Christina Salerno is the founder of Living Quirky, a site where people can discover and celebrate what makes us extraordinary. In this episode, Christina talks about finding her purpose in life, how we can connect with others, and things we can do to be more creative.

• Living Quirky began because she felt different parts of herself were in conflict, at war
• often felt like she was trying to fit herself into many boxes, and got fed up of pretending to be someone she wasn’t
• own all your parts, toughen sensitivity to connect with each other
• dad is a cardiologist and mom is a psychic, science vs mysticism battle within
• logical/analytical brain and feeling intuitively  in total disagreement with each other
• “How do I share myself with the world?”

“I’m a bit of a shape shifter. I’m a little bit undefinable. A lot of bit undefinable.”

• identify what’s not your true story, what other people tell you
• identify the “only” story, and find another path
• sensitivity doesn’t fit into the story others expect of you
• everything you do is a story, your life is a story
• you get to choose whether it’s a story you want to keep
• being raised in a safe home for creativity, and encountering a cruel world outside
• put anger she felt into songs for her rock band
• got sick on tour and got burned out, found her place, but wasn’t from a place of harmony
• living in a world in which she could thrive, tried different jobs/experiences
• discovered she was fighting against her nature of sensitivity her whole life
• How can I get to the core of what’s going on? – Carving your own path in the world
• entrepreneurial spirit started early in life
• at sixteen she left Chattanooga, TN for Los Angeles, CA to be an actress/singer
• fear was around doing something so truthful/vulnerable
• began monthly email to friends/family

“Anything that scared the crap out of me was what I was meant to do”

• growth comes outside of the comfort zone
• started Living Quirky as an artist/ecommerce platform but turned into a community
• people want conversations and to connect
• ideas came from listening to what she wanted and what other people were telling her
• had in depth conversations with her audience, people started coming to her
• let go of expectations of how it should be, and listen to your body/others
• listen to twists and turns and lean in to them
• Bob Ross and happy accidents, being able to self-correct
• started meetups as social events, bring people together to see what happens
• after events, she tried to figure out what went right
• discovered she wanted something with more structure
• Introvert Quirk Lounge – facilitated conversations in homey setting, deep and meaningful connections in short amount of time
• created set groups of people to deepen connection
• looking for ideas that people want right now, and how she can implement them
• Super Hero Quirk Power Quiz – what are your strengths, mindsets, Kryptonite
• you have a little bit of every super hero in you, you choose how to use them
• Brain – cognitive thinker, Guardian – feels from the heart
• figuring out what you can do to enhance different aspects of yourself
• being creative in everything, struggled in business until she realized business is a creative process
• you are creating in every single moment, from conversations, to walks, to watching a sunset
• “Are you aware of what you are creating?” “Awareness is so important.”
• resume vs novel – structure, point, fundamentals – all the same

• you can change your perspective of everything
• awareness and mindset are essential to creativity
• having tunnel vision, expanding your mindset through visualization
• athletes use visualization to improve
• you can be mindful at any moment, really simple but really difficult to do
• breathing puts you into the moment, breath is anchor to mindfulness
• set moments in day in which to be mindful, ask yourself questions to be mindful
• our brains love questions, brains will automatically try to solve it
• “How am I feeling right now?” “What am I noticing?” “What am I aware of?”
• “What experience do I want to feel today?”
• set mid day question, ask yourself if you’ve achieved what you set out to do
• pivoting to accomplish your mindfulness goals
• practice appreciation of who you are and what you do, how do I add value?
• using accountability partners to check in
• weekly achievement emails – What did i do? How did i appreciate myself this week?
• what you bring your attention to will grow, focusing on negativity will create negativity, find your main focus
• brainstorming/idea phase vs. editor phase
• putting on your creative hat, giving each part of the process it’s own time
• in early stages of waking up, conscious brain hasn’t fully woken up
• when you wake up, let your eyes stay closed, and give your subconscious time to take hold and visualize, so when you go to create, it just flows
• taught herself to do things by visualizing them
• have a clear picture in your mind when you create
• I am going to create a piece of furniture is the same as I am going to create an email funnel
• you need to learn technical skills, the tools necessary to build a business
• Chris Guillebeau‘s Unconventional Guide – Turn Your Creativity Into a Career
• when writing a sales page :  learn what makes up a sales page, visualize it, f, what is the feeling? So when you write it you’ll know what to include
• in marketing you need to know specifically what you want to do, otherwise it will be overwhelming
• you have to learn the tools before you can create anything
• if you don’t know the landscape/tools, you can’t create
• Googling your way to what you want to do
• Gary Vaynerchuk‘s Jab, Jab, Jab Right Hook on social media
• make marketing/business a game, use tools you have and add them to your business venture
• people are inherently wired to belong,  yet we want to experience different things
• humans all want to be loved, be seen, and belong
• conflict is caused by being too focused on the surface
• don’t be too attached to your beliefs
• come from a place of curiosity, kindness, empathy, and openess first
• you don’t have to change your beliefs, just be open to other ideas
• the beginner’s mindset and not having all the answers, seeking to disprove beliefs
• “How can I try something new and expand my experience?”
• being open to let life take you where it will
• set clear intentions, pause, and be open to something you could not have forseen

“Make something new or come up with a new idea.”

“Are you aware of what you are creating right now? Are you open to a mindset of seeing what you are creating in a new light, in a way that would enhance your experience?”

“How can you first create the experience where you are?”

“Creativity is happening all around is, it’s just whether we are willing to to see it and engage with it.”

Living Quirky

Christina Salerno