[00:00:00] Caroline Brookfield: ​

[00:00:05] And that’s how I approach creativity. It’s more, what are the habits I can do in a few minutes a day that will allow my creativity to express itself a little bit more?

[00:00:14] Cyndi Burnett: Hello, everyone. My name is Dr. Cindy Burnett.

[00:00:17] Matthew Worwood: And my name is Dr. Matthew Werwood.

[00:00:20] Cyndi Burnett: This is the Fueling Creativity podcast.

[00:00:22] Matthew Worwood: On this show, we’ll be talking about creativity topics and how they apply to the field of education.

[00:00:28] Cyndi Burnett: We’ll be speaking with scholars, educators, and resident experts about their work, challenges they face, and digging deeper into new and varying perspectives of creativity.

[00:00:38] Matthew Worwood: All with the goal to help fuel a more rich and informed discussion that provides teachers and parents with knowledge they can use at home or in the classroom.

[00:00:47] Cyndi Burnett: So let’s begin. In this episode, we will be talking to Dr. Caroline Brookfield. Caroline is a veterinarian, researcher, and stand up comedian from Calgary. She delights in using [00:01:00] humor and immersive experiences backed up with research to sway the most reluctant creative. Caroline presents convincing evidence of the return of investment of creativity for individuals and organizations.

[00:01:12] Caroline has just released a new book called The Reluctant Creative, which we’ll be talking a little bit about today. Welcome, Caroline. Thank you, Cindy. I’m so excited to chat with you guys. We are so happy to have you here. You don’t typically put veterinarian and stand up comedian and creativity specialist into the same sentence.

[00:01:32] Can you tell us about your own creative journey? Yeah, I think,

[00:01:36] Caroline Brookfield: um, some people might find this a little bit familiar, you know, when I was little, you know, I was very creative like we all are, but I loved animals. So it was kind of predestined that I would become a veterinarian, you know, in the eighties, it was like, you know, which flavor of professional are you going to be?

[00:01:52] So I was always on track to do that. And then it wasn’t until I hit high school when you’re really starting to think about your, future job and [00:02:00] profession, but I kind of got stuck because I realized I had this passion for performance. I loved improv acting. I wasn’t very good at it, but I love to act. I love to be part of a drama club and photography, but, but I felt kind of stuck.

[00:02:14] Like I felt like I was on this cliff edge or this mountaintop and one, I had to pick art or science and I couldn’t do both. I also have ADHD. So becoming a veterinarian seemed a lot easier despite it being a very tight Competitive program because it was defined and the goalposts were there. So, you know, I went on to become a veterinarian, which has been a great career for me, but there was always something a little bit missing.

[00:02:37] And um, but over the last 10 or 15 years, I kept getting drawn into these creative endeavors like acting classes or trying stand up comedy or building businesses. And it took me a long time to connect the dots and realize it’s all about expressing my creativity.

[00:02:54] Matthew Worwood: So, Caroline, just listening to that story takes me back to something that I’ve been thinking a lot about [00:03:00] from an episode with Dr.

[00:03:01] Sally Reese, where we was talking, it was, it was an episode on talented and gifted, but in the, in the discussion, this concept of multiple potentialities comes up where we’ve kind of got, got lots of interests. And for some of us, There is a need, a desire, a motivation to explore as many interests as we, as we possibly can.

[00:03:19] And I just wonder listening to that story, whether or not you’ve kind of felt that, you know, that I can’t want to go and explore starting up a new business. I want to explore being a comedian. I mean, can you speak a little bit of that? Are you making that connection?

[00:03:32] Caroline Brookfield: Oh, definitely. Yeah. I’ve heard that term before, multi passionate, multi potential.

[00:03:37] I think, you know, late diagnosis of ADHD explains some of that. Um, but even within my career as a veterinarian, like I always felt like, is this it, like there’s got to be something more, you know? And within my career itself, I did many different things. So I worked in a zoo. I worked with wildlife. I worked, you know, in research and, you know, and research facilities.

[00:03:58] I worked, uh, as [00:04:00] technical services, which is where I gained my real passion for public speaking because my job was to educate and speak to people about technical nutrition. I don’t know if everybody’s like that. Is that your question? I’m definitely like that. So yes, I definitely resonate with that.

[00:04:15] Matthew Worwood: It’s more of a connection that I’m starting to make more and more because, you know, if I go over my list and I’m, I mean, it is, it is a pretty substantial list.

[00:04:23] And of course, occasionally I sit back and I’m like, Oh, if only I could just focus in on one thing, you know, or if only I did just focus in on one thing, but at the same time, it’s like, I am not satisfied with just focusing on one thing. I’m not happy focusing on one thing. Cindy, is this something you can relate with?