created. And key one is willingness. Answering that call. Key two is courage. You have to have courage to answer the call. And once you do, you have creative key three, which is hope. And then you get to key four, which is surrender. And you realize there's something in your life that you need to surrender in order to move forward. And in order to do that, you have to look at creative key five, which is storytelling. What are the stories I am telling myself that are holding me back? And then we get to key seven, which is trust and release. Sorry, that's key six. Key seven is honesty. It's okay. Who am I now that I've done keys one through six? And let me get honest with myself about who I am and what needs to happen in order to answer this call. And what comes out of that honest self- appraisal is the need to shed, which is creative key8. What do I need to shed in order to become all of myself today in order to become the creative leader that I am being called to become? That can be external. It can be internal shedding. It could be people, relationships, things. But what happens when we shed is we create space. And in that space, we have the opportunity to get quiet and to listen to creative key9, which is trusting intuition and seek direction. And then take creative key 10, which is aligned action. Because I listen and get quiet and I trust my intuition, I take aligned action. And why do I do all this? Why am I being called to this work? Why won't it let me go? Because of creative key 11, love and service. Of course, everything that we do that is called to us is for love and service. Yes, we fill our own cups, but ultimately we are here to be in love and service with one another. And creativity is about love and service for one another. And what happens as a result of answering this call is key 12, which is awakening. We move from a feeling of numbness to awe of like, oh, this is what life is for. So, let's get to work. I asked my friends and family to send in some questions for this first test episode. And Lindsay Skola, who was on in the first take and hasn't joined us yet, I don't think, but if you're here, Lindsay, you can raise your hand, asks,"How do you stay creative when you're doing something that scares you?" So, here's what I want to say, Lindsay. You ready? Creativity does not disappear because of fear. And fear in this instinct can be our friend. It can say, "Yeah, it's scary because it's new, but I'm here for you. It makes you feel something. I was terrified coming on today doing this show in my first episode." Um, it contracts because we start protecting ourselves. Fear narrows. Creativity expands. So saying yes lets the fear go away. Like even right now in this experience of doing my first episode, I'm relaxing. I'm understanding the call of saying, "Paige, you should do a show called The Keys with Paige Williams." And that fear is narrowing and narrowing and narrowing. And the creativity that I'm having here with you as I'm moving off book and answering Lindsay's question is, "Oh my god, this is for me." The fear is lessening and the creativity is coming forward. So the move is not to eliminate fear. It's to expand our identity while fear is present. So understand this. Fear is okay. Fear teaches us the shadow emotion of creative key to courage is fear. But the transformed emotion of creative to key to courage is bravery. And so we look at fear and we say,"I see you fear, but I'm being called to this creative work." And so you can take a back seat and I'm going to put bravery in the front seat and we're going to move forward anyway. And man, when we can make that transition of moving courage to the front and fear to the back, bravery to the front and fear to the back, then we feel hope. Oh my god, the hope I feel when I have the courage to do something new. When I have the courage to let go of something that is no longer serving me so that I can become all of myself, that is complete empowerment. That is complete awe. It leads to awakening. So we say thank you to fear and we move forward in our creative act. Anyway, I hope that resonates. Hatton who was in our leadership council few sess a few councils before asks I am feeling the energy courage right now. Maybe it's the Chinese New Year, Ramadan, the planet shifting or maybe it's just me and other factors opening the doors and letting courage flood in. It brings with it a sense of brilliance, a sense of strength, of clarity, of direction. I feel alive and everything feels possible. When courage shows up in spades. Amen, Hatton. I I agree. Like when courage shows up, we feel like everything is possible. That's that hope we talk about. So she asks, "What are some ways that I can sustain this feeling, this feeling of courage, especially as it waines seasonally or as a result of those common visitors that can darken my doorstep like self-doubt in facing non-stop obstacles in my path?" That is a great question. So what I want to say, Hatton, and to all of you is courage is not a mood. It is a practice. Momentum creates courage. Clarity sustains it. Identity stabilizes it. And symmetrical power only exists when you are not outsourcing your authority. So, let's tie it back to identity. The 12 creative keys are a way to lead life and creatively lead our teams uh in Hatton's case consulting firm where she trains and teaches people. And so when you ask how do I keep courage by practicing courage even when even when and you talked about obstacles which makes me think about creative key four of surrender. what obstacles are getting in my way that I need to surrender? But the true way to keep courage as a practice is to continuously look at the stories you are telling yourself. Because here's the thing, you own the permission slip. You own the permission slip that grants you more courage, that grants you more hope, that grants you surrender, that grants you the gift of looking at your own storytelling so that you can develop a narrative intelligence as your spine. And so the only thing holding you back is yourself. So what stories are you telling yourself that are keeping you from becoming all of yourself, from leading the business that you want to lead today? And if courage waines, we come back to another key and say, "Okay, if courage is waning, what do I need to get more willing to do?" Or, "What stories am I telling that are keeping me small, that are stopping me from having courageous action?" And then we trust and release and we get honest with ourselves and we shed what is no longer serving us. Because here's the thing, creative leadership requires us to have narrative intelligence. And narrative intelligence is the process of going through the 12 creative keys and looking at the stories that we're telling ourselves and making sure that we can write our own permission slip because I'm the only one that can stop me. I could have not done this show today and that would have been no one's fault but mine. Did it take a lot of courage? You bet. You bet. But I'm riding that fire horse energy. I'm riding that Ramadan. I agree, Hatton. It feels great. And I don't know if I'm always going to have this courage. But if courage wains for me, I'm going to say, "Okay, what story am I telling myself that's keeping me small? What hidden belief is working in my life? What limiting belief is keeping me from having courage? Because here's the thing, the universe is expansive. The universe is for you. I wish you you would talk to yourself as you do your best friend. If we could all treat ourselves the way we treat our best friends, we'd all be a lot happier inside. And if you want to train change your business, if you want to change your community, if you want to change your family, you must change yourself. And just like the seasons and the trees losing their leaves, we are always becoming new versions of ourselves. And we're always needing to look at those stories that we're telling ourselves and shed those old leaves because they are no longer serving us. And let me tell you something. It took a lot of work for me to go to documentary filmmaker to female founder tech CEO to here with you today running the keys with Paige Williams live. So if you're listening now or in the future and something in you is stirring, please pay attention to that calling. It is for you. That is not hype. That is truth trying to surface. Only you are you. Only you have the story of you and only you can answer the call inside your heart. So call in, leave a question for next time. You can text or leave a voicemail 1801-843-5397. This is the keys.